April 10, 2020 — Every week, the Florida Charter School Alliance hosts a virtual Principals Chat Session to give our member school leaders an opportunity to connect and talk about challenges and successes during this period of distance learning. Recently, the group discussed how to best provide services as outlined in IEPs.
A school’s continuing education plan should outline how your team will work with different student subgroups – including students with disabilities, English language learners, and others. To help address any questions related to ESE and provide examples of best practices, we invited Dr. Christy Noe of Collaborative Educational Network to be a guest at the weekly chat session. Dr. Noe has a background in both special education and charter schools and established the company in 2005 with the mission of working collaboratively with school districts, charter schools, and state departments of education to support high quality, innovative educational programs. She’s a nationally known expert in the areas of governance, exceptional student education, curriculum and instructional strategies, operations, and federal and state legislation.
Click here to view Dr. Noe presentation’s / 4-9-20
During the meeting, we also heard from Lisa Redman of Harris School Solutions who talked about eWalk — a tool to help easily track the service, documentation, and communication necessary for IEPs during remote learning.
- use pre-made documents or customize criteria for evidence of service
- upload, attach and email documents
- adjust user access for safe and secure data communication and storage
- electronic signature capability
To learn more about eWalk, you can listen to a podcast conversation the FCSA recently hosted with Lisa Redman – Click here – or contact Lisa directly at lredman@harriscomputer.com.
Resources for Principals: we recommend adding the Florida Inclusion Networks (FIN) “Tips for Families in Supporting Their Children with Disabilities in Visual Formats” to your website. FIN has developed a tip sheet to assist families of students with disabilities in working with their children using a virtual format. The information is available in English, Haitian Creole, and Spanish. The IDEA expectation of parent involvement and training does not stop during a pandemic. Please ensure your families of SWD are as informed and involved as possible. Also…the BEESS Portal to Professional Development Alternatives is offering the newly revised Paraprofessionals Supporting Students with Disabilities course. This non-credit course will provide paraprofessionals with critical information related to their roles and responsibilities, special education and the law, understanding of disabilities served under IDEA, Florida models of support in special education, the IEP process, student and behavioral challenges, and how to support the instructional process. For more information, go to https://fl-pda.org.
School leaders are encouraged to contact Dr. Noe or Lynn at the FCSA if you have any questions or need assistance.
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