Haring Center
UW Demonstration Sites
We are excited to announce our first cohort of inclusionary practices demonstration sites across Washington State. These schools will be opening their doors this Spring and in Fall 2020 to visitors. These schools are committed to providing transformational learning experiences to aid their colleagues who are working to build inclusionary practices at their own schools.
Demonstration sites will share their journey to becoming a more inclusive school with educators from across Washington State. These schools are at various stages of their journey towards becoming fully inclusive learning communities. Some demonstration sites started implementing inclusionary systems and practices 6 years ago, and other schools are embarking on years 1 and 2 of their journey. The experience of visiting schools at different stages in their journey provides a unique opportunity to learn from schools that have well-established systems and supports in place and also from schools that have just recently shifted mindsets and have brand new systems in place.
Demonstration sites highlight a variety of inclusive practices. Some of the examples of inclusionary practices highlighted across this first cohort of schools include: Master scheduling to support all learners, Multi Tiered systems of supports, Coteaching and coplanning, Assistive technology, and Inclusive mission and vision statements. Visitors will be able to observe inclusionary practices in action, meet with school teams, collect artifacts to aid in systems change, and engage in discussion about how these inclusionary practices might transfer from one school context to another.
Currently, we have a webinars available in April 2020 for our Spring Demonstration sites. The registration/sign-up up can be found when you click on the school descriptions below. In mid-April, we will offer an online sign up to allow schools to visit Demonstration sites in May and June. If Washington State schools have not re-opened in late Spring, we will offer webinars that will provide virtual site visits to our Spring 2020 Demonstration sites. Clock hours are available for Spring 2020 webinars. Please see a description of our first cohort of sites below, including what inclusionary practices they are highlighting and when they are available to host visiting schools.
If you have additional questions, please contact us: uwdemosites@uw.edu.
Spring 2020
ESD #112: McMicken Heights Elementary
Highline School District
McMicken Heights Elementary is a diverse school in the Highline School district that in 2017 exited Focus School status for students with IEPs and now serves as a model demonstration site for inclusive practices. McMicken has hosted approximately 50 school teams who have come to learn about McMicken’s journey and exemplary inclusionary practices. Leading with an inclusive vision and mission, we prioritize the Master Schedule by having key stakeholders (general ed/special ed) give input and ensure that it supports all learners. Our professional development has included strategies to support common planning, differentiation blocks, flexible service delivery with co-teaching. This learning for all staff in effective pedagogy to support both access to core content while still providing individualized instruction has been the foundation of our work. By way of creative and student-centered resource allocation, we have made sure that all practitioners have what they need to differentiate and support students. Our intentional coaching cycles provides support in creating understanding of best practices in co-teaching and differentiation strategies. This has resulted in: All students participating in core content instructional blocks, specially designed instruction provided during intervention blocks or additional small group instruction, in addition to being embedded in core instruction. We look forward to sharing our story of how strong partnerships and collaboration within and outside of a school set the stage for the development of a “labsite” for inclusive practices.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Master scheduling to support inclusion
- Students engaged in core content (grade level standards)
- Coteaching and coplanning
- Student engagement
- Differentiated instruction.
ESD #101: Meadow Ridge Elementary
Mead School District
Schoolwide PBIS was the first major step in our change process at Meadow Ridge to create a more inclusive school. During the first year a representative PBIS team was established for the purpose of learning about effective PBIS practices. The team then designed a comprehensive program, with a clear rollout plan for the school. The first phase of the system was to clearly establish the school-wide expectations and then explicitly teach these expectations to all students. At the same time, the team created a PBIS data system in order to make adjustments to the program based on data. Once the Tier I PBIS system was in place, the team began researching and learning about Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions.
Our master scheduling changes were the second step in the change process for Meadow Ridge. Prior to the 2018-19 school year, Meadow Ridge did not have defined instruction times for core or intervention blocks. At times, students had been pulled out of core instruction to receive supplemental instructional services. The updated schedule includes a seamless and systematic delivery model for tiered flexible skill groups, using all building instructional resources including our LAP and Special Education staff. Our priorities are to provide each student with equitable instructional opportunities based on their needs, and to ensure that all students have access to both core instruction and differentiated supports. Along with the changes to the master schedule, Meadow Ridge is working to develop and refine RTI systems that support the needs of all learners. Student growth data and instructional practice is discussed regularly through PLC time and additional data meetings/RTI check-ins. Each inclusionary practice that has been implemented at Meadow Ridge has been effective due to distributed leadership.
Highlighting the following practices:
- Master Scheduling to support inclusion
- Multi tiered systems of support
- PBIS
- Leadership development
ESD #189: Hidden River Middle School
Monroe School District
Hidden River Middle School is fully committed to the idea of All Means All and we know the only way to achieve this is through unsurpassed collaboration on behalf of the students we serve. As a result of our commitment to All Means All, 6 years ago we began the process of re-thinking all that we do at HRM. This included a monumental shift in how we serve students that qualify for special education — moving from a pull-out / exclusionary approach to a full inclusionary model where all students are in grade level classes, receiving grade level instruction on grade level standards. As a part of this shift, we’ve developed a full pyramid of interventions for our students. This includes strong Tier 1 supports for all students, immediate and responsive Tier 2 supports for students that need it, and targeted Tier 3 support for the students that come to us with gaps in their learning. Previously, referring students to Special Education was how we responded when students struggled. Now, our pyramid process identifies what students need by identifying the cause(s), not the symptoms. We provide a continuum of services for students that have an IEP, including a strong co-teach model in both Math and ELA. All students have access to grade level standards because we believe that raising the bar for students is what will help us close the gap. All of this is built on our commitment to unsurpassed levels of collaboration for the kids that walk through our doors … we can only achieve greatness for All of our students by working together and relentlessly pursuing excellence as a team.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Students engaged in core content (grade level standards)
- Collaboration
- Multi tiered systems of support,
- Coteaching and coplanning
ESD #105: Toppenish Middle School
Toppenish School District
Our model of inclusive education in Toppenish began with a vision and mission centered on the idea of “Inclusive education for all.” We want our students to be able to access their full potential. Inclusive education is a commitment that all of our educators (teachers, school psychologists, speech and language therapists, paraprofessionals, administrators, etc.) believe in and promote within our district. We approach differentiated instruction as a collaborative conversation and process between both general education and special education teachers. Our Inclusion Specialists (Special education teachers) work with our general education teachers to identify the essential standards/targets within the core curriculum and discuss how the content is going to be delivered to students in the classroom. They plan together and Inclusion Specialists use these collaborative moments as a springboard to modify and differentiate the materials/instruction. We have created collaborative tools that increase implementation fidelity that we use when looking at student programming, plans, and instruction. We look forward to sharing our road map of how we started and the hurdles along the way. We’ve developed tools to help educators look at instruction and plan for students with disabilities in their classrooms. Our inclusion specialists can show others how to collaborate with general education teachers, modify curriculum, and help students learn/grow in the classroom along their peers.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Differentiated curriculum planning and instruction
- Inclusive vision and mission
- Collaboration
ESD #112: Evergreen High School
Evergreen School District
At Evergreen High School, we have essentially two different strategies we have used to improve inclusion in our school. The first is creating a master schedule that allows for something we call a Gateway to College Block. That block classes consists of 4 teachers (2 content, 1 academic support, 1 special education) and 60 students over 2 periods per block. We have about two thirds of our freshmen in these block classes and it is the normal track for all 9th graders. The only students who are not scheduled in the block classes are students in honors or advanced level courses. Our Gateway to College Block provides for nearly all students receiving special education services to be enrolled in the block classes and have the benefit of 4 teachers over two periods. Besides the content teachers, our academic support teacher works specifically to help students complete their work and deepen their understanding and learning while the special education teacher works to improve students’ executive functioning skills all within the context of general education English and Math courses. We are only in year 2 of shifting our practice and at this point we only have this available for 9th graders, but are looking to increase our block classes to include 10th grade next year and up from there.
In addition to our block model, we have also implemented a co-teaching model. We’ve used this model for a number of years now and it has done well to help shift the mindset of our staff.
This coming year we are looking to alter our co-teaching model by changing the role of the special education teacher. Instead of having that person teach with a general education teacher, he or she will act more as an instructional coach to help provide our general education teachers with the skills in lesson modification and accommodations so that they will be able to better instruct our students with disabilities. By shifting our practices our teachers have been placed in a situation where they’re able to collaborate more specifically around individual students. These practices have reduced the student to teacher ratio allowing more focused contact within each class period. Teachers are planning together rather than in isolation where they focus on pedagogical strategies to ensure students meet standards as well as content.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Coteaching and coplanning,
- Master scheduling to support inclusion,
- Flexible service delivery model.
Fall 2020
ESD #121: Mark Twain Elementary
Lake Washington School District
Our current model has evolved from a continuum of services that match student needs to a vision of creating opportunities for all students to access core instruction regardless of traditional service categories. Our journey started by visiting other schools and in turn coming to the conclusion that our master schedule needed to be centered on the idea that all students should access core instruction,. In addition to accessing core, the master schedule allows us to create Power Groups. Power Groups are data-driven blocks of intervention, reteaching and/or extension that impact all students within our building. For Kindergarten and 1st grade, we are currently focusing on ELA; whereas, all other grades have both ELA and Math Power Groups. Looking ahead, our goal is to have ELA and Math Power Groups across all grade levels and continue to adjust the master schedule to better support teachers and students as we get more comfortable with this instructional framework. This year we have focused on creating grade level teams that include not only general education teachers, but also interventionists who co-plan to provide immediate support and create engaging activities for all learners. We essentially provided intervention support at each grade level to support a flexible delivery model. Therefore, our goal this year has been to expand our flexible service model to include not only special education students, but all students who are receiving intervention service and supports in order to maximize the amount of time spent in the general education classroom.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Master scheduling to support inclusion
- Students engaged in core content
- Flexible service delivery
ESD #121: Kokanee Elementary
Northshore School District
Kokanee Elementary School is a large elementary school with a deeply committed, inclusive staff supporting a range of diverse learners. Our school staff has implemented a MTSS/PBIS program with a high level of fidelity and has regularly served as a support or site visit location for other schools working on the implementation process of PBIS. Our school team has one hundred percent participation in implementing the PBIS model and sets regular goals to ensure all students are receiving positive reinforcement, recognition for their contributions to the school community and responsive interventions to support increasing positive pro-social behaviors. We are currently working to increase collaborative partnerships in a co-teaching model, so while this is not necessarily embedded throughout our school, we are providing flexible models at different grade levels based on student-need. Each student is known by name, strength and need at Kokanee. Our teams use data analysis to plan instruction and interventions, and each staff member takes responsibility for all students. Kokanee is known for the highly engaged, inclusive staff supporting all students with IEPs in a flexible model of service delivery.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- PBIS
- Flexible service delivery
- Collaboration
ESD #101: Chase Middle School
Spokane School District
Description for this block. Use this space for describing your block. Any text will do. Description for this block. You can use this space for describing your block. Description for this block. Use this space for describing your block. Any text will do. Description for this block. You can use this space for describing your block.
The mission at Chase Middle School is All belong, All learn, All lead. When our students with disabilities access general education classes, it helps strengthen the idea that our mission is truly for all students. Our school is in year one of implementing co-teaching. Most of our students who qualified for special education services were falling farther behind as shown by their SBAC scores, they were being pulled during academic classes to receive their special education services. We started to look at the research and our data, and this suggested that there were better outcomes for students with disabilities when they attended a co-taught or general education classes. From here, we started to develop more of a continuum of services to examine how all our students could benefit from a more flexible service delivery model. To do this, we met with feeder schools of incoming 7th graders and reviewed every students IEP to match student needs with support along the continuum. We also handpicked teacher teams based on personalities, content expertise, and eagerness to serve all students. We worked extensively on our Master schedule to create common planning periods and to allow for co-teaching in Language Arts and Math in 7th and 8th grades. We are early in our journey but are already seeing good outcome data and are excited to share the changes we have made and our plans to continuously improve our inclusionary practices.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Coteaching and coplanning
- Master Scheduling to support inclusion
ESD #114: Brinnon K-8
Brinnon School District
At Brinnon K-8 all students, regardless of ability, are engaged in the general education classrooms for core content instruction. We strongly believe that all students learn more effectively in the classroom and that when we embed the necessary supports, all students benefit. Our focus on differentiated classroom supports and small classroom sizes allows teachers to work closely with all students to understand their strengths and needs. By designing curriculum and assignments around student interests and strengths, we are able to maximize student learning potential. We bring in additional supports for all our students through flexible service delivery, by including volunteer teachers, AmeriCorps volunteers, and paraprofessionals. Our special education teacher collaborates closely with the general education teacher and provides instruction and coaching for students with IEPs in general education classrooms.
Teachers have learned a great deal from our focus on inclusionary practices. They have had extensive training on trauma-informed classrooms. They have learned to manage students with varying academic and behavioral needs and coordinate classroom support. In May of 2019, our district was awarded the OSPI award for closing opportunity gaps. This was a huge award for our little community and it reflected much hard work. OSPI rates student growth on a scale from 1-10. Our special education growth was rated a 10. We are excited to welcome visitors to our school.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Flexible services
- Students engaged in core content
- Family/community engagement
- Strengths based planning
ESD #171: Clovis Point Intermediate School
Eastmount School District
Our school’s vision is “Equity for All.” and our mission is “To provide the promise of opportunity to ALL through a quality education.” This means that two conditions must be met: first, every child must have equal access to the same opportunities for learning, and second, every child must have the supports they need to fully engage in those opportunities. The combination of our three inclusionary practices – coteaching, assistive technology and schoolwide modified grading rubrics – provide students with the access to and support for grade-level instruction and academic success. This is our first year implementing coteaching and full inclusion. This shift in our practice has led to a stronger culture of “our students” and more dialogue about inclusive teaching practices. The impacts of the assistive technologies are visible on a daily basis. We see struggling readers willing to tackle popular “thick books.” Pre-primer readers are able to enjoy “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and experience the same immersion in the story felt by grade-level readers. Essays written by students with significant SDI needs are growing from one paragraph to three paragraphs. Students are learning to use tools that chip away at the learned helplessness so many of our learners experience when they are not taught to use the tools they need to be successful at school. The impact of the rubrics on our students with SDI needs has been an increase in academic achievement; some of our students have made the Honor Roll for the first time in their school careers. For teachers, the rubrics have led to deeper conversations about the purpose of and equity in grading.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Coteaching and coplanning
- Assistive technology
- Modified grading rubrics
Winter 2021
ESD #121: Ruby Bridges Elementary
Northshore School District
Ruby Bridges Elementary opens in September 2020. This school has been designed specifically to be an inclusive campus. We are committed to developing a school where all students have meaningful access to general education academic and social emotional learning opportunities and where students are seen from a strengths-based, student first view. Every single policy, practice and decision is approached with the lens of inclusive practices to be certain we are consistent with the vision for the school. The structures and scheduling within the school will be designed to support reduction of barriers for student access and engagement in general education learning. Each grade level will have a block of RTI time for ELA and Math provided in addition to core instruction. All students will access intervention and extension during this time and groupings will not be segregated into EL specific, Special Education specific or other labels; instead groups will be based on recursive analysis of student learning data. Classroom placements and groupings will be made with attention to the needs of our students and maximizing supports available within the general education setting through co-teaching partnerships and collaboration. Our full staff team will be trained in Universal Design for Learning during our first year, and the teaching partnerships for co-teaching will be provided targeted professional development to support implementation of this model. We will initially focus on supporting teacher development of clarity around learning targets and indicators for success in all content areas. Through this development teachers will strive to embed UDL components in their teaching while also implementing data-drive RTI in the ELA and Math content areas.
Highlighting the following inclusionary practices:
- Inclusive Mission and Vision
- Coteaching and coplanning
- Flexible service delivery
- Universal Design for Learning