As you are well aware, many of the students referred to SESI school programs require extensive instructional remediation in the area of reading.  The individual instruction in the area of reading that we can provide students on a one to one basis, coupled with cooperative learning groups to support skill expansion, provides a unique learning setting for students to receive remedial, research based reading instruction using a wide variety of reading programs.

A powerpoint display summarizing the overall framework of the reading program of SESI schools can be found by clicking here.  Many of the research based, scientifically evident reading programs that are used from K-12 in our SESI school settings nationwide are profiled in the slides.  The scientific research for each reading program (when available) has been added to the profile of the reading program to validate the validity of the programs use in our school.

While every reading program might not be available in every SESI school, an overview of these programs provides an idea of practices and procedures of reading instruction that occur in each school setting.

An assessment of student reading knowledge is done annually.  All SESI schools use the Woodcock Reading Mastery to determine a student’s reading ability and measure reading growth across time.  Consistent measurement of student achievement in the area of reading allows SESI to track the progress of the individual student and the progressive growth of a particular school setting to know what supports or services are needed to best meet the learning needs of the student on a individual and school wide basis.  

Individual schools use additional reading assessments to guide the process of reading program enrollment for students at each school site. A onsite reading specialist often provides this level of support

Additional information about reading instructional practices at a specific site can be answered at your local school.  

Autumn Kelley, MSEd

Director of Curriculum and Instruction

SESI

Parenting is our greatest opportunity as individuals to impact the future of our world.  Ensuring that that your child receives an excellent education that prepares them to live their life fully equipped to raise future generations as well as be a productive to society is no small order.

We are excited and thrilled that you have chosen or are considering choosing High Road Schools or Seirra Schools to support you as a parent on your mission. 

We are here not only to provide- academic, behavioral, and emotional resources during the school day for your child but we are here to provide  support for you as a parent in several immeasurable ways.  Below is a short- quick list of ways that your child’s High Road School/ Seirra School/ and New Hope Academy can help you as you work to provide a excellent future for your child:

When you have questions about your child at school you have a team of academic and behavioral support resources to call with questions, concerns to just to check up on your child’s progress at school:

• An on-sight social worker who works weekly on a individual basis with your child who can answer your questions, assist with ideas to ensure that your child has the best learning experience on a social, emotional level in the school setting.
• A Special Education Teacher who is working every day at least twice a day one- on- one with your child in the key areas of Reading and Math to provide IEP services and support your child’s academic success and prepare them for future learning experiences back at public school or a higher educational setting
• A team of educational administrators who can provide a range of advice on how to deal with questions and concerns about the IEP process or how to contact community based resources help meet your child’s needs.

Parenting really only boils down to one thing---- ensuring that you give your child the best.

At High Road Schools we believe we are best for your child for a one single reason alone---- our entire mission is focused on one thing your child!

Individualization---- the one on one experience----- preparing your child for a successful future outside and beyond school--- from day one these are the daily experiences that your child will get when you have them attend a High Road School.

How do we do this for each child we serve?
We do it by following a simple creed--- we stay small and we stay focused--- on one single mission:
“Building the best learning and behavioral experience possible for each member of our student body.”

By focusing on the unique elements of your child we cut out the typical systems of management that exist in large learning enviroments and hone in to meet the unique needs of your child.

Working daily to answer the questions that matter to you as a parent,
“How does my child learn best?”
“What is the best way to build engagement and excitement for school tasks that my child finds difficult?”
“What are the supports that will keep my child in school and allow him/her to be successful there?”
“What type of skills  and life lessons can the staff teach my child to help them become successful back in public schools or in life after graduation?”

High Road Schools becomes more them a place for your child to attend school it becomes a partner n helping you provide a viable and independent future for your child’s success!!

When you as a parent have questions, concerns, need advice or support in anyway with your child you have with High Road Schools not one person to contact but an ENTIRE team of people to help you out.  Below are just a short list of the people that you can call on to assist you in creating a successful school life for your child.

How will you know this is happening from the time your child walks in the door?

You will meet with the people who will work directly with your child when you walk in the door--- everyone from the social workers to teachers will know your child by name.

They will be familiar with your child’s needs and will apply the theories of learning and behavioral structure of their expertise to developing a one on one plan for your child’s success. 

When you have questions you will be able to call for answers—you can speak to your child’s teacher, your child’s school director team, or to your child’s social worker.  This powerful team of school experts remain focused on one thing---- which is for us really the only thing--- your child!

Parenting really only boils down to one thing---- ensuring that you give your child the best.

At High Road Schools we believe we are best for your child for a one single reason alone---- our entire mission is focused on one thing your child!

In addition to all of this onsite, in person school support you have this website page. 

As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction for our school companies I will periodically posting timely ideas, advice, and supports available to help you in your number one job as a parent.  Helping you succeed in your role is as key to our mission for your child’s success as teaching your child any academic skill.

If you have individualized questions about how to meet your child’s learning and behavioral needs or would like more information about curriculum and innovative resources feel free to contact me directly at akelley@highroadschool.com.  Your school director is always available to you by phone and appointment to answer immediate questions about your child’s learning success.  I thank you personally, in advance for choosing to partner with High Road Schools to create a successful range of services to support the schooling success of your child.

Hello High Road Teachers!!

The month of February is Black History Month.  Traditionally schools highlight the historical contributions that African American’s have made and discuss the unique trials they have faced as they lived in America throughout its history to the present.

I have created several unique resources here on this page that will help you in lesson planning and teaching during the month.

Each section of the webpage provides links, book lists, multimedia resources, worksheet activities to help you work on this theme with your students. If you have any wonderful and creative plans and resources to add to this list feel free to email me at the direct communication link on the top part of the learning connection page.

Enjoy Teaching! 

Web Based Lesson Plans

Below are two links to lesson plans that are presented in the form of a webquest.  Webquest are unique multimedia learning tools, which allow the student and teacher to directly explore the lessons materials, plans, instructional items (charts, graphs, and maps), all from one location.  Think of them as your chance to do project based instruction with the click of a finger!

Lesson One:  Iron Hill School

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/58iron/58iron.htm

This lesson explores the issue of early education for African American’s.  By examining historical photos of this schoolhouse along with diagrams of its composition and short historical narratives about it written by those living in the period, students learn about history from primary documents.This lesson is perfect for the special education classroom, as students do not have to read to gleam knowledge about the topic.  The creative use of photography and the inquiry questions about the photo sources allow children of all reading and writing levels to participate in the lesson. Click here for attachment

Lesson Two: “How does Dr. Kings dream echo in our lives today?”

http://DrB.lifestreamcenter.net/Lessons/MLKing/index.htm

One of the most important aspects of teaching history to today’s student is leading them on a learning journey to apply the lessons of history to themselves.  This webquest lesson does just that by guiding students on a path to create personal meaning from the words of Martin Luther King’ speeches.

In the lesson students are assigned a different perspective (Historian, Advocate, Adjucator, or Analyzers ) From the viewpoint of this perspective, students as individuals of team engage in a writing response to the question of the lesson, How does Dr’ Kings dream echo in our lives today

This lesson is also great for very low readers as the speeches are all auditory and no reading so many students might succeed without being able to read grade level content.  Students can also work in pairs to create the written assignment. A graphic organizer and rubric should be used when working on this activity to give students support in producing their written response and to give them outlines of expectations. Click here for Attachment

Book List

The following is a list of books focused on the historical perspective of Black History for student divided by elementary, middle, and high school interest and read ability.  Books from any of the list can be modified or read aloud in short passages for students in other grades then the grade levels designated by the listing.

Here are some instructional uses for the books on this list:

➢ Independent reading

➢ Read aloud with the teacher

➢ Book Reports

➢ Vocabulary Words

➢ Extension activities for a lesson on the books topic area  

These books are fairly popular in title and are readily available at your local library and for purchase at amazon.com or other online retail stores. Click here for the books list

Lesson Plans

Lesson plans for Black History month allow students of all races to explore the culture and experiences of individuals who encountered many challenges during their early time here in America.  Allowing students to explore these historical facts and understand these lessons challenges them to personal success.

Lesson Plan One:

Tuskegee Airmen- This lesson is for middle school and early high school but can adapted by the use of different reading materials and modification to the resource sheets for the later grades in elementary.  By including a research report for upper grades high school students it will also suit their interest and ability. Click here for attachment

The teaching supports needed for this lesson plan:  Written Introduction, Thinking Questions, Tuskegee Airmen Student Tasks, Poetry Patterns, Similes and Metaphors, Story Tree, Graphic Organizer for Collecting Data (Forms 1 and 2), and Rubrics for Assessing the Student Projects are Attached.

In all there are 17 pages of resources for this unit lesson: Click here for attachment

Lesson Plan Two:

Remember the Titans- Movies are a great way to introduce sensitive abstract concepts for students in high school.  The learning format of movies is a format that they are already familiar with for entertainment so that transition into the classroom for use to gather information should be an easy one for students to make.  

Attached is a lesson plan for the movie Remember the Titans that discusses the role of integration from the perspective of sports and the lives of various people living this time in history. Click here for attachment

Lesson Plan Three:

Who Got Away? Runaway Slaves- This lesson plan is very interesting it has a link to actual historical newspaper advertisements of runaway slaves.  The lesson plan has students explore various runaway slave ads and write about them. The students can learn a wealth of information from doing these activities about slave history.

The purpose of this lesson is to help students understand the characteristics of 18th century slaves. In addition, the lesson will provide students an opportunity to consider some of the conditions and circumstances that might have accompanied the act of slaves running away. While we have no definitive information regarding the success or failure of the runaway efforts chronicled in the advertisements, students can use the information in the advertisements to make an educated guess. There are some advertisements concerning captured slaves. These can be cross-referenced to determine when slaves were successful in their runaway efforts. Click here for attachment

Quick Independent Activities 

The following activities are great filler activities to do during the course of the month.  You can print out the worksheets for Famous African American Men and Famous African American Women.  Students can complete them and then you can check them with the answer sheet that is attached. Click the numbers for each attachment 1, 2

Additional Resources

Here is a short collection of websites that are available to you to use through black history month for additional classroom activities or research options. Click here for attachment

Introduction

During the next two school years SESI will be renewing its commitment to improve student success in the areas of math and science. In keeping step with the national agenda of our nation to improve student performance in these key areas we will be implementing two powerful instructional interventions in our schools, Saxon Math for middle and high school grades in a majority of our school programs and the addition of Key Math 3 to solidify an assessment based approach to remedial math instruction. 

Saxon Math*

Saxon Math is one of the nation's most thoroughly researched core mathematics programs for grades K–12. Saxon's unique pedagogical approach based on instruction, practice, and assessment distributed across grade levels incorporates more than 25 years of research and classroom experience.

Saxon products and programs have a proven record of success in every type of setting - urban, suburban, rural, public, private, charter, and parochial. The success of the Saxon curriculum can be attributed to the programs distinct, effective, and research-based pedagogy, which helps students develop a deeper understanding of concepts and how to apply them. Saxon's innovative, instructional approach breaks complex concepts into simpler increments, recognizing that smaller pieces of information are easier to teach and easier to learn. The instruction, practice, and assessment of those increments are systematically distributed across a grade level. The distributed approach ensures that students gain and retain critical thinking concepts and use them in real-world situations.

Saxon Math is the ONLY major math program in today’s market that distributes instruction and practice across the academic year, instead of concentrating related concepts into individual chapters to be taught over a short window of time. This fact alone makes it the natural choice for students with disabilities as it allows them to practice previous skills taught over time naturally and within the course of their daily instruction.

The US Department of Education has published a highly favorable report on the effectiveness of Saxon Math at the middle grades. Please access this at the indicated link below:

US Department of Education: What Works Clearing House Review of Saxon Math
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/pdf/WWC_Saxon_Math_Middle_040907.pdf

Additional information about Saxon Math as well as research reports on its effectiveness can be found at: http://saxonpublishers.hmhco.com

*information used to describe Saxon Math from Saxon Math’s official websitehttp://saxonpublishers.hmhco.com

Key Math 3*

The Key Math 3 Diagnostic Assessment is a comprehensive, norm-referenced measure of essential mathematical concepts and skills.   The test is designed to access the understanding and application of critical math concepts and skills from counting through algebra.  The five basic concepts subtests parallel the five content standards of the National Council of Teacher’s of Mathematics (NCTM).  Similar to the NCTM Focal Points, the content of the basic concepts subtests represents a carefully selected set of concepts and skills at each grade level that form the foundation for mathematics learning and connections across subtests.

The subtests assess a student’s ability to apply conceptual knowledge and operational skills to solve math problems.  Student’s ability to solve problems is real-world contexts is also assessed as well as their skill and ability in the use of standard and non-standard problem solving strategies.

The KeyMath 3 DA provides a means of monitoring an individual’s progress over time. Growth scale values (GSVs), a type of developmental scale score, enable users to accurately measure progress across the full range of math concepts and skills.

*Information in the summary was taken from the official Key Math website at www.pearsonassessments.com

This area of the website will be used to answer and profile questions directly from you the reader/web browser about curriculum and instruction or gain information about what works best for students with learning or emotional challenges.
To kick off this section, I am publishing an interview I conducted with Michael Bolen. Michael Bolen is a public school math teacher who is currently writing a unique math curriculum program designed specifically for the students of High Road School! This unique math curriculum will prepare and develop student preparation for success on statewide assessments in the area of Data Analysis and Algebra. The curriculum design will be according to the unique High Road School learning formula where a student’s daily lesson will consist of:

• 20 mins of one to one instruction with their teacher
• 20 mins of reinforcement with the teacher assistant
• 20mins of independent practice on the lesson skill of the day

This curriculum will debut in our Baltimore City School program, New Hope Academy and our Beltsville Maryland school classrooms in early January.

Read the Q and A below as we introduce Michael Bolen to the High Road School Community and learn more about his views on how to provide the best instructional supports and services in the area of math for students with unique and comprehensive learning needs.

Q: Please tell us a little bit about yourself - (Hobbies, Family, Pets, How long have you been teaching at High Road Schools?, Why do you enjoy teaching at High Road Schools?, What is the greatest satisfaction that you gleam from working with students at High Road School?)
A: I spend my nights after work and downtime with my best friend and fiancée, Julie, and our dog, Rockie.  We like to play with Rock often, especially when we take him for walks.  When Jules and I have time to spend together we enjoy talking and watching the Mets or Jets.  I also enjoy the occasional pick up basketball game or tossing horseshoes with friends.  My competitive nature was magnified by sports when I was younger, so I utilize that in the classroom by never giving up and doing whatever it takes to accomplish my goals.
I began my teaching career at the High Road School at Somerset immediately after I finished college. I was only 21 at the time, so I had students in my class that were just about the same age as me.  That was a very interesting challenge because some of the students saw me more as a friend, than a teacher. I worked hard to establish a great working relationship with those students and I have no doubt that my youth and passion were main factors in their decision to accept me as a teacher. I was most satisfied while working at High Road when I was able to share success with the students. The students of High Road made the experience a memorable one.  I find myself remembering certain experiences and applying the lessons I learned from them to my daily life.  With a little bit of persistence and patience you can accomplish a lot.
After a year at High Road I took my experiences and memories with me to teach Math at a public high school.  I see many similarities between my High Road students and some of my students now.  It is more of a struggle to accommodate and modify instruction, but I work very diligently to make strong improvements.

Q: When you were in school did you have a favorite mathematics teacher? Describe the characteristics that made this individual your favorite?  During the course of your teaching day what are some of the things you do to make sure that your students experience this same feeling when they are in your classroom?
A: I actually have the privilege of now working with my favorite mathematics teacher, because we both teach Math in the same public high school.  He was my favorite because he was the hardest working and most organized.  I felt that if he was working that hard to help me, I better apply myself even more and make sure I do exceptionally well.  It was the passion and enthusiasm that he brought to class everyday that made me a better student.
When I am teaching my classes I try to make sure that the students see my interest in the content and my energy level.  I feel that a passionate, energetic, and enthusiastic teacher is the best kind.  I try to help my students see the work we do through many perspectives, especially how their efforts now will build the discipline they need later in life.  I hope they see my passion and become intelligent, hard working, and responsible young adults.

Q: How do you accommodate different learning styles in the process of math instruction for high school and middle school students?
A: Accommodating for different learning styles is a constant struggle, made even more challenging by the inclusion of students with learning disabilities.  I try to use multisensory approaches when working through a lesson, because I find it helps keep the students more attentive.  I also try to spiral all of the material constantly, so that there are many opportunities to learn and relearn challenging concepts.  I also have created a few jeopardy style review games that help spark an interest when we are preparing for an exam.  However, I find that sometimes my strongest efforts fail to reach all the students.  When that happens, I slow the pace of instruction a bit, provide more practice for reinforcement, and use that time to work individually or in small groups with students who are struggling.

Q: In many mathematics classes content is taught in isolation, with little attempt to make mathematics investigative or dynamic, or to connect mathematics to other disciplines or real-world contexts. What are some of the creative ways that you correct for this problem and make mathematics an engaging, subject connected to your students daily lives and futures?
A: As the students reach higher-level math classes, I start to see that the opportunity for these types of creative and investigative learning opportunities decreases, as the concepts grow more abstract.  However, when I have the opportunity to challenge the students, I always try and take advantage. For example, probability is a topic that I like to have the students use experimental probability to discover the actual theoretical probabilities of certain events.  The students spend about 15 or 20 minutes rolling dice and recording the data.  It is interesting to watch the students notice the patterns and form their own conclusions.  The investigative approach shows the students what mathematics is really all about; discovery.
Making connections to the world around us is a practice that I like to make time for when appropriate.  Patterns, for example allows me to discuss the Fibonacci sequence and its presence in sunflower florets.  Small connections go a long way in showing the students just how significant mathematics is and how prevalent it is in the world around us.

Q: One of the biggest challenges to teaching math in special education is having to work with students who have a wide and varying range of abilities and skills.  How do you balance the need to cover the content of the state standards at the student’s grade level and provide remedial support in key skill areas for students who are working below grade level in math?
A: I find that cumulative practices are very effective in helping get through all the state standards and in helping students improve their overall skills. Spiraling instruction by constantly reintroducing old topics reinforces prior student learning as well as builds student confidence. The students have the opportunity to learn and practice a concept multiple times, so as they experience success their confidence grows. That increase in confidence helps them tackle new concepts being introduced for the first time. It is a very delicate balance to keep up a good class pace, while providing that additional support. In an ideal setting we would have more class time and more teachers, but since we do not, it is important to remain consistent and use every student question as a class learning experience. Encourage students to learn from one another’s mistakes, and try to never make the same mistake twice.