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Life-Centered Education at International School of Kuala Lumpur

Published by SchoolAdvisor | May 16, 2017

A new International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) Middle School program

 

Learning Support at ISKL

ISKL’s Mission Statement embodies our commitment to supporting each student to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen. This commitment is also reflected in the services and programs we offer in order to meet the needs of diverse learners. In collaboration with teachers, the Learning Resource department identifies student needs, then designs and implements research-based interventions and strategies to support these students.

In order to further support our inclusive philosophy, we have a team of highly qualified special educators, counselors, an Elementary School speech and language pathologist, and school psychologists. At ISKL, we provide support for a managed number of students with a wide-range of learning needs.

 

Mild and Moderate Learning Support

ISKL believes that students learn best in their least restrictive environment. As such, students who require mild to moderate assistance benefit from a range of support including learning opportunities with peers in regular classrooms. Teachers differentiate learning to ensure that the varied needs of our students are met. Interventions are tailored to the individual students and students may receive additional instruction from other teachers and specialists.If students require more support, our learning resource team develops individualized learning plans (Student Success Plans) that are based on well-researched interventions. Students may also receive support in a moreinclusive general education setting, or individualized, or small group instruction. 

Intensive Learning Support in Middle School (NEW)

The Life-Centered Education (LCE) program is designed to serve students who have a diagnosed intellectual or developmental disability and require individualized academic and social skill instruction. The program is not appropriate for students with intense emotional or behavioral needs or severe health impairments. Students accepted in our program receive customized instruction and support from highly trained special educators and assistant teachers. Additionally, students are integrated into our middle school elective classes and optional after-school activities.

Life-Centered Education (LCE) focuses on teaching literacy, mathematics, social skills, and life skills to students with intensive special education needs. Individual goals are outlined on ISKL Student Success Plans (SSP), which are developed after evaluation by an Educational Psychologist. Goals outlined on the SSP are addressed daily in Life-Centered Education classes.

 

"The thoughtful inclusion of students with special learning needs is one very practical andexplicit way of enhancing a school’s organizational intelligence. By challenging ourselves to do more than what we are already comfortable doing, we engage in a rigorous exercise of collaborative inquiry that supports our collective intellectual growth and social and emotional development."- Powell and Kusuma-Powell, Raising Your School’s Organizational Intelligence 2013

In the LCE classroom, students learn how to improve their reading fluency and comprehension through an interactive and multisensory approach to reading and spelling. In mathematics, students improve numeracy and computation through several different math strategies and real life applications. Life skills and social skills are reinforced daily with lessons from the Social Thinking curriculum.

Students also receive additiona support from the middle school counselors. Under the supervision of the LCE teacher, grade level teachers and counselors, student schedules are developed to support their abilities and individual needs in the least restrictive environments. This includes both mainstream grade level classes as well as small group instruction in the LCE classroom. LCE students also participate in adaptive PE classes and volunteer in the school’s Panther Hut providing them with pre-vocational training. At this time, additional support services in Middle School such as occupational therapy and speech and language therapy are accessed outside of schooland arranged by parents.

The current program is designed to meet the individual needs of up to six students in the Middle School. In the 2018-2019 school year, when ISKL debuts their purpose-built, state of the art new campus, additional “Life-Centered Education” classrooms at the Elementary and High School levels will be introduced. The Life-Centered Education High School program will prepare students with essential skills for their next steps after earning their HS diploma.

The Life-Centered Education program is funded by a fee of RM115,000 in addition to ISKL tuition fees.