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 Texas Public Schools, Region 4 Builds Inclusive Schools through Universal Design, Assistive Technology and Professional Development
How do 48 districts with over 1470 schools in a state as large as Texas provide the least restrictive learning environment for 20,000 students with disabilities?
The Texas Region 4 Education Service Center (ESC) and participating campuses are leading a three-year initiative to integrate assistive technology into their schools with a universal design for learning approach. The ‘Building Inclusive Schools Initiative’ (BISI) is funded through IDEA (Individuals with Disability Education Act) for professional development and encourages district-wide use of an assistive technology software, called SOLO so Texas students can access the general education curriculum.
“Some educators still believe that assistive technology can only benefit students with severe disabilities,” said Dr. Michael Webb, a consultant for BISI. “This assumption is limiting and generally not the case. Without technology, we cannot provide an individual learning approach. Without it, we cannot prepare our students for the digital age. Without it, we cannot bridge the gap between general and special education and truly provide a least restrictive learning environment.”
Through BISI’s mission, Texas educators can:
- Align with IDEA and with state and local education improvement efforts
- Improve results for students with disabilities through higher expectations and meaningful access to the general education curriculum
- Address individual student needs in the least restrictive environment
- Model collaboration and consultation between general and special education staff
- Focus on best practices for academic and behavior interventions
- Address specific needs of campus personnel at the appropriate levels of readiness, awareness, knowledge/information, application, and operations
Building Capacity through Professional Development and Leadership
Dr. Webb works with five individuals who manage the program from a central training and information facility. To build teacher capacity, they focus on training and leadership and are proactively involved in every step of implementing assistive technology at each school. Dr. Webb says, “BISI emphasizes the need for ongoing technology training, on-site technical support, and face-to-face teacher interaction.”
BISI serves thousands of pre-K, elementary, middle and high school students across 120 campuses. Students in a variety of general and special education use SOLO, including those in the gifted and talented programs. Teachers are trained on SOLO’s easy-to-use tools, such as a text reader to read digital books and a word prediction writing tool to support students who are poor spellers. Students who need these tools often find the task of reading and writing to be a barrier to learning success. By providing accessible formats, students are able to access higher levels of information and materials that would otherwise be difficult to obtain in accessible formats.
Mr. Benterah C. Morton, M.Ed., Principal of Stafford Elementary School, Stafford Municipal School District in Texas Region 4, said “BISI provides us with valuable professional services and saves us thousands of dollars. Our staff learned how to integrate SOLO into the daily curriculum to serve a variety of student needs.”
Each workshop begins by asking teachers to anticipate the barriers that students routinely encounter during a lesson assignment. “We don’t want to wait for kids to fail,” shared Dr. Webb. “We want to support students at every level; whether on an accelerated path or who are working below grade level standards.”
A Universal Design for Learning Approach  “SOLO is a tool that provides a UDL approach to teaching and learning and helps to accommodate student weaknesses and leverage their strengths,” said Dr. Webb.
Teachers receive training on SOLO’s four components: Read:OutLoud, a text reader that reads eBooks and the Internet aloud through high-quality computer synthesized voices; Co:Writer, a word prediction writing tool that helps students write with correct spelling and grammar; Draft:Builder, a graphic organizer that steps students through the writing process, and Write:OutLoud, a talking word processor.
Teachers use the technology to create accessible lesson assignments by embedding multiple means of representation within every lesson; a UDL approach. Schools who participate receive SOLO and the opportunity to renew the software after three-years. BISI mandates training to ensure that teachers get the daily support to feel confident using the technology to serve the broadest range of students’ needs.
“Today, teachers teach other teachers how to use SOLO to help students overcome their learning challenges,” said Mr. Morton. “We’re building a UDL environment and technology capacity in our computer labs and classrooms. Teachers embraced Read:OutLoud with SMART Boards and provide accessible instruction curriculum materials. SOLO also provides audio and writing support for students with visual and reading disabilities and for ESL students. The kids really enjoy using the technology!”
The Region 4 ESC anticipates that those who have been through the BISI/SOLO professional development program will see these benefits:
For Texas Students:• Increase performance on TAKS and other TAKS related assessments
• Increase time spent in general education classes
• Increase student-owned strategies (academic and behavioral)
For Texas Education Staff: • Increase knowledge and skills in academic and positive behavior interventions
• Improve understanding and attitude of general education staff for inclusion
• Improve staff perceptions and expectations of students with disabilities
• Increase communication and collaboration between general and special education staff
For Texas Schools/Campuses:
• Comprehensive inclusion plan integrated into the campus improvement plan
• Targeted technical assistance and training to meet specific campus needs
• Formative and summative evaluation data to support instructional programming
To learn more about Texas Region 4 BISI visit: http://bisi09.wordpress.com/
http://www.inclusivesupport.org/benefits.htm
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