Client Spotlight

Differentiated Professional Development to Promote Differentiated Instruction “Our students will be given the best of educational opportunities in order to ensure they will be ready and productive for a changing society.”  Dr. David Fitts, Superintendent As part of this commitment, Pewitt Consolidated School District invited Stetson and Associates to help them strengthen their instructional practices.   To optimize our partnership, we designed a blended approach.  The PD series included planning conversations, classroom observations, training sessions, and instructional coaching. PLANNING SESSION The leadership team began the series with an honest conversation about the schools’ needs.  We spent time looking at student progressContinue Reading

Spotlight Activity Instructional Coaching Series Component of Comprehensive Approach to Build Effective Inclusive Practices District Clear Creek ISD, TX Description The Instructional Coaching Series was one component of a comprehensive approach to build capacity at every level of the school district in related to effective inclusive practices.  This small learning cohort (8) consisted of district administrators such the Director of Psychological and Assessment Services and Special Education Coordinators.  The objective of the series was to strengthen our instructional coaching expertise so we may support our teachers and paraeducators design and deliver lessons that meet the learning needs of our students. Each ofContinue Reading

Spotlight Activity Collaborative Teaching District South Houston High School, Pasadena ISD, Texas Description After working with one of Stetson & Associates, Inc.’s Associates, Lynn Hill, on how to better the instructional relationship between collaborative teachers, South Houston High School Science demonstrated excellent team teaching practices in their first week back to school. To instigate this transformation, the high school administrators made a significant change in collaborative teachers planning schedules.  By scheduling most support teachers to have the same conference period as the general education teacher they teach with, administrators have already seen great improvement in the overall rapport between teachersContinue Reading

Spotlight Activity Collaborative Coaching District O.D. Wyatt High School in Fort Worth, Texas Description At the request of Fort Worth principal, Steven Johnson, Cindy Nelson led members of O.D. Wyatt High School’s mathematics and science departments through a round of what they termed, “Collaborative Coaching”.  The development and implementation of this teaching process was in response to Mr. Johnson’s request to improve and increase the involvement of both collaborative partners during in-class support.  Collaborative partners were directed to plan a lesson that would spotlight two of Mr. Johnson’s school wide priorities, strategies to encourage accountable talk and parallel teaching.  WhileContinue Reading

Spotlight Activity Supplemental Aids and Services District North East ISD, San Antonio, Texas Description This district has had great success in helping their teachers understand determine and routinely use supplemental aids and services to promote student participation and progress in the state assessment. They provide guidelines and training for teachers and have a district process for developing appropriate supplemental aids and approving them in according with state guidelines for assessment.  The supplemental aids are individually determined for each student and the student has a container (folder, notebook) that serves as his or her “toolkit” to use in the classroom andContinue Reading

Spotlight Activity Project Based Instruction District Garcia Middle School, Austin Independent School District Description This middle school has one class that has committed to the sole use of activity/project-based learning.  With this approach the students study a concept and show their understanding of the key concept by building, creating and showcasing a project to demonstrate the understanding.  As these examples reveal, the students developed board games to demonstrate their knowledge and reinforce the key concepts in Texas History. They titled their game, provided a set of directions or rules, and created a colorful game board with accompanying materials (dice, questionContinue Reading

Spotlight Activity Culturally Responsive Classroom Practices Description CRE practices are those activities that demonstrate the acceptance, tolerance and value of all learners regardless of their ability, ethnicity, or family status They include building authentic relationships in the classroom, fostering the success of families and community members, providing culturally relevant instruction that promotes self-responsibility, offers student choice and flexibility of grouping. The following pictures were taken in school classrooms that show evidence of classroom practices that demonstrate culturally proficient practices these includes statements of acceptance, evidence of building relationships, focus on families relevant materials and activities related to interests student self-responsibilityContinue Reading

Spotlight Activity Structured Campus Assistance for Inclusive Education Practices District Washoe County School District Description This urban district located in Reno, Nevada is supporting individual campus needs through a structured assistance approach for Inclusive Education practices based on a model developed by Stetson and Associates, Inc. With this approach the school completes a faculty survey relative to inclusive practices and a team of district “Inclusion Specialists’ visits the school, conducts structured classroom observations, and meets with the school leadership to review the results of the faculty survey and results of the observations. The school-based team then develops a simple planContinue Reading

The members of the San Antonio Area Special Education Directors’ Conference (SAASD) group meets each year at the close of school to set future goals, learn new skills, and to prepare for the next school year.  Through a collaborative process, the SAASD decided on two objectives for the May 2011 meeting and invited Dr. Frances Stetson, President, Stetson & Associates, Inc., to facilitate their discussion and learning.  Here are several of the resources used throughout the meeting. Objective 1 Learn and practice the Consultancy Process to use throughout the 2011-12 school year to support collaborative problem solving. Two member directorsContinue Reading