April 2, 2012

Vol. 1, Issue 27

The Special Edition
SFUSD's Special Education Newsletter
In This Issue
Announcements
Upcoming Training
Case Manager Assignment
Quick Links



















weareteachers.com

 

e-soccer.org

 

Upcoming Events

Navigating Life's Challenges

  April 11th 12:00-3:30

Cabrillo Campus 750 25th Ave. Multipurpose Room

For more information email:

[email protected]

 

 

Join Our Mailing List
The Special Edition will be published on the first and third Monday of the month beginning in March.
 

So when we talk about an inclusive school system, or inclusion, we are not referring to a specific program, service, or methodology. We are referring to a school system that in both its design and its effect continually strives to ensure that each student has access to and is enabled to participate in the school community, to be part of the community in positive and reinforcing ways and whose identity is reflected in the operations of the school community.

~MacKay & Burt-Garrans, 2004, p. 6

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


Announcements

  • Parents Education Network (PEN) is sponsoring a free event for students, parents and educators.  on April 21 from 8:45 - 5:00 at AT&T Park to inspire, and educate participants on the challenges of learning differently.  Click here to register.
  • CALSTAT has a series of free online training modules.  Click here to learn more.
  • Consider attending the Community Advisory Council (CAC) meeting April 26th.  Click here for more informtaion
  • 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.

Upcoming Training

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.

Administrator trainings will begin the first week of April and continue throughout the month.  Training for Special Educators will occur during our district professional development day April 23.  Locations and times will be released this week. 

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

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.

 

Sometimes relationships with parents can become less than conciliatory.  In the article "Building Parent Trust in the Special Education Setting",  shared in this month's edition of Leadership Magazine published by the Association of California School Administrators, Laurie Wellner provides educators a perspective on mending relationships through communication and trust.

 

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, [email protected]


Sincerely,

Communications Team
Special Education Services, SFUSD

 

 

 

This newsletter is for SFUSD employees and community partners. If you do not have an SFUSD e-mail address and would like to receive this newsletter, please join our mailing list. 

For newsletter feedback or more information, please contact us at [email protected].