The new school year is underway, and I’d like to share with you exciting news about one of our 2011 Summer Academies. Lindamood-Bell partnered with Macon County Schools in Macon County, North Carolina, to implement our Summer Academy model. This model focuses on intensive professional development for teachers and intensive intervention for students. Teachers first attended our week-long in-service, introducing them to the Seeing Stars® and Visualizing and Verbalizing® programs, and to our Response to Intervention (RtI) framework.
For 4 weeks, they provided intensive intervention to at-risk students, 4 hours per day, 5 days per week. Students had been identified in the Spring of 2011 and administered learning ability assessments to determine grouping and to differentiate instruction.
The intensity of this model allowed teachers to receive daily coaching and support, as well as ongoing professional development and lesson planning. Students received up to 70 hours of instruction during this 4-week period, an amount typically encompassing an entire school year given the challenges of scheduling, resources, and other course requirements.
At the conclusion of the summer session, we were honored to have Dr. Robert Pasternack, the former Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitation Services at the U.S. Department of Education, visit and discuss his observations of the program. The benefits to teachers and students alike were remarkable.
Click here to read the article on his visit.
Click here to see a video on Macon Summer School reading program.
We are very excited about the progress in Macon County, and look forward to extending the model further in the district.
Sincerely,
Tom Mendoza
Director of School Partnerships
