Services & Instructional Arrangements

  • What Services Are Available?
    As addressed in detail in the Operating Guidelines©, CISD provides a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with disabilities in order to meet the need for special education and related services. The FAPE must include the alternative placements listed in IDEA Federal Regulations and SBOE and Commissioner Rules. Also, FAPE must be provided in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) appropriate for the student with primary consideration given to the general education classroom and curriculum.

    Instructional Arrangements:
    • Homebound 
    • Hospital Class 
    • Mainstream 
    • Nonpublic Day School 
    • Off-home Campus 
    • Residential Care and Treatment Facility 
    • Resource 
    • Self-Contained (mild, moderate, severe, regular campus) 
    • Speech Therapy 
    • Vocational Adjustment Class / Program 
    • For clarification purposes, the most current TEA accounting manual will provide specific information for proper coding based on ARD/IEP committee decisions.

    CISD shall take steps to ensure that the students with disabilities have available to them the variety of educational programs and services available to non-disabled students served by the district. The following are just a few of the examples of service delivery available through the instructional arrangements.


     
    INCLUSION
    REGULAR EDUCATION CLASSROOM WITH ACCOMMODATION/MODIFICATIONS 
    Instructional and curricular accommodations/modifications recommended by the ARD committee are implemented in the general education classroom. This enables the student to be involved and progress in the general curriculum to the maximum extent possible. 

    RESOURCE
    Instruction in the resource setting is individualized, based upon the student's IEP/BIP goals and objectives. Lessons can be paced according to the student's mastery of instructional objectives and specific modifications. The curriculum standard for resource classes is aligned with the general education Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS).

    Resource teachers should use general education materials, curriculum guides and textbooks supplied by their campus and modified to meet student's needs. Additional supplementary materials may be used. Example of services provided include, but are not limited to, direct instruction, helping teacher, team teaching, co-teaching, interpreter, education aids, curricular or instructional modification/accommodations, special materials/equipment, consultation with the student and general classroom teacher regarding the student's progress in general education classes, staff development and reduction of ratio of students to instructional staff.

    FUNCTIONAL ACADEMICS (FA) 

    This class is intended for students who would benefit from modified academics and real world application of skills learned. The IEP would include significant content modifications. Skill development is for the following purposes:

    • To assist each student in experiencing success in academic and /or elective subjects at his/her ability level.
    • To assist each student in securing vocational and job-related skills as appropriate.
    • To assist each student in obtaining socialization skills to be used in daily and community living.
    • To increase skills that lead to independence within the community for each student.

    As a general guideline, these students are functioning with significant delay and at two standard deviations below the mean in the following areas:

    • Intellectual (verbal, performance, and full scale I.Q.)
    • Adaptive level
    • Academic achievement or language (receptive or expressive)
    • Cannot function in a less restrictive environment after the continuum of services has been tried and not been successful.

    Students will participate in the general education classroom or in general education activities to the maximum extent possible to meet their academic, social/emotional and vocational needs. IEP goals and objectives are aligned with the TEKS.

    LIFE SKILLS
    Students display severe and profound disabilities whose educational needs are primarily non-academic and include daily living skills, self-care skills, recreation and leisure skills, and communication skills.

    These classes are designed to provide instruction for students ages 6-21 years. Their educational needs cannot be met in a less restrictive environment. Students have severe delays in one or more of the following areas: cognition, language, motor, and adaptive. An IEP may be developed between direct and related services to insure coordination of services. The focus of instruction in developmental classes is:

    • The establishment of skills in tolerating environments, choice making, visual and/or auditory stimulation, and the use of appropriate forms of communication.

    • The building of independence in daily living skills, social interactions. Emotional development and recreation/leisure activities.

    • The building of tolerance in fine and gross motor development and environmental awareness.

    • Assistive technology as a necessary modification for students in this environment in order for them to meet educational goals.

    • The provision of positive behavioral supports and the interventions when needed. 

    • Training in vocational skill areas when determined by the ARD committee to be appropriate for secondary students.
     
    RISE
    (Reaching Independence through Structured Environments) - Service Delivery Model

    Students are identified with severe autism or related disorders who have significant communication, social and behavioral issues, thus needing a highly structured environment, frequent behavioral interventions, and a very small student/teacher ratio. The following research based teaching strategies are incorporated: Project TEACCH, ABA, Verbal Behavior, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS).

    BEHAVIOR INTERVENTION CLASS (BIC)
    The BIC program is for students with disabilities whose behavior interferes with learning or the learning of others to such an extent that a specialized program in a more restrictive placement is necessary. This program continues to address academic needs while structuring the learning and behavior in order to make progress. The class utilizes the Boy's Town Integrated Social Skills as the foundation of the program. Texas Behavior Support Initiative (TBSI) and Crisis Intervention (CPI) also supplement academic instruction. The ARD committee will consider assessment and options tried and considered at the local campus prior to any decision for a BIC class. As always the assessment and the goals and objectives needed by the student will drive the ARD decision. BIC is not a disciplinary placement. The objectives of BIC program are as follows:

    • To teach replacement skills for inappropriate behavior patterns which are interfering with the student's success in school.
    • To increase pro-social behavior and decrease disruptive behavior in all participating students.
    • To increase instructional time and academic achievement of each student.
    • To increase communication with parents and provide parent support.
     
    PRESCHOOL PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES (PPCD)
    This program is a public school placement that serves children with disabilities, ages 3-5. These classes are designed to provide instruction for students with moderate to severe delays in one or more of these areas: cognition, communication, psychomotor, self-care and social-emotional areas. Children with disabilities are eligible for services on their birthday. If you are aware of a child who may have a need for services, please encourage the family to call the CISD office to refer the child.

    REGIONAL DAY SCHOOL PROGRAM FOR THE DEAF (RDSPD)
    The Crowley RDSPD serves Deaf and Hard of Hearing students from birth to 21years of age for Crowley ISD, Alvarado ISD, Burleson ISD, Cleburne ISD, Everman ISD, Joshua ISD and the Johnson County SSA.

    Services provided may include the following:  parent-infant services, itinerant services, interpreting services, audiological services, speech services and cluster sites providing specialized instruction for school-aged students (elementary, intermediate, middle and high school). Services provided are determined by a student’s ARD Committee.
     
    From birth through two years of age, children are served by a parent-infant teacher. These services are provided in the home and coordinated with Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) of North Central Texas. On the students’ third birthday, they are eligible for in-school placement.

    HOMEBOUND INSTRUCTION
    Homebound services are provided to special education students who are unable to attend school due to a medical reason. A physician must state that the student’s medical condition will require absence of four consecutive weeks or as stated in local guidelines. For more information, contact your campus diagnostician or the special education office.

    SPEECH THERAPY
    This arrangement is for students who have a speech impairment which causes them to have difficulty accessing the general or special education curriculum. The impairment could be in the area of articulation, or language. The speech therapist may provide services by consulting with the teacher, meeting with the children in groups, or meeting with the students individually. 

    What other services are available to these special students?

    Other services are available to help students benefit from their education. Services may include but not be limited to:
    • Educational Diagnostician
    • Special Education Counseling
    • Transportation
    • Physical Therapy
    • Occupational Therapy
    • Adapted Physical Education
    • Parent Training for Students with Autism
    • In-Home Training
    • Education for Students with Visually Impairment
    • Education for Students with Hearing Impairment
    • Assistive Technology