Make the text size on this site bigger or smaller or reset
THE FLORIDA DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES COUNCIL, INC. INVITES YOU TO SUBMIT...Nomination Criteria for the 2008 You Make a Difference! Award
Honoring Florida's Educators for their exemplary practices of including Students with Development Disabilities Into the general education learning environment
Deadline: April 16, 2008
Download Nomination Form
Nomination Criteria
Each application will be review based on the definition and premise below:
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY (as defined by the Developmental Disabilities Act):
- A physical or mental disability that occurred before age 22;
- Results in significant limitations in three or more of the following areas. Self care, language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living and economic self-sufficiency; and,
- Reflects a need for services that are of extended or lifelong duration.
INCLUSION - "Inclusion means all individuals-with and without disabilities-live, learn, work, play and participate together in all life experiences. Supports are provided to meet individual needs, and everyone is accepted and regarded as a valued member of society." Inclusion Works!
Nomination Criteria - School Personnel Attitudes and Beliefs
- School personnel belief that all students CAN learn and success and take steps to include students with developmental disabilities with general education students.
- School personnel a committed to and share responsibility for the learning outcomes and inclusion of students with disabilities.
- School personnel are prepared to serve students with disabilities together with other students, and have shared necessary information with students in the classroom.
- School personnel inform families about classroom progress, inclusion and program activities.
- Special education personnel and general education personnel are committed to collaborative practice in general education classrooms and strive for inclusion of students with developmental disabilities in general education classes.
- Services and physical accommodations are made on case by case bases and meet the needs of the students in the classroom to ensure that students with developmental disabilities are included with all other students.
- Services needed by the student are available and accessible (e.g., health, physical, occupational, or speech/language therapy).
You Make a Difference Award
- Accommodations and/or modifications to the physical environment and materials and equipment are made to meet the student's needs (e.g., toys, building and playground facilities, learning materials, instructional strategies, and assistive devices) to ensure that students with developmental disabilities are included with all other students in all activities.
School Support
- The principal/administrator understands the needs of students with developmental disabilities to be included with other students in the school.
- There are enough school personnel in the classroom (teachers, aides, therapists, etc.) to meet the needs of students with developmental disabilities and to ensure that students with developmental disabilities are included in the same classroom as students without disabilities.
- School personnel participate in professional development and follow up activities that assist them in including children with disabilities in general education classrooms (e.g., information on disabilities, instructional methods, awareness and acceptance activities for students, and team building skills).
- The school has appropriate policies and procedures for monitoring individual student progress, including grading and testing, for students with disabilities.
Collaboration
- Special education and general education school personnel meet frequently to discuss the needs of students in order to create a more inclusive classroom.
- General education teachers, special education teachers, and other specialist provide supports to students with developmental disabilities using collaborative models (e.g., co-teaching, support facilitation, teacher assistance teams) to ensure inclusion of students with developmental disabilities in general education classes.
Instructional Methods
- School personnel have the knowledge and skills need to select and adapt curricula and instructional methods according to individual student need to ensure the inclusion of students with developmental disabilities in the general education classes.
- A variety of instruction arrangements are available (e.g., cross-grade grouping, cooperative learning groups, multi-level instruction) that meet the inclusive needs of students with developmental disabilities.
- School personnel foster a cooperative learning environment and promote socialization and inclusion for all students.
Completed nomination applications must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on Wednesday, April 16, 2008.
If you have questions, please contact: Sharon Grey at aplantomeet@earlink.net or (850) 224-6222.
***The criteria above were adapted from "Including Students with Disabilities in General Education Classrooms" Classroom Leadership. December 2001/January 2002. Volume 5.