Improving Student Outcomes and Educator Collaboration in Lexington District One

Lexington District One in South Carolina partnered with NCII to build the capacity of special education staff at the schools identified as needing additional targeted support and improvement given the low performance of students with disabilities. NCII provided technical assistance, including coaching for district leaders, training for special education teachers and paraprofessionals, and ongoing support for educators and school leaders through open-door calls and office hours. Within just 1 year of implementation, the district saw several positive impacts resulting from this work, including improved student outcomes and engagement, enhanced collaboration and engagement among educators, and increased parent satisfaction with special education services.

Summary Brief

This summary provides an overview of the impact of DBI implementation and NCII technical assistance during the first year of DBI implementation in Lexington District One. The brief includes the perspective of four Lexington District One staff members including the Executive Director of Special Services, Special Education Coordinator, a Principal and a Special Educator.

Improving Student Outcomes and Educator Collaboration in Lexington District One Summary

Video Interviews

To learn more about the work in Lexington District One, watch the following short video interviews.

Video 1: Nicole Adams, PhD, Executive Director of Special Services

In this video, Dr. Nicole Adams discusses how district leaders engaged schools in DBI implementation and shares her perspective on the impacts of DBI.

“We had one of our middle schools that was very, very underperforming, that had some huge academic gap closing . . . just the kids growing over time, again, not on grade level per se, but just the amount of growth they made was phenomenal.”

Video 2: Maria Jimenez, Special Education Coordinator

In this video, Maria Jimenez discusses how the district supported teachers with implementing DBI, some of the challenges to implementing DBI, and the impacts on student achievement.

"Our schools may not be aware of the technical assistance that’s available to us. So as school administrators and as district administrators, we need to make sure that our folks have access to those resources."

Video 3: Don Hardie, Principal, White Knoll Middle School

In this video, Don Hardie describes how DBI boosted the achievement of students who were far below grade level. He also shares how implementing DBI improved collaboration and engagement among special education teachers and parents’ perceptions of special education services.

“By doing the DBI process, we can see . . . this kid went from five grade levels below to four grade levels below in a matter of three months. Like we’re working, like this kid is growing now.”

Video 4: Lisa Hartman, Special Education Teacher, White Knoll Middle School

In this video, Lisa Hartman discusses how working with NCII helped teachers at her school, led to improvements in teacher morale and collaboration among educators, and created excitement among students with disabilities who made noticeable academic progress.

“Even if they’re all working on different grade levels, they’re just excited to be able to call their parents or tell their other teachers or tell administration: ‘I went up 3 points on my reading probe!’ or ‘I’m at the next grade level in math!’ So, the kids are really taking ownership of it.”