Supporting Inclusive Practices for Students with Disabilities

Topics for 2024-25: 

• Session 1: Using Data to Dismantle Educational Inequalities
• Session 2: MTSSS to Advance Equity
• Session 3: Advancing Equitable Evaluation Practices
• Session 4: Promoting Equitable Disciplinary Practices

Session 1: Using Data to Dismantle Educational Inequalities

Session 1, Pre-work (September 10, 2024)

• Read to understand the aims of a Community of Practice: Introduction to Communities of Practice (Approx. 17 min read)
• Read: Centering Equity in Program Evaluation (Approx. 15 min read)
• Read: Using Student Data for Equity (3 min read)
• Create a list of all of the types of data you collect in your school/district. Please think about the different levels of data (e.g. whole school, community, parent, school staff, groups of students, and individual student level data).

Using Data to Dismantle Education Inequities (PDF), 9/10/2024

• Webinar: Using Data to Promote Equity (5/14/24) “School Mental Health Virtual Learning Series,” National Center for School Mental Health and the University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Anti-Racist Evaluation Strategies WestEd
• Looking at Data Through an Equity Lens ASCD
• Annual Reports and Information Staff (Annual Reports) - Equity in Education Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics
• Core Problem Solving PLC Notetaker & Instructional Plan Asheville City Schools, North Carolina
• Centering Equity in Data-Based Decision-Making: Considerations and Recommendations for Leadership Teams Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety - West Ed, and the Center on PBIS

Session 2:  MTSS to Advance Equity

• Optional: If you would like an introduction to or refresher in MTSS, complete a 50-min online CO MTSS Introductory Training 
• Using a Blank MTSS Chart (fillable, printable, or create your own), list what supports or actions your school utilizes are each MTSS tier. Include academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and any other supports. 
• Read: Leveraging MTSS to Ensure Equitable Outcomes (Approx.: 12 min read)

MTSS to Advance Equity (PDF), 11/12.2024

Additional Learning about MTSS to Advance Equity

• COMTSS Online Academy Colorado Department of Education
• COMTSS Implementation Guide Colorado Department of Education
• MTSS Practice Profile Michigan Department of Education (utilized by CDE)
  • COMTSS District Practice Profile
  • COMTSS School Practice Profile
  • COMTSS Region Practice Profile
• Colorado Multi-Tiered System of Supports Equity Reflection Tool Colorado Department of Education
• Tiered Instruction Matrix Tool (Word Doc)  Swift Education Center
• SWIFT MTSS Starter Kit Swift Education Center
• MTSS Resource Archive Swift Education Center
• Equity by Design: - Foundations of Equity-Centered MTSS Midwest & Plains Equity Assistance Center
• Promoting Principal Leadership for the Success of Students with Disabilities Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the CEEDAR Center

Additional Learning About PBIS: Positive Behavior Incentives and Supports

• What is PBIS? Center on PBIS
• CDE PBIS Tools and Resources Colorado Department of Education

Session 3:  Advancing Equitable Evaluation Practices

Session 3, Pre-work (February 11, 2025)

• If you are not familiar with special education evaluations and eligibility for the IEP (Individualized Education Program), consider watching an IEP parent-facing overview webinar (35 mins). This may be a useful resource for sharing with families as well. 

Watch:

• Why a team approach matters for serving ELLs in special education (3 mins) 
• What roles do different educators play on the referral team? (3 mins)
• Why administrators are critical to special education processes for ELLs (2 mins)
• Over- and under-identification of ELLs with disabilities (2 mins)

Slides: A Community of Practice on Advancing Equity for Students with Disabilities in Schools (PDF) 

Additional Learning about Equitable Evaluation Practices

• Challenges in Special Education Identification for ELLs (MLLS), Colorin Colorado
• Read: Reimagining Approaches to Dismantling Disproportionality in Special Education and Beyond (Approx. 10 mins)
• Read: Significant Disproportionality in Special Education: Current Trends and Actions for Impact (15 minutes)

Session 4: Promoting Equitable Disciplinary Practices

Session 4, Pre-work (May 13, 2025)

• Review and bring any district or school data you have about discipline. This ideally should be disaggregated by students with disabilities (including by type of disability), but further disaggregation would be most useful (e.g. gender, grade levels, race/ethnicity, free/reduced lunch, multilingual learners).
• Read: Significant Disproportionality in Special Education (Approx.: 10 min read)
  • This reading was previously provided as pre-work for our Evaluation session. Read or review the section titled Discipline Disproportionality, starting on page 5, and Discipline Alternatives, starting on page 7 through the end
• Read: NEA: How Exclusionary Discipline Creates Disconnected Students (3 min read)
• Read: Somers: Study Reveals Importance of Parent Trust (2 min read)
• Read: IRIS Center: Cultural Influences on Behavior (15 min read w/ audio clips)
• Watch: How culture may impact behavior in the classroom (3 min)

(PowerPoint will be posted after the session)

Additional Learning about MTSS to Advance Equity

(Resources posted after session)

Please register to attend the virtual CoP