Bills for Beakers: BOE Accepts Science Class Grant

Two teachers at Cranford High School teamed up two years ago to create special education science classes that are rigorous enough to prepare students for science in college.

This year, the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities recognized Megan Earl and Gia Calabrese for their efforts – awarding them a $1,000 fellowship. The Cranford Board of Education officially authorized the grant at a Sept. 13 meeting.

A decade-old prize, the NJCDD awards the Fellowship of Inclusive Education to 10 teachers a year; along with the rest of the winners, Calabrese and Earl were recognized at a luncheon in May, Sue Gottesman said, the public policy director of NJCDD.

One important requirement of the grant is that instructors strive to produce a "typical education experience" for special education students and include them in the general student body.

 The program created by Gia Calabrese and Megan Earl strives to do just that. Instructing around 13-18 students per class per year, these teachers assist students with college preparatory biology, chemistry and geo-physical sciences. Regular classes meet every day for 42 minutes, and once a week, students receive a special lab session.

The classes also utilize the same curriculum as general education classes, Calabrese said. While most students in the classroom have IEPs or 404s, there are some general education students in the class too who need a little extra help with science courses, she said.

Although taught different to accommodate students, the classes also utilize the same college preparatory material as general education classes.

"They take the same end-of-the-year biology test that everybody does," Calabrese said.

The idea for these classes originated with Special Education Director Debra Loprete. In order to get the ball rolling, she asked the two teachers to assist in the program's creation; Calabrese, because of her expertise in science instruction, and Earl, due to her special education teaching knowledge.

The district applied to the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities in order to be considered for the award in the spring of last year, Assistant Superintendent James McLaughlin said.

The NJCDD awards grants are designed to help teachers keep exemplary programs chugging along, said Sue Gottesman, public policy coordinator of NJCDD. Teachers may use it to further classroom education in some way.

Calabrese added that she is considering utilizing the grant to get running water into the classroom for lab. "We are hopefully going to be using it to get sinks."