An inclusive school is one that educates and demonstrates success for all students with and without disabilities in age-appropriate general education classrooms. Creating and maintaining an inclusive school requires collaboration and whole-school planning using analysis and synthesis of school-wide data. Saturn Elementary School has demonstrated that these efforts can have an impressive impact on student achievement.

Saturn Elementary School, located in Brevard County, is a Title I school with a total student population of 750 students. Of those students, 63% receive free and reduced lunch. Additionally, Saturn has a 45% mobility rate, 35% minority population and a 35% exceptional education student population. Knowing that there were some challenging issues facing Saturn Elementary, the principal, Mr. Mike Miller, moved toward an approach of using school-wide data to improve student achievement and create a culture of inclusion.

During their journey, Saturn Elementary:

• Encouraged collaboration among administrators, staff, students, and family members;

• Found creative and efficient use of their existing resources, staff, time, and funding;

• Instilled a value system where all students are members of general education classrooms whose teachers hold high expectations for success;

• Promoted the use a variety of approaches, instructional strategies, and curricular adaptations that were tailored to each student’s learning abilities, needs, styles, and preferences;

• Provided professional development that focused on skills and capacities, as well as reflective actions of their staff;

• Ensured that students with disabilities were included and carefully considered in the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and whole school planning related to student achievement data.

• Enlisted the support of “critical friends” such as the Florida Inclusion Network to provide professional development and ongoing technical assistance.

With these efforts in place, Saturn was able to make and maintain an “A” school status, made AYP for the last two consecutive years, raised attendance to over 95%, raised their FCAT reading scores for students with disabilities from 27% in 2003 (achieving Level 3 or higher) to 67%, and raised FCAT math scores from 34% in 2003 (achieving Level 3 or higher) to 62%.

While the leaps in Saturn’s overall scores are amazing, the success stories of their individual students with disabilities are even more impressive. One of their students, who in the past would have been in a self-contained classroom because of behavioral concerns, was included in general education and went from an FCAT Level 2 in both reading and math to a Level 5 in both reading and math! Another student with a learning disability moved from an FCAT Level 1 in both reading and math to a Level 5! This student had a perfect score in reading and has maintained these high proficiency levels for two consecutive years!

Click here to view graphics showing the percentage of students with disabilities scoring level 3 or higher on FCAT math or reading.

Successful Inclusion Demonstrated in a Kindergarten Classroom

Hunters Green Elementary, located in Tampa, FL, has a Kindergarten classroom doing an excellent job supporting all their students in academic and social learning. Two teachers, Roxanne Coriell and Joni Cagel, co-teach all day to provide necessary supports and direct services for students with mild to severe disabilities and ALL other students in their classroom. This classroom truly demonstrates the value of diversity, a sense of belonging for all, and a model of providing grade-level instruction with accommodations and modifications.

Read what the teachers say about their student outcomes:

“All of our students made excellent progress in their Emergent Reader Assessments (phonemic awareness, letter ID, letter sounds, concepts about print, and sight word recognition.) All of our students have made great progress in writing because they all have the determination to overcome their disabilities (including our student with a severe hearing impairment, our student who has limited verbal skills, and our student with Cerebral Palsy that cannot hold a pencil...but types and loves it). We're very proud of them!”.
                                                                                                                                          Roxanne Coriell & Joni Cagle 

Students work together to create a snowman.	One group’s final snowman creation!

Marisa Adler, Inclusion Support Teacher for Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary School in Ocala, implemented two new strategies that she learned from a FIN/UNF professional development series on Differentiated Instruction. Her goal was to improve achievement for her students, especially those struggling with identifying the author’s purpose in sets of readings. Marisa used the strategies of “Stand Up, Sit Down!” and “Response Cards” to fully engage the minds and bodies of her 5th graders!

Given examples of writing, students were asked to stand up if the writing was expository or stay seated if narrative. Once identified, the choices of author's purpose were narrowed and, using their own set of response cards, students successfully identified the author’s purpose 90% of the time. Students would hold up the card labeled “narrative” or “expository” and receive immediate feedback about their response. Students really enjoyed this interactive method of learning!

In Marion County, district-wide assessments are frequently conducted to monitor student progress toward meeting Sunshine State Standards. All (100%) of Ms. Adler’s students received a mastery level score on identifying the author’s purpose. Marisa plans to use the combination of “Stand Up, Sit Down!” and “Response Cards” as a review and an evaluation tool. Great job, Ms. Adler!!

For more information on how to implement these and other effective instructional strategies, contact your local FIN Facilitator!

To advance their skills in meeting the needs of diverse learners, 90 teachers in Broward County completed a two-day training on Differentiating Instruction. These educators had the opportunity to meet and work with colleagues from around the district to explore research-based approaches that address assessment and instructional strategies. Strategies focused upon engaging students and fostering a deeper awareness of what is essential for students to KNOW, UNDERSTAND and DO in content area classes.

We know that application in the classroom is critical to student success. These two-day trainings have resulted in awesome collaboration between general and special educators at all levels. Participants have been utilizing effective strategies such as Gallery Walks, 3-2-1 Summarizers, and Cubing, and have employed a variety of ways to create flexible groups in their classrooms. With a keen awareness of learning styles and multiple intelligences, teachers are beginning to tier their instruction to meet their students "where they are" and move them forward. Best of all, teachers are reporting "more fun and more learning"!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, one participant created a Mind Map for Differentiating Instruction - click link below to check it out!

Click here to view Broward's Mind Map for Differentiating Instruction.

Teachers from Westglades Middle School and Coconut Palm Elementary School have been polishing their skills to reach diverse learners. Twenty one teachers have completed Communities of Practice, a study group for differentiating instruction developed by the Florida Inclusion Network. By delving into this teaching philosophy to reach ALL students, including those with disabilities, the teachers have explored new ways to assess students based on their learning styles, areas of interest, and readiness levels.

Utilizing student assessment information, teachers identified appropriate strategies to increase student engagement and assist students in learning essential concepts. Teachers learned practical approaches to create flexible groups and tier their instruction within these groups. This hands-on application gave way to the development of action plans at each school that will expand the process school-wide! Much thanks to the leadership of Principal Christine Flynn at Westglades Middle and Assistant Principal Donald Gardner at Coconut Palm Elementary.  

Home Learning Groups Replace Old Homework Habits

Fifth grade teachers, Casey Brennan and Jacque Whittle, are planning which DI Strategy to implement.

It’s an exciting time for inclusive schools in Florida! Often, I am asked to explain and demonstrate how schools are successfully implementing inclusive practices. Effective inclusive schools reveal many positive outcomes of educating students with disabilities in age-appropriate, general education classrooms: student achievement, attendance, discipline referrals, collaboration among education teams, and teacher efficacy.

Successful inclusion takes teamwork, shared decision making, and shared responsibility for all the students in a given school district, school, or classroom. Inclusion works when school leaders and teachers are committed to helping every student reach their highest potential. In Seminole County Florida, several schools stand out as having made such a commitment to their students. Lawton Chiles Middle is one such school. Under the leadership of Principal Britt Smith and Assistant Principal Patricia Bowman, the school was able to establish meaningful, systemic, and inclusive practices to meet the needs of all students on their campus.

As Lawton Chiles Middle begins year two of their collaborative relationship with the Florida Inclusion Network, their new principal, Mrs. Robin Dehlinger, continues to support shared decision-making and shared responsibility within the entire school community.

To see just how much this inclusive school community means to one student, click on the link below and read Linsey Shelton’s story from the Lawton Chiles Middle School News. You’ll learn how this young lady is no different than other students: she is Just Sitting Instead of Standing! As you read the article, consider the author’s tone… Linsey is definitely a part of the Lawton Chiles team!!!

Click here for Linsey's Story. 

Heidi Ecklor and Jennifer Pike explain the scheduling process at John Stockton.

During the 2006-2007 school year, CAST impacted Hillsborough County's Elementary, Middle, and High Schools by conducting 90 activities including scheduling, faculty overviews, and/or developing and facilitating collaborative teaching teams.

One peer assistant expressed her thoughts about the program: “It's fun helping others”. Students are choosing to opt out of other electives to enroll in the program and help others, something very rare in middle school. But it's happening daily at Meadowbrook Middle School: students helping students!

What a perfect start to a teaching career! Take a look…

While speaking to her staff, Nix said that “The principles of differentiated instruction are consistent with the philosophy of education that we have at Hilltop.” That philosophy says that all students have the right to an engaging, challenging (at their level), high quality curriculum and that all students have the right to receive the support they need in order to be successful in school. With that kind of attitude, the staff and students at Hilltop Elementary will certainly go far!

In a collaborative effort between the Florida Inclusion Network/Duval (FIN/Duval), Florida Diagnostic Learning Resource Systems (FDLRS), and Intervention Services and Assistive Technology, the Professional Learning Communities Center created Summer Academies to provide training for school staff. Designed to provide educators with the skills necessary to meet the needs of all students in inclusive classrooms, workshop topics included Differentiated Instruction, Accommodations and Modifications, Behavior Management, and Inclusion 101/Flexible Scheduling. Nearly 600 educators representing administrators, guidance counselors, general education, and ESE teachers, attended the Summer Academies and responded positively to the training.

"Having two teachers benefits you in a lot of ways, that's something I am grateful for."

"Thank you so much for coming in and showing us what it's like to be your daughter for a day. The impact of that was incredible. Now I know exactly how it feels. She has the same heartbeat and the same touch as everybody . What Rachal does may be different or what she is labeled may be different, but to me she is a regular person. She's just unique in her own way." Brittney, 8th grade student, Bonita Springs Middle School.

Eagle Ridge Elementary
Under the direction of Principal Marina Rashid, Eagle Ridge Elementary is successfully including students with disabilities to meet academic benchmarks by making continuous learning gains. The teaching staff view inclusion as creating a collaborative atmosphere that is very helpful for all children. Parents are pleased to see children included in all
aspects of the school day. And students are enjoying learning through their teachers' increased use of hands-on manipulatives and making learning fun! Students with disabilities love being FULL members of Eagle Ridge's classrooms and community!

Carol is an amazing teacher with an amazing class. All her students actively participate and learn together. Because of Carols inclusive methods, even the most experienced would have a difficulty distinguishing students with disabilities from those without!

I want inclusive practices to continue and to become even more prevalent in Florida. I hope by working to increase inclusion at elementary schools, parents and administrators will push for inclusion to continue into middle schools and high schools. I think that once parents see how successful their children can be, they will demand that they not be isolated or restricted from being a part of the whole school environment.
by Connie M. Dillard

Life Changes Forever for Kyle

The 2006-2007 school year is well under way and Kyle is now in the 8th grade. West Hernando Middle School provides a positive learning environment where “Every Student is a Success”. The 8th grade is providing many opportunities for Kyle to be included in general education classes and activities with the right amount of support. It is no doubt that Kyle will continue to be a success at West Hernando Middle School!

First trip to the movies without Mom and Dad!!! Woooohooo!

Kyle gets his groove on at a Halloween party!

Planning the Future on Today's Dreams

DCDT board members sign their name to the PATH to indicate their commitment to the organization's goals.

On December 8, 2006, Freeport Middle School was presented the first K-NFB Reader by
TYBRIN Corp, a high-tech business in Okaloosa County that offers worldwide governmental support. This corporation is committed to supporting education for students with disabilities, and over the last 15 years they have sponsored college scholorships for these students and supported schools with computers. When the CEO, Bill Pennington and Senior VP, Ty Pennington were approached to collaborate on purchasing six K-NFB Readers for the counties supported by FIN/UWF, they were sold on the idea of meeting the needs of 90 VI students. TYBRIN's donation of more than $20,000.00 made this dream become a reality.