Pre-referral Activities
State and federal laws require that every effort be made to accommodate a student's learning needs within the regular education classroom prior to any referral for a special education evaluation. These efforts must be documented, and documentation which becomes part of the student record. Specific accommodations may include modifications to the curriculum, use of specific teaching strategies, adapted teaching environments or materials, and/or the use of support services, consultation or any other regular education initiative that may help the student to progress effectively.
Services provided by the Reading Specialist as well as Teacher Assistance Team activities are often considered pre-referral activities. Documenting how the student responds to these interventions is generally the determining factor in whether or not a referral for a special education evaluation is made.
New regulations require the School Principal, in conjunction with the School Council, to develop a Curriculum Accommodation Plan (CAP). As this plan is developed, additional activities will be identified and provided to students so that the diverse learning needs found within the regular educational program will be better met.
Guidance
The Guidance Counselors in the Carlisle Schools perform many important services for our students, teachers, and parents. In Carlisle, we have a guidance counselor for Preschool – gr. 2, grades 3 - 5 and another for grades 6 - 8. Our Guidance Counselors are also certified School Psychologists.
In order to support students’ academic and social development, guidance counselors serve as coordinators and facilitators of their respective Teacher Assistance Teams (TAT), and are members of special education TEAM's. In addition they coordinate and facilitate the administration and reporting of the Massachusetts Curriculum Assessment System (MCAS) in grades 3 - 8, and, at the elementary level, the Guidance Counselor is responsible for facilitating Kindergarten screening and registration.
Counselors also provide short-term counseling to students when requested by a teacher or parent around a specific adjustment issue or life trauma. Efforts are made to help students deal with life stressors in a way that is positive and productive for their overall emotional development.
As helping professionals, guidance counselors also provide a support service to the professional staff with the Carlisle Schools. Consultation around specific student or classroom issues, crisis intervention, and collaboration regarding teacher-led discussion groups are daily occurrences for the guidance counselors.
In all areas, the guidance counselors also support the efforts of the school in their interactions with parents. On an as-needed basis, counselors provide parents with specific education/counseling, individually or in groups, regarding issues which impact their child's functioning in school as well as the community. They provide support and information to parents around an issue that may have occurred, and in general, they try to support families as well as individual students as members of the school community.
Teacher Assistance Teams
For the past several years, considerable energy and concentration has been devoted to supporting the regular education program through Teacher Assistance Teams (TAT's). TAT's are comprised of inter-disciplinary professionals in the school who meet together to gather and discuss relevant information about the learning and behavioral needs of students.
A teacher may request assistance from the TATeam whenever they would like the team's input regarding a specific student or situation. Concerns may focus around academic difficulty, failure to respond to a specific learning approach, or difficulty with behavior management, etc. This process provides a valuable support system for teachers to help them meet the diverse learning needs of the various students in their classrooms.
Reading Specialists
For the past several years, the services of the Reading Specialist have been used to give at-risk first graders an extra boost in reading instruction. Instruction is provided in conjunction with the classroom teacher, and focuses on the development of early literacy skills. Authentic reading and writing tasks are provided using a structured, skill-based approach. Reading Recovery techniques provide the basis for much of the supplemental instruction provided by the Reading Specialists.
In addition to direct instruction to students, the Reading Specialists also works closely with classroom teachers and the special educators. As much as possible, the Reading Specialists consults with teachers throughout the school regarding the reading process. They readily share ideas about methods of reading instruction, alternative techniques and materials, modified approaches and any other professional resources that they can bring to their colleagues.
Health Services
Health services in any public school have come along way from handing out Band-Aids and cough drops. Health services include the many activities performed by two school nurses as well as health educators.
School nursing is a multi-faceted role demanding immediate and correct responses to accidents and sudden illness, daily oversight and distribution of medications, screenings for various conditions, monitoring of individual health plans, and health education. Our school nurses are an integral part of the school community, offering assistance and expertise in many ways throughout the school day. Nurses are included in TEAM meetings when specific health concerns impact a student’s classroom performance, and much coordination takes place between the nursing staff and other service providers.
Title I
Title I is a federally funded program that is new to Carlisle. At this time, the focus of the program is tutoring ‘at-risk’ students in grades 3 – 5 in the area of math instruction. Part-time Title I teachers will be working directly with students, as well as consulting with teachers with the goal of improving instructional techniques and ultimately student performance in all areas of math.