May 2006 Executive Committee MinutesMEMBERS PRESENT: Cindy Pittman (President), Tom Adams (President-elect), Vendetta Gutshall (Treasurer), Gary Collings (Secretary), Saundra Lange (SW), Jim Murray (C), Cheryl Corning (SE), Theresa Oberley (NE), Patti Kem (NC), Lynn Gosser (E), Pat Pierce (NW). MEMBER ABSENT: George Van Horn (Past-President) OTHERS PRESENT: Bob Marra, Dawn McGrath I. Approvals A. Minutes Cindy Pittman called the meeting to order and
requested a motion to approve the April 19, 2006 minutes.
MOTION: Jim Murray moved the minutes be approved. After a second
by Saundra Lange, the motion was approved. In regard to the Scholarship account, Vendetta reported she will be forwarding a $9,000 ICASE check to CASE for deposit in our Indiana Scholarship account, leaving a balance in our state account of $1,757.47. ICASE will be credited with all interest generated by the CASE account. This fiscal arrangement with CASE as a not-for-profit will now allow all donations to the Porter Scholarship Fund to be tax deductible. Vendetta presented a first draft of the proposed 2006-07 budget, which will be under girded with a carry-over cash balance in excess of $100,000. Members offered additions to be incorporated into a second draft to be reviewed at the June meeting. C. Membership Committee Vendetta said she plans to convene its members in July if possible; she asked for a SE representative for the website sub-committee and is seeking a general chair of this committee. D. Roundtable Topical Proposals Patti Kem (NC) reported
they had 100+ participants at their recent topical on transition
(Steve Savage and Teresa Grossi). Jim Murray (C) commented they
are seeking a date for an ADIR training primarily for school
psychologists. Saundra Lange (SW) noted they are working on a
topical. II. Strategic Plan: 2002-2005 Goal I Encourage communication, support, and recognition of
special education A. Report: Conferences 1. Fall Conference 2006: September 27-29, 2006 Tom Adams confirmed the Radisson Inn in Merrillville will be the conference site. He asked RT representatives to ask if members want break-out strands? If so, what are the topics of interest? 2. CEC/CASE Board Update Tom Adams distributed and reviewed handouts from the April 5 CASE Board of Directors meeting, including reports on: Membership (Indiana ranks 19th), Publication and Product review for companies seeking CASE endorsement, Units from which Indiana received the membership development award, and Professional Development, encouraging members to attend the Leadership Seminar on July 912, 2006 in Washington D.C. Cindy Pittman acknowledged Gary Collings' selection for a CASE board seat as the Research Liaison. B. Standing Committee Reports 1. Porter Scholarship Cheryl Corning reported her committee is reviewing applications and will bring recommendations to next month's meeting. She asked the board to consider granting three (3) scholarships this Fall. 2. Recognition/Awards MOTION: Cheryl Corning moved to grant Ron Myers (South Central) honorary membership with his retirement award to be presented to the Scholarship Fund. After a second by Patti Kem, the motion was approved. Patti Kem noted the upcoming retirement of Mary Jo Dare, a former director of special education and long-time employee of IPS. MOTION: Cheryl Corning moved to grant the Distinguished Service Award to Mary Jo Dare. After a second by Lynn Gosser, the motion was approved. At Pat Pierce's request, members will take action on a retirement award for Irene Rivera (East Chicago) at next month's meeting. 3. Past Presidents' Council Completed 4. Nominations Completed 5. Roundtable Activities Saundra Lange (SW) invited members to announce her local workshop on June 1 with Maria Wheeler addressing Behavioral Strategies for Individuals with Autism. Lynn Holdheide attended their last session to discuss the Graduate Follow-up. Lynn Gosser (E) said they are planning a DIBELS training session for their members in July. Cheryl Corning (SE) said they discussed RtI and what it would require to be compliant. Patti Kem (NC) requested $250 of their RT funds for an FIEP refresher session with Claire Thorsen. MOTION: After a motion for approval of the request by Jim Murray and a second by Cheryl Corning, the motion was approved. Jim Murray (C) said its members are planning a retreat at Culver in October. Goal II Advance the improvement of education for all
students A. Report: Rule 26 Task Force Cheryl Corning reminded members to be diligent in their review of future proposals. The task force met yesterday and worked on the Autism document. Although the draft is not yet available, Cheryl reported on the personnel development language specific to the individual child. Members questioned why personnel development language is included in the eligibility rule. Cheryl thought such language would be transferred to an appropriate rule. Members suggested training specific to an individual child for various personnel groups would best be individually addressed by the case conference committee in contrast to blanket rule language. Goal III Support the development of public policy to
address the needs of all students A. Report: Division of Exceptional Learners Bob Marra reported the USDOE Peer Review Team is requiring IDOE to submit additional interrater reliability for ISTAR to be accepted as an alternate assessment. Bob asked for at least 10 districts to volunteer two raters for each of five students for English/Language Arts and Math across grades 3 10. All ratings are due by June 16, 2006. A follow-up Listserv request from Dawn McGrath to directors will be transmitted. In regard to preschool, Bob reviewed his attendance at Dr. Reed's recent meeting of her Superintendents' Advisory Committee, which included preschool on the agenda. Superintendents were primarily asking her to consider increased funding. Bob reviewed the SEEP study and its $13,500 cost figure for preschool including related services and transportation. He further informed the advisory committee the 8 to 1 classroom ratio in Article 7 is not research-based. He suggested to the superintendents the question is how to get some flexibility in the preschool provisions with accountability so as not to overload the enrollment. The 12.5 hours day is based on the same half-day kindergarten provisions. When full day kindergarten is considered, DOE must also address the 5B students if not all preschool students with disabilities. Bob considers it timely to discuss the pro/con of placing the preschool census into the funding formula because increasing the $2,750 and/or 1 cent levy separately may not be the answer. He said he will be working on formula options as related to the future legislative debate of full kindergarten. Article 7 provisions of 12.5 hours and the 8-to-1 ratio will also need to be reviewed. A few directors spoke against the need to have such half day and caseload caps. Bob has asked Brett Bollinger to attend the ICASE board meeting on June 7 to present a rationale in support of keeping the transition age at 14 years. Members discussed how age 16 may be too late to begin transition planning. Members agreed transitioning needs to be linked to the Summary of Performance. Bob remarked that tomorrow he will interview a point person to coordinate a statewide initiative for Response-to-Intervention to include reading. In preparation for the May 13 State Board meeting to discuss state assessment, Bob reported that he contacted Cindy Pittman for a director to attend the session. Bob complimented Vendetta Gutshall, who was invited by him as a long standing member of the DEL Assessment Committee, for her presentation. Cindy also thanked Vendetta Gutshall for accepting the invitation on such short notice. The questions for which the State Board was seeking input were: What should our state assessment look like and, therefore, what should ISTEP look like? Bob noted that the State Board has the statutory authority, as delegated by the General Assembly, to set testing dates. The DOE Assessment Center will be forming a committee in the near future to address accommodations and other considerations for the state assessment. Vendetta offered to summarize her notes and forward them by e-mail to the Executive Committee members. The questions she raised in her presentation were how can the state assessment help all students to demonstrate what they know? How does the assessment assist students to reach their potential? In her presentation she emphasized that assessment is on-going if one wants to seek growth. Universal design and how students learn is a long standing commitment, which is not evidenced in the accommodations in the current state assessment. Although there is no single assessment instrument, ISTAR is continually improving to address student needs consistent with the standards. B. Report: Public Policy and Legislative Committee Tom Adams reported members recently met at KWK and discussed a proposal for a legislative breakfast at the State House during the February ICASE Spring Conference. Tom invited members to respond on-line by June 1 <http://205.241.44.100/forms/nclb.htm> to the CEC call for input on NCLB. Cindy Pittman asked Tom to see if Joan McCormick could represent ICASE and attend the Leadership Seminar on July 912, 2006 in Washington D.C. III. NEXT MEETING: June 7, 2006 (8:30 AM) DOE (Grissom Room) |