More than 100 people crowded into the school board’s meeting room and into an overflow room to watch on screen and hear a presentation by a special education evaluator on Tuesday night. After the almost two-hour-long explanation and question-and-answer- session, the board voted unanimously to hire Dr. Ann Monroe-Baillargeon to study and evaluate Clarkstown’s special education programs for $15,000.
The details of her contract will be worked out between the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA), the district and Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon, who is an education professor at SUNY Alfred University. After being recommended to the district by NYSSBA, the professor originally presented to the board last November 1.
During her presentation via Skype, Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon outlined what the scope of her project could be.
* Look at and study the history and current status of special education in the district, kindergarten through 12th grade.
* Meet with an administrative team.
* Conduct a sampling of special education teachers through individual or small group interviews to gain their perspectives of the program.
* Create and distribute an anonymous survey/s to stakeholders: parents, teachers, and administrators.
* Conduct a sampling of IEPs across all categories.
* Look at the progression of special education services provided to students
* Prepare a report for stakeholders with best practices recommendations.
“My purpose is to provide you an overview of what I see happening in the district,” said Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon, adding she would suggest ways to improve the program for students with special needs.
Board member Donna Ehrenberg asked if the study would go beyond students with special needs because of concerns about poor reading skills in the district. Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon replied she would look at special needs students and what led to their IEP.
“We can certainly look beyond those currently identified as special needs,” she said, adding the parameters of her work would be specified in the contract.
In response to a question about best practices, Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon said research shows one best practice is differentiating instruction in the classroom according to the needs and abilities of the students. Another example is presenting information to students in various ways: visual, audio and other formats.
Board President Doug Katz questioned how long the evaluation would take.
“The contract that is being proposed is nine billable days,” said Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon. “We have not worked out a contract.”
The nine billable workdays would probably be spread across three months because Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon is a faculty member at the university. She explained the workdays would be a combination of actual visits to Clarkstown to meet with stakeholders directly, and preparation, collection and analysis of data, which would be done off site.
She re-stated her first phase would include data collection and analysis, interpretation of the data and data presentation in person and written form. A potential separate second phase could be assistance with implementation of the recommendations.
About 10 people asked questions ranging from how to ensure all parents of special education students would have access to the survey to where else she has worked as an expert. Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon said Clarkstown would tell her the best way to distribute the survey to parents whether by email, mail or access through the district website. She said other districts, including a BOCES consortium with 20 districts, have hired her for Phase One work only.
Another parent inquired if she would look at students placed out of the district.
“I’m not studying BOCES,” she said. “I’m studying Clarkstown. I would look at why students were unable to be served in the district.”
Prior to casting his vote, Board Member Philip DeGaetano said, “I’m going to be one of the parents filling out that survey. I’m satisfied (with) what happened here tonight.”
Parent Robert Kurkela wanted to know how soon the evaluation could begin and when it would be completed.
“A reasonable timeline would be February 2012 to get a final report,” she said. “It isn’t an overnight turnaround.”
She explained it takes time to study the district’s programs, takes time for people to understand and time to implement recommendations for change. She said her job is to help the district improve.
“It’s not my job to fix it,” she said. “A district needs to understand itself which I am going to help you do.”
After the meeting, Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said "I'm delighted that we're finally going to get the critical analysis of students with special needs."
The details of her contract will be worked out between the New York State School Boards Association (NYSSBA), the district and Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon, who is an education professor at SUNY Alfred University. After being recommended to the district by NYSSBA, the professor originally presented to the board last November 1.
During her presentation via Skype, Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon outlined what the scope of her project could be.
* Look at and study the history and current status of special education in the district, kindergarten through 12th grade.
* Meet with an administrative team.
* Conduct a sampling of special education teachers through individual or small group interviews to gain their perspectives of the program.
* Create and distribute an anonymous survey/s to stakeholders: parents, teachers, and administrators.
* Conduct a sampling of IEPs across all categories.
* Look at the progression of special education services provided to students
* Prepare a report for stakeholders with best practices recommendations.
“My purpose is to provide you an overview of what I see happening in the district,” said Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon, adding she would suggest ways to improve the program for students with special needs.
Board member Donna Ehrenberg asked if the study would go beyond students with special needs because of concerns about poor reading skills in the district. Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon replied she would look at special needs students and what led to their IEP.
“We can certainly look beyond those currently identified as special needs,” she said, adding the parameters of her work would be specified in the contract.
In response to a question about best practices, Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon said research shows one best practice is differentiating instruction in the classroom according to the needs and abilities of the students. Another example is presenting information to students in various ways: visual, audio and other formats.
Board President Doug Katz questioned how long the evaluation would take.
“The contract that is being proposed is nine billable days,” said Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon. “We have not worked out a contract.”
The nine billable workdays would probably be spread across three months because Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon is a faculty member at the university. She explained the workdays would be a combination of actual visits to Clarkstown to meet with stakeholders directly, and preparation, collection and analysis of data, which would be done off site.
She re-stated her first phase would include data collection and analysis, interpretation of the data and data presentation in person and written form. A potential separate second phase could be assistance with implementation of the recommendations.
About 10 people asked questions ranging from how to ensure all parents of special education students would have access to the survey to where else she has worked as an expert. Dr. Monroe-Baillargeon said Clarkstown would tell her the best way to distribute the survey to parents whether by email, mail or access through the district website. She said other districts, including a BOCES consortium with 20 districts, have hired her for Phase One work only.
Another parent inquired if she would look at students placed out of the district.
“I’m not studying BOCES,” she said. “I’m studying Clarkstown. I would look at why students were unable to be served in the district.”
Prior to casting his vote, Board Member Philip DeGaetano said, “I’m going to be one of the parents filling out that survey. I’m satisfied (with) what happened here tonight.”
Parent Robert Kurkela wanted to know how soon the evaluation could begin and when it would be completed.
“A reasonable timeline would be February 2012 to get a final report,” she said. “It isn’t an overnight turnaround.”
She explained it takes time to study the district’s programs, takes time for people to understand and time to implement recommendations for change. She said her job is to help the district improve.
“It’s not my job to fix it,” she said. “A district needs to understand itself which I am going to help you do.”
After the meeting, Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan said "I'm delighted that we're finally going to get the critical analysis of students with special needs."
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