leadership in high schools

The High School classes at Hewes Center are reaching capacity within the 1:8:1 and 1:6:1 model.  This is a beautiful thing because we are finally turning the corner in Special Education.  We are attempting to provide a quality education that is demanding, relevant and connected to the world of work.  Within this model exist students whose outcome will be either the IEP or Regents Diploma.  Both populations are being exposed to content material and curriculum that will allow them to challenge the Regents/RCT exams.  As the journey began, so does it continue.  More students currently work toward the IEP diploma than do those pursuing the Regents Diploma.  Two things are occurring simultaneously.  One is that by challenging special needs students with more demanding curriculum, we can improve overall skills and thus allow students to work toward improved outcomes eg.  whereas students who at middle school level 4 years ago were only working toward an IEP diploma, they are now being slated for Regents exams.  Second, by planning and preparing more demanding instructional activities teachers who are certified in content,  are now ready for the challenge of taking on special education students who hitherto sat in Alternative Education programs because they could not receive a Regents diploma any place else.    This student population made up the “lost people” – lost in Alt. Ed and lost from Special Ed.    These students were lost because no high school special ed. program existed at the Hewes Center BOCES.  This was a clear example of how low cost ( Alt. Ed. has a lower co-Ser) and no relevant program written with the needs of special ed. students in mind, drove decisions around what entry point was the most appropriate for this population. 

Four years into the running (September 2004) and population sifting within Special Education will mean that the IEP and Regents Diploma students will have their educational needs met within a paradigm based on research and data, a model that works for kids and a model that will assist schools in Southern Chautauqua County raise graduation rates for all students.  With the classes at capacity, planning has to occur around decision making that informs instructional planning – who is a 1:6:1 or a 1:8:1 student and why?  Should 1:6:1 classes be for those students who can challenge higher order academics that lead to a Regents Diploma?  Should 1:8:1 classes be reserved for 11th and 12th  grade students who have the ability to survive the greatest amount of integration in Gen. Ed.  Should we plan to have one life skills class attached to the high school – should this class be a 1:6:1 or a 1:8:1?  Suffice it to say we are encroaching on territory that has never been traversed before.  This is our time of adventure.  Collective thinking and reasoning will drive the school we are creating for students. 

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