The Special Edition 
SFUSD's Special Education Newsletter
Volume 3; Issue 1
September, 2013 
"Needs not Labels, Services not Places, Names not Numbers"
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In the News...

 

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SFUSD Goals & Special Education
Superintendent Carranza and Deputy Superintendent Guerrero

Access and Equity

Addressing Significant Disproportionality

 

On August 14th, Special Education itinerant staff and Central Office employees participated in an all day retreat to kick off the school year. Superintendent Carranza and Deputy Superintendent of Instruction, Innovation and Social Justice, Guerrero along with Rachel Norton, SFUSD School Board President opened the day with inspirational messages on Access and Equity. The Special Education Department is committed to aligning it's strategic plan and goals with those of the district. 

In August of 2012 49 districts, including SFUSD, were notified by the CDE as being Significantly Disproportionate in the number of African American Students identified with an Emotional Disturbance. Over the past year a stakeholder committee was established to address this reality. 

To see some of the recommendations this dedicated team of parents, teachers, administrators, central office staff and community members has arrived at click here. 

-Minoo Shah, SpEd Director 

 
Student Acheivement
AccessSFUSD the Arc
  
AccessSFUSD is entering it's second year!

The Arc opened it's doors in August of 2012, welcoming transition students 18-22 to SFUSD's first community based transition program.  The program serves 20 students, teaching functional life skills such as cooking, self-determination, wellness, money math, job skills and increasing independence  in the community setting.  Students in the Access program have paid vocational experiences all over the city at places like UCSF, SF Moma, Goodwill, Child Development Centers, SPCA, SFMTA. Parents of AccessSFUSD Speak Out about how excited they are about the teaching and learning at The Arc.

Teachers: Heidi Hubrich Seretan, Ashley Saks

Staff: Josh Rosen, Colin Mackenzie, Sandy Hu, Jen Kabbabe, Princess Pei Pei, Daniel Ryan, Latanya Smith, David Lee

Deidre Durling, SpEd Supervisor

 

Accountability

Psychologists Powerful Teaching & Learning

 

During the week of August 12th, school psychologists and behavior analysts attended 3 days of professional development.  Some of the topics covered during this training included: SFUSD District Strategic Plan, Review of 2012-2013 Assessment Data, Significant Disproportionality, Meeting the Mental Health Needs of Students, Bilingual Assessments, Retention vs. Social Promotion, Learning Theory, Manifestation Determination Procedures, Presentation of new Evaluation Report Template, Role-Play Activities and several more. Each day was concluded with "live" online feedback. An example of powerful teaching and learning that will significantly impact the students of SFUSD. 

 Lisa Miller, SpEd Supervisor

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Awesome

New Online Learning Modules

Watch, Learn, Do!

This fall the Special Education Department is excited to announce NEW Online Training Videos available through Cornerstone OnDemand. Currently two videos are available, SEIS 101 and Teacher Refresher. To participate simply log onto Cornerstone OnDemand, register for the Online Training, download the activity guide and press PLAY! It's that easy. For additional information on the online training videos or "live" trainings available click here. To make a suggestion for a future online training video please email Sarah Ashton ([email protected]).
-Sarah Ashton, SpEd Supervisor
 
          Human Capital Celebrations

Job Code Changes 

 

This summer, Human Resources and Special Education teamed up to revise teacher job codes/titles and align the codes with a teacher's credentials per CTC requirements.  This process involves several steps of review and data entry. We hope to have all the changes implemented by the September 30th paycheck. If you have any questions, you may contact Christy Prasad in Human Resources at [email protected]

We appreciate your patience during this transition.

 -

Christy Prasad, HR
 
Welcome Back Checklist 
SEIS/Compliance Reminders
  • IEP Calendar / Expanded Calendar Calendar you IEP's in advance
  • All IEPs/Amendments must be Affirmed within 7 Days of the Meeting
  • Custom Fields are to be updated for all students on your Caseload
  • Caseloads are to be CASEMIS Error Free 
  • Transition IEPs held by September 18th, 2013
  • Content Specialist Information 
  • Present Levels, baselines and Goals must be updated annually
-Sarah Ashton,
SpEd Supervisor
 
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Thank you for reading the September Special Education Newsletter!
If there is something you would like to submit for the next newsletter (October) please email Sarah Ashton ([email protected]).
Welcome back and best wishes for an outstanding 2013/14 school year!
Sincerely,

 Dr. Elizabeth Blanco 

Special Education Services, SFUSD
"Pleasure in job puts perfection in work." 
- Aristotle
Links

SFUSD Homepage 

 

SFUSD Special Education website 

 

SEIS Website 

 

CDE

 

CA Composite of Laws

Additional 
Resources

Support for Families 

 

First 5 San Francisco 

 

Center for Mental Health (UCLA) 

 

Disability Rights California 

 

Community Works Institute 

 

Teacher Resources 

 

USF School Of Education 


Community
Advisory
Committee
(CAC) 
The CAC advocates for effective Special Education programs and services. 
 
Meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of every month. Please come!
 
"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand"
Chinese Proverb