The LEAP clinic.

Abstract

The LEAP clinic is a highly collaborative partnership involving the University's special education department, the public school, and parents. This article describes the LEAP clinic and highlights benefits for teachers, parents, and most importantly, children and youth.

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Michael, a first grader, is learning how to segment, blend, and manipulate sounds. Susan, a fourth grader, is practicing multiplying double-digit numbers. MiLing, a 10th grader, is mastering study skills she can apply to her general education classes. These and about 50 other children and young adults from grades K-12 in the Eau Claire, Wisconsin area recently participated in the Learning Enhancement And Progression (LEAP) clinic, a university-community collaborative partnership.

The Clinic

The LEAP clinic is an eight-week summer program with instruction provided by graduate and select undergraduate students majoring in special education at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Originally designed to provide after school tutorial assistance to a small group of children, the clinic has since evolved into an intensive summer remedial experience. Teachers in the LEAP clinic register for a graduate or undergraduate eight-week practicum.

The first week involves training for clinic teachers to learn and review research-based practices in special education instruction and assessment. During this orientation week, the two university professors who co-coordinate the clinic support undergraduate and graduate students as they practice Direct Instruction techniques; review the scope and sequence of skills in reading, spelling, written language, and math; reflect upon short case studies or complete activities related to instruction and informal assessment; critique videotapes on classroom management, Direct Instruction, and social skills instruction; and learn various informal assessment probes used for progress monitoring.

Depending on the needs of the children enrolled in the clinic and the professional goals of the teachers, the teachers may be grouped in order to meet specific training needs. For example, the secondary teachers may meet separately on occasion during the training week to learn study skills, review ways to provide age and grade appropriate remedial instruction to older students, and become better acquainted with secondary curricula. The last week is reserved for clinic teachers to conduct an individualized exit conference with their supervisor and to write their final reports that are mailed to parents. During this week, clinic teachers meet individually with their assigned supervisor to review their summer progress, reflect upon goals, discuss students they taught, and receive feedback on the first draft of their assessment reports.

The clinic operates instructionally during the middle six weeks from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM Monday through Thursday. These two instructional hours are divided into three periods during which each student receives individual or small group instruction in two or three prioritized areas of need. Typically, each child receives reading instruction for at least one of these periods. Spelling, written language, mathematics, study skills, and social skills are also taught. All students participate in a daily math facts program (Crawford, 1998) designed to increase automaticity with addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division facts. During its 20 year existence, over 800 local children from nearly 550 families in 10 communities have received assistance from the LEAP clinic. The success and growth of the clinic is largely dependent upon the close working relationship among the partners--the university, the local school district, and families. Each partner in this relationship plays a unique and significant role.

The University: The Instructional Leader

The university assumes the instructional leadership role by providing clinic teachers, supervisors, and curriculum materials. The graduate and undergraduate clinic teachers have completed the majority of their coursework required for their initial or graduate level teaching certification, so the clinic provides a supervised practicum to practice and apply skills in classroom management, diagnostic and curriculum-based assessment, collaboration, and report writing. The clinic is a required practicum experience for all graduate students seeking their Masters degree in Special Education. As much as possible, early childhood special education majors work with children in grades K-3, special education/elementary education majors teach children in grades 3-6, and secondary special education teachers are matched with children in grades 6-12. Undergraduate students may participate in the clinic in lieu of a pre-student teaching experience offered during the academic school year. Because of the clinic's intensive teaching demands, undergraduate students must apply to be a summer teacher and interview with one of the supervisors. Supervisors consider the student's grades, ability to work independently, evaluations from other field experiences, and the student's intended graduation date in their admission decision process. The LEAP clinic is also available to emergency licensed teachers who are employed as Wisconsin special educators even though they have not yet completed a program leading to full special education certification.

The university also provides the supervision of the teachers. The two professors are the clinic co-coordinators and supervisors. Often, one professor works with the undergraduate students while the other works closely with the nontraditional and graduate students. However, all clinic teachers are observed by both supervisors to provide some inner rater reliability for evaluation purposes. Most of the supervision is not prescheduled; therefore teachers are unaware of when they will be observed. Supervisors use a narrative form as well as a rubric/rating scale developed by the Department of Special Education for evaluating student work during field experiences. Clinic teachers receive a copy of the supervisor's written feedback for their own professional portfolio. A session of reflection and dialogue with the supervisor follows each observation.

In addition to providing instructional staff and supervision, the university also provides the curriculum materials. The LEAP clinic is distinguished from other summer programs by its use of scientific-research based curriculum materials and instructional methods such as the use of explicit instruction (Carnine, Silbert, & Kameenui 1997), positive reinforcement (Alberto & Troutman, 2003), curriculum-based assessment and progress monitoring (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1996), consultation and collaboration (Friend & Cook, 2003), and self reflection (Morin & Conderman, 2003). Other local summer programs provide tutoring in one academic area, lack a specific skill scope and sequence, require less student and teacher accountability, and provide the student teacher with less supervision and fewer opportunities to apply curriculum based assessment and group management skills. Teachers typically use materials from the university's special education curriculum library such as the Fast Cycle Reading Mastery Program, Corrective Reading, and Reasoning and Writing, (Science Research Associates), the First Letter Mnemonics Strategy, the Sentence Writing Strategy, The Error Monitoring Strategy, The Test Taking Strategy, or The Word Identification Strategy, (SIMS), and study skills such as Skills for School Success (Archer & Gleason, 2002). Experienced teachers often bring in approved materials from their own classroom. The university also supplies all consumable materials such as paper, writing utensils, worksheets, and clipboards. Teachers write daily lesson plans for each instructional group, reflect upon lessons, and note instructional strengths and areas for improvement.

The School District: The Home Base

The school district contributes the physical classroom space and equipment such as desks, tables, chairs, chalkboards or whiteboards, and any custodial services needed for the clinic. The district is considered the clinic's "home base". A special agreement allows the clinic to operate without any rental costs. In return for this privilege, the summer host school is offered 10 scholarships for referred children who are in need of intensive summer remediation and who would benefit from a financial stipend to cover the $60.00 per pupil cost. Typically, some of these children receive special education services during the school year. Others have not qualified for special education, have social needs, or have limited English skills.

Early in the spring, the clinic co-coordinators make arrangements with a local school principal for scheduling the clinic. Typically, a pubic school close to the university is chosen for convenience as university students are often enrolled in additional courses during the day. If possible, a school enrolling a diverse population is chosen in order to provide the teachers with a multicultural experience and to support lower performing schools in improving the academic skills of targeted students. During the advanced preparation stage, clinic co-coordinators call, write, email, and visit the school to discuss the clinic logistics. During these visits, the co-coordinators note special considerations such as the custodian's summer work schedule, classroom size, availability of technologies, summer construction plans, wheelchair accessibility, and any other unique issues. Maintaining on going communication with the building principal and summer custodial staff is necessary for the clinic's smooth operation.

Typically six to eight middle school or secondary students enroll in the LEAP clinic each summer. Because the clinic co-coordinators believe it is important for these students to receive their instruction in a different setting, two classrooms at the University are reserved for them. A team consisting of three or four teachers is assigned to this group. This team is selected on the basis of their desired certification.

This team receives the same initial preparation as the other LEAP teachers, but additional components are included to address the unique secondary curricular focus. For example, an evidence-based curriculum delivered via a videodisc format (Learning, 2000, 1993) is used with this group, so teachers need to become familiar with technologically enhanced instruction. In addition, this team receives early and on-going preparation with curriculum more suited to the needs of this group including study skills, test-taking strategies, and learning strategies (Deshler, Ellis, & Lenz, 1996).

Families: Partners in Education

The final partner in the triadic collaborative partnership is each family who enrolls their child in the clinic. Families learn about the LEAP clinic early in the spring through brochures distributed to local schools and parents of previously enrolled students. The brochure details the purpose, location, cost, and attendance policy. It also includes a registration form and release of information form that parents complete and return to the university. Children are accepted on a first-come first-serve basis, and slots are quickly filled once the brochures are distributed to approximately 400 names on the mailing list.

In addition to providing basic background information about their child, parents also prioritize their child's needs. This information allows teachers to match instruction to specific student needs. With parent written permission, contact is also made with the child's teacher to gain recent test data, IEP information, or other pertinent data that may guide the instructional process. University teachers maintain on-going communication with parents through weekly phone calls, good news notes, and/or brief before and/or after mini-meetings, which are documented in their portfolio. As a special project, graduate students may facilitate a team conference (which includes the parents) that summarizes the child's summer growth and provides specific instructional recommendations.

Eau Claire and the surrounding area is essentially rural in nature and is largely composed of families representing the white, middle class culture. Therefore, an ongoing challenge of our teacher education program is to infuse experiences with diverse cultures into the curriculum. We recognize that pre-service teachers receive enormous benefit from multicultural experiences (Obiakor & Utley, 1997). Fortunately, the LEAP clinic host school serves an ethnic Hmong population, and the clinic co-coordinators strategically plan for the inclusion of children from the Hmong culture into the summer clinic. This strategic planning, however, necessitates an additional collaborative phase. After the LEAP clinic brochures have been printed, a meeting is held with the Hmong language school district interpreter to introduce the clinic and its objectives. During this meeting, emphasis is placed on the benefits students derive from continued academic engagement over the summer months, especially for students with English as a second language (Shields & LaRocque, 1996). The interpreter then serves as a liaison with the Hmong families who have an interest in the clinic. The interpreter translates the brochure and provides families with assistance completing the registration form. Once the clinic begins, the interpreter continues to assist the clinic co-coordinators though on-going communication with the Hmong families regarding student progress and attendance issues.

Parents have been the best advocates of the clinic and mode of advertisement. Some testimonials from parents have included the following comments: "We have been very impressed with the amount of Michael's learning and the organization of the clinic"; "This is just what Daniel needed to stay at a level with his peers"; and "Emily says she enjoys going to her summer classes, and she wants her younger brother to go, also", (Conderman, Snider, & Crawford, 1997 p.98). Similarly, department follow-up data (Snider, 1998) indicated that 100% of clinic teachers reported that the LEAP clinic experience was very valuable and very helpful in their professional preparation. Specifically, undergraduates noted that the clinic prepared them very well for student teaching. Graduate students indicated that they learned new strategies and methods that could be implemented into their practice.

Conclusion

The LEAP clinic is a unique partnership involving the special education department from a local university, the local school district, and parents/families. The university provides instructional leadership through a closely supervised research-based clinic with graduate and undergraduate teachers using systematic instruction to children individually or in small groups. The local school district is considered the home base as it provides the building and permanent equipment as well as any custodial services. The parents and families provide valuable information about their child and participate as equal members in on-going collaborative exchanges with their child's teacher. Teachers benefit from learning and practicing effective skills in a meaningful field experience, families benefit from the affordable instructional experience, and children benefit from intensive remedial instruction targeted to their needs from this collaborative process. The LEAP clinic is a win-win situation.

References

Alberto, P., & Troutman, A. (2003). Applied behavior analysis for teachers. (6th ed.) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill.

Archer, A., & Gleason, M. (2002). Skills for school success. North Billerica, MA: Curriculum Associates.

Carnine, D., Silbert, J., & Kameemui, E. (1997). Direct instruction reading. (3rd edition). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill.

Conderman, G., Snider, V., & Crawford, D. (1997). Establishing high expectations through the LEAP clinic. Intervention in School and Clinic, 33 (2), 98-102.

Crawford, D. (1998). Mastering math facts. Eau Claire, WI: Otter Creek Institute.

Deshler, D. D. Ellis, E. S., & Lenz, B. K. (1996). Teaching adolescents with learning disabilities: Strategies and methods. (2nd ed.), Denver: Love.

Friend, M., & Cook, L. (2003). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals. (4th ed.), Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Fuchs, L.S., & Fuchs, D. (1996). Combining performance assessment and curriculum-based measurement to strengthen instructional planning. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice, 11, 183-192.

Learning 2000. (1993). [An interactive videodisc program]. Salt Lake City, UT.

Morin, J., & Conderman, G. (2003). But can they think? Developing reflective thought in preservice teacher preparation programs. Paper presented at the Council for Exceptional Children Convention. Seattle, WA.

Obiakor, F. E., & Utley, C. A. (1997). Rethinking preservice preparation for teachers in the learning disabilities field: Workable multicultural strategies. Learning Disabilities Research and Practice 12 (2), 100-106.

Science Research Associates Inc., 155 North Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60606

Shields, C. M., & LaRocque, L. J. (1996). Review of year-round schooling (Information analyses: ERIC Documentation Reproduction Service No. ED 399661): British Columbia Ministry of Education.

Snider, V. (1998). Follow up study on LEAP clinic teachers. Unpublished report. Eau Claire, WI: University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.

Strategic Intervention Model. The University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. The University of Kansas at Lawrence. Lawrence, KS.

Greg Conderman, Northern Illinois University--DeKalb Joe Morin, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Conderman, Ed. D., is Associate Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning. His research interests include instructional methods for students with mild disabilities, assessment, and teacher preparation. Morin, Ed. D., is Assistant Professor of Special Education. His research interests include motivation, reflection, and mathematics instruction for students with learning disabilities.