Associate Assigning

Improvement Plan
Anna Phillips
EDL 279
Current Reality - Associates hired
Current Reality - Student Enrollment
Correlation

While the amount of SPED teachers and

students in SPED stay within the same

amount, the amount of associates is

trending up.
Current Reality - IEPs w/ Associates

Building currently has 41.03% of IEPs with an associate.

Current Reality - Process

“How do we currently decide if it is appropriate for a student to have a 1:1 associate? We depend on data and the IEP team to
determine the need for adult support.

Do we have a system in place for trying other interventions before asking for an associate? If a student has not been identified as SE
the SOC team will gather data, apply interventions and increase support. If these applications do not improve the situation, then an
associate support might be applied but it always goes back to students needs. “

Conclusion: There is not a set in stone process, each decision is dependent on a

varying team.
Current Admin Feedback

- “A set system prevents over assigning of associates. It depends on what they building has set in
place. If nothing is set in place, some people will give into the pressure from the ones who want an
associate.” - Elementary principal
- “ We have really moved away from one-on-one assignments and usually have about 3 or more
students assigned to a para.” - Assistant middle school principal
- “I really worked hard this last year to do that and save the district at least 1 to 2 positions this year.
Like I said it’s all driven by IEP needs because that is a legal concern.” - Middle school principal
- “I’m currently working on shifting teachers’ mindsets to zone instead of 1 on 1 associate help. 1 on
1 associate assignments lead to less interaction with the student from teachers and peers. It
shouldn’t be obvious which student the associate works with. When assigning an associate we
should be immediately discussing fading the support because our goal should be independence
for the student. I compared our numbers to other districts and this seems to be a statewide trend
of associate numbers increasing. - District Special Education director
OFI
What

- Create a system that will be consistent throughout the building for determining if an associate is an appropriate support for a student.
- Create a system to fade current associate support for students.

Goal

- To decrease percentage of associates assigned to IEPs by implementing a system to prevent unneeded support and fade out current
support.

Why

- According to the LRE Continuum, putting a student with an associate is one of the most restrictive settings.
- Our school currently has 11 unfilled associate positions and is short every day.
- The district has walk-in interviews to reactively combat this.
- Money allocated to associate pay could be spent elsewhere such as training associates or hiring another SPED teacher, leading to a
decrease of students in SPED.
LRE
Do - Steps to take

- Create a system that is consistent for all IEP teams to use to determine
appropriate accommodations.
- Create a system that is consistent for all IEP teams to use to create a fading
plan for all students with an associate.
- Shift staff mind set of assigning 1:1 associates and move to “zone”
approach when appropriate.
- Train all SPED teachers on how to use this system.
- Train all staff on LRE and interventions to help students.
Initial data collection to determine possible need of associate support. Solidifies
what student can and can’t do without support to pin down exactly when support
is needed rather than using the umbrella of all day or core classes.
The purpose of this matrix is to determine how in what area support is needed
and how frequently it is needed.
The purpose of the fade plan is to ensure all teams treat student independence
as a priority. It will also potentially lead to a continued decrease in the number of
associates needed.
Study

- Progress will be tracked by looking at number of associates employed.

- Progress will be tracked by analyzing the number of IEPs that determine an
associate is needed.
- Progress will be tracked by analyzing the number of students with IEP goals.
- Progress will be tracked by analyzing progress of fading plans for students
with IEP goals.
Smart Goal

Students will move towards the most appropropriate least restrictive

environment as evidenced by associate positions will decrease 25% (48 to 36) by
the hiring season for the 2024/2025 school year.