Supporting Student Academic Success

To fuel the continuous improvement process, it is important for schools to have a strategic assessment, data use, and data literacy plan. CESA #1 offers technical support, services and professional learning opportunities in the areas of assessment strategies and best practices, data analysis, and school improvement efforts.

Literacy

The CESA #1 Literacy Center provides research-based literacy services to students, teachers, and administrators. Services may include school literacy analysis, professional development, on-site literacy consultation and coaching, and literacy leadership communities. Customized workshops and specific training are available upon request to include Units of Study: Reading and Writing Workshop and Phonics, Disciplinary Literacy, LLI, and FUNdations, among others.

Early learners have experienced disruptions that may have impacted their ability to make progress toward their developmental and performance goals. CESA #1 offers a variety of services related to Early Childhood to improve early language and literacy outcomes through evidenced-based and meaningful inclusive practices for preschool children with disabilities. We can also provide coaching, consultation, technical assistance and professional development opportunities in order to improve the knowledge and skills of those teaching and supporting young children with disabilities.

Technology is an integral part of successful education for today’s students. The number of technology-related resources is so extensive that it can easily become overwhelming to select the right tools and to understand how to best use them, wasting both time and resources. CESA #1 offers consultation services that will provide expert guidance to find the right educational technology tools for your needs or to determine the best way to maximize the tools you already own. We will work with educators on how to best use the tools, linking them with multiple resources and lesson plans to quickly put them into practice.

As schools navigate the COVID-19 public health emergency, it is critical to develop processes and opportunities that make the engagement of families, caregivers, and communities central to the decision-making process. CESA #1 can provide supports that promote effective school/family partnerships through positive communication, collaboration, and training for the purpose of improving education for children.

Coaching, consultation and professional learning opportunities can be provided that will support healthy relationships between families and school staff including exploring beliefs, school culture, and structures for family engagement, educating parents and family members about navigating school systems, promoting at-home learning strategies to improve student achievement, and connecting families to resources in the community.

The effects of the pandemic may have resulted in some gifted and talented learners experiencing disrupted learning due to shifts in learning environments, staffing, access to technology, access to coursework, access to direct services, and being identified, potentially impacting their opportunity to make progress toward their individualized learning plans. CESA #1 provides gifted and talented services including analysis and evaluation, professional learning, and consultation and coaching to school staff that focuses on identification, academic extensions, and achievement growth in students with GT needs.

It is critical that school staff have access to high quality, standards-aligned instructional materials. CESA #1 can provide professional learning, technical assistance and consultation around comprehensive planning and evaluation of curriculum, standards implementation and integration, standards-based learning and grading, and curriculum design including development of grade and course benchmarks, unit design, and curriculum mapping.

Multilingual learners have experienced disrupted learning due to shifts in learning environments, staffing, access to technology, access to coursework, access to direct services, and access to language assessment/monitoring, which may have impacted their ability to make progress toward their language development goals or the general education curriculum. CESA #1 is committed to providing rich services and expert consultation in order to meet the cultural and linguistic needs of English learners (ELs). We offer professional development, consultation, coaching and program analysis.

It is critical that schools establish a continuous improvement cycle. CESA #1 offers technical support, coaching/consultation and professional learning opportunities that will help a school develop a comprehensive school improvement plan. (See Assessment, High Quality Instructional Materials, and Standards Based Grading for more information.)

Due to circumstances created by the COVD-19 public health emergency, some students with disabilities may have experienced disrupted learning due to shifts in learning environments, staffing, access to technology, access to coursework, access to direct services, and being identified. This may have impacted their ability to make progress toward their developmental and performance goals. CESA #1 will work with schools to provide services that will help in the recovery of learning for students with disabilities.

CESA #1 can provide high quality professionals to work directly with K12 students on an itinerant basis. These could include, but are not limited to: classroom teachers, interventionists, occupational or physical therapists, speech/language pathologists, diagnosticians, interpreters/translators, audiologists, school nurses and/or school psychologists. Whether the needs are short term or ongoing, a solution can be found to meet the needs of your school and student population.

Moving to a Standards-Based Learning and Grading (SBL&G) system provides far more meaningful student learning feedback. CESA #1 has a cadre of professional staff with wide expertise in the areas of standards-based learning and assessment practices. We can work closely with your school to craft a customized plan that will address the unique needs of your staff and student population.

CESA #1 offers substitute teacher training that covers school policies and procedures; age-appropriate teaching strategies; discipline, conflict resolution and classroom management techniques; health and safety issues; techniques for starting a class; working with and without lesson plans; and working with children with disabilities, including confidentiality issues.

Summer will be an important time to work with students who may need additional support and instruction due to the disrupted learning that occurred during the COVID 19 pandemic. CESA #1 can work with your school to provide staffing solutions for your summer school, provide coaching or consultation around summer learning opportunities, or we can work with your existing school staff to develop a comprehensive summer school program.

Equity is achieved when every learner receives what he or she needs. The UDL framework focuses on removing barriers and opening doors to learning and success for ALL learners. CESA #1 provides professional development, technical assistance, and coaching in the area of UDL. Coaching is recommended to support school awareness and implementation.