District 203 Envisions New Future for Special Education

To provide all students with the best education possible, needs to take a more holistic approach to providing services whether for special education or general education students. That was the consensus of a team of educators the district contracted with to review its special education program.

The district contracted with the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative to review its program, meet with principals, teachers and stakeholders in the district to find out how the program was working and what could be done to improve.

“Good and healthy organizations are willing to look at themselves,” said Ron Felton, associate director of the collaborative.

In order for the district to continue to improve and grow, it must review its programs, he said.  

“It’s a brave thing to do and it’s a challenging thing to do,” Felton said.

Going into the review it was clear the district was high performing, and it outperforms most districts in the state in general and special education, Felton said. Felton and Elise Frattura, associate dean at the University of Wisconsin-Madison represented the collaborative.

To put the multifaceted presentation simply, the pair said there needs to be alignment at the district. Whereas, right now there are two different programs, one geared toward the general education students and one geared toward special education students.

The pair highlighted a laundry list of recommendations and goals for the district, which they said would allow it to better meet the needs of all of its students.

Frattura said that often when a district makes reforms it does so keeping the general education student in mind, but expecting that the special education student will follow suit. Reforms often happen in isolation, she said.

She added that students are clustered based on needs rather than on what they know. To serve the students better would be to have them involved in a large classroom environment when possible and then have them participate in small groups when necessary.

Students with IEP’s may not perform well in one area but perform better in another. Frattura said it isn’t necessary that a student be kept from an AP history class, if they have a problem with math, but often they aren’t given the opportunities to work in an environment that offers them a broader educational experience.

She said that special education is often viewed as a place and not a service.

“You have two incredible systems, the problem is there are two,” she said.

Some of the suggestions the collaborative made included:

• Working to integrate the district’s data systems, so that it is easier to find answers to questions, such as how many students with IEPs received detention.
• Creating a vision statement that clearly delineates how the district will continue growing on behalf of each and every student including those with special education needs.
• Creating consistency across the district, whether in programming, behavioral supports or core reading curriculum.
• Align special education with general education within each school, possibly through grade levels or academies.

Frattura and Felton will be visiting the district again and conversations with a variety of stakeholders will be held in the future, including meetings with parents.

Board President Mike Jaensch questioned how it would be possible to implement such a strategy without detracting from the learning experience of other students.

Frattura said it was possible through the use of small group instruction and one-on-one instruction when required. There is a balance but it’s based on the student’s Individualize education program (IEP).

“The difference we are saying is to start there; it’s not about disability, it’s about the goals,” she said.

Board member Susan Crotty asked how to take the recommendations and make them actionable.

“This is a huge shift from what we do now”, she said. “This is taking two and merging to one. How do we go about assigning a cost-benefit analysis? To me kids are never a cost-benefit analysis, but how do we do these things or go about implementing these things at least some of them over time."

District Supt. Mark Mitrovich said that if they weren’t actionable the entire process would have been a complete waste of time and money. The district has already started taking action in some areas.

As the district moves forward some philosophical questions will be raised, he said.

“They [Frattura and Felton] eluded to sitting down with key groups and discussion.  … This is something we move into gradually,” Mitrovich said. “I think what was done [in the past] was done without any particular intent. We are here because we are here. The question is how do we move on to the next step.”