District of Columbia Projects Year 4
2008-2009
Support for the District of Columbia in Establishing a System-wide Response to Intervention Program
During Year 4 MACC and the Mid-South Regional Resource Center (MSRRC) provided technical support/and assistance to a committee organized by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Special Education Office as it develops a Response-To-Intervention (RTI) program that meets the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The program addressed the over and underrepresentation of students identified for special education services by providing ongoing, job-embedded professional development that will help the OSSE build effective practice and provide support to Local Education Agencies (LEAs) for instructional improvement in general education. The immediate goals of the RTI Committee were to inventory existing information on RTI, develop protocols to collect information from other sources/states, and develop information packages related to a general RTI initiative in order to scale-up initiatives already in place, and/or expand existing RTI related programs. MACC and MSRRC assisted and added technical assistance provisions for greater internal and external collaboration.
Support to the District of Columbia in Launching the State Committee
MACC assisted OSSE in establishing a state committee to assist in making its statewide system of support operational. The immediate goal of the state committee was to establish and maintain collaboration and shared decision-making across the programs and offices of the SEA during the organization-building phase. The long-term goal was to build SEA capacity, enhance resource sharing and promote comprehensive planning across offices for the purpose of meeting technical assistance needs of schools and LEAs identified for improvement. MACC provided a retreat to help to identify and assist with the challenges facing the office and the ability to communicate and collaborate among key departments and programs in order to implement local and federal policies.
Support to the District of Columbia for the State of the State Curriculum
MACC assisted OSSE in identifying, assessing, clarifying, revising, and implementing SEA functions relative to academic content. To accomplish this, MACC helped the office address several significant issues including: determining the current state of the office’s curriculum function; verifying the organizational structures that currently exist; benchmarking with other states the role of the office vis-à-vis curriculum; defining the role of the curriculum function within a statewide system of school support; ensuring alignment among the functions and products (including standards, assessments, and curricular documents); and determining the most efficient means of supporting LEAs to effectively deliver standards-based academic content.
MACC provided technical assistance on how best to provide curricular support to the LEAs, including drafting curriculum frameworks and developing training to "unwrap" the standards, providing training to teachers who could share standards with parents, forming parent focus groups to react to the standards, and developing parent handbooks.
Support to the District of Columbia for Development of OSSE Policies to Address Needs of ELLs
MACC assisted OSSE in analyzing how the state is addressing the issues of highly qualified teachers in ESL and ESL endorsement for regular education teachers, particularly in the charter schools. The immediate goal was to identify how other states are addressing these issues. The long-term goal is to assist OSSE in generating statewide professional development programs for ESL teachers and those interested in becoming ESL teachers.
MACC also assisted OSSE in reviewing all policies that affect the education of ELLs in the District of Columbia. Recommendations for strengthening and revising existing policies, as well as, recommendations for adding new policies were made. The goal was to have a set of guidelines that included all policies, mandates, and best practices to assist D.C. charter schools serve, more effectively, their growing ELL student population.
Support for Development of a District of Columbia Statewide System of Support Planning System
The District of Columbia seeks to establish planning and training for members of OSSE staff and an Expert Consultant Team representing the OSSE. D.C. Local Education Agencies, including charter schools, will be trained to use a review guide developed CII, the Mid-Atlantic Comprehensive Center (MACC) staff, OSSE staff and designated members of the Expert Consultant Team. MACC has been asked to assist in the development of a state planning process to support a review plan for underperforming schools that: (1) addresses the structure and organization of review protocols (2) identifies priority strategies to address those needs, and (3) determines the implementation of support activities. Other activities will include the development of a Matrix that will provide a “crosswalk” between and among indicators from the Center on Innovation and Improvement Handbook on Statewide Systems of Support and the nine NCLB requirements. Additionally, subsets of selections of indicators will be reviewed by the OSSE staff. An Expert Consultant Team will be developed by OSSE and MACC and the Center On Innovation and Improvement (CII) will engage in training the Consultants as they develop a school review process. Specific training protocols will be developed to help frame the roles and responsibilities of the Team and a guide, Patterns of Practice, will be developed to use in low-performing schools.