Open to Grades 9-12 Prerequisite: Specialist Recommendation No Credit  

• The goal of Academic Support is to maximize a student's access to and success with the high school curriculum and to assist students in effectively planning for and transitioning to post-secondary opportunities. 

• The Learning Center is available to students with a current Individual Educational Program (IEP), and who require academic support to compensate for learning differences that may otherwise preclude them from making effective progress at Dover-Sherborn High School. 

• This class focuses on empowering each student to become an independent learner who can successfully employ strengths and strategies that compensate for weaknesses. 

• Academic support focuses on the goals and objectives identified in a student's Individual Education Program (IEP). Instructional time is devoted to developing effective time management and organizational skills and strategies with specific links to content area requirements. 

• Students are encouraged to utilize technology and apply higher order critical thinking skills that relate to the high school curriculum. 

• Students are provided with instruction to become more efficient learners who are able to independently manage their academic responsibilities. 

• Among other priorities, special educators and instructional support staff may focus on the following activities:

• Assignment planning/recording 

• Efficient note taking 

• Reinforcement of lab preparation/Scientific Method 

• Development and use of outlines 

• Management of long-term projects 

• Specific reading and writing instruction 

• Content review 

• Test preparation

Special education staff work within the general education classroom to provide support to student’s with a wide variety of diagnosed disabilities. The staff works to provide strategies that accommodate and support all learners.  Special education and general education teachers collaborate on techniques that assist in differentiation of instruction.  

Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy is considered a related service in a school system.  A student must be found eligible for special education or a 504 accommodation plan to receive occupational therapy interventions.  The focus of occupational therapy is to assist a student in accessing the curriculum. 

Once the team determines that a student is eligible for services, the occupational therapist identifies the skills that the student needs to develop and/or compensate for and the strategies necessary to function independently in the school environment.  The intervention uses purposeful activities and can occur in a various service delivery models: one to one, small group, or consultation with the team, individual teachers, students and parents. 
 

Speech and Language Therapy 
The role of the Speech and Language Pathologist is to evaluate and remediate receptive and expressive language skills in young adults.  

Overall goals are to improve language comprehension and expression utilizing curriculum based materials and instruction including assistive technology.   

Goals focus on the development of the following skills: 

Receptive Language

·   short and long term memory, word finding and auditory processing skills

·        auditory comprehension and reading comprehension

·        following oral and written direction and instruction

·        learning strategies

·        meta-cognitive strategies 

Expressive Language 

·        pragmatic skills or social skills

·        fluency

·        voice

·        written language 

a)     form – grammar and punctuation

b)     content – vocabulary , semantics, figurative language and organization

c)     use- written expression, style 

Indirect Services

· in-class language support (cueing, organizing, note-taking, clarifying, modeling, re-stating directions, coaching, team teaching)

· consulting with special ed. Staff

· consulting with general ed. Staff

· team in-services

· report writing 

Learning Disabilities Resources

Massachusetts Links:

Dover Public Schools Special Education Parent Advisory Group Website 

Learning Disabilities Association of Massachusetts  

Massachusetts Association of Special education Parent Advisory Councils (MASSPAC)  

Massachusetts Department of Education  

New England INDEX-Information on Disabilities 

National Links:

All Kinds of Minds (Mel Levine's web site) 

Asperger's Syndrome Coalition of the United States (ASC-US) 

Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation 

Council for Exceptional Children 

Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education (ERIC-EECE) 

Federation for Children With Special Needs  

Learning Disabilities Association of America  

National Center for Learning Disabilities  

Nonverbal Learning Disorders Association 

Books

Keeping A Head in School by Dr. Mel Levine, 1994,   Educator's Publishing Service, Inc. 31 Smith Place, Cambridge, MA 02138-1000

Useful Links:

International Dyslexia Association  

International Reading Associatio  

National Institute for Literacy  

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic 

Report of the National Reading Panel-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Graphic Organizer Forms  to download

Books:

Starting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Reading Success by the National Research Council; M. Susan Burns, Peg Griffin and Catherine E. snow, Editors; National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1999 

Straight Talk About Reading, (How Parents Can Make a Difference During the Early Years) by Susan l. Hall and Louisa C. Moats, Ed. D.; Contemporary Books, Chicago, IL; 1999.

Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz, M.D.;  Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2003.

Put Reading First, Kindergarten Through Grade 3 (Drawn from the 2000 report of the National Reading Panel, Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction--Reports of the Subgroups).  Free copies available at: The National Institute for Literacy at ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398; phone: 1-800-228-8813; FAX: 301-430-1244; EdPubOrders@aspensys.com; to download, go the the National Institute for Literacy website at www.nifl.gov.

Put Reading First, A Parent Guide  (Drawn from the 2000 report of the National Reading Panel, Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction--Reports of the Subgroups).  Free copies available at: The National Institute for Literacy at ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398; phone: 1-800-228-8813; FAX: 301-430-1244; EdPubOrders@aspensys.com; to download, go the the National Institute for Literacy website at www.nifl.gov.

Other Resources

"Lively Letters" (Telian Multisensory Mnemonic Letter Card Program ) by Nancy Telian, Telian Learning Concepts, P.O. Box 453 Stoughton, MA 02072.

Speech and Language Resources

Useful  Links: 

Stuttering Foundation of America   

Books: 

From Speech to Print, Language Essentials for Teachers by Louisa Cook Moats; Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, Baltimore, MD; 2000.

DOVER SHERBORN SEPAC

Special Education Parent Advisory Council

 
The Dover Sherborn SEPAC is a volunteer, parent-run organization that serves in an advisory role to the school district on the programs and needs of all students. We meet regularly to discuss matters that pertain to the education and safety of children with special needs.

To learn more about us, please visit our website at: www.doversherbornsepac.org

Email: sepac@doversherborn.org