Purpose
The goal of this project is to reform and improve the Vermont State system for personnel preparation and professional development in early intervention and educational services in order to improve educational outcomes for children with disabilities.
Method
The Vermont Department of Education (VT DOE) seeks to do this by targeting the professional development needs of general and special educators, administrators, related service personnel, paraprofessionals and early intervention personnel. Three major areas have been identified as being critical for improved systematic, statewide professional development that will improve outcomes for students with disabilities. These projects are designed to be inclusive of families and are designed on the premise of sustainability.
- Vermont Integrated Instruction Model: 1) Enhance the capacity of general and special education to provide differentiated instruction across age, disability and academic content areas. Increase the access to participation in the general education curriculum to impact student academic outcomes and social- behavioral interactions. 2) Establish a network of regional and building-based personnel with expertise in the areas of Responsiveness to Intervention; Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports; and Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment models. 3) Develop flexible career tracks for school-based mentors, data coaches and assessment specialists through integrated coursework and local professional development. 4) Develop specific professional development designed to meet the unique needs of administrators, general and special educators, paraprofessionals, early intervention and related service personnel to further the implementation of this researched based, integrated instruction model.
Vermont Parent Information Center (PTI) will recruit and train regional parent leaders to ensure access and understanding for parents and families around the Integrated Instruction model: Responsiveness to Intervention, assessment and positive behavioral intervention and supports.
- Early Education: Build the capacity of the Vermont Part C - Family Infant and Toddler Program, the Early Essential Education Program (Section 619 Program), the Vermont Parent Information Center (parent leaders) and Early Childhood Education providers to support the pre , emergent and early literacy needs of infants, toddlers and preschoolers using a trainer of trainers model with technical assistance from the Center for Early Language & Literacy (CELL).This project will work with a broad-based coalition of State and Regional Early Childhood leaders that include: Part C agency, the Department of Education, the Child Care Consortium and the Vermont Parent Information Center. The results of this professional development and technical assistance are that infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and young children with disabilities will have access to early childhood environments that promote literacy, language and social-emotional competence and provide a solid foundation for later reading.
- Speech Language Pathology: Recruit Vermont based students for admittance to a Master’s level Speech Language Pathology program to fill personnel gaps in rural areas of Vermont by 1)creating a distance education graduate program using a hybrid instructional approach of on-line, video web-streaming and community based interaction, 2) scaling up the implementation design and utilizing exemplary practices from SIG 1 & 2 targeting the recruitment of SLP’s (SIG 1) to serve as regionally based mentors for new SLP graduate students, 3) infusing course content with scientifically based practices in RtI and Early Language / Literacy to more effectively collaborate with the SIG 3 Integrated Instruction Model teams.
These projects will reform and improve Vermont’s system for personnel preparation and professional development. This project proposal is aligned with Vermont’s State Performance Plan.
Products
Anticipated outcomes include:
(a) increased access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities;
(b) increased proficiency against grade-level standards, assessment and alternative achievements standards;
(c) early childhood environments that promote early language, literacy, and social-emotional competence;
(d) increased support for parents to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of their children; and
(e) development of a sustainable hybrid Master's-level Speech-Language Pathology program using Web-based distance learning.
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