The Independent(2R) Charter Schools are a group of 16 public schools that serve a diverse group of nearly 6,000 students throughout southeast Wisconsin. These schools offer innovative educational options that provide an attractive alternative to traditional public schools to interested students and their families. As public schools, the (2R) Charter Schools must meet rigorous academic standards.We expect to be held accountable for our schools’ performance. In return, we expect to be given the autonomy to make the decisions necessary to reach these standards.

The independence and innovation in the design of the educational curriculum for each of the (2R) Charter Schools is critical to their popularity and success in improving the academic performance of their students. We believe that the Charter School movement in Wisconsin continues to take a leadership role in providing options that address the needs of all learners and should continue to be supported by public policy and funding not as an educational experiment but as a viable long term component of the educational system in our state.

The vision of the grant writers and implementers included improving the way in which students with special needs were integrated into the larger regular educational environment. To meet such student needs proactively and preventatively and in a way that drives and supports improved results for children with disabilities, it was clear that fundamental and systemic changes were required of the educational processes to make this vision a reality. It has been the intent of the grant writers to implement an Integrated Comprehensive Services Approach for All Learners as a vehicle to achieve this goal.

By implementing this formative analysis process developed by Frattura and Capper (2006) administrators, special education teachers, general education teachers and pupil service personnel engaged in a formal self evaluation process to assess compliance and measure educational outcomes in independent charter school environments. The “Integrated Comprehensive Service Approach for All Learners”incorporated the most effective elements of continuous improvement and focused monitored as outlined by the Office of Special Education programs (OSEP), and aligned quantitative data analysis with Wisconsin’s Continuous Improvement and Focused Monitoring System (CIFMS) through a formative analysis approach.

Elise Frattura is an associate professor and associate dean at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of Exceptional Education and Educational Administration.    She has 5 years’ experience as a high school teacher and 13 years as a district student services and special education administrator; during which time she functioned as an adjunct lecturer at UW-Madison, teaching courses related to diversity in elementary and secondary administration of services for all learners.   Currently she is teaching courses in administration of student services, organizational leadership, and special education law.   Dr. Frattura researches and publishes in the area of nondiscrimination law, integrated comprehensive services for all learners, and the theoretical underpinnings of educational segregation. In addition, Dr. Frattura works with charter schools and school districts across the country to assist in the movement from programs to services for all learners. She also co-authored two books on educational social justice and many journal articles.   Beverly Luckenbill is the Special Education Program Director for the Independent Charter School Collaborative of Wisconsin (ICSC).  In her capacity as Special Education Program Director, Beverly was instrumental in securing grant funding to provide guidance, direction, and technical assistance, in the area of special education, to planners, start ups and existing charter schools. For eight years, Beverly served as a faculty member in the Graduate Special Education Department of Cardinal Stritch University, teaching courses on Infancy and Child Development, Assessment of Children with Special Needs and Sensory Integration. She authored the charter school proposal for The School for Early Development and Achievement, a K-3 early intervention model charter school.   Elizabeth Drame received her doctorate in December, 2000 from Northwestern University’s Departmentof Learning Disabilities. After receiving her doctorate, she continued practical work in the field, specifically in Milwaukee Public Schools as a special education teacher, at the Milwaukee Teacher Education Center as the Assistant Executive Director and Special Education Program Coordinator, and as the Director of Alternative Certification Programs with the National Teachers and Educators Center/Rockford College.   Elizabeth joined the Department of Exceptional Education at the University of Wisconsin– Milwaukee in 2005, where she teaches in the early adolescence through adolescence special education teacher preparation program. She teaches courses in the assessment and diagnosis of students with disabilities,curriculum adaptations and collaborative strategies. She currently serves as a member-at-large on the Council for Exceptional Children Board of Directors, the largest international professional organization dedicated to improving educational outcomes for individuals with exceptionalities, students with disabilities, and/or the gifted. People get so caught up in trying to fix the person, that they don't see the great diversity and benefits that the person has to bring to the rest of the world. --Alison Seylor, who decided to have her son Alex, 11, who has autism, included in a classroom with other children his age rather than a segregated specialized therapy program. FAQ What is the Independent Charter School Collaborative? The ICSC consists of sixteen independent charter schools throughout southeastern Wisconsin and is currently funded through an IDEA discretionary grant from the Department of Public Instruction. What is? What is?