Clover School District highlights expansion of special-education supports and a shift to standards-aligned instruction
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Summary
District special-education staff told the school board they have expanded services from preschool through high school, aligned specialized instruction to grade-level standards, and reduced special-education teacher turnover; the presentation outlined evidence-based practices, staffing changes and community partnerships.
Clover School District special-education leaders on Monday told the board they are shifting specialized instruction to align more closely with state grade-level standards while expanding a continuum of supports from preschool through high school.
"We are aligning our specialized instruction to our state standards this year," Langley Murrell, an instructional specialist with the district, said, describing a major curricular shift intended to help students served in multi-categorical classrooms access grade-level content while still receiving individualized accommodations. Murrell and colleagues said the change is intended to improve learning outcomes and support transitions across grade bands.
Susie Seibert, a special-education consultant, said the district has created structured induction and coaching systems for new special-education teachers and highlighted measurable staffing impacts: "We reduced special education teacher turnover by 45% in three years," Seibert said, adding that greater teacher retention yields more experienced instruction for students.
Presenters described a full continuum of services that now includes a state-cohort-supported SEE IT itinerant preschool program, co-taught inclusion models, pull-out resource instruction, multi-categorical classrooms, and functional life-skills and transition programs at the high-school level. Heather Parker, the district's transition specialist, described expanded transition supports and college-pathway options, including partnerships that connect eligible students to vocational rehabilitation and two-year college programs.
The team emphasized evidence-based approaches for students with high support needs: "We're utilizing the STAR autism support curriculum to provide systematic, evidence-based practices across our multicat 2 and 3 classrooms," Parker said. Presenters also noted collaboration with community partners such as the James Frisco Foundation to help connect uninsured students to mental-health providers and other services.
District leaders said the instructional shift has required deeper collaboration between general-education and special-education teachers, new assessment and data-review practices to target interventions, and continued professional learning. Board members thanked the team and noted the inclusion of special-education teachers in broader school work as important to district-wide culture.
The presentation concluded with a request for continued support as the district opens new schools and adjusts staffing to meet expanding needs; no new policy vote was taken during the presentation.
