Student Services
- English Language Learners
- High Ability
- School Improvement
- Special Education
- Counseling and Social Emotional Learning
- Bullying
- Zones of Regulation
English Language Learners
Identification
Parents enrolling a child for the first time in an Indiana school are asked to complete a Home Language Survey. If the survey indicates a native language other than English, a placement test will be given to determine if English language services are needed. Home Language Surveys and assessments from previous Indiana schools will be accepted when a child enrolls in SCSC. SCSC uses the WIDA ACCESS or W-APT to measure a student’s English abilities in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. If a student scores below a 5.0 on this assessment, they are identified as an English learner and placed in a program to help him/her attain English proficiency.
Individual Learning Plan
Once a student is identified as an English learner, an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) will be developed based on assessment data. Parents will receive written notification, in their native language when possible, of all assessment results and service placements.
Support for English Language Learners
Teachers and assistants provide support to students using the Sheltered English model. Sheltered English is an instructional approach used to make academic instruction in English understandable to English learners. In the sheltered classroom, teachers use physical activities, visual aids, and the environment to teach vocabulary for concept development in mathematics, science, social studies, and other subjects.
Annual English Proficiency Assessment
Students will be assessed annually to monitor their English proficiency. In order to exit the English language development program, a student must obtain an overall, composite score of 5.0 on the WIDA ACCESS. After exiting from the program, the student’s academic progress will continue to be monitored for two years. While the rate of attaining English language proficiency varies greatly from student to student, research has shown that it typically takes 3-7 years to attain English proficiency and exit from English language development services. Indiana’s expected rate of graduation is currently 90%.
Questions?
If you have any questions regarding the EL program at SCSC, you may contact Ms. Danielle Mitchell, EL/HA Coordinator at dmitchell@scsc.school.
SCE Staff
Catrina Condra- EL Teacher of Record
Sarah Dragoo-Smith- EL Teacher of Record
High Ability
Service Description
Silver Creek School Corporation serves elementary high ability students through the Schoolwide Cluster Grouping Model (SCGM). High Ability Learners (HALs) will be placed in cluster groups at each grade level. The number of cluster groups will vary depending on the number of High Ability students in the grade level. The teacher will differentiate the curriculum for the HALs by using various strategies, such as, but not limited to, curriculum compacting, tiered lessons, ability grouping, flexible grouping, acceleration, and independent study projects. The High Ability Coordinator will serve as a resource to the cluster teachers, as needed. In addition, students in grades 3-5 are invited to participate in T.H.I.N.K. class once a week. In T.H.I.N.K. class students will practice problem solving using a variety of strategies, complete leveled activities at which they can work at their own pace and level, engage in whole class, cooperative activities focused on critical thinking, and complete team challenges that focus on communication, cooperation and creativity.
Screening for Identification
During the Spring semester all students in grades K and 2 are administered the CogAT Screener, which measures learned reasoning and problem solving skills in three areas: verbal, quantitative and non-verbal. Students who score in the top 25% of the grade level will be placed in the nomination pool. The High Ability committee will also actively seek new referrals from teachers or parents for students not already identified in grades 5 and 8. These students will also be placed in the nomination pool.
Students in the nomination pool will be invited to participate in further testing to determine eligibility for High Ability placement (to begin the following school year). These students will be further assessed with the full CogAT and the Iowa Assessments, if needed. Additional data is also collected for each student, such as, but not limited to, Acuity, M-class, Dibels, DRAs, ISTEP scores, classroom grades, teacher recommendation, and reports of classroom performance.
Formal Identification for Services
Decisions regarding placement for High Ability services will be made by the High Ability Study Council. Students can qualify for high ability placement in multiple ways:
Students in grades K & 1 qualify as a High Ability English/Language Arts student by:
- achieving a Verbal Reasoning score in the confidence band of the 95th percentile on the CogAT
- achieving a Verbal Reasoning score between the 85th - 94th percentile AND an ELA (English/Language Arts) TOTAL score at or above the 95th percentile on the Iowa Assessments.
Students in grades 2-8 qualify as a High Ability English/Language Arts student by:
- achieving a Verbal Reasoning score in the confidence band of the 95th percentile on the CogAT
- achieving a Verbal Reasoning score between the 85th - 94th percentile AND an ELA (English/Language Arts) TOTAL score at or above the 95th percentile on the Iowa Assessments
- achieving a Verbal Reasoning score between the 85th - 94th percentile, an ELA (English/Language Arts) TOTAL score between the 85th - 94th percentile on the Iowa Assessments, and performing at an outstanding level of accomplishment when compared to other students of the same age, experience, or environment, as determined by the High Ability Study Council.
Students in grades K & 1 qualify as a High Ability Math student by:
- achieving a Quantitative Reasoning score in the confidence band of the 95th percentile on the CogAT
- achieving a Quantitative/Non-Verbal Composite score in the confidence band of the 95th percentile on the CogAT
- achieving a Quantitative Reasoning or Quantitative/Non-Verbal Composite score between the 85th - 94th percentile AND a Mathematics total score at or above the 95th percentile on the Iowa Assessments.
Students in grades 2 - 8 qualify as a High Ability Math student by:
- achieving a Quantitative Reasoning score in the confidence band of the 95th percentile on the CogAT
- achieving a Quantitative/Non-Verbal Composite score in the confidence band of the 95th percentile on the CogAT
- achieving a Quantitative Reasoning or Quantitative/Non-Verbal Composite score between the 85th - 94th percentile AND a Mathematics total score at or above the 95th percentile on the Iowa Assessments.
- achieving a Quantitative or Quantitative/Non-Verbal Composite score between the 85th - 94th percentile, a Mathematics total score between the 85th - 94th percentile on the Iowa Assessments, and performing at an outstanding level of accomplishment when compared to other students of the same age, experience, or environment, as determined by the High Ability Study Council.
Students qualify as a High Ability General Intellectual student by:
- qualifying as both a High Ability Math AND ELA student
Continued Placement
A student who qualifies for High Ability placement at the end of Kindergarten will be placed in the program for grades 1 & 2. At the end of 2nd grade, students will participate in the screening process again and must “re-qualify” to remain in the program. This is necessary because learned reasoning ability and achievement scores can change rapidly in the primary grades. Therefore, it's important to make sure that students who qualified at the end of Kindergarten are still performing up to the same standard, when compared to their same-aged peers at the end of second grade.
A student who is identified at the end of 2nd grade will remain in the program indefinitely unless a student begins to perform poorly in the program and the Exit Procedures (described below) are initiated by a teacher or parent.
Petitioning/Appeals Procedures
An appeal process is in place in the event that a child is not placed for High Ability services, and a teacher, parent, or other person close to the child challenges this decision. The following steps clarify the appeal process:
-
The petitioner contacts the High Ability Coordinator who provides an appeal request form.
-
Appeal request form is completed and delivered to the High Ability Coordinator.
-
Coordinator schedules a re-assessment one calendar year from the date of the previous assessment.
-
Upon completion of the re-assessment, Coordinator collects recent quantitative and qualitative data available for the student.
-
The data collected is reviewed, compared against criteria for placement, and a final placement decision is made.
If you have any questions regarding the High Ability program at SCSC, you may contact Mrs. Abbey Coffman, HA Coordinator at acoffman@scsc.school.
School Improvement
The School Improvement Institute (SI2) is a network of Indiana schools committed to helping all K-12 students be successful in school and be prepared for success as world-ready citizens. SI2 is an Indiana approved Technical Assistance Partner.
Silver Creek Elementary partners with SI2 to develop our School Improvement Plan. We develop our plan using a vision-based and data-driven process called Vision-to-Action. We use data gathered by stakeholders including parents, students, community members, and administrators to identify areas of growth and develop interventions to support raising student achievement and closing gaps in our school.
At Silver Creek Elementary we embrace, "When a school functions as a Professional Learning Community, educators within the organization embrace high levels of learning for ALL students as both the reason the organization exists and the fundamental responsibility of those who work within it."
~DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, Many, and Mattos
American Student Achievement Institute- SCE School Improvement Plan