Child Study Team (CST):
Teachers are provided the opportunity to share concerns with a multi-member team
regarding students’ needs in the areas of academics, social-emotional, behavioral, speech and/or fine motor skills. CST members may include classroom teachers, school psychologists, administrators, and specialists. During meetings, general and specific information along with data and other events are shared. Brainstorming of possible supports are shared and implemented (if not already tried). If supports exist, they are reviewed and potentially increased, if needed. Data trends are reviewed to determine rate of progress (positive or negative).
Classroom Instructional Tools:
Any tools a teacher uses in the classroom to help foster and enhance learning. There are many kinds of instructional tools, but some of the most used ones are traditional resources, such as textbooks and workbooks; however, other tools might include graphic organizers, manipulatives, and technology.
Differentiated Instruction:
The use of ongoing assessment to tailor content, process, products, or the learning environment to meet individual student needs.
Intervention:
Timely and focused additional learning opportunities used to address a specific need.
Instructional Coaching (literacy and math):
The goal of the Williamsville CSD coaching program is to provide job-embedded professional learning to enhance teachers’ instructional practices focused on meeting student needs to improve student progress and achievement.
Math Lab (high school):
A non-credit bearing support class that is designed to be taken concurrently with the credit-bearing course. This class provides additional, scheduled assistance to students to gain confidence and develop the necessary skills to be successful on exams and in future courses. Students will have the opportunity to review concepts, explore activities to acquire deeper learning, preview content to be covered, and provide reinforcement of underlying skills.
Math Lab (middle school):
Math Lab is a district-created instructional model that uses existing resources to meet the needs of our students by providing timely and targeted additional learning opportunities. Math Lab runs in a constant cycle. Teachers pose a few math questions to students as part of their warm-up activities. Then the district’s data management system collects and instantly analyzes student results. If the data management system detects that a student may not have understood the assessed math concept, it automatically adjusts a student’s daily schedule and redirects the student into a Math Lab session that is in addition to a student’s regularly scheduled math class. The underlying belief is that the more quickly teachers can intervene, regardless of why a student misses a concept, the more effectively they can target the source of misunderstanding and better position students for future learning. This responsive model has transformed the AIS paradigm from one that is just focused on intervention to one that includes prevention.
Math Specialist:
The Math Specialists’ role is to discover why the child “can’t/won’t/doesn’t,” and then provide additional experiences that engage students in the development of the following five competencies needed for learning mathematics and improved student achievement:
(1) number sense; (2) visualization; (3) generalization; (4) meta-cognition; and (5) communication.
Reading Specialist:
The reading specialist provides support to students in large, small, or individual settings to supplement classroom instruction. This literacy certified and trained specialist uses diagnostic information to determine areas of focus and intervention and serves as a literacy resource and leader for the building to assist fellow teachers and administrators in accelerating student progress and meeting student needs in reading and writing.
UPK:
UPK Presentation
Please note: Parents with questions regarding supports at their child(ren)’s school, or regarding their child’s progress or program, are asked to contact their child’s teacher, counselor, or building principal.
