Time transcripts of Symposium_FergusToolSpeech[00:00:00:00]	This is Edward Fergus with the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education[00:00:04:00]	at NYU. The work we've been doing[00:00:08:00]	over the last several years has provided us an opportunity to develop [00:00:12:00]	a self-assessment tool that school districts have[00:00:16:00]	had a great deal of effort and thought around [00:00:20:00]	developing as well as fine tuning.[00:00:24:00]	So the tool, the self asessement tool, that will be linked to this[00:00:28:00]	work, to this particular [00:00:32:00]	outline, focuses on specific areas[00:00:36:00]	of work in terms of disproportionality. Our[00:00:40:00]	tool really premised on the idea of trying to answer roughly[00:00:44:00]	sort of 3 or 4 core questions around disproportionality.[00:00:48:00]	One is, what is disproportionality, [00:00:52:00]	how does the issue of disproportionality arise in your school district, [00:00:56:00]	what are the ways in which to remedy the issue[00:01:00:00]	of disproportionality, and lastly, from an accountability point of view [00:01:04:00]	is very critical, how do we make sure that we[00:01:08:00]	are paying attention to this issue of disproortionality over time. [00:01:12:00]	So the self-assessment tool provides you with [00:01:16:00]	somewhat of a linear process to actually walk you [00:01:20:00]	through the various questions that speak to different aspects[00:01:24:00]	of disproportionality. The self-assessment tool[00:01:28:00]	allows you to get into actual data of your disproportionality[00:01:32:00]	issue and provides you with different modalities in which to actually[00:01:36:00]	analyze your own data. The beauty of being able to have these[00:01:40:00]	different modalities of analyzing your data is because it helps you to[00:01:44:00]	start thinking about the complexities of disproportionality.[00:01:48:00]	Another dimension of the self-assessment tool provides you an opportunity [00:01:52:00]	to look at specific sets of practices that we know are closely[00:01:56:00]	tied to the patterns of disproportionality. At the core of the [00:02:00:00]	of how that element of the self-assessment tool, [00:02:04:00]	in terms of looking at your practices, is based on the premise that[00:02:08:00]	disproportionality is an actual end game[00:02:12:00]	outcome that is a result of a variety of practices that have lead up to it. [00:02:16:00]	So it doesn't have to do anything specific to[00:02:20:00]	relate to specific special education, but rather everything that's happened [00:02:24:00]	prior to leading up to special education. So this self-assessment[00:02:28:00]	process will allow you to actually examine these sets of issues, which[00:02:32:00]	involves issues around the evaluation process,[00:02:36:00]	the referral process, the wellness of support[00:02:40:00]	teams that are existing in buildings, the types of data that you have available to you,[00:02:44:00]	and also the nature of curriculum intervention[00:02:48:00]	and supports that exists for teachers in providing [00:02:52:00]	further academic and behavior supports for students who are demonstrating[00:02:56:00]	different levels of struggle. The other element of[00:03:00:00]	the self-assessment tool, is it helps when you are getting to[00:03:04:00]	the question of, how has it arisen in my school district, and what are the[00:03:08:00]	effected remedies, is it allows you and opportunity to ask[00:03:12:00]	yourself the question as a practitioner,[00:03:16:00]	if these sets of issues are arising in my particular school district,[00:03:20:00]	why exactly is it happening disrproportionality for racial ethnic [00:03:24:00]	minority kids. So there is an element of our self-assessment process[00:03:28:00]	that has you exploring different sets of questions around[00:03:32:00]	the culturally responsiveness of your educational system.[00:03:36:00]	And it's those types of self-assessment work[00:03:40:00]	that becomes the tougher part of remedying[00:03:44:00]	the issues around disproportionality, however they are also[00:03:48:00]	sets of issues that in the long term become very beneficial to [00:03:52:00]	begin exploring at the onset. And finally, on[00:03:56:00]	the work around the self-assessment tool ends with [00:04:00:00]	an opportunity for you to think about ways for you to monitor the progress[00:04:04:00]	that happen in your school district and remedy this issue. I hope this[00:04:08:00]	self-assessment tool provides you with the beginning of doing your[00:04:12:00]	very short-term and long-term work on the[00:04:16:00]	the issues with disproportionality. Good luck.