WAPS Inclusion Education Plan

I. Purpose
The purpose of this plan is to establish and maintain a written plan to assure an inclusive education program as defined in Minnesota Statutes 3500.0550. In addition, this plan is to inform students, teachers and parents of the District’s commitment to provide equal educational opportunities to all students attending District schools regardless of their cultural, socioeconomic background, gender, or disability. Winona Area Public Schools affirms the importance of multicultural, gender fair, disability sensitive curriculum and instruction.

II. General Statement of Plan
The Winona Area Public School District will establish and maintain an inclusive educational program that employs a curriculum developed and delivered so students and staff gain an understanding and appreciation of:

  1. The cultural diversity of the United States. Special emphasis will be placed on American Indians/Alaskan natives, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, African Americans and Hispanic Americans. The program will reflect the wide range of contributions by and roles open to Americans of all races and cultures.
  2. The historical and contemporary contributions of women and men to society. Special emphasis will be placed on the contributions of women. The program will reflect the wide range of contributions by and roles open to American women and men.
  3. The historical and contemporary contributions to society by persons with disabilities. The program will reflect the wide range of contributions by and roles open to Americans with disabilities.

III. Components of Plan
  1. The Director of Learning and Teaching will ensure that multicultural and gender fair concepts are incorporated into the curriculum goals, learner outcomes and evaluation processes of the school district by:
  1. reviewing curriculum maps and syllabi on an ongoing basis;
  2. reviewing curriculum adoptions;
  3. ensuring that curriculum maps include multicultural and gender fair concepts; and
  4. providing training to building administrators and teachers on components of the inclusive educational program.
  1. Educator’s Role: Although the individual student is responsible for his or her own behavior, educators can do much to set a positive tone for interactions by encouraging tolerance and facilitating its development. Educators will:
  1. promote positive attitudes about human diversity;
  2. foster classroom communities sensitive to the full range of diversity within their groups;
  3. provide intra- and inter-group learning experiences and environments that accommodate different learning styles and levels of ability, and are characterized by a success-orientated mindset;
  4. manifest unconditional positive regard/acceptance of the student as a person;
  5. help students convert positive commitments into actions;
  6. model comfortable and effective interactions with individuals from a variety of cultures or other life situations encountered in the greater community, including the work place;
  7. promote respect for individual differences through positive interpersonal relations; friendships and through the development of social networks representing diversity among students and
  8. help students to think critically and reflect upon the viewpoints of a variety of cultural and religious or other groups.
  1. The Curriculum Advisory Committee will help implement the plan by:
  1. Reviewing curriculum maps
  2. Reviewing curriculum adoptions
  1. The school district’s curriculum review process will outline specific goals, objectives and implementation timelines for curriculum review, adoption and implementation. Each curriculum adoption cycle will include a review of how proposed curriculum will help implement the inclusive educational program.
  1. The Director of Learning and Teaching will monitor and evaluate the inclusive education plan by:
  1. providing access to curriculum maps developed by the school district to members of the district curriculum advisory committee.
  2. soliciting feedback periodically from the district advisory curriculum committee about the implementation of the inclusive education plan.