Crawford Long Middle School
3200 Latona Drive, SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30354
Sharing a Love of Learning
Carolyn Ashford Ed.S
Student Support Disproportionality Specialist
Welcome to the website of Carolyn Ashford, Ed.S, a highly regarded Educator, Coach, Wife, and Mother.
About
With 20 plus years in education, I knew from early on that I wanted to pursue a career in teaching and learning. I have been lucky to have been taught and inspired by a number of mentors who have had and still have a meaningful impact on my academic life. A proud attendant of Alcorn State University and graduate of Mississippi Valley State University, I am an enthusiastic and devoted Educator who strives to share my love of teaching and learning to all that I serve. Education has never been a job for me, It's Who I Am!
Student Support at Crawford Long Middle
The Student Support Disproportionality Specialist (SSDS) will support the implementation of the academic and/or behavior interventions in identified schools by supporting both teachers and students with school-based interventions to address the district’s significant disproportionality findings in the over-identification of specific disabilities and discipline. The SSDS will provide coaching, support, guidance, and instructional strategies to schools to aid students performing below grade level to obtain the necessary skills to reach grade-level performance in the shortest possible time as well as support, guidance, and behavior strategies to aid in alternatives to suspension and progressive discipline practices. Finally, this individual will serve as a mentor to students through Check & Connect to address students with deficits in academics, behavior, attendance, or successful course completion.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities: Assists in providing support to leaders and teachers in the implementation and planning of the school-based intervention block or courses:
• Monitor usage, dosage, implementation, and progress for Tier 2 students
• Analyze the data and provide coaching and support to teachers to address trends
• Conduct observations and provide feedback to ensure the fidelity of implementation Assists in providing consultative support and technical assistance in the planning, development, and implementation of intervention and remediation in the areas of academics, behavior, and student well-being across the continuum of the MTSS framework:
• Meet with the MTSS Contact to collaborate and provide updates on students in Tier 2
• Conduct, assist, or support with data talks for Tier 2 students with MTSS Contacts(optional) and teachers
• Observe the implementation and model the usage of interventions
• Monitor Tier 2 progress monitoring data in Infinite Campus to ensure the frequency, duration, and adjustments are made as determined by students’ responses to the interventions
Assists teachers and school leaders in analyzing formative data elements (screening, diagnostic, and progress monitoring) to ensure the effectiveness of the implementation of interventions for specified students:
• Participate in school-based leadership team meetings and grade level meetings to discuss and analyze data
• Implement action steps as identified by the leadership team
• Act as a thought partner to administrators for school-wide planning for addressing the implementation of academic and behavior interventions
Serve as a Check & Connect Mentor for identified students:
• Collaborate with principal and MTSS contact to identify a caseload of students (general and/or special education) for C&C
• Provide one hour of direct or indirect support to caseload students weekly
• Collect and monitor ABC (attendance, behavior, and course completion) data and identify supports Other Duties:
• Collaborate with MTSS Contact, SELT, and District Student Support Specialist on a regular basis
• Adhere to all procedures as outlined in the district’s plan to address disproportionality
• Collect and submit data (academic and behavior) from assigned schools
• Participate in Care Team meetings
• Participate in leadership team meetings to share data
Partnership Principles
(Adapted from Jim Knight)
➢ Equality: Instructional coaches and teachers are equal partners in the process who listen to and learn from one another.
➢ Choice: Teachers should have choice regarding what and how they learn. The coach’s goal is to meet teachers where they currently are in their practice and offer choices for learning.
➢ Voice: Professional learning should empower and respect the voices of teachers. Instructional coaches view coaching as a process that helps teachers find their voice, not a process for making teachers think a certain way.
➢ Dialogue: Professional learning should enable authentic dialogue. Instructional coaches avoid manipulation, engage participants in conversation about content, and think and learn with collaborating teachers. ➢ Reflection: Reflection is an integral part of professional learning. Instructional coaches encourage collaborating teachers to consider ideas before adopting them and recognize that reflective thinkers, by definition, must be free to adopt or reject ideas.
➢ Praxis: Teachers should apply their learning to their real-life practice as they are learning. For instructional coaches this means that in partnership with collaborating teachers they focus their attention on how to use ideas in the classroom as those ideas are being learned.
➢ Reciprocity: Instructional coaches should expect to get as much as they give. Learning about each teacher’s strengths and weaknesses while implementing new teaching practices will enhance a coach’s ability to collaborate with all other teachers and the coach’s skill in using the new teaching practice.
Ensuring Proportionate Learning for All Students
Preventing and Addressing Significant Disproportionality
We must take a proactive, preventative approach as the means to reducing rates of disproportionality and increasing equitable practices throughout schools and districts.
Taking action now will lead to better outcomes for current students long after they have graduated and provide more welcoming and inclusive learning environments for future generations.
Starting with a data review that assesses whether all students have access to high-quality, engaging instruction and are treated equally, regardless of race or disability
If the review uncovers disproportionality, conducting a root-cause analysis can help determine the factors leading to disproportionality and an approach for course correction
Implementing strong early literacy learning offerings, with sound assessment and intervention programs
Putting in place proven multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), implemented with fidelity and in which teachers and leaders are thoroughly trained
Hosting professional development and coaching for leaders and teachers — both those working with the general population as well as those working with students with disabilities — in cultural competence; diversity, equity, and inclusion; meeting the needs of diverse learners; social-emotional learning; and building positive classroom cultures.
