Academic+Design

  ** Academic Design of **
 * It's All About Kids **
 * Inclusive Elementary Charter School **

** I. Mission Statement ** “To explore the world of education through leadership, by providing students with and without disabilities a productive and rewarding journey” The mission of It's All About Kids Elementary Charter School is to provide students with the atmosphere needed to accomplish all of their goals and dreams. We here at It's All About Kids have created an open and understanding atmosphere for all students and teachers. We continue to strive on success and leadership throughout of educational process. As a fully incorporated inclusion education program we offer our students the ability to be diversified in society with the vast amount of knowledge our school has provided.

A. Educational Program Key Features of the Educational Program: o Preschool through 5th grade o Inclusive learning environment o IFSP/IEP for every child o Smaller student to teacher ratio o Thematic instruction connected to Florida's Sunshine State Standards o Vocational and Life Skills program o Community exploration activities o Bilingual/Early applied linguistic studies
 * II. Educational Program **

We intend to build an inclusive educational environment where the ultimate goal is to produce highly effective, lifelong learners. Students will be taught using an educational approach based on motivational strategies and the combined theories of notable developmental psychologists Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, and Albert Bandura. The essentials of this approach dictate that students learn best when they are:

1. "Challenged in their "Zone of Proximal Development." That is to say, that magic area of learning that exists between what a child can do alone, and what he or she can do with a teacher's help. 2. Guided in the creation of their own knowledge, a theory known as constructivism. 3. Inspired to find personal meaning and value in the material they are to learn. 4. Recognized as valued members of their learning community.

In addition, it is the goal of our staff that every child who attends our school be provided with an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) or Individualized Education Plan (IEP), as applicable, abilities or disabilities notwithstanding. This provision will ensure that all students have the benefit of a written record of their educational attainments, goals for their continued success, a plan for monitoring that progress, and a structure which both invites and facilitates open communication between home and school.

Another key facet of our proposed educational program is providing smaller class sizes of no more than twenty students per highly qualified educator. In doing so, our charter school aims to create more teacher-student interaction, a factor which is fundamental for the success of exceptional and general education students alike. This increased level of interaction will yield clearer and more focused methods of instruction, closer monitoring of the learning process, and enhanced opportunities for repetition or enrichment of lessons to better meet each child's unique academic needs. As a result of teachers' increased ability to monitor student behavior and learning, children will also engage in more positive social behavior, thus leading to a decrease in any discipline problems and fewer classroom management issues overall.

As for the remaining features of our educational program, these are largely intertwined in our theories of instructional methodology. Therefore, our use of integrated thematic unit instruction, vocational and life skills training, community exploration activities, and bilingual/early applied linguistic studies will be explained in greater detail in the following section of this document. At present, however, it is important to note that the core subjects which our school will teach include reading, language arts, science, mathematics, social studies, music, art, and physical fitness. Each of these content areas will be aligned with Florida's Sunshine State Standards of learning so as to ensure our students have the knowledge and tools necessary for success should they participate in any statewide assessment such as the //Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test// (FCAT).

B. Instructional Methods

As previously noted, our school will utilize an instructional methodology known as integrated thematic units for the basis of all lessons. With topics arising from student inquiry as well as the grade-level curriculum, this style of teaching centers around the exploration of personal and social issues that are collaboratively planned and implemented by teachers and students together. This cross-curricular format offers many benefits for our students, chief among them being a support of the motivational strategies and developmental psychological theories on which our educational program is founded. For example, the use of thematic units allows students a choice in directing their own learning by choosing what elements of a topic to study, and as a result they tend to engage in their learning more fully. This type of learning also builds social relationships in the classroom, which in turn creates a positive classroom culture, as well. Another more basic advantage stemming from the use of integrated thematic units is that they allow students to acquire a deeper, more complete understanding of each topic they set out to study because their learning will occur from a variety of different perspectives. Plus, since lessons flow through the natural connections in the curriculum, as opposed to being presented as isolated concepts in each separate content area, children with disabilities often have a much easier time grasping ideas taught in this manner.

Designed according to author Stephen Covey's works __The Leader in Me__ and __The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People__, It's All About Kids Elementary Charter School will also offer vocational and life skills training as a part of the curriculum, as well. Shown to have produced positive results when implemented in other schools like A.B. Combs Elementary in Raleigh, North Carolina, this program focuses on "preparing children to truly lead their own lives and rise to the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century (Covey, 3). Through interaction with this program, students will learn responsibility - that today's choices will shape tomorrow' s opportunities. They will also be able to discover the value of setting goals for the future and keeping organized in order to bring those ambitions to life. Cooperation and collaboration, both marks of a mature and considerate individual, are two more skills taught by this approach. Finally, students will also learn the incredible significance of preserving and enhancing the most valuable asset they have, themselves!

A third instructional method unique to our Elementary Charter School will be community exploration activities. Essentially a form of service learning developed by teachers and tailored to topics covered by their students' integrated thematic unit studies, these activities will enable classes the chance to participate in confidence-building, hands-on application and exploration of their learning, bridging the gap between the classroom and the real world. By partnering with the public library where students might serve as librarians for a day or with a local business where they could be volunteer cashiers, for example, students would be able to fill a need presented by their community while also improving upon their interpersonal skills like understanding people better, motivating others, and even dealing with problem solving scenarios they might never encounter in an ordinary classroom environment.

The next distinctive method of instruction our It's All About Kids will offer is bilingual education, or early applied linguistic studies for those students who show an interest in acquiring a new language. In this program, a form of immersion, students who choose to participate will be taught in two languages during the course of their school day, with the ultimate goal being for language minority students, as well as those of the majority to become bilingual. The program will follow a 90-10 model meaning that as students progress through elementary school, their academic instruction will advance from ninety percent first-language (L1) delivery up to half of every day being devoted to each language (Ariza, 23). At the outset, our school intends to provide such instruction in either American Sign Language or Spanish. However, if significant demand develops for other languages, they may be added to the program, as well. The overall enhancement effect of this instructional method on learning is that, through its application, students who choose to participate will gain an increased set of social and communication skills in addition to acquiring understanding and respect for a culture different from their own.

C. Description of intention to meet the needs of all students

Our proposed Elementary Charter School intends to meet the educational needs of all enrolled students, foremost among these being individuals with requirements for special education and/or limited English proficiency. In accordance with s. 1, Art. IX of the State Constitution, we aspire to provide "a uniform, safe, secure, efficient, and high quality system of [free and appropriate public] education" for all students without discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, disability, or marital status (Florida, 19). In addition, we recognize the right of any child suspected of having a disability which may be negatively affecting his or her interactions with the educational curriculum to be evaluated at a public expense. Furthermore, the parent/guardian of an exceptional student evaluated and placed in a program of special education shall be notified of this action, and informed of entitlement to a due process hearing regarding the same identification, evaluation, and placement, as explained in article 1003.57 Exceptional Students Instruction, page seventy-nine of the "Florida Statutes and State Board of Education Rules."

Our Elementary Charter School further pledges to provide not only exceptional students, but also their general education peers, with an IFSP or IEP as their age accords. Included within this document will be a statement of measurable annual goals, the special (or general) education services to be provided, an explanation of all necessary related services and classroom modifications, and a description of the setting in which educational services will be made available. Per state regulations, all IFSPs or IEPs will be reviewed at least once per year, and reevaluated every three years to ensure the documentation best describes and provides for all special education and related services appropriate for the students' disabilities.

It should also be noted that It's All About Kids intends to notify parents/guardians of their right to participate in all meetings at which decisions are made about the special education services to be provided to their child. Parents/guardians will also be made aware of their right to appeal decisions made regarding special education, as well.

As to our intentions to meet the needs of limited English proficient students, we wish to act in compliance with the provisions of the Florida Consent Decree, the state of Florida's framework for conformity with federal and state laws and jurisprudence regarding the education of English language learner students. In doing so, we honor "the right of [such] students to receive ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) instruction designed to develop the student’s mastery of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English as rapidly as possible, and the students’ parents have the right of parental involvement in the ESOL program" (Florida, 21).

Based on the fact that It's All About Kids is inclusive and will need to meet the assessment needs of students from a variety of backgrounds, some with special needs, we will be using a variety of assessment strategies to meet these needs. Our goal is for each student to achieve a standard of 80% or higher in all assessment of achievement.
 * III. Student Assessment **

__ Assessment to Determine Content Taught __ - Before teaching any content material teacher will use any assessment strategies listed to determine strengths and needs of students. Delivery of content will be based on student need.

__ Assessment Strategies That Will Be Used __ __ Portfolios __ - A collection of a representative amount of a students work during a school Year. Portfolios display a learner’s growth in proficiency and achievements in specific academic areas.

__ Observation __ - Students will be observed by teachers to ascertain ability to employ learned content and degree of understanding.

__ Communication __ – Both individual and group communication in the form of a discussion for example can be used to acquire information concerning children's understanding and application of content.

__ Interviews __ – This form of assessment may be used to gather information concerning the needs of an individual child.

__ Teacher Administered Tests and Quizzes __ – In the form of true and false questions, fill in the blank questions and essay questions.

__ Standardized Testing __ – FCAT – To determine whether or not students are performing academically according to state standards.

__ Self-Assessment __ – It is well known that the ability to assess one’s own work is an important element in learning.

__ Involving Students in the Development of Rubrics That Will Be Used For Assessment __ - This helps to motivate students and to provides for further student accountability.

Students with disabilities will be provided accommodations to aid them in the assessment process or be provided with alternative forms of assessment or exemption when necessary.

__ Intervention for improving Student Assessment Outcomes __ – Intervention services will be provided for students who are not assessing at 80% or above. Intervention can be through tutoring from teacher or peers, conference with parents, necessary accommodations for students with disabilities as determined by students IEP or by meeting with IEP Team to update IEP.