SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES
July 8, 2020
We are looking forward to welcoming your students back to school in less than a month, which is hard to believe. As you know, we will offer both in-person and digital learning options. The survey included in this district update to parents will allow us to collect the information we will need to best prepare for instruction in a format that meets the individual needs of each student.
As always, students receiving special education services who elect to attend school in-person will have their services delivered according to their IEPs. Parents and teachers may request an IEP meeting and/or parent-teacher conference to discuss the specifics of service plans. Amendments to service plans may need to be completed to accommodate district and school plans for staff and student safety. For example, special education case managers may discuss inclusion options with parents.
Considerations related to the digital learning option are noted below.
DIGITAL LEARNING
The following are examples of virtual learning services for students with disabilities. This is a supporting document to the district’s digital learning plan for all students. This is not an exhaustive list but examples that IEP teams may discuss and modify as needed to meet individualized student needs. Services may be provided by special education staff members assigned to support digital learning in Maryville City Schools. This may result in unfamiliar service providers (i.e. teachers, teaching assistants, PT/OT/SLP) for some students with disabilities. Students with disabilities who elect to participate in virtual instruction will likely need an IEP addendum meeting at the beginning of the school year as last year’s IEPs were prepared for in-person instruction. The below settings and descriptions would apply to the student’s current IEP service plan for in-school learning. For example, if a student with an IEP has a current service plan that includes academic reading intervention, then the digital intervention ideas would apply upon parental selection of virtual learning.
Resource/Pull-out Service in a Special Education Setting for Reading/Math/Science/Social Studies:
1. Digital instruction delivered by recorded videos, live lessons, webinars, and/or on-line instructional or adaptive programming
2. Special education teacher/staff daily scheduled instructional support and/or review of performance
3. Paper-based instruction (ex. reading programs that follow a prescriptive sequence)
Intervention for Reading/Math:
1. Online programming with performance monitored by special education teacher/staff to assign lessons/update goals
2. Scheduled weekly in-person sessions 1-3 hours in length to receive in-person intervention in a single visit
3. Scheduled weekly in-person sessions for progress monitoring purposes (to determine progression or regression in reading/math abilities)
4. Virtual progress monitoring scheduled sessions as appropriate to the student and skill(s) being addressed
Inclusion Services in a General Education Setting for Reading/Math/Science/Social Studies:
1. Digital instruction delivered by recorded videos, live lessons, webinars, and/or on-line instructional and/or adaptive programming with activity completion following instruction or within instruction (content developed by the assigned virtual teacher for that grade level within the district). Example- 20-30 minute instructional virtual lesson introducing new material followed up with 20-30 minutes of independent student work at home.
2. Special education teacher/staff daily scheduled instructional support and/or review of performance
3. General education virtual teacher scheduled instructional support and/or review of performance
4. Special education staff and general education teacher(s) collaborate to modify activities and ensure accommodations are followed per IEP
5. For students in 8-12th grades only, in-person inclusion classes may be necessary (see district digital learning model)
Related Services in Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy/Speech Therapy:
1. Scheduled in-person sessions weekly/twice monthly at an assigned school (may or may not be the student’s school)
2. Scheduled teletherapy sessions weekly (duration of sessions AND follow-up work required post virtual sessions will be student specific).
3. On-line programming with set therapist virtual monitoring sessions to discuss progress, set new goals, and/or provide student/parent support.
Contact us:
Email: melanie.davidson@maryville-schools.org
Phone: (865) 982-7121