Q&A
“It is awesome to think that students with special needs in so many places will be safer, more independent and more confident because of this program.”
Pete Meslin, director of transportation at Newport- Mesa Unified School District in Southern California.
the safety knowledge, abilities and desires to work with students. What they didn’t have was an easy to implement curriculum and the confidence to challenge the status quo because we can do so much better for our students.
STN: What have been your biggest challenges imple- menting the program? Meslin: Tere’s a tendency to think that more is always
better, but when trying to implement a new program, less is often better. We’ve learned so much about how to successfully work with students, but, as the saying goes, it‘s difficult to drink from a fire hose. Our whole team has had to restrain our passion in order to help others under- stand that this program is definitely worth implementing and it really is very easy to implement.
STN: What have been your biggest surprises? Meslin: Tis program has been full of surprises. We
knew the program would be a fun way to introduce some skills to our students with special needs. We did pre-test- ing and post-testing to see just how successful and were shocked that every single student advanced and many achieved mastery. Another shocker was the degree of buy-in from our
staff, parents, special education teachers and our drivers. Our staff was amazingly dedicated in turning this idea into a program that successfully teaches such a wide range of students. One shining example is our administrative assistant who is a former special education classroom aide. She put in an amazing amount of effort turning vision into a program that has all the necessary components and yet is easy enough to work in the classroom. Several of our drivers who were sure they’d never enter a classroom are now teaching their third round of classes. Finally, the interest in the program from throughout the country and the world has been amazing. It is awe- some to think that students with special needs in so many places will be safer, more independent and more confident because of this program.
STN:Why do you think it works so well? Meslin: With the help of our special educators and
our curriculum experts we have put together a curriculum that combines all of our transportation knowledge with the latest research on how students learn. Te curriculum works for all styles of learners, but places a great deal of emphasis on visual learning since most students are visual
60 School Transportation News • MARCH 2016
learners. I believe the other reason this program is so successful is because we bring the school bus to the school so that students can connect the theory they learned in the classroom with reality.
STN: How long will it take transporters new to the
program to implement? Meslin: From the first meeting with the classroom
teacher through the last of the five, once-per-week lessons, the program takes about six weeks. Each lesson is two hours. Te process to implement this program is really much easier than you would think. We supply all the documents districts need including all five lessons of the curriculum, supplemental materials for students, and even the few training materials to prepare drivers to teach. We even supply a sample email to contact your special ed director for recommended classes.
STN:How much will it cost them? Meslin: Te costs for this program are minimal because
vendors have donated almost all the funds necessary. We are committed to keeping the costs low to help ensure that as many transporters implement the program as possible. Tere are no fees whatsoever. Te only significant cost for districts is time, about 40 total hours (10 per driver multi- plied by four drivers) of driver time for each classroom in which they choose to teach. Tere will also be minor costs for supervisor time and printing classroom materials.
STN:What’s next? Meslin: Our district views the Bus in the Classroom
program as a creative way to serve students better and it continues to support us in spreading the program to all of our classes including general education. Tey also encour- age us to share the program with other transporters outside of our district. In order to make the program more acces- sible for transportation providers, we are in the process of helping some of our high school students create a training video. However, we’ll keep teaching in person, too. Tis month a team, including office staff, a driver, and a special ed teacher will teach the program at CASBO (California Association of School Business Officials). At the same time, I’ll be presenting with a special ed director at the Council for Exceptional Children Conference.
STN:Tank you. l
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