St. Croix River Education District2010-2011 Annual Service Report

Presented to the Superintendents Operating Committee on October 11th, 2011 and the SCRED Governing Board

on November 1st, 2011 By Dr. Kim Gibbons

Kim Gibbons, Education District Executive DirectorJamie Nord, Special Education Director

Kerry Bollman, Instructional Services CoordinatorKindle Perkins, Outcomes Manager

Valorie Arrowsmith, Adults with Disabilities Service ManagerSally Welsh, Adult Basic Education Service Manager and Project SEEK Coordinator

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The Annual Report to School Boardsof the

St. Croix River Education DistrictSchool Year 2011-12

IntroductionThe 2011-12 school year marks the 20th year since the organization known as the St. Croix River Education District (SCRED) was formed. SCRED continues to provide a broad and deep array of services to its member districts. It also is selling services to former member Willow River. Among the state’s Cooperatives and Education Districts, SCRED is unique in its significant involvement with improving classroom instruction, which is so important because that is where learning occurs. This annual service report to governance summarizes the SCRED 2010-11 activities. Some of the years’ more significant events are listed below.

SCRED’s largest program, Unique Learners, manages the special education programs in the districts but does so in a manner so as to work as closely as possible with “regular education”. This was the second year with a Director of Special Education who provided on-site services in North Branch and general oversight of all six SCRED district special education programs. Two Unique Learners’ Managers provide supervision and supports for all special education programming. The 2010-11 school year was marked with a significant amount of change and planning in the area of special education at SCRED. Decisions made during the 2010-11 school year ranged from reconfiguring positions to expanding the use of SpEd Forms, from selecting a Language Arts alternate core curriculum to the development of new special education programs. A quality review of IEP’s across SCRED districts (CIMP Process) indicated that on a scale from 1-4 with 4 being the highest, the SCRED-wide average rating was 3.43 for IEPs and 3.63 for Evaluation Summary Reports (ESRs). Our special education teachers continue to meet expectations for high quality due process paperwork. This year, there was one complaint filed with the Office of Civil Rights; the outcome is still pending. In addition, there was one complaint filed with the Minnesota Department of Education. The district has taken the necessary corrective action steps in response to the final decision. Parents in two cases requested mediation services. An agreement was reached in one of the mediation meetings, while the other mediation meeting has yet to occur. The Director of Special Education and Unique Learners’ Managers facilitated a handful of other conciliation meetings across the SCRED districts, but all the issues were resolved successfully without needing to proceed to a due process hearing.

The Outcomes Service at SCRED provides a variety of services related to data-driven decision making. While the system of accountability related to statewide testing is certainly the most influential of these data, there is a wealth of related information on student performance that can provide critical assistance to member district teachers and administrators as they make decisions about curriculum and instruction. The outcomes service is focused on helping both to provide decision-makers with easy and efficient access to these data, and to provide assistance with interpreting the data. The mission is to help all staff to make decisions based on accurate and timely information. The 2010-11 was a year of transition with a new Outcomes Services Manager who had to clean up many problems and databases. Data did not get into the webportal in a timely fashion due to a variety of factors. The “outcomes crisis” did result in a positive change of all districts switching to the TIES Student Information System (SIS). Having all districts on the same SIS will create a much more efficient platform for getting data into the webportal in a timely manner!

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The Instructional Services team at SCRED, led by Kerry Bollman, had a productive year! The 2010-2011 school year was characterized by high quality intensive training activities designed to prepare teachers to better meet the academic skills needs of all students, to fully implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act reauthorized in 2005, and to begin the study of the 2010 MN ELA standards which will be first tested in 2013. The instructional services team supported districts in their study of the new MN ELA standards and in early implementation planning. The grade level team facilitator project and problem solving training provided support to staff in using data for ongoing decision-making. The eighth year of training and support for AmeriCorps members working in age 3 to grade 3 classrooms in SCRED schools and around the state was provided.  Specific support to general education teachers on strategic interventions, and to LD teachers and School Psychologists was offered in the area of special education entitlement decision making under the LD category in compliance with newly revised state legislation, and specific training to School Psychologists to increase their skills in facilitating within a Response to Intervention model was provided. Finally, the team implemented a Math Corps project for Grades 4-6.

All SCRED districts continued their fourth year of an Age 3-Grade 3 Initiative. Each district has individualized goals. At the end of this year, all districts were continuing with benchmarking using IGDIs (Individual Growth and Development Indicators) for early literacy and PNIs (Preschool Numeracy Indicators) for early numeracy. During the 2010-11 school year, the early childhood teachers met regularly through the curriculum review cycle to study best practices in programming, data collection, technology, and standards. The teachers spent time last summer doing curriculum mapping to standards.

SCRED’s community education programs WE‘R’ABLE and Adult Basic Education continue to serve those unique populations. WE’R’ABLE held 67 classes and served 2633 total participants! In addition, a Chisago County support Group served 576 participants throughout the course of the school year. Jeannette Kester retired in May and was replaced by Valorie Arrowsmith. Project SEEK was offered again for the 18th year, and 191 students participated. Results of the parent evaluation of the project remain very positive, with 96% indicating they were very satisfied with the program and 100% of parents indicating they would enroll their child again in the program. In the area of Adult Basic Education, 622 students were served (513 served in previous years), and these students logged in 7,457 hours of learning. The merger with Metro East Consortium continued to increase revenue and resulted in hiring more teachers and serving more students.

Finally, SCRED experienced a number of facility issues during the 2010-11 school year. Issues began in the city-owned building with a leaking roof in December that went unrepaired resulting in a significant mold problem. By June, the roof was not fixed, the mold problem was becoming more severe, and many employees were sick. A decision was made to vacate the building until it was safe to inhabit. Subsequently, the Rush City council decided not to fix the building. Rather, they will demolish the building and sell the land to SCRED for $1. At this time, SCRED is beginning the process of building a new building in Rush City.

In summary, the Education District completed another year of providing services to its member districts in areas in which the members determined the need for cooperation and focus. The Unique Learners area is the single program with the most services and resources and so remains the centerpiece of the Education District’s efforts. However, the other programs all compliment and contribute to the range of educational opportunities available in the districts for East Central Minnesota students.

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Unique Learners

Executive Summary

The 2010-11 school year was marked with a significant amount of change and planning in the area of special education at SCRED. Decisions made during the 2010-11 school year ranged from reconfiguring positions to expanding the use of SpEd Forms, from selecting a Language Arts alternate core curriculum to the development of new special education programs. The purpose of this executive summary is two-fold: (1) to highlight the changes made during the 2010-11 school year, as well as plans for 2011-12, and (2) to review progress toward the 2010-11 goals, as well as set goals for 2011-12.

2010-11 Changes / 2011-12 Plans

Reconfiguration of PositionsIn 2009-10, a Reintegration Specialist position had been added at SCRED to support the Federal Setting III and IV programs. After evaluating this new position in the spring of 2010, the decision was made to discontinue the position, and instead split the Social Behavior Collaborative Planner position into two positions, one serving Chisago County and one serving Pine County. The Social Behavior Collaborative Planner positions continue to provide reintegration support for the Federal Setting III and IV programs in their assigned districts.

Due to changes in personnel for the 2011-12 school year, the Director of Special Education position will provide on-site support and supervision to the Chisago Lakes School District and the Rush City Public Schools, while continuing to perform SCRED-wide duties. The two Unique Learners Manager assignments will be split between the North Branch Area Public Schools and the Pine County schools districts (Pine City, Hinckley-Finlayson, and East Central).

Expanding the Use of SpEd FormsStarting last fall, SCRED made the switch to completing all MA Billing through the SpEd Forms database. Trainings were conducted across the SCRED districts for staff to learn the ins and outs of this new documentation system. Overall, the transition went smoothly, in part due to the greatly appreciated understanding and patience of district staff. Note: North Branch Area Public Schools had already been using SpEd Forms for MA Billing prior to the 2010-11 school year and East Central will be making the switch during the 2011-12 school year.

During the 2010-11 school year, the Instructional Services Team and SCRED administration began a collaborative project with SpEd Forms to design a user-friendly database for tracking students in the Problem Solving process. The goal was to make the forms on the database as similar to the hard-copy SCRED Problem Solving forms as possible. A pilot group of district Problem Solving Team (PST) members was established in the spring of 2011 to provide feedback on the new database, informing changes to the system prior to the SCRED-wide release. Our appreciation goes out to those staff that participated in this pilot group. Specialized training will be conducted for PST members to learn how to use the new database in August 2011.

Special Education Curriculum ReviewsAs a result of the 2010-11 Special Education Language Arts curriculum review, the majority of SCRED schools will be implementing Reading Mastery Signatures Edition as their elementary

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alternate core curriculum and Language! as their secondary alternate core curriculum to start the 2011-12 school year. Thank you to those staff that volunteered to participate in this review process. Intensive training and coaching opportunities will be available during the course of the 2011-12 school year for teachers implementing these new curricula.

During the 2011-12 school year, a similar review process in the area of Math will occur, but as part of a much larger curriculum review. In addition to looking at alternate core special education math curricula, districts will also be evaluating their core and supplemental math curricula and instructional strategies.

New Special Education ProgramsDue to the need for a continuum of special education services and supports in the areas of Emotional Behavior Disorder (EBD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the Chisago Lakes School District is planning to open a new K-5 Federal Setting III program at Taylors Falls Elementary School starting in September 2011. This new program will offer intense social behavior and academic support for students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorder and high functioning Autism.

In addition to the new program in Chisago Lakes, Hinckley-Finlayson and Pine City School Districts have partnered to develop a new K-12 Federal Setting IV program in Pine City that will open its doors to start the 2011-12 school year. Smaller class sizes, a mental health component, and a structured social skills program incorporating the Boys Town Model will help students learn the skills they need to be successful in the traditional school setting.

The overall goal for both programs is to prepare students to return to their regular mainstream settings. Thanks to all the district staff and administration that worked diligently over the course of the 2010-11 school year to develop these new programs to better meet the needs of our students!

Additional Special Education UpdatesSCRED continued its Continuous Improvement Monitoring Process (CIMP) to assist districts with maintaining high standards for quality and compliance. As part of this annual process, one student file per special education case manager was randomly selected for review of the IEP and most recent Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) using a Likert-type rubric. On a scale from 1-4 with 4 being the highest, the SCRED-wide average rating was 3.43 for IEPs and 3.63 for Evaluation Summary Reports (ESRs). Our special education teachers continue to meet expectations for high quality due process paperwork.

Once again this year, many SCRED districts/buildings found themselves not meeting AYP due to the special education subgroup in math or reading or both. This brought local district administrators, curriculum directors, teachers, SCRED staff and others together on teams to write AYP plans. In these plans, teams reviewed and identified areas for refinement of RtI implementation efforts especially for learners at-risk for being identified as needing special education or those already receiving special education.

Overall, SCRED districts continue to have the lowest LD child count in our region (2.4%), as well as comparably low overall numbers of special education students K-12 (9.3%). These data speak to the success of SCRED staff efforts to intervene early and thoughtfully with high quality instruction to address learning needs before special education services are needed.

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This year, there was one complaint filed with the Office of Civil Rights; the outcome is still pending. In addition, there was one complaint filed with the Minnesota Department of Education. The district has taken the necessary corrective action steps in response to the final decision. Parents in two cases requested mediation services. An agreement was reached in one of the mediation meetings, while the other mediation meeting has yet to occur. The Director of Special Education and Unique Learners Managers facilitated a handful of other conciliation meetings across the SCRED districts, but all the issues were resolved successfully without needing to proceed to a due process hearing.

2010-11 Goals

Progress was made toward all goals for 2010-11 in terms of meeting objectives. Please see below for a summary of progress toward goals.

GOAL 1: To increase program development around the Age 3 to Grade 3 concept by establishing a consistent measurement system, instruction and philosophy across the whole age range.

1) Increase Early Childhood Problem-Solving Teams (PSTs) application of a problem-solving model to data for decision-making.

Starting in the fall of 2010, all SCRED districts collected IGDI progress monitoring data for students attending district-sponsored early childhood programming. In addition, most Early Childhood programs had Problem-Solving teams in place that were trained in the five step SCRED Problem-Solving Model (CL, PC, and RC are trained; NBAPS, EC and HF will be trained in 2011-2012). These problem-solving teams met one time per month during this school year. During the 2010-11 school year, the Early Childhood Collaborative Planner attended 1-2 team meetings in each district to provide feedback on the fidelity of implementation. Observational data indicate that teams are meeting and discussing individual student cases. Areas for growth include refining the fidelity of implementing the problem-solving process during PST meetings, as well as when viewing school-wide IGDI and PNI data.

2) Increase use of Preschool Numeracy Indicators (PNIs) for informing math instruction, and progress monitoring.

PNI data collection occurred three times across the majority of SCRED districts during the 2010-11 school year. Two workshops were provided by Robin Hojnoski to enhance Early Childhood teacher’s use of PNIs for early numeracy instruction and intervention. These training opportunities helped Early Childhood teams start using PNI data as part of the problem solving process for students. Given the lack of research-based Early Childhood math interventions, the main focus for teachers during the 2011-2012 school year will be to analyze and enhance their Tier 1 instruction through intentionally embedding mathematics into their daily schedules. The data analysis to establish benchmark targets for PNIs will be a collaborative effort between SCRED and Robin Hojnoski in the fall of 2011.

GOAL 2: Develop a unified multi-tiered service delivery model with a focus on both academics and social/behavior.

1) Increase capacity for better problem analysis for special education students.

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SLD certified teachers participated in a series of three training days designed to problem solving tough cases. Participants were asked to select a student on their caseload who has presented challenge to them, bring information to share about the student’s needs, and to practice skills learned during the training cycle to accelerate progress of students. In addition, two days of language arts and math intervention trainings were provided to general and special education staff.

DCD certified teachers met five times for full day training on academic topics for intervention methods used to improve reading, writing, math, and language skills. Implementation assistance was given to staff to implement new methods and curricula for a target population of students who were generally not taught reading skills. Positive results were reported for the number of students who were able to participate at expected levels for literacy skills tested on the MTAS.

2) Increase implementation of SW-PBS across a multi-tier model and PreK-12.

Progress was made toward this goal through the continued implementation of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports in many buildings across SCRED. Some buildings have even added the Olweus program to the framework to more explicitly target bullying behavior.

The Social Behavior Team at SCRED, which also serves as the Conditional Procedures Review Committee, met regularly during the 2010-11 school year. A SCRED Guideline was developed to educate staff on the new conditional procedures law and the approval process for conditional procedures use. Staff received information regarding conditional procedures at the Unique Learners Conference in August 2010, throughout the year at department meetings, and during individual case consultation with SCRED staff. Additional review and guidance will be provided to start the 2011-12 school year at the Unique Learners Conference in August.

3) Increase roles and inclusion of Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) in an RtI framework.

SLPs attended a series of five training/networking meetings at SCRED during the 2010-11 school year. The SLP group updated and further developed a list of reliable and valid assessment tools. Intervention strategies were the focus of the meetings. Janet Tilstra continued her work with the group on developing a progress-monitoring tool in the area of Speech and Language. SCRED SLPs have increased their understanding of RtI and have begun to redefine their roles as they relate to RtI. Several of the SCRED SLPs have implemented the 3:1 model into their practice as part of their buildings’ overall RtI framework. Initial data for the model looks promising. The Elementary Low Incidence Collaborative Planner, in conjunction with the SLPs, developed a speech/language screening checklist to use during the Problem Identification step of the problem-solving process. Overall, SCRED SLPs report being very enthusiastic about their increased involvement in problem solving, and the development of easier and better progress monitoring tools.

GOAL 3: Development of a comprehensive SCRED Total Special Education System (TSES), including guidelines for collaborative planning areas.

The plan for the SCRED TSES has been re-organized to allow for SCRED’s existing guidelines, policies, and procedures to be incorporated, while ensuring all of MDE’s TSES requirements are addressed. This project will be a priority for completion during the 2011-12 school year. The final goal is to have the TSES available on the SCRED website for staff to access in August 2012.

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In the fall of 2010, a small committee was formed to work on the Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) templates project in SpEd Forms. The committee, with the assistance of SCRED Collaborative Planners, updated the ESR templates and entered them into the SpEd Forms database. The committee will be providing a “Train the Trainer” training to school psychologists on how to use the templates in August 2011. The school psychologists will then provide training to district staff in September 2011.

GOAL 4: Increase the use of technology for SCRED-wide professional development

Several SCRED meetings were held using ITV technology (e.g., Grade Level Team Facilitators, Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services). Overall, member district staff was very positive about the use of this medium as it reduced travel time and costs. In addition, the SCRED website has seen increased activity use for training registration, and information access in all areas of service.

In addition to the use of technology for SCRED-wide professional development, we also provided staff with initial training on Assistive Technology (AT) on Day 2 of the Unique Learners Conference in August 2010. A group of SCRED and district staff also participated in an AT Staff Development grant through MDE this school year. Through our participation in the grant, all SCRED districts obtained free access to Infinetec, a web-based portal, which offers educational staff access to a range of curriculum supports and professional learning opportunities for implementing technology with at-risk and special education students. The AT work group developed detailed guidance for district staff on AT, from the AT consideration process to formal evaluation. SCRED’s AT process was piloted by several IEP teams this spring and was also introduced to staff through Staff Council. Training on SCRED’s AT process will be provided at the Unique Learners Conference in August 2011.

GOAL 5: Increase the skills of SCRED secondary staff for transition assessments and transition IEP goal writing.

There was on-going staff development this school year in the area of transition assessment and transition IEP goal writing. In August 2010, a full-day training was provided for secondary staff in the area of transition. Teachers reviewed assessment planning and updates to requirements from the MDE Compliance and Monitoring Department. During the course of the year, teachers were given on site assistance for assessment planning.

Further, case managers were given feedback on their progress toward meeting the state’s transition area requirements for IEPs as part of the CIMP file review process. There is a specific section on the CIMP IEP evaluation rubric for transition. The SCRED-wide average transition rating was a 3.3 out of 4. CIMP results showed an increase in the number of compliant Transition IEPs.

Finally, districts continued to expand their use of the NEXT Transition System, a web-based program designed to assist with on-going data collection and progress of students on IEPs in all areas of transition. Support for this program was provided through the full-day August training and on-site case consultation with Marleen Zak. Levels of proficiency with this program continue to vary; continued support and training practice is needed. The overall goal is for case managers to have their full caseload at full use in the system.

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The Transition Workgroup met four times during the course of the 2010-11 school year. The group planned Work Skills Day events for both counties. The first Pine County Work Skills Day was held in the spring. Students from each of the three school districts in Pine County attended. Other Transition Work Group activities included development of templates for evaluation summary reports and IEP language.

New Structure for 2011-12 SCRED Annual ReportThe 2011-12 SCRED Annual Report will have a slightly different structure than in previous years. The “Unique Learners” section will continue to provide updates and report progress toward general special education goals. Separate sections, however, will exist for the service areas that currently fall under the Unique Learners section of the report (Early Childhood, Social Behavior, and Low Incidence). This will allow Collaborative Planners to provide more specific updates and report progress toward goals identified in their annual staff development plans.

2011-12 Goals

Unique Learners

GOAL 1: Development of a comprehensive SCRED Total Special Education System. (TSES).

Measurable Outcome Evidence/Documentationa. SCRED TSES will be completed by June 2012. Meeting agendasb. SCRED TSES will meet all MDE requirements for

content.SCRED TSES compared to MDE TSES Table of Contents

c. SCRED TSES will incorporate SCRED’s existing guidelines, policies, and procedures.

SCRED TSES compared to SCRED’s existing guidelines, policies, and procedures

d. SCRED TSES will be available on the SCRED website for staff to access in August 2012.

SCRED website

GOAL 2: Implementation of SCRED-wide use of Evaluation Summary Report (ESR) templates in SpEd Forms.

Measurable Outcome Evidence/Documentationa. ESR template committee will provide “Train the

Trainer” training to school psychologists in August 2011.

Training agenda

b. School psychologists will provide training to district staff in September 2011.

Training agendas

c. Unique Learners Managers will check-in with school psychologists at I-team meetings and with district staff at department meetings to trouble-shoot implementation issues.

I-team agendas and department meeting agendas

d. The number of ESRs completed in SpEd Forms, as well as quality of ESRs will be monitored.

SpEd Forms customized report; SCRED-wide ESR CIMP scores

GOAL 3: Successful completion of MDE Self-Review process.

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Measurable Outcome Evidence/Documentationa. Unique Learners Managers will attend

MDE Record Review training in November 2011.

Training agenda

b. Unique Learners Managers will train school psychologists and SCRED staff on Self-Review process.

January I-team agenda

c. Unique Learners Managers, school psychologists, and SCRED staff will complete Self-Review process.

February 2012 CIMP dates; online self-review records due March 1st

d. Unique Learners Managers, school psychologists, and SCRED staff will work with staff to make necessary corrections; 100% compliance achieved by May 1st through the corrective action process.

Documented corrective action; MDE website

Early Childhood

GOAL 1: To increase program development around the Age 3 to Grade 3 concept by establishing consistent measurement, instruction and philosophy across the whole age range.

GOAL 2: To maintain communication with updates from MDE and provide support for early childhood special education.

GOAL 3: To provide support for Child Find Activities: Reach out to licensed day care providers and parents with training offerings.

GOAL 4: To build relationships with our “feeder systems” and continue to increase Percent of Infants and Toddlers in Early Identification to a level identified by the Federal Benchmarks.

Social Behavior

GOAL 1: To develop a seamless continuum of social behavior services.

GOAL 2: To support the districts with the use of research-based behavior curricula and interventions.

GOAL 3: To support districts with the placement/reintegration process for all Level 4 placements.

GOAL 4: To support the districts in gaining legal knowledge and usage of conditional procedure documents and guidelines.

GOAL 5: To support districts in the use of the exclusion/dismissal guideline and the manifestation determination process.

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Low Incidence

Goal 1: Directing the Work of Paraprofessionals - Each DCD teacher will submit a personal staff development plan for directing the work of paraprofessionals.  Each DCD teacher will submit a summary critique of the activities they implemented at their building.

Goal 2: Social Communication Curricula and Interventions Project - Teachers will complete a pre and post survey measuring their instruction skill for teaching social thinking strategies to students.

Goal 3: Speech and Language Network Meetings - The SLP Network will submit a document identifying SLP activities within each of the 3 Tiers of the SCRED RTI model.

Goal 4: Assistive Technology Project - A report of compliance taken by collecting data from a random review of SpEd Forms documentation for AT requirements will be submitted by SCRED Collaborative LI Collaborative Planners.

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Instructional Services  

Executive Summary

Instructional Services Team at SCRED provides a variety of services related to three main objectives:  1) To support districts in the use of research-based curricula and instructional methods in basic academic skills; 2) To support districts in the meaningful use of formative assessment for all students in basic academic skills; and 3) To support districts in the implementation of a Problem-Solving framework to address needs of students receiving both general and special education services using data and research based interventions.

The 2010-2011 school year was characterized by high quality intensive training activities designed to prepare teachers to better meet the academic skills needs of all students, to fully implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act reauthorized in 2005, and to being study of the 2010 MN ELA standards which will be first tested in 2013.

Pilot testing of General Outcome Measures to enhance our screening and progress monitoring programs as well as ongoing training and support to our measurement system to ensure that teams have access to timely reliable, and valid data from multiple sources to evaluate instructional needs of students continued.

The Instructional Services Team supported districts in their study of the new MN ELA standards, and in early implementation planning. Training on supplemental interventions in reading and math were designed to fill teachers’ tool boxes with strategies they can use with a variety of students. Support for the SIM CLC continued to be a priority for our secondary sites. SLD teachers were encouraged to bring their most challenging cases forward for collaborative problem solving.

The grade level facilitator project and problem solving training, which support staff skills in following procedures to use data effectively for ongoing decision making and instructional improvement, were continued, and a special series of trainings were added for problem solving team facilitators as well. In the continued quest to support a paperless system of documentation of problem solving work, a new program, GenEd Forms, was piloted.

The eighth year of training and support for AmeriCorps members working in age 3 to grade 3 classrooms in SCRED schools and around the state was provided, as well as the first year of support for a parallel program in math.

Through all of these efforts, the main goal is to increase student achievement.  The graph below shows the growth of students over the past fifteen years on Oral Reading Fluency.  This measure is highly correlated to performance on our high-stakes state tests.

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Goals Completed

1.  LD Networking Group - Tough Cases

During the 2010-2011 school year, a three-day training cycle was offered to SLD certified teachers K-12.  Participants were asked to select a student on their caseload who has presented challenge to them, bring information to share about the student's needs, and to practice skills learned during this training cycle to accelerate progress for the students. Twenty-four staff members participated in this cycle, and reported positive outcomes for students as a result.

2.  GOM Math Facts Cut Score

A new cut score in spring of grade 5 for Math Facts, indicating that no additional testing needed on math facts in future years was developed on the advise of the Measurement Committee. This score allows middle school grades to reduce time in scoring math fact tests for students who are already clearly proficient with this skill. The SCRED target packet was updated to reflect this new target score.

3. Training on Quality ESRs for SLD Students

At the ULC conference, all SLD staff participated in a training on writing high quality evaluation summary reports (ESRs) in the area of SLD.  This training was supported in the fall by new ESR templates, available on the SCRED website. Throughout the school year the project to move this template into Spedforms was completed. It is anticipated that these templates, along with training will improve the quality of SLD ESRs as measured through the CIMP rubric.

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4. Assistive Tech/ULC conference: 

SCRED Special Education staff members provide summer training for special education personnel each year.  In the past the Unique Learners Conference has been one day. During the 2010-2011 school year, an additional day was offered to support the growing need in the areas of assistive technology and math interventions.  The SCRED Instructional Team supported afternoon breakout sessions through course offerings that touched on developing universal designs for learning in reading and writing, and math interventions.

5. Problem Solving Team Facilitator training

In collaboration with the Special Education Director, the Instructional Services Coordinator provided a series of 4 half-day trainings for all problem solving team facilitators.  In most cases this is the building School Psychologist, though facilitators who are not Psychologists were also included.  This training was designed to strengthen the skills of the team facilitators in leading effective and efficient meetings.

Goals Continuing1. GOM Pilot Studies: MAZE, Math Applications, Early Numeracy, Written Expression

 An aggressive plan of pilot studies and ongoing research was planned for the 2010-2011 school year.  The Aimsweb MAZE probes were piloted by 2 middle school buildings in order to compare the effectiveness of MAZE as a screener to that of ORF in grades 6-8.  The pilot of the Aimsweb Math Applications probes continued for the second year, and the final pilot year of Early Numeracy data for kindergarten students was also collected. Written expression data were collected SCRED-wide for the purpose of updating norms. All pilot data were collected as planned during the 2010-2011 school year. Analysis of these data for developing target scores has been delayed due to the delay in receiving MCA scores from the state. These target scores will be developed by the Outcomes Manager during the 2011-2012 school year so that they can be disseminated for teacher use. 2. Measurement Group

During the 2010-2011 school year, the Instructional Services Coordinator facilitated three meetings for representatives from each SCRED building to discuss topics related to general outcomes measurement.  Ongoing discussion of specific administration and scoring rules, and consideration of potential changes to our SCRED measurement net are conducted at these meetings. During the 2010-2011 school year, this group provided advisement to the Instructional Services Coordinator on several pilot programs within the measurement system, including Math Applications, Written Expression, MAZE, and Early Numeracy

3. Training and Support for GOM data collection and use of Aimweb Progress Monitor program

During the 2010-2011 school year, initial training on administration and scoring of GOM measures and AIMsweb was provided to new staff, and support was given to grade level teams as they used the AIMsweb data management system for creating and viewing progress-monitoring graphs for individual students in reading, writing, math facts, and math applications probes. 

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4.  Dissemination of GOM results and Normative data During the 2010-2011 school year continued support to teachers in accessing GOM data through AIMsweb was provided, including dissemination of 5th percentile charts for staff use. The use of the RtI framework for responding to student academic concerns continues to present increased needs for timely dissemination of district level normative performance reports on GOM benchmark results. The data dissemination plan to members of the measurement group in each building was continued.

5.  Provide training for Direct Instruction programs

During the summer of 2010, the Instructional Services Team coordinated with SRA McGraw Hill to offer training in multiple Direct Instruction programs at Rush City High School. During the 2010-2011 school year, there was one group of staff that requested training in Reading Mastery 1.  An experienced trainer from another district provided this training. 

6.  Grade Level Team Facilitator Project During the 2010-2011 school year, grade level representatives from each building serving K-8 grades were trained to prepare data and facilitate monthly grade level meetings in their buildings.  The purpose of this training was to build local capacity for data based decision-making.  This was accomplished through full day training in August and 4 conference calls among grade level facilitators during the school year, along with supplemental support for new facilitators.

7.  Training and Evaluation for the Minnesota Reading Corps Program During the 2010-2011 school year, the Instructional Services Coordinator provided training, and supported evaluation efforts for Members of the Minnesota Reading Corps, a federally funded grant program through ServeMinnesota.  The Instructional Coach provided Master Coaching to MRC members in SCRED schools. Through this partnership, we were able to place AmeriCorps Members into our districts to help support teachers in providing research-supported reading interventions to preschool students, and those in grades K-3. This program was designed to help meet the need that teachers in our buildings have commonly expressed for trained individuals with the time to deliver academic interventions to students who are currently performing below target.   Under the design of the Reading Corps program, building-based Grade-Level and Problem Solving Teams identified students for support and determined intervention needs.  AmeriCorps Members were provided systematic training on research-supported reading interventions, and were placed in buildings to assist teachers in delivering these reading interventions to students in grades K-3, and in collecting progress monitoring data for those students with whom the Members work. Increased training and support to site based internal coaches in order to build local capacity for intervention delivery and program maintenance was continued during the 2010-2011 school year.  Ongoing coaching support and training were provided to AmeriCorps Members throughout the academic year to help ensure the success of this program.  The Instructional Services Coordinator worked to ensure successful coordination of this program with other literacy initiatives in elementary buildings, designed training

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materials, provided training and completed the outcomes evaluation of this program. This highly successful program will be continued during the 2011-2012 school year. 

8.  Increasing Availability of Information on SCRED website and Web Portal. During the 2010-2011 school year additional resource materials were made available to teachers in districts belonging to SCRED through the SCRED website and web portal.  These resources included links to outside websites with high quality instructional information for use by teachers, and improved grade level data templates for teams.

9.  Support to Staff Hired Under Alternative Services Waiver (ADSIS) During the 2010-2011 school year, SCRED provided support to teachers hired by SCRED districts under the alternative services waiver. An initial meeting was provided to review the legal and contractual requirements of the waiver program, and specific details of approved district plan activities.  Ongoing consultation, including two meetings using ITV technology throughout the year were offered to ADSIS teachers.  This support will be offered again in the 2011-2012 school year, with all 6 member district of SCRED participating in the program.

10. Development and Delivery of Problem Solving Team Training During the 2010-2011 school year, training was offered to building based problem solving teams at the elementary and secondary levels as in years past.  These training programs included 5 five-hour sessions that were spread throughout the school year.  Teams from all SCRED participating districts were invited to attend the sessions.  During the 2011-2012 school year, this same training cycle will be offered again.  The purpose for repeating this training is to include special education and general education teachers who have not yet received the training, and to provide expanded training on the paperless problem solving forms system.

11.  Support Implementation of Computer Based Problem-Solving Forms The 2010-2011 school year was the forth year of transition to a paperless documentation system for problem solving activities in school buildings.  This transition was designed to assist with efficiency, communication, and administrative analysis capabilities.  The transition to this program continued to provide challenge, due at least in some part to the unique aspects of a FileMaker Pro platform. As a result, it was decided to move to a new system, developed by Spedforms using the SCRED problem solving paperwork. This program was piloted in the spring of 2011 with positive feedback, and will be implemented fully in 2011-2012.

12.  Consultation on Students of Concern Specific consultation to teams regarding individual students of concern was provided for 12 students during the 2010-2011 school year.  This service will continue during the 2011-2012 school year.

13.  Coaching of Problem Solving Teams During the 2010-2011 school year, coaching was provided to problem-solving teams to varying degrees based on need.  The purpose of this coaching was to assist teams in implementing the

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skills gained through the problem solving training.  During the 2011-2012 school year, coaching support will continue to problem solving teams at the level of intensity needed.  The purpose of continued coaching is to continue to develop or to maintain implementation integrity of the problem solving process, and to support teams through personnel transitions.  Use of a team observation form will be continued in order to offer consistent feedback on quality team practices. In addition, the Instructional Coach assists teams in completing an annual evaluation of their local RtI system for the purpose of reflection and goal setting for continuous improvement.

14.  Strategic Intervention Model (SIM) training  In order to provide additional support for differentiated instruction within general education programming, two formal Strategic Instruction Model (SIM) strategy trainings were offered to all interested teachers within the SCRED districts.   The strategies were chosen based upon the highest impact they would have across content areas at the secondary level.   The Strategic Instruction Model (also known under the larger umbrella of Content Literacy Continuum) have been developed through the University of Kansas, and have strong research support for building academic skills among students with diverse needs.   The two strategies were Inference Strategy and Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing.  Each half day training session was combined into a full day of training support for secondary teachers. 

Session was clearly presented 4.8/5.00Session was well organized 4.8/5.00Session was comfortably paced 4.3/5.00Session included helpful teaching aids 4.8/5.00Session incorporated a variety of activities 4.45/5.00Presenters demonstrated expertise in this area 4.8/5.00Activities and examples were provided 4.6/5.00This session was a positive and worthwhile learning experience 4.8/5.00

15.  Secondary Math Collaboration Meetings

During the 2010-2011 school year, SCRED provided support to secondary mathematics teachers, particularly in the area of developing quality supplemental math instructional programs. Through a series of meetings, teachers from across the SCRED districts developed a shared understanding of quality features and organizational strategies for effective math intervention at the secondary level.

16.  Inter-Rater Reliability Project

During the 2011-2012 school year, members of the measurement committee were trained to collect inter-rater reliability data on GOM data as it is collected in all buildings.  This quality assurance measure was implemented based on best-practice recommendations, and discussions from the measurement committee that suggest that drift may be occurring in some sites with regard to standard administration and scoring practices.

17.  SIM CLC project  

Hinckley Finlayson High School was a recipient of the Minnesota CLC/SIM grant for coaching during the 2010-11 school year.   SCRED instructional staff held informational sessions at

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districts that were interested in hearing about the CLC/SIM program and the potential impact on school improvement if the CLC model is adopted as a secondary literacy framework.  Hinckley Finlayson developed a leadership team that was guided and supported by two MN CLC/SIM professional coaches (Dr. Gwen Berry and Deb Shephard) as well as the SCRED Secondary Collaborative Planner. Efforts were to support the leadership training in August that was provided through a collaborative effort with Resource Training and Solutions.  Continued efforts the first year focused on the training of all content teachers on Content Organization using the Unit Organizer and the Framing Routine.   Content Vocabulary training was also conducted this year using the Word Mapping Strategy. These three sessions supported Hinckley Finlayson's literacy efforts as well as other teachers throughout the SCRED districts who were interested in attending the training sessions. On-site coaching and professional development at HFHS was conducted by the MN CLC coaches (grant covers the cost of coaching at HFHS.) Coaching support at alternate sites was coordinated through the SCRED Secondary Literacy Collaborative Planner.  

18.  Support for Language Arts Standards Alignment.  

The National Common Core Language Arts Standards have been officially adopted in Minnesota has added 15% to the Common Core to ensure the rigor and content of the standards are in line with the rigor of previous standards.  SCRED coordinated with MDE to provide 2 days of training for interested teachers on the new MN ELA Standards in the spring of the 2010-2011 school year.

19.  Language Arts Intervention Training

During the 2010-2011 school year, 2 days of training were offered to general and special education staff on research supported supplemental interventions in the area of language arts. Day 1 focused on content literacy (using informational text and structures to support literacy) and the framework of the Collaborative Strategic Reading Model, which is a form of reciprocal teaching.   Day 2 focused on enhancing comprehension through vocabulary instruction.  This course drew upon the works of Michael Graves, Isabel Beck and others. 

20.  Math intervention training

During the 2010-2011 school year, 2 days of training were offered to general and special education staff on research supported supplemental interventions in the area of math. Teachers learned how to implement the interventions and which hypothesis in their problem solving process each intervention would address. Follow-up assistance with implementation of interventions was provided as requested by the teacher and/or principal.

21. Support for Quality Implementation of Standard Supplemental Intervention Programs

The Instructional Services Team supported several district in their initial implementation of new intervention programs in secondary literacy during the 2010-2011 school year. Read to Achieve and Voyager Journeys were two common programs adopted by SCRED schools to support struggling readers at the secondary level. Also supported in many districts was the ongoing use of the Odyssey program.

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22.  Minnesota Math Corps 

The Elementary Math Collaborative Planner coordinated the involvement of SCRED schools in the first year of the Math Corps Project. Members worked in grades 4, 5, and 6. This pilot project was one of 3 across the state. Members worked with 12 students daily in half hour tutoring sessions. Each tutoring session included 2 students. VMath curriculum was implemented; this curriculum is specifically designed to bring at-risk students up to grade level. This project was part of a larger study so students were randomly assigned to Math Corps. Students selected for participation came from the "tier 2" level. Twelve Members were trained and was also supported by a within building internal coach. Results of the first year of this project were positive, and the program will be continued during 2011-2012 for further study.

23. ELA Curriculum Review for SPED

At the request of the superintendents, the Instructional Services Coordinator, Secondary Literacy Collaborative Planner, and Unique Learners Manager in Chisago Lakes coordinated a review of ELA curriculum for students receiving special education services. This project involved a thorough review of current materials, research on effective instructional programs, and a review of the 2010 MN ELA standards. Two alternate core instructional programs were selected for implementation in all districts: Reading Mastery Signatures Edition and Language! Sessions for staff to learn about these curricula and study their alignment with standards as well as sessions for staff to learn about supplemental intervention programs designed to target specific areas of need were hosted at SCRED. Results of the alignment work and supplemental program study are available on the SCRED website. In 2011-2012 this project will continue with training and coaching for high quality implementation of these new curricula.

Goals Discontinued

1.  Grade 4 Math Teacher Collaboration Meetings.

Due to difficulty scheduling and lack of interest, the grade 4 collaboration meetings were not held during the 2010-2011 school year. Teachers were supported through the grade level team facilitator project

2.  Exemplar Lessons for Reading Comprehension project

This project was discontinued in favor the intense SPED ELA curriculum review led by SCRED during the 2010-2011 school year completed at the request of district superintendents that had not been a planned activity.

New Goals for the 2011-12 School Year

1.  Grade Level Team Facilitator Project: Grade 9

Grade 9 facilitators will be added to the GLTF project starting in 2011-2012 in all 6 SCRED districts. The unique structures of high school programs will provide unique challenges and opportunities that will be studied through the first year of implementation.

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2. Math Curriculum Review

SCRED will host math professional development opportunities for staff from SCRED districts in support of local district curriculum review processes. In addition these meetings will be organized to facilitate discussion and planning for best instruction for students with special education needs in mathematics, including when to discontinue a student’s participation in the local core instructional program in favor of an alternate core. SCRED will also coordinate efforts to review potential supplemental or alternate curriculum materials to support students with diverse learning needs in math.

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Outcomes Service

Executive Summary

The outcomes service at SCRED provides a variety of services related to data-driven decision making. While the system of accountability related to statewide testing is certainly the most influential of these data, there is a wealth of related information on student performance that can provide critical assistance to member district teachers and administrators as they make decisions about curriculum and instruction. The outcomes service is focused on providing decision-makers with easy and efficient access to these data, as well as providing assistance with interpreting these data. The mission is to help all staff to make decisions based on accurate and timely information.

Statewide testing is in the process of continual change, influenced by federal legislation, state directives, and the needs of local districts. Since the 1995-96 school year, public school students in Minnesota have had to pass tests in key subject areas in order to receive a diploma. The federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law adopted in 2001 required states to adopt rigorous academic standards, and schools were measured on whether students had adequate understanding in the areas of reading and math. The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) is the test developed by the state to measure whether students are proficient in Minnesota’s academic standards. During the 2010-11 school year, the MCA-II was the current edition of the state test in Reading for students in grades 3-8, and 10; in Math for students in grade 11; and in Science for students in grades 5, 8 and one test administration during high school. The MCA-II is aligned with the 2003 Minnesota Academic Content Standards. The 2010-11 school year was the first operational year for the MCA-III in Math for students in grades 3-8. The MCA-III is aligned with the 2007 Minnesota Academic Content Standards. The Graduation-Required Assessment for Diploma (GRAD) is the graduation test that replaced the Basic Standards Tests (BSTs). Students take the GRAD Writing Test in grade 9, the GRAD Reading in grade 10, and the GRAD Math in grade 11. Students in the graduating class of 2010 and thereafter are required to pass the GRAD tests in order to receive a high school diploma. The GRAD Writing is a stand-alone exam administered in the winter. The GRAD Reading and GRAD Math tests are embedded into the MCA-II and III, which is administered in the spring. Students who do not pass the GRAD on the first try continue to have opportunities to retake the exam. The outcomes service at SCRED provides districts with a means for staying up to date on statewide testing changes, while also providing an avenue for feedback to the state Department of Education on the impact of mandates on local districts, and suggestions for improvements.

Based on the 2009-10 MCA-II results, all six of the SCRED districts had not made Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP), with five of the districts (Chisago Lakes, North Branch, Pine City, Hinckley-Finlayson, and East Central) having not met AYP in the same subject for three years, therefore being in the Continue to Need Improvement stage. SCRED outcomes services to each district included membership on the AYP leadership team, and assistance gathering and interpreting student data for goal setting and evaluation. At the time this report was written, the state had not released final results for the 2010-11 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments. It is anticipated the preliminary Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) determinations will be released to the public no later than September 30, 2011.

In addition to statewide assessments, SCRED districts continue to expand the use of local assessment systems, which provide more frequent monitoring of student achievement and can be used for ongoing decision-making. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) were administered in the areas of Reading and Math, along with General Outcome Measures (GOMs):

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Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI’s), Early Literacy Measures, Tests of Early Numeracy (TEN), Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), Math Applications, Math Facts, and Written Expression. This was the first year for the TEN measure of Quantity Discrimination Fluency to have targets established for grade 1. Likewise, the 2010-11 school year completed the fourth year of the SCRED pilot project examining the usefulness of the Tests of Early Numeracy (TEN) for students in kindergarten. The TEN measures in the pilot include, Oral Counting Fluency, Number Identification Fluency, Missing Number Fluency, and Quantity Discrimination Fluency. SCRED outcomes services is in the process of analyzing this data to determine which of the TEN measures provide the most meaningful data for instructional decision-making. Additionally, this was the second year of the SCRED pilot project examining a revised version of the Math Applications measures. Preliminary results and anecdotal teacher feedback suggest the revised version provides increased sensitivity to growth relative to the existing tool. Teachers have also reported the pilot probes provide better instructional utility, given their improved alignment with NCTM standards. SCRED outcomes services are in the process of analyzing this data and to create target scores that would predict to the new mathematics MCA-III.

The variety of student assessment information, including state and local tests is currently available to all SCRED districts through the Web Portal, which connects staff to the TIES Data Warehouse. Within the data warehouse, teachers and administrators are able to access individual student test information using One-Click Reports in TIES iCue Tests and Assessments. Several on-site WebPortal and iCue Tests and Assessments training sessions were held for teacher groups. In addition, SCRED principals were re-trained on Cognos Report Center, which is tied to the TIES data warehouse and provides school and district-wide assessment summary reports that can be disaggregated by demographics. These disaggregated reports provide valuable information related to No Child Left Behind (NCLB) subgroups and can be used for curriculum and instructional planning.

In addition to those goals stated below, the Outcomes Manager position at SCRED also allows the districts to have a representative with the Minnesota Assessment Group (MAG), a group of people in research and assessment positions from districts around the state who meet monthly to: discuss issues related to testing and assessment; share data and information they gather; and present concerns to state legislators as well as to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). The Outcomes Manager also serves on the TIES Data-based Decision making Advisory Group (DAG), another avenue for discussing issues related to testing and assessment with districts around the state.

Below are two graphs, summarizing the performance of SCRED students on the MAP in reading and math. The graphs display the percent of SCRED students reaching the current SCRED Tier I targets. Students who reach the Tier I target have at least a 75% probability of performing at the proficient level on the MCA-II.

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Goals Completed

1. Work closely with the Outcomes Assistant, SCRED districts, and TIES to streamline theprocess for gathering district information and incoming assessment data and importing it into the TIES Data Warehouse.

The goal was to work toward an easier and more efficient process for importing data from state testing (i.e., Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA), Graduation Required Assessment for Diploma (GRAD), etc.), data from our own General Outcome Measurement (Oral Reading Fluency, Math Applications, etc.) and Measures of Academic Progress (MAP), and any other sources of data into the TIES Data Warehouse . The purpose of meeting this goal was so that district staff would have timely access to student data for instructional decision making. During the 2011 summer, four of the six SCRED districts switched to the TIES Student Information System. All SCRED districts are now directly linked to TIES, enabling the import of student data to be a more streamlined process.

Goals Continuing

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1. Support districts who are in state determined Needs Improvement Status related to not making AYP under the NCLB Legislation.

Districts that do not make AYP for two consecutive years in a Title I entity are placed in Needs Improvement status. School districts in Need of Improvement are required to complete a needs assessment and write an Improvement Plan. SCRED support includes continued participation on district AYP leadership teams, and assistance gathering and interpreting student data for goal setting and evaluation of the district AYP Improvement Plan. Minnesota’s request for AYP waiver has not yet been approved. MDE is optimistic that Minnesota will be granted a waiver to eliminate many aspects of NCLB, however, such a waiver will not go into effect until the next school year.

2. Support the implementation of the Odyssey instructional software in all districts, as well as evaluation of program implementation and effectiveness.

Odyssey is a computer-delivered instructional program, for grades PreK through 8 (and algebra). The Odyssey system is designed to be linked to the results of MAP tests. Odyssey was available to all SCRED districts in grades K-5 during the 2010-11 school year. It was also utilized by a few of the SCRED high schools in reading and math remedial classes. Continuing support includes training and staff development, and electronic transfer of students’ MAP data.

3. Link performance of students on local assessments (GOMs and MAPs) with the MCA-IIs, MCA-IIIs, and the GRAD tests, and establish target scores for the MAP assessment for 9th and 10th grades.

In August 2010, tentative targets for MAP 9th and 10th grade were established for the 2010-11 school year, using data from the previous three years. Throughout the 2010-11 school year districts consistently gathered MAP data in Fall and Spring across all students (versus only at-risk students). This data will be re-analyzed and will be used to link student performance on the MAP assessment in 9th and 10th grade, to performance on the high school MCA-II, MCA-III and GRAD tests. Both Tier I and Tier II targets will be established.

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4. Establish a process to analyze and report on the effectiveness of Early Childhood programs across the SCRED districts.

SCRED districts have collected early literacy data for students in the SCRED EarlyChildhood programs using the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDI’s), andearly numeracy data using the Primary Numeracy Indicators (PNI’s) for several years. However in previous years, the data has not included key demographics that would enable program and classroom level analysis. Throughout the 2010-11 school year Outcomes worked with early childhood staff to establish a complete database and analysis process. During the 2011-12 school year Outcomes will continue this process, and will work to create the infrastructure to load the IGDI data into TIES. In addition, the IGDI data will be analyzed to link student performance on these assessments to school age measures and establish target scores.

5. Gifted and Talented Analysis: Continue to examine growth rates for students who are above the 90th percentile.

Continued examination of growth rates for students who are above the 90th percentile will be conducted, specifically looking at the amount of growth these students are making on the MAP and on measures of ORF. These results will be used to review programming in this area.

New Goals for the 2011-12 School Year

1. Link performance of students on local assessments with the new mathematics MCA-IIIs, and establish target scores. Other target analysis will include examining the usefulness of the Tests of Early Numeracy (TEN) for students in kindergarten, and the new Math Concepts and Applications GOM, update target scores for the Maze, and re-norming of Written Expression.

Throughout the 2011-12 school year, data from these assessments will be analyzed and will be used to establish target scores.

We R Able annual report 2010-2011July 11, 2011

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Submitted by Valorie Arrowsmith, with input from Loreli Miller and Anne Olson

There are two main groups of participants in programs that We R Able provides to the communities of Pine City, Rush City, North Branch and Chisago Lakes. These populations tend to be a young adult group of active learners, and a more senior group of support group members.

There are three staff, a coordinator, an assistant, and a clerical support person plus adult volunteers. During 2011 Jeanette Kester completed her duties and resigned in May and Valorie Arrowsmith was hired. Loreli Miller continues to provide assistance at events, and contributes to planning. Anne Olson provides clerical and marketing support.

During the 2010-2011 program year We R Able young adult consumers participated in regular and ongoing events, i.e.—bowling, aquatics and softball; plus single focused classes of one to four week duration. These included garland making, painting, visits to state parks, boat trips, fishing expeditions, scrap booking, and camera instruction. In addition there were social events held at Cool Beanz, a coffee shop in North Branch that included a pre-determined meal and entertainment such as Karaoke. Monthly movies were offered at the North Branch Theater.

A second group of consumers meet twice a month at the North Branch Support group. This group is self-governing, which both determines some of its own programming based on group needs and accepts some planned programs and events with support from We R Able staff and volunteers. One member of this group also serves as a volunteer for softball.

Volunteers support bowling, softball and the support group. These include family members of participants, consumers who elect to volunteer as their way to participate, and one support group member.

Program goals for 2011-2012 are:

1. To create events that can support consumers’ personal objectives established during staffings at group homes, thereby increasing the opportunities for success as consumers to work on their goals in a public setting.

2. To seek out integrated program activities so that consumers and the general public have opportunities to interact and experience learning and/or recreation that occur in public settings.

3.To continue offering experiential and social learning activities.

4. To increase participation from Pine City area consumers.

5. To create a spirit of collaborative planning by having quarterly meetings of the three We R Able staff members.

6. To focus on target markets to try to build event participation.

To accomplish these goals we will look for ways to provide more integration between the We R Able consumer audience and the general public. The director will communicate with leaders in this field from neighboring programs to discover how they create integration opportunities.

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We will add a section to our newsletter and create a list of public festivals and events to inform staff at group homes as they search for community-based leisure events for the consumers. When possible, we will list event accessibility.

We will make connections with high school special education instructors in Pine City to find out how we can better serve the adults with disabilities population after they exit high school.

We will test various marketing strategies with the focus to raise awareness of events and programs. We will seek information from our neighboring colleagues to see how they attend to marketing. We will try test paper mailings versus e-mail distributions to see which system draws the most registrations. We will edit the current database to make sure that our publicity gets to the correct people. We will distribute flyers of upcoming programs at events and visit with group home staff to solicit their input of classes that are possible from staffing perspectives.

Community Education Annual Report Worksheet CHISAGO LAKES

WE ‘R’ ABLEAdults with Disabilities Program

Service7/1/2010 TO 6/30/2011

Age0-5

GradeK-5 6-8 9-12 19-54 55+

Academic

Enrichment 1

Health/Safety 2 4 4

Recreation 24 4

Service

Sports 5

Arts and humanities 3 1 16 2

Special Events 3

Skills development 12 1

Community Education Annual Report Worksheet NORTH BRANCH

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WE ‘R’ ABLEAdults with Disabilities Program

Service7/1/2010 TO 6/30/2011

Age0-5

GradeK-5 6-8 9-12 19-54 55+

Academic

Arts and humanities 3 13 2

Enrichment 6

Health/Safety 2 5

Recreation 44 6

Service

Sports 4 2

Special events 6 3

Skill development 3 1

Community Education Annual Report Worksheet PINE CITY

WE ‘R’ ABLEAdults with Disabilities Program

Service7/1/2010 TO 6/30/2011

Age0-5

GradeK-5 6-8 9-12 19-54 55+

Academic

Enrichment2 1

Health/Safety2 4

Recreation2

Service

SportsArts and humanities 2

Skills development4

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Special events

Community Education Annual Report Worksheet RUSH CITY

WE ‘R’ ABLEAdults with Disabilities Program

Service7/1/2010 TO 6/30/2011

Age0-5

GradeK-5 6-8 9-12 19-54 55+

Academic

Enrichment 1

Health/Safety 6

Recreation 24 2

Service

Sports 1

Arts and humanities 6

Skills development 6 3

Special events 1

Community Education Annual Report Worksheet ALL DISTRICT TOTALS

WE ‘R’ ABLEAdults with Disabilities Program

Service7/1/2010 TO 6/30/2011

Age0-5

GradeK-5 6-8 9-12 19-54 55+ Disab

ilitiesTOTALContact

times

Academic

Enrichment 8 7 15

Health/Safety 4 28 4 22 58

Recreation 702 94 474 796

Service

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Sports 48 4 40 52

Skills development 28 4 22 32

Arts/Humanities 6 1 205 25 129 237

Special events 10 1 5 11

All others

Non-credit general interest

TOTAL 6 4 29 1005 157 768 1201

We ‘R’ Able participation totals by school district, 2010-2011

Category Mora PC RC NB CL Other- Cambridge

and East Bethel

Health/safety 9 6 6 7 10 2Art/

humanities3 2 6 18 22 5

Enrichment 3 1 6 1Skills develop 6 4 9 4 13 4

Sports 1 6 5 2Recreation 16 2 26 51 28 23

Special events 7 1 9 3

TOTAL 41 17 50 101 82 36

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Project Seek 2011Final Report

14 Course Topics 15 Sections/Instructors

Total Enrollment 191 students Enrollment by District

2011 2010Chisago Lakes 2144 82East Central 2580 7Hinckley/Finlayson 2165 16North Branch 138 48Pine City 578 12Rush City 139 26TOTAL 191

Evaluation Results

Parent over-all rating of Project SEEK 2011 96% excellent to very goodParent would enroll student again all yes on the completed formsStudents’ feeling about attending SEEK 2011 98% great to really good

Recommendations for SEEK 2011

1. Continue the Summer Enrichment Experience for kids program at North Branch.2. Continue assisting the coordinator with the data entry person for SEEK from

SCRED and also a para-professional.3. Examine the schedule and the instructor salaries.4. Keep the Open House hours from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.5. Examine the tuition rates.6. Recruit new teachers and/or course topics.7. Research possible funding grants or scholarship opportunities for students.

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Chisago Lakes 2144 70East Central 2580 4Hinckley/Finlayson 2165 14North Branch 138 44Pine City 578 24Rush City 139 29TOTAL 185

ABE Annual Report 10-11

Executive Summary

ABE had a successful year. We served 516 students who logged in 7390 hours of learning. We had 13 students earn a GED or Adult Diploma. We maintained our enrollment and increased our hours of learning by 1311 hours. This is fantastic as our students are staying with us longer and persisting towards accomplishing their education goals.

04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 Number of students 622 464 336 419 414 513 516

Hours of learning 7457 6193 4608 5077 4310 6079 7390

New Goals for the 2011-12 School Year

1. Initiate a second phase of outreach and programming.

2. Develop and implement computer classes located at Pine Technical College

3. Participate in Project Ideal

Goals Completed

Facilitate East Central School District’s ABE program merger.East Central successfully merged with our ABE program. They have been an active partner and continue to participate in state initiatives.

Complete the Fasttrac Grant with Pine Technical College.This grant was successfully completed with great results. We increased classes and student learning hours. The partnerships developed in this grant continue to grow with continued projects and collaborations.

Increase partnerships through a second Fasttrac grant opportunity/application.Unfortunately we did not receive a second Fasttrac grant. However, the group felt the collaboration was so important that we are continuing to meet on a monthly basis and working on co-projects despite not receiving additional funding

Initiate a second phase of outreach and programming.This project was put on hold due to some staffing illnesses. It will be implemented in 2011-12.

Improve our testing and completion rate of ABE students.We improved both our testing and competition rate in all levels of our programming. We went from being below to above the federal recommendations

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