Special Edition, Vol. 1, Issue 26

Let's open doors and minds. Let's throw a spotlight on the richness that people who are different bring to mainstream society. Let's talk about assets instead of liabilities.
~Helen Henderson, "Inclusion can transform the workplace dynamic", Toronto Star
Dec 30, 2006 (http://www.thestar.com/Life/article/165649)

As we continue to share news within SFUSD and beyond, please consider submitting an article for publication. Simply email spedfeedback@sfusd.edu, and we will be delighted to showcase your school or classroom.

Announcements

June Jordan School for Equity (JJSE) is having a fundraiser with all proceeds to JJSE Sped Dept on March 22 @ 6pm at the Chieftain Restaurant at 5th and Howard.
Access Institute will be hosting a presentation and panel discussion to deepen participants' understanding of the bullying cycle. This event will occur March 22 from 6:30 - 8:30. Click here for registration information.
Open House and Disability Arts Festival will be held at the de Young Museum on March 31. Click here to review the flyer.
Consider attending a health and recreation fair for families of children with disabilities - Access to Adventure on 05/05/2012 from 12:00pm - 3:00pm. For more information, visit http://www.supportforfamilies.org or click here for the more information.
Previous Special Edition Newsletters are now accessible online. Please click here to access them.

We Have the Report

The California Department of Education (CDE) has submitted the findings of their Verification Review which occurred during the fall semester.

2 separate reports reviewed district and student level non-compliance findings. The 106 district findings must be corrected through a policy/procedure review and a training for staff and administrators by June 9, 2012. A cross collaborative team of General and Special Education Administrators has been formed to design the training.

Approximately 85 students require specific corrections. These student-based corrections must be completed by May 22, 2012. Special Education Coordinators and Administrators are aware of which students require corrections and are proceeding with the corrections.

Once the training has been completed, the CDE will conduct follow up file reviews for evidence of 100% compliance. They will continue to monitor and review files until 100% compliance is reached.

Please continue to utilize this newsletter for updates and timely information related to our progress on compliance matters.

SEIS & Case Manager Assignment

A Message from our Lead Speech Pathologist

Hi everyone,

As it states in the Case Manager Responsibility document, the person who will be assigned as case manager will be based on the student's primary eligibility. Since the vast majority of Special Education teachers are not credentialed to case manage Speech Language Impaired (SLI)-only students, Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) are now being assigned as case managers when SLI is the primary eligibility.

When we first switched over to SEIS, I assigned all SLI-only students to be case-managed by their SLP. However, some of those students have since been switched over to be case managed by the Special Ed teacher. Since the teacher's credential does not match the student's primary eligibility, the CCTC considers these cases to be mis-assignments and therefore out of compliance. I have moved all of these students back to the SLPs in SEIS, but I want to prevent this from happening in the future. Coordinators, please let Special Ed teachers know that their SLI-only students must be case-managed by SLPs, and to please not submit Student Change forms requesting that they become the case manager. When you receive requests like these, please make sure to check the student's primary eligibility before re-assigning the case manager.

The second issue is that of primary vs. secondary eligibility. In almost all cases, a student should only have SLI listed as the primary eligibility if it is the only eligibility. In many cases, a student's initial Sped eligibility is SLI. As they get older, the school psychologist will often assess in other suspected areas of disability.

If a student becomes eligible as Specific Learning Disabled (SLD), Autism, ID, etc., IEP teams should consider this new eligbility as the primary eligibility and SLI should be moved to secondary. This will allow the Special Education teacher to case manage the student without causing a miss-assignment. Also, those eligibilities are a much more accurate description of a student's disability over their entire school career than SLI, which is often removed in middle or high school if the student is exited from speech.

Finally, please make sure that Special Ed teachers know that only school psychologists, SLPs, and other related service providers who conduct assessments should add to or change a student's eligibility categories as determined by IEP team.

Thank you,

Sarah

Sarah Cragg

Lead Speech-Language Pathologist

San Francisco Unified School District

Special Education Services

750 25th Ave.

San Francisco, CA 94121

(415) 379-7641 ext. 1041

Transition Age Youth: Navigating Life's Challenges

Sponsored by SFUSD Special Education and the Department of Rehabilitation, Crossroads Diversified Services will provide information on a variety of topics including motivational interviewing, career planning, accessing and linkage, and employment preparation for students with emotional disabilities.

This event will take place April 11th 12-3:30PM at the Cabrillo Campus multipurpose room,750 25th Ave.

Click here to view the flyer.

Articles for Reflection and Professional Development

This is an ongoing section where we will provide a current and relevant research article. The goal is to promote discussion and intellectual stimulation amongst SFUSD staff, schools, and the community.

The following article What Does it Mean to Improve Access to the General Education Curriculum, produced by the Access Center, asserts that meaningful access occurs when students with disabilities are actively engaged in learning the content and skills that define the general education curriculum. The article provides 5 specific indicators of meaningful access to the general education curriculum.

Click here to read more.

SEIS Update

Did you complete your initial Affirm/Attest by February 29th? If you need support, contact the SFUSD SEIS Help Desk
Make SEIS part of your morning routine - consider making SEIS your Homepage.
Call the SFUSD SEIS Help Desk if you need support: 379-7720 & 379-7899
If you have not been trained please contact Sarah Ashton, ashtons@sfusd.edu

Sincerely,

Communications Team

Special Education Services, SFUSD

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