Conference agenda

WHOLE SCHOOLING
Changing the World One School at a Time!

Portland, Oregon May 11 -13, 2006

CONFERENCE AGENDA

PRE-CONFERENCE SCHOOL SITE VISITS
Thursday, May 11, 2006

Registering for pre-conference visits.

Visits to the schools listed below will be at the times indicated for each site. To arrange a visit on Thursday, May 11, 2006, complete this section of the conference registration form or contact Julie Knoles at 503-408 -2143. Go to registration directions.

SUN Community Schools: 9:00am –3:30pm

See what the SUN Service System looks like in action at schools. The SUN Service System aligns social and support services to improve educational success and family self-sufficiency. The visit will feature 3 different and diverse SUN Community Schools, representing different levels and both urban and suburban districts. Sites include Clarendon Elementary in Portland Public Schools and Parkrose High and Shaver Elementary in Parkrose School District. Participants will have an opportunity to interact with principals, community partners, parents and youth and discuss this nationally recognized model. Come see what can happen in a school when you have numerous agencies partnering in a coordinated effort focused on the success of students and families! (Lunch will be held at a fun neighborhood location).

Shaver MECP Pre-School Classrooms: 9:30-11:00

You are invited to visit one of the classrooms and see young children learning together in an inclusive environment. The Multnomah Educational School District and Parkrose School District have partnered together to establish integrated pre-schools in each of the Parkrose elementary buildings. The pre-school program serves neighborhood children who are 3-4 years old with diverse learning needs. Young children make friends while playing, painting, pasting, learning and laughing alongside children with special needs. The structured program enhances a child’s emotional, social, academic and physical growth and development. Transition from early childhood experiences into school age services is simply a trip down the hall to the kindergarten program. Children and families are familiar with the environment, the staff and the dynamics of the building. Planning from one program to the other is between staff who know each other and have had opportunities to observe in each others classrooms. (Lunch will be held at a fun neighborhood location).

Russell Academy of Academic Achievement: 9:00am –3:30pm

Principal Jeff Rose will be hosting this visit. See what is happening at this innovative elementary school in the Parkrose District. Russell Academy serves children in grades K -5. Russell Academy is a place where every child learns in a caring and stimulating environment regardless of their circumstances or academic need. We have high academic and social expectations for everyone and a belief that every student needs to be included. Children with disabilities participate in age appropriate classrooms and we work to support their needs to ensure success according to their individualized goals. We believe every child can make significant academic progress and our support staff and teachers are learning to provide numerous accommodations and modifications to support our students. We believe every student has a right to be a part of our school, and we are taking intentional steps to ensure we provide an environment that is accepting and rigorous. (Lunch will be held at a fun neighborhood location).

CONFERENCE

Friday, May 12, 2006

8:00-8:30 Registration

8:30-9:00 Welcome and Introductions: Mike Taylor and Michael Peterson
The Slow Road to Advocacy: Mike Taylor, Superintendent, Parkrose Public Schools

9:00-10:30 Keynote: Doug Fisher, San Diego State University. 6.5 Lessons Learned After A Decade Of Inclusion. What has been learned about inclusive schooling from a decade of advocacy and change? Specific information on the use of staff, modifying curriculum, and the role of peers will be explored.

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:15

Creating Inclusive Secondary Schools. Doug Fisher. This session focuses on the supports necessary to create inclusive middle and high schools. More specifically, we will examine the triangle of supports, including curriculum accommodations and modifications, personal support, and technology support.

Creating supportive classrooms for all learners. Raelene Finlayson and Vicki Cooke. Edmonton Public Schools Education Outreach Services is a shining star among program within the province of Alberta. Alberta Education views our service as a model to create improved programming throughout the Province. Visits to our site occur regularly from professionals from other school districts Alberta and other provinces. This powerpoint presentation will share the vision and history of Early Education Outreach Services, what supports look like now and where we hope it will be in the future.

Student Committees in a Middle School Social Studies & Language Arts Classroom: Students and Teacher Learning Together. Stephen Daniels and Jill Bryant. This presentation will describe how classroom committees allow students to be self-governing and learn social studies/language arts curriculum. A first year teacher, sixth grade students, and university professor will share how this project evolved, is organized, and is sustained.

Innovative Supports from Multnomah County Library’s Outreach to Youth. Joanne McNamara and Kate Houston Mitchoff. This presentation will describe two innovative programs of Multnomah County Library: Early Childhood Resources and School Corps. Early Childhood Resources is a unique combination of outreach programs and specialized library materials serving children pre-birth to kindergarten, their families and caregivers. By providing an environment rich in language through talking, listening and reading to children, parents and caregivers build the experiential and linguistic foundations necessary for future reading and academic success. Joanne McNamara, the library’s parent education coordinator, will highlight some of the Early Childhood Resources outreach programs that support parents and caregivers in this process. School Corps connects K-12 public and private students and educators in Multnomah County with the critical information resources of the public library. The goal of the School Corps is to increase the information literacy of Multnomah County students by working in partnership with local schools and to promote efficient and effective use of the public libraries rich resources. Kate Houston Mitchoff, School Corps Librarian, will highlight some of the School Corps’ services that help students succeed in school.

12:00-12:45 Lunch and Learning Marketplace (Box Lunches)

12:45 – 1:00 Passing Time

1:00-2:30 Keynote: Donna Beegle, President of Communication Across Barriers, Educating Students of Poverty. What does it mean to leave no child behind? What does it mean to be from poverty and go to school in America? Based on personal experience, research, and work in schools, Donna will share educational strategies to successfully engage students and families from generational poverty.

2:30 – 3:00 Break

3:00-4:30

Innovative Practices at Russell Academy. Jeff Rose, Principal, and a panel of educators. Russell Academy (K-5) is a place every child learns in a caring and stimulating environment regardless of their circumstances or academic need. We believe that every student needs to be included and have high academic and social expectations for everyone. Children with disabilities participate in age appropriate classrooms and we work to support their needs to ensure success according to their individualized goals. We believe every child can make significant academic progress and our support staff and teachers are learning to provide numerous accommodations and modifications to support our students. We believe every student has a right to be a part of our school, and we are taking intentional steps to ensure we provide an environment that is accepting and rigorous. In this presentation we will share our first experiences with placing and supporting students in an inclusion setting; the challenges we have and continue to face; solutions and structures we have orchestrated, and plans and hopes for the future of our school and our students.

Reframing the debate: How students with significant disabilities strengthen the literate community. Janet Sauer and Jillian McCarthy. In this session, we share an analysis that privileges local understanding as a way to recognize how children with significant disabilities strengthen the inclusive community. In other words, an interpretivist analysis, which views all children as unconditional members of a community, allows us to see what each child brings to the classroom community rather than what they may take from it. Our analysis reveals several ways in which all children benefit from these inclusive environments. In this presentation we will discuss some of the ways children with disabilities enrich and strengthen the inclusive classroom community through the following six themes: social justice, safe environments, communication, literacy, technology, and collaboration.

Action Plan for Change: Policy Frameworks in Portland/Multnomah County. Wendy Lebow, Janice Gratton, Johnell Bell and Marilyn Miller. This presentation will describe the structure and roles of the Commission on Children and Families (CCFC) as part of a state-wide system). A panel will discuss the framework under which the Commission operates, the impetus for creating the framework, the process and partners involved in its creation, and implementation of the framework - successes, barriers and next steps. Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss issues and opportunities in relationship to school/community partnership possibilities.

Positive Behavior Supports for All Students: A School Wide Approach. Billie Jo Clausen and Michael Delaney. This practical presentation will provide an overview of a building-based model of positive behavior supports to build a safe and caring school community for all students. Participants will learn strategies for application in all schools (preschool-12) designed to meet the needs of all citizens (including staff) of the school community. The supports described will benefit the entire student body, from students who only need a school-wide discipline program, to students with challenging behavior who require a functional assessment and positive behavior support plan to be successful in school. This value giving presentation will interweave information about sharing power and control with students, including what power struggles are, and strategies to avoid them.

7:00 – 9:00 Conference Dinner for All.

Saturday May 13, 2006

8:00-8:30 Registration

8:30-8:45 Welcome & Introductions

8:45-10:00 Keynote: Lolenzo Poe, Director of Multnomah County Department of School & Community Partnerships and panel. SUN Service System: Supporting Students & Families Through a System Approach to School-Community Collaboration. Lolenzo T. Poe will host a panel of partners from the local SUN Service System to share the history, strategies and successes of this nationally recognized service system. Focus will be given to how the multi-jurisdictional partnership was formed and how existing services were realigned into an integrated approach focusing on schools as a primary service delivery location. Panelists will share their perspective on how turf issues were overcome and how multiple stakeholders (government, schools, communities and non-profit agencies) came on board. Both system and site-level issues will be addressed. Recent evaluation results have shown this model to be sound and the services to be effective – speakers will comment on the changes and outcomes that are being seen – both the expected and the surprises.

10:00-10:30 Break

10:30-12:00

Creating classrooms with growing room. Chris Horrocks. One of the principles of Whole Schooling is that teachers design instruction for diverse learners that engages them in active learning at multiple levels of ability. This session will attempt to unpack what this might mean. Using the video journaling of his co-teaching experiences over the last few years , Chris will explore promising traditional techniques of adaptation and modification as well as multi -level curriculum design. He will also provide some examples of differentiated grouping strategies and more open ended lesson planning. This session will be interactive and hands on.

The Magic of Storybuilding: Engaging Children and Adolescents. Randi Douglas. Experience Storybuilding, a stand-up-and-do creative process that actively engages students using multiple intelligences; creates a collaborative community of learners; and excites them about curricular themes, content, reading, and writing. Elegant and simple, this drama process is research-validated as a builder of learning and achievement.

One school’s journey towards creating a democratic, inclusive learning community for ALL. Brian Hendrix, Renee Salazar-Garcia, Baylor Del Rosario, Cris Mancuso, Molina Chavez & Alicia Flores-Gallegos. This session will tell the story of the process of, commitment to, and the transition towards inclusive education, of an urban middle school located in the Southwestern U.S. Particular focus will be placed on curricular and social supports for students with a variety of abilities and needs and how general and special education staff, including education assistants, have worked collaboratively to ensure that all learners reach their maximal potential in the common typical school and classroom environment.

Inclusive Teaching: Supporting All Students In Learning Well Together. Michael Peterson. Effective general and special education teachers use instructional strategies that challenge students at their level of ability, drawing on multiple intelligences, scaffolding learning, and supporting differing learning styles. This presentation provides a framework for instruction that can be used for teacher self-assessment, team planning, and instructional improvement.

12:00-1:00 Lunch.

1:00-2:00 Keynote: Sigamoney Naicker, Chief Director, Education Planning, Western Cape, South Africa. Educational practice is never neutral in an unequal society: The need for a new education mandate. Several learners in South Africa are part of the attrition and failure rate. In fact in many provinces the throughput rate (grade r-grade 12) is about 42%. Very few indigent children experience success and are eligible for higher education and the world of work. A substantial number of black youth of school going age or above are unemployed. Against this background, this paper debunks the core business of the education system in South Africa. It raises questions about the relevance of the core business of educational thinking and practice. The paper suggests that policy planners and practitioners need to revisit the mandate of education and it intends to achieve to avoid a social revolution. The paper goes on to make recommendations regarding fiscal investment, programmes, collaboration between higher education, industry and government education departments.

2:00 – 2:15 Break

2:15 – 3:30

Is it Possible or Desirable to Teach for Democracy Today? Rich Gibson. This interactive workshop is designed to facilitate discussions addressing one of the benchmark issues that has always faced social studies educators: democracy. The presenter will offer a very brief synopsis of a paper, designed to prompt discussions in workshop small groups.

A Truly Inclusive Instructional Model: Community of Learners Versus One-Sided Notions of Learning. Richard Laszlo. This presentation will describe the Community of Learners model of instruction which is based on the premise that effective learning and human development occur when members of a community participate in shared endeavors, with all playing active but often asymmetrical roles in the activities. The presentation will review the main characteristics of this model and point out how this approach is radically different from the traditional instructional practices, which are dominant in our schools; insofar as Community of Learners relies on the active participation of all learners with different abilities and needs.

Engaging National Service Volunteer Programs to Build Inclusive School Communities. Randi Douglas. What do you know: 1) about the many ways AmeriCorps, VISTA, and Senior Corps volunteers are working to support learning for all; and 2) about the National Service Inclusion Project of the Corporation for National and Community Service? Encounter program models and resources for partnering with this important federally funded resource for Whole Schooling initiatives.

3:30 – 3:45 Break

3:45 – 4:30 Keynote and conference wrap-up: Michael Peterson. Changing the World, One School at a Time. Michael Peterson. Changing the World, One School at a Time. What is the purpose of school? How should schools and teachers in them structure their work? Whole Schooling posits that the purpose of schools is to create citizens who can solve problems, create better communities, and engage in important adult roles – parent and family member, community leader, professional, worker, citizen. This presentation will describe how the Six Principles of Whole Schooling provide a framework for developing effective schooling and teaching practices that support all children learning well together to develop their own potential and become effective citizens.