GOAL Digital Academy accepts students with diverse learning styles, including those in special education classes.
A total of 16 staff members in the special education department served students in the last year. These students represent 27% of GOAL's student population. GOAL implemented several procedures and routines to improve intervention services due to growth.
Nan Stanish, director of special education at GOAL Digital Academy, has been involved in education for 33 years. She said students increased their participation in intervention services through the addition of Academic Assist Classes, which were developed by Hope Losh, GOAL's intervention specialist.
"This class is assigned to each student who has an IEP and helps target their specific goals," Losh said. "We require students to meet with us weekly, giving us more face-time with them and growing our relationships with our students. When I first started at GOAL five years ago, I saw maybe 25% of my caseload and interacted with them. Now, 90% of my caseload meets with me every single week. I think that students feel more supported and [I] have heard from both students and parents alike that they enjoy our weekly meetings because they don't feel like they got that support in their previous schools."
The multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) process has improved over the last year. Through this process, students were provided additional assistance including tutoring, organization, and coping skills. GOAL students who received the support reaped positive results. The number of students that are coming into the learning lab to get assistance increased, and that allows the students to build meaningful relationships with their intervention specialists while working in the lab setting.
"The data shows that students that come into the lab are doing better academically," Stanish said.
The GOAL team that works as part of that process varies, which allows many staff members outside of the special education department the opportunity to become familiar with the MTSS process.
The intervention team is composed of 16 staff members who cover many tasks. Losh, creator of the Academic Assist Class, co-teaches English for grades nine through 12. She also teaches Comprehensive English 1, 2, 3, and 4, as well as Comprehensive Financial Literacy in Delaware. Stephanie Bowers, an intervention specialist in Marion, teaches math to students in fourth to eighth grades.
Chelsea Lee, the transition coordinator, was recently added to the intervention team to help students plan for the future after high school. Another addition, Joe Sumner, provides tutoring support after the learning labs are closed. The remaining team members provide interventions and related services throughout the district at their specific lab locations and online via Zoom.
The GOAL Digital Academy special education team is comprised of Stanish, Losh, Bowers, Sumner, Chelsea Lee, Nicholas Levine, Carla Pasheilich, Cindy Cunningham, Nancy Hale, Benjamin Schaad, Wes Stauffer, Patrick Wood, Lisa Kraemer, Meredith Snow, Kristina Magoon, and Kynna Byrne (who is a student intern).
All intervention specialists and related service providers have been busier than ever with the increase in students coming to the labs.
"This is where the blended education model of GOAL shines," Stanish said. "Our intervention specialists [and] behavioral health, speech, physical, and occupational therapists provide services online. Having these options means that the students can be met where they are with a schedule that is convenient for them."
The intervention team documents time spent working with individual students through a software application called Airtable.
Even with busy schedules, training and professional development are ongoing for the intervention team. Many intervention specialists are either currently taking college classes or took college classes in the last year. State Support Team Seven provided comprehensive training for IEP writing, as well as training in the areas of reading and math, specially designed instruction, and transition development.
Stanish said all of this has expanded the knowledge of the team.
"Working with each other and continuing our professional development has opened the door to new ideas and creativity within our learning environment. The support we have received has assisted in optimizing our knowledge of our online platform and how we can better serve our students."
GOAL Digital Academy serves 12 counties in central Ohio with its seven learning labs and celebrates students' diverse learning styles, interests, and talents by going beyond academics and providing students with well-rounded opportunities to meet new people and engage in their passions. GOAL offers regular family education and networking opportunities and continually works to remove family or community barriers that impact student success.
