Campus Connection

[caption id="attachment_654" align="alignright" width="400" caption="Ellen Umberger, first grade teacher at Stoddard Elementary School, left, and Jennifer Jaekel, Title 1 reading specialist, discuss how De Soto School District reading assessments will be beneficial in determining what interventions each child will need."][/caption]

UW-L and K-12 partner for success

These days Stoddard Elementary School classrooms are quieter and gaps in curriculum are being addressed. Students who need help with reading or math, see a targeted intervention quickly put in place. Such changes are happening, in part, because of a partnership between the De Soto School District and UW-La Crosse Office of Continuing Education and Extension. A Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction initiative charges school districts with implementing a process to assist students in achieving higher levels of academic and behavioral success, called Response to Intervention (RtI). By Dec. 1, 2013, school districts in Wisconsin must have a Response to Intervention plan in place to comply with the Specific Learning Disability-RtI law. Continuing Education and Extension recently collaborated with the De Soto School District to develop an RtI credit course. Continuing Education partners with 42 school districts to offer professional development based on the specific needs and goals of districts. It also partners with 22 professional education associations, community organizations and educational consultants to meet the ongoing training needs of educators. In the 2010-11 academic year, 120 courses were offered with 940 educators participating. “School districts like De Soto know that in order to increase student learning and achievement, their teachers must stay current with research based best practices," says Annette Valeo, outreach specialist for Continuing Education and Extension. "UW-L recognizes the work school districts are doing to that end by providing credit for professional development experiences that are relevant, rigorous and timely.” About 65 De Soto School District teachers and staff took the course — some electing to take it for graduate credit. As part of the course, UW-L staff visited the School District to observe the session held at Stoddard Elementary. Site visits are an essential component of the partnership and provide CEE a better understanding of school district needs and how to meet them more effectively. The De Soto visit also demonstrated how the RtI model is being implemented in a particular school at specific grade levels. “Being a small, rural school, we haven’t had some of the funds or resources to implement RtI and move forward,” says Caron Malin, a special education teacher at Stoddard Elementary School. “Through this partnership with UW-L, we’ve been able to offer training to our staff for credit. It was practical, yet important for our careers.” Malin says she’s excited to see some positive changes at Stoddard Elementary School since the school started RtI. Staff are providing small group instruction geared at students who need it most by progress monitoring, and working on ways to communicate more effectively with students. “RtI is all about the students — staff must be knowledgeable enough to help them and close the gaps in achievement,” says Malin. “Collaborating like this is the best way to be successful.”