Goal 3: Progress Updates
Read the current year Strategy 3 updates below, or read previous updates in the accordions labeled by year.
Report 2: February 10, 2025
Strategy 3 held its second meeting on November 4, 2024. We reviewed our norms during that meeting
and began working on SMART goals. SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time-bound
Following a presentation on SMART goals, we divided into interest groups to work on the five focus areas. Each team drafted a goal that hit each section of the SMART goal template and then used that information to complete a draft goal we will begin working with during our December meeting. We also provided time to preview two sub-committee tasks, reviewing the classroom-type names across the district, aligning them, and reviewing the service delivery model at Derby High School. Volunteers for those subgroups emailed Dr. Gresham with their interest and will begin to meet before winter break.
Strategy 3 held its third meeting on December 2, 2024. During that meeting, the groups presented their previously drafted SMART goals to the entire group. Edits, based on other people’s suggestions, were reviewed until a final goal was constructed. Specifically, we worked on the IEP Implementation goal. The Strategy 3 team would like to propose that all students on an IEP have their accommodations tracked by staff beginning in the 2025/2026 school year in a way that can be quantified.
This process will continue until all five goals have been finalized. We also set up the dates to meet as a sub-committee. The Derby High School classroom service model and the classroom type name committees met in December, and both agreed that we needed to explore the proposed options. Future dates will be set with the group.
The proposal is that we create a district-cohesive classroom-type system to name our categorical classrooms. Currently, we have two different names for the same program at the elementary and secondary levels. Interrelated at the elementary school is the same as curriculum modified at the secondary level. We want to ensure that only one name is used across the district. We would also like to change the name of PBIS to something that does not conflict with the vocabulary in Character Strong and other evidence-based practices. Confusion may abound if we use PBIS as an evidence-based strategy in social-emotional learning while also having it as the label for a classroom type. Finally, we want to ensure that we are using the Mixed Abilities term across the district for our combined type of low-incidence programs. This will not supersede the current Life Skills, Structured Learning, and Functional Classrooms. It is not a replacement for those classrooms; it is to ensure that our vision of low-incidence classrooms in all buildings has a common naming procedure.
Report 1: November 25, 2024
Strategy 3 held its first meeting of the year on September 16, 2024. We started with introductions and discussed our reasons for being a part of this team. Each member shared personal motivations that highlight the importance of our work. After this, we set some ground rules for how we would communicate, make decisions, resolve conflicts, and follow majority rules.
Next, we began our work for Year 3. The Special Services Parent Advisory Council (SSPAC) presented a report to our committee. The SSPAC is responsible for overseeing the initiatives related to Strategy 3. This year, their goal is to increase parental involvement. They currently have 44 members representing each school, except for Cooper. We are happy to report that the SSPAC has been successful in achieving their goal, as shown by the higher attendance of new members at meetings.
We then outlined our goal for this year. By May 2025, Strategy 3 plans to find, identify, and share ways to improve inclusivity for students with exceptionalities across the district. We will focus on specific areas including:
- Professional Learning
- Transitions
- IEP Implementation
- 504 Implementation
- Facilities
At this point, we engaged in an activity to gather input from stakeholders and recorded their ideas. After this collaborative session, we organized our thoughts under the five focus areas mentioned earlier.
As a committee, we reviewed the feedback collected on sticky notes, and any additional comments were included. The Special Services team documented this information to help with goal-setting on November 4.
Looking ahead to our meeting on November 4, we will use the information gathered in September to start creating measurable goals. The meeting will begin with a review of our ground rules and an introduction of any new participants. We will also welcome the SSPAC to share their important work with the committee. Following that, we will have a short session on SMART Goals, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-Framed.
During the meeting, we will discuss our goals within the five focus areas set by our overall annual goal. We will work together to create a collective goal for each area across the district. It is important for us to focus on the overall vision instead of individual agendas, set both short- and long-term targets, create realistic timelines for systemic changes, and discuss how we will achieve these goals.
If time allows, we will also conduct a quick survey to understand the committee's views on aligning district program names. Right now, "Curriculum Modified" is only used in secondary schools, while elementary schools call it, "Interrelated." Additionally, elementary schools have three different names for our low-incidence programs, while secondary schools use the term "mixed abilities." This inconsistency can create confusion, which we want to avoid.
Lastly, we suggest forming a subcommittee to look into possibly revising how we provide services at DHS. This subcommittee would help us identify service models that could reduce challenging behaviors, retain teaching staff, improve student achievement, and decrease the time spent in, “special education classrooms” while focusing on the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).