• Integrating Quest and general education students in Science supports positive social-emotional learning for all students by increasing opportunities to develop friendships and social skills with an expanded group of students.  These are essential components that allow students to increase social readiness for their upcoming high school environment. 
• All stakeholders were asked what was working well, current program challenges, and opportunities for improvement. All stakeholder groups noted opportunities in assisting students in the Quest program with social-emotional needs. Specifically, stakeholders cited that the academic and social integration of student groups would be able to remedy socio-emotional challenges such as those regarding stereotypes and stigmas shared by students being served in both the Quest program and general education.  
• Additionally, the MSQ Committee clearly stated during meetings its concerns about the lack of integration and the need to improve the social-emotional outcomes of students. The committee looked for opportunities to combine students in both programs.

FTQ and MSQ science classes use the same rigorous, grade-level core and supplemental curricular materials as general education science classes. Middle school science has never been an accelerated course in LWSD and is not assessed when determining eligibility for services. Previously, students in the Quest program and in the general education program have been in separate sections of science, but Quest-specific curriculum and/or services in science have not been provided. Teachers in all science classes already provide differentiation through enriching conversations and opportunities for deeper understanding of science materials through inquiry, projects and problem/project-based learning. Science teachers will be provided additional support and professional learning from the Teaching and Learning and Accelerated Programs department as a way to enhance these differentiation strategies in their classroom. 

Science and math operate separately from each other. The only math offered in middle school through the Quest program is Quest math in 6th grade. After Quest math 6, students continue on an accelerated pathway to access higher level math courses in the general education setting. Science, as noted in the previous questions, is not an accelerated course, and unlike ELA and social studies, has not been blocked together in our LWSD middle schools. All middle school students use the same curriculum in order to master the same standards, and so the adjustment is in the groupings of the students, not the core learning.   

Differentiation is already a way that all teachers support students in their classroom. We have many students who are eligible for our programs, who participated in a different level of service in our programs, or who were close to eligibility, that are already receiving differentiation in our general education classes. Our program continues its efforts to meet the needs of all students by collaborating closely in providing program services through the form of acceleration within the content area, differentiated instruction, curriculum compacting and extension activities in the general education science setting in partnership with our Teaching & Learning department.