DiversityandSpecialEducation

Demographics

CaterpillarElementarySchoolislocatedinthenorthernChicagosuburbs.It
currentlyservestheneedsof350studentsinKindergartenthroughgrade5.Althoughtheschoolislocatedina
middletouppermiddleclasssuburb,59percentofthestudentbodyqualifiesforfreeorreducedlunch.The
schoolhousesandSpanishDualLanguageprogramandandthreeSelfContainedclassrooms.Thisisa
contributingfactortothehighnumberofEnglishLanguageLearners(ELLs)andstudentswithIndividual
EducationPlans(IEPs).Asreadingspecialistswithinthisschool,itisourresponsibilitytohelpboth
administrationandinstructorsdeveloplessonsthatmeettheneedsofalllearners.Thiscanbeachievedthrough
modificationsintheclassroom,differentiation,andtheavailabilityofresources.
Accordingtothe20132014IllinoisReportCard,approximately34%ofstudentsareHispanic,while
29%areblack.Atthesametime,28%ofthestudentsatCaterpillarElementarySchoolarewhite,while8%are
mixedrace,and1%isAsian.Outofthesenumbers,54%ofthestudentscomefromlowincomefamilies.59%
ofstudentsreceivelunchatareducedpriceorforfree.Ofthetotalstudentpopulation,21%areELLs.Asa
result,readingspecialistsmusthelpteachersbecomehighlyawareoftheliteraturetheyincludeintheir
classroomlibrariesandthebackgroundinformationnecessarytoconnectwithawidevarietyofstudents.
Intermsoflearningdisabilities,13%ofthestudentshavebeentestedandhavehadanIEPputinplace
tohelpidentifyscholasticgoalsforthestudent.Mostofthesestudentsareplacedingeneraleducation
classroomsandreceivemodificationswiththehelpoftheteacherand/oranaide.Afewstudents(35)ineach
gradelevelhavedisabilitiesthataresoseverethattheyareinselfcontainedclassrooms.Asreadingspecialists,
weworkwithgeneraleducationteachers,specialeducationteachers,bilingualteachers,andaidestohelp
providetherightmaterialsandthecorrectinstructiontomeettheneedsofourspecialneedspopulation.

Althoughthesestudentshaveindividualacademicgoals,alloftheteachersneedtoworkasteamtohelp
increasestudentachievementratherthanwidenthegap.
Since21%ofthestudentpopulationareELLs,CaterpillarElementaryhasabilingualreading
specialiststosupportstudentsinbothSpanishandEnglishliteracyinstruction.Duetothenatureofthe
duallanguageprogram,studentsareexpectedtomeetreadinggoalsinbothlanguages.Thereadingspecialist
needstobewellinformedaboutthedifferencesinELLlanguageandliteracydevelopmentthatmaydictatethe
needtoadaptinstructioninoneorbothlanguages(Best118).AsnotedinBest(122),thelevelsofproficiency
developedinstudentsnativelanguagemaybeinstrumentaltothedevelopmentoftheirsecondlanguage.
Astrongfocusoninstructioninvocabularyandreadingcomprehensionisessential,sincelow
vocabularyachievementisbelievedtobemajorfactorinthelowlevelsofliteracyattainmentforELLs(Best
125).Vocabularyinstructionmustbepresentedincontextusingreadaloud,preferablybasedonthematicunits.
ThematicunitthatencompassallofthecontentareashelpELLsseethebigpictureonasubject.Thishelps
themmakesenseoftheEnglishinstructionandassimilatethecontentwiththeirbackgroundknowledge.
Further.vocabularyisrepeatednaturallyasthesamesubjectiscoveredacrossthedifferentcontentareas.
SpecialistwillneedtobeawareoftheimportanceofwordmorphologyandcognatesinordertohelpELLs
makeconnectionbetweenthetwolanguages(Best131).
AccordingtoBest(113),strugglingreadersneedhighqualityinstructionalldaylong.Thatmeanstexts
theycanreadnotjustinreading/languageartslessonsbutinscienceandsocialstudiesaswell.Ourliteracy
programwillmakesuretohaveavarietyofappropriatereadingmaterialsatalllevelsandinasmanylanguages
aspossible.Wewillalsoutilizewebsitesandprogramsinordertomodifytextsintodifferentreadinglevels
andlanguages.Inordertoincludefamilies,textswillbesenthomeonaregularbasiswithvideosand
workshopshelpingfamiliesmastertheskillsintheCommonCoreStateStandards.Bothteachesandfamilies
willhaveopportunitiestoattendprogramsforWordKnowledge(RF.K.13,L.K.1,RF.1.1,1.2,1.2,1.4,RL1.10,
RI1.1.0),Comprehension(RL.K.1,2,3,5,6),Writing(W.K.1,2,W.1.1,1.2,L.1.1,1.2)andVocabulary(RL.K.4,
RI.K.4,L.K.45,RI1.4,L.1.4,1.5)thatwillbescheduledonamonthlybasis.Wewanttomakesuretoinclude

familiesasmuchaspossibleandbuildrelationshipswiththem,soweeklycommunicationsandfrequent
opportunitiestoexchangeinformationwillbeacorepartofourprogram(Best441,448).Itiscriticalto
providetheseopportunitiesfordiscourseandfamilyparticipationsincehighlevelsofparentinvolvement
correlatewithgreaterachievementgains(Best449).
Inordertomeettheneedsofstrugglingreadersnomatterwhatthediagnosis,instructionshouldbe
sequenced,intentional,teacherdirected,andexplicit(Best417).Teacherswillbenotonlybegiven
classroomsupportwithstudents,butmaterialsandcontinuedassistancewithmodifyingthosematerials.We
willalsoprovideopportunitiesforthemlearnmorethroughworkshops,videos,podcastsinadditiontosmall
groupandindividualmeetings.
Withthesupportofthedistrict,classsizeswillbecappedat20andsupportstaffwithbeutilizinga
pushinmodelinordertomaximizestudentachievement.Basedonindividualstudentneeds,supportsand
scaffoldingwillbeprovidedbyboththeclassroomteacherandasupportstaffmember.Eachbuildingwillhave
enoughELL,SPED,andLiteracyteachersnecessarytomeetthoseneeds.