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I.
Behavior Support Alternative School Task Force
11 13 18 JCBE Work Session Audio
This Work Session will provide an opportunity for the Board to hear a report about and discuss the recommendations of the Behavior Support Alternative School Task Force and District plans for implementation.
The Behavior Support Alternative School Task Force was designed to reconnect and provide support to some of the District’s most disenfranchised students. The Task Force brainstormed and considered options, thought through research-based programming and best practice strategies that work best for at-risk students and helped vet possible new programming. JCPS is committed to building a learning environment that is safe and relevant but also meets the social and emotional needs of students who have experienced violence and trauma. The Task Force has worked to design and provide increased wrap-around and therapeutic supports to students and collaborate and partner with other city efforts around response to trauma, violence prevention, and safe and healthy neighborhoods.
The new model will establish separate programs and facilities for middle and high school students. Additionally, it will focus on providing career-focused opportunities to students by linking them to Academies of Louisville programming and providing a more personalized learning experience. This will allow students to make progress at the appropriate pace, instead of being confined by the restraints of a particular schedule structure.
The diverse group of individuals who were invited to participate (attached) all have expertise and experience in serving youth, especially youth that are demonstrating behaviors, experiencing trauma, exhibiting patterns of truancy, and potentially are court-involved. The Task Force met multiple times over the past ten months to develop recommendations for learning environment, curriculum and instruction, behavior supports, and safety and transitions that best support these students. Recommendations have been developed and made using research, data, collective expertise, and relevant contextual evidence.
The Task Force was charged with innovating new ways to engage, educate, and increase the success and sense of belonging for JCPS students who have been placed in an alternative environment. The Task Force focused on: Behavior Support and Multi-tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), Curriculum and Instruction, Safety and Environment, and Wrap-Around Supports. The group did not address systems related to placement or other Choice Alternative Schools.
During task force meetings, members engaged in group introductions, norm setting, current research reviews, and data analysis. Independent researchers from the University of Louisville conducted Student Focus Groups at both Breckinridge Metropolitan High School and Minor Daniels Academy to gather student perception data.
Several aspects of the recommendations of the Task Force, including changes regarding the use of District facilities, will require Board approval. Those items will be brought to the Board at a meeting in the near future.
Submitted by: Dr. Carmen Coleman
Attachment
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