Ask Kathryn Tretter how to teach little kids to read and she’ll tell you: They have to learn how to “break the reading code.” The challenge is, everyone learns differently. And that’s OK.
One of the special education teachers at Mile Creek School in Old Lyme, Tretter has been named the Lyme-Old Lyme Public Schools 2008-2009 Teacher of the Year. The Region 18 Board of Education honored her accomplishments at its Sept. 17 board meeting.
Tretter, who is also celebrating her 20th year teaching in Old Lyme, is pleased to see the field of special education recognized, but shies away from the personal accolades. Especially the standing ovation that Mile Creek staff and parents gave her at Mile Creek School’s open house on Sept. 25.
“We’re all teachers of the year. We all depend on each other,” she said of her colleagues. “It’s a team effort, everybody is involved.”
Special education today serves children with a wide range of disabilities that affect their ability to access learning and to achieve, according to Nancy Johnston, the district’s director of special education. Driven by the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the spectrum can range from children with minor learning disabilities to those with significant impairments, from autism to fragile medical conditions. It includes hearing and sight impairment, too.
“If a child can’t access learning normally because of some kind of impairment they have, we address it,” she said.
The district has around 160 students, or 10 percent of its student population, in special education. Johnston said this is a normal range. With the district’s inclusive approach, where students of all abilities are in the classroom together, the district’s 17 special education teachers are part of teaching teams that help all students in a grade level, regardless of designation, to learn.
“The philosophy today is that all children can achieve and high expectations should be maintained for all, special and regular education,” Johnston said. “Any kind of national testing and educational standards—No Child Left Behind—addresses all children in the school.”
Johnston said the district’s teachers try different learning strategies for students of all capabilities.
“One shoe does not fit all. Even though a child is not necessarily disabled, they may need a different type of instruction to grasp a concept. It might be small group instruction, or a remedial person may step in with a different learning strategy,” Johnston said. “You try all kinds of strategies before defining a kid as needing special education. They are not learning disabled, they just need a different approach to learning how to get them to read. You have to try a lot of different things.”
There is no typical day for Tretter, if there ever is for any elementary school educator. The field of special education has changed so much since she entered it. When she arrived in Old Lyme in 1989, she had six students in a dedicated classroom, and spent all day with only them.
In the district’s inclusive approach, she and the other special education teachers don’t have one assigned classroom. Instead, they work with the regular education teachers and, potentially, all of the students. This year, she is moving around between the school’s
first-grade classrooms, getting to know all of the
first-graders.
“At this elementary level, they need to learn how to read,” she said. “Some kids come to kindergarten knowing how. Others, it may take until second or third grade. Children break the reading code at different stages and ages. Everyone has different learning styles. We all develop differently.”
To address these different learning styles and needs, the special education staff, regular education teachers, paraprofessionals, and support staff work together, taking a multi-sensory approach to teaching.
Some students learn better by drawing the letters in the air as they pronounce them, others may not, she said. Some just need more one-on-one instruction, a reinforcement of reading skills, or in-classroom support. Tretter and her peers are there to help.
“We know from research and experience that children’s learning at this early level is highly correlated to future academic success,” Tretter said. “So my role as an early interventionist allows me to target on all students, not just those in special education.”
“The way in which Kathryn approaches her work with our primary students serves as a daily reminder that every child is unique and special,” said Patricia Downes, Mile Creek School principal.
A Connecticut native, Tretter said she has always been interested in special education. Once in college, she realized the wide range of conditions to which the term applies. She started college in Vermont and graduated from Southern Connecticut State University, where she completed her master’s degree in early special education. Tretter is certified to teach K through 12 in special education. She and her husband, David, live in Niantic and have two sons, Cole, 13, and Owen, 11.
Although she stays up on information and research in the field through continuing education, she stressed that getting to know and understand the learning needs of each student is the key.
“Every child is different,” Tretter said.
Region 18’s New Special Education Director Nancy Johnston
Lyme-Old Lyme/Region 18 has a new director of special education. Nancy Johnston joined the district in July.
“This is my home territory,” said Johnston, who grew up in Old Saybrook and lives in Essex. She has been a school psychologist for more than 20 years and has also been a classroom teacher of fifth- and seventh-graders.
This isn’t her first tour of duty in the region. Johnston interned in Old Lyme 27 years ago as a school psychologist. In recent years, she was director of special education in Hebron.
In her role as director, she oversees the district’s special education, ensuring the special education staff are providing the appropriate programs, developing programs to address needs, and state reporting. She is also the district’s nurse supervisor and serves as the harassment and sexual discrimination officer.
Johnston went to Boston University, is a certified K through 12 teacher, and earned her school psychology certification at Southern Connecticut State University. She replaces Pat Varholy, who after a brief retirement is serving as interim special education director at Region 4 Public School District for Chester, Deep River, and Essex.
For more information, go to www.region18.org.