This month’s Bright Spots come from the Quality Improvement Process (QIP) team at Hillcrest Elementary School in Peekskill.
What were students able to achieve?
Students with disabilities:
- spent more time in general education classes
- took on leadership roles as team and class leaders
- increased the frequency and quality of their student-led discussions demonstrating higher levels of critical thinking
- developed a growth mindset
- increased reading stamina and comprehension as well as knowledge of math concepts and facts
What practices or systems made this possible?
Teachers:
- learned about and implemented evidence-based practices
- developed a common language around planning scaffolded lessons, then collaboratively planned specially designed instruction and co-taught lessons
- had students start each lesson discussing “why is this important?” with each other
- collected and analyzed RtI data with clinical staff
- engaged in inter-classroom and -grade visitations
- held classroom celebrations for student behavior
- increased parent involvement
What can we learn from this Bright Spot?
When a team of teachers and administrators collaborate to identify the critical school and life outcomes for their students with disabilities, and then collaboratively create, implement and evaluate a quality improvement plan that is shared with staff for feedback on an on-going basis, students achieve critical and life-long academic and social-emotional skills.