On September 16, 2008, Sandra Richmond requested additional information regarding CS6-Five Year Renewal Charter for GulfstreamGoodwillL.I.F.E.CharterSchool

REQUEST:

Once again, there needs to be an accountability system for success with these students. How do we know this program is doing anything at all? Please, details on success of the students.

RESPONSE:

Ninety-percent of the students that attend Gulfstream Goodwill Transition have graduated from their home high schools with a special diploma. Most of the students do not have the academic ability to do basic reading or math skills and are unable to score on standardized assessments such as SRI or a beginning Math skills test. The Florida Alternative Assessment (FAA) was just implemented last year and these students do not take the test because they have graduated. The FAA is administered in 10th and 11th grades just as FCAT.

The objective of Gulfstream Goodwill Transition is to provide increased academics, independent life skills, and employability skills for all of our students to meet their individual goals. The staff developed assessments in addition to the traditional methods of assessment that could be administered to measure individual successes.

The assessments that are used are from the curriculum of LCCE (Life Centered Career Education), Brigance, and SRI. Staff decided to add the assessments below for each student (which can be used for levels of pre-primer to 12th grade.) Eighty percent of the students’ reading levels range from pre-primer to second grade. The remaining 20 percent ranges up to sixth grade level in reading or math. With this diversity of abilities, the staff implements assessments at the beginning of the year to get baseline data on each student to target their IEP goals for the year. The same assessments are administered at the end of the year to get accurate measurable progress. SRI will be implemented before the holiday break as requested by the district.

The researched-based assessments listed below were decided upon by the staff to ensure progress would be measured.

  • LCCE (Life Centered Career Education): 200 question test in the area in independent living, employability, functioning math and reading
  • Brigance: LIFE Skills Inventory to measure students
  • Dolch words: 220 words that demonstrate the foundation of reading
  • SRI computerized assessment measuring a comprehensive reading ability for decoding words to comprehension
  • Skills Tutor Beginning Pre Test in Math - Basic, addition, multiplication, division, fractions
  • DAR (Diagnostic Assessment of Reading): This is very comprehensive reading diagnostic assessment that will identify the strengths and weaknesses of a student’s ability.

In past years, students were administered the LCCE, Brigance, and SRI. Due to many of the students being unable to score well on these assessments (which were based upon their physical demonstration of activities), other evaluations were added.

The final goal of Gulfstream Goodwill Transition is to provide employment assistance to obtain competitive supportive employment in our community. A Job Trainer visits all students at their work site a minimum of once a week to ensure success and offer assistance with training or vocational issues. Seventy percent of the graduating students in 2008 were competitively employed in our community. This statistic exceeds most graduation rates and is critical for the disabled population! The Social Security Administration states data that eighty percent of students that leave school without being employed will remain unemployed for life.

Gulfstream Goodwill Transition and L.I.F.E. are the recipients of two grants totaling $83,000.00 for a paid work experience program, called Project SEARCH.BethesdaMemorialHospital is the community partner offering twenty five students from the school the opportunity to learn complex and systematic skills that may lead to employment at the hospital or other community businesses. These grants were awarded to the school from The Florida Developmentally Disability Council and the Johnson Foundation.