Services Provided by Student Programs
Meeting the Needs of All Students
Student Programs administers many programs to support the educational opportunities for students in the Beatrice Public Schools. Some of the areas with a description of the program are listed below.
Assessment
Beatrice Public Schools has established a comprehensive district assessment and accountability system to ensure student learning. The district assessment program has three primary purposes.
Assessment to Improve Achievement: Teachers use our assessments as a diagnostic tool to determine what students know and are able to do and to improve classroom instruction.
Assessment to Determine Success: Assessment provides information on how Beatrice Public Schools compares with state, national, and international levels of achievement.
Assessment to Communicate Results: Another purpose of the district assessment program is to create a process for reporting the strengths and the areas of concern on student achievement to the public.
Since the purpose of assessment is the gathering of information in order to guide instruction, it is important to have additional pieces. In addition to the locally developed tests, the district has adopted the TerraNova to measure our students` performance against students from across the nation. Students in elementary, middle, and high school may take a Cognitive Ability Test, which aids in understanding of student ability. Additionally, students in elementary and middle school take reading assessments that closely match the intended curriculum.
Curriculum
Beatrice Public Schools has developed a written curriculum guide with learning objectives for students from Kindergarten to the twelfth grade. Our curriculum guide is divided into eight curriculum areas with a committee responsible for an annual review and revision of each area. The curriculum council oversee the work selecting new instructional materials and designing assessments aligned with their curriculum areas. The committee areas are Language Arts/Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies, Vocational Studies, The Arts, Media and Technology, and Practical Living.
English Language Learners - ELL
The English Language Learner program (ELL) assists students with limited ability in speaking, reading, or writing English. The goal of the program is to provide non-English speaking students the necessary skills to become successful in the regular classroom.
High Ability Learners Program
Using a variety of data, the school system identifies some students as High Ability Learners (HAL). Beatrice Public Schools believes in the uniqueness of each student and feels an obligation to provide for the individual needs of all students; therefore, learners with high ability must be provided with learning opportunities consistent with their ability and potential. Building coordinators identify and facilitate activities for HAL students as well as support teachers in differentiating or compacting the regular curriculum when appropriate.
Safety and Crisis Committee
It is the philosophy of Beatrice Public Schools that a preplanned and organized approach is more effective in reducing psychological and social difficulties following a crisis in the school. The committee developed and annually updates the Crisis Response Manual with suggested guidelines and procedures designed to deal with a number of crises that could occur in the District. The manual is used in conjunction with each building emergency plan in the District.
School Improvement Process
The District Steering committee directs the continuous process of school improvement throughout the District. The process includes the following steps: Developing the Profile, Defining Beliefs and Mission, Defining Results for Student Learning, Analyzing Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness, Developing the Action Plan, Implementing the Plan and Documenting Results. Our goal is to clearly identify important goals for learning to serve as a beacon to give direction and therefore a means to access any improvements.
Special Education
The goal of Beatrice Public Schools Special Education Program is to provide individualized programs that give students with disabilities the opportunity to acquire the skills necessary to be successful in home, school, and community settings. All programs are designed to provide academic and life skills which prepare students for real life situations. Typical programs include assistance in the regular classroom, resource classrooms, speech, occupational therapy, physical theory, deaf and blind education as well as specialized services for unique situations.
Title One Reading
Additional reading support is provided to all four public elementary school and the two parochial schools using funds from Title One. Students are identified using teacher recommendation and assessments of student literacy. In addition to instruction in the regular classroom, students build specific reading skills in a small instructional group with a reading specialist.
