Adding to the limited but growing body of research on outcomes for students with disabilities, the Center for Learner Equity released a report detailing innovative strategies that 29 diverse charter schools and school networks have developed to meet their needs.
While some are taking advantage of independent schools’ flexibility to rearrange elements of the teaching day as needed, and many have developed teacher recruitment and retention strategies, the report’s author says the key takeaway is that the most promising developments are the result are from cultures that apply general norms. and special educators who are collectively responsible for the success of all students.
“It comes down to the idea that the entire school owns the experiences of students with disabilities,” said Chase Nordengren, research director for the nonprofit, which focuses on improving outcomes for children with disabilities. “They ensure that general education teachers feel as prepared to meet the needs of students with disabilities as special education teachers do.”
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This is in stark contrast to the way special education services are typically provided, where students with disabilities are taken out of regular classrooms to receive instruction and therapies that general educators often know little about. Although experts have long rejected this approach, which runs contrary to research showing that disabled children achieve more in integrated classrooms than when isolated, charter and district schools often resist becoming more inclusive.
To that end, the new report makes recommendations to help charter schools — which typically enjoy a high degree of autonomy in exchange for meeting academic and financial performance goals — address persistent inequities in how students with special education plans are served.
Charter authorities – the organizations that authorize schools to operate and monitor their performance – should consider offering the schools they oversee technical assistance and specialist expertise that standalone schools may find difficult to acquire, such as teacher training courses and a central personnel pool. All schools, regardless of type, should find ways for general and special education staff to collaborate and collect and analyze data about students with disabilities, the researchers recommend.
Disability advocates have long complained that while over the past decade charter schools have become more accessible to families whose children need alternatives to traditional classrooms, little effort has been invested in identifying systemic improvements.
According to data from the Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Department of Education. During that time, charters have enrolled 2% to 3% fewer students in special education than traditional schools.
But even as enrollment has increased, outcomes for children with disabilities have changed little, the center’s researchers concluded earlier this year, after a two-year study. Overall, charter schools do not outperform their district counterparts, even though they exist in part to develop effective ways to meet the needs of historically underserved students. For example, almost no special education students are given access to college-ready classes and programs.
Report: Nearly all disabled students lack access to college prep programs
Following the publication of a report in July on these poor results, the center turned its attention to a survey of schools that, whether intentionally or not, enroll a higher than average number of students with disabilities.
The new report describes some promising strategies. A decade-old school in the Atlanta area that enrolls grades 6 through 12, Tapestry Public Charter School, was based on the principles of a long-standing but little-used strategy called universal design for learning.
Broadly speaking, this means that teachers provide instruction in different forms, so that all students – disabled or not – can work with it. Employees have two hours per day to plan and collaborate with therapists, behavioral specialists and other service providers.
Half of Tapestry’s 266 students receive special education, and all core lessons are taught jointly by a special educator and a general educator. This enables personalized instruction in small groups, where teachers can identify and address individual skill gaps.
“This ensures that children receive the specific help they need [aren’t] called or chosen because they need it,” says Nordengren. “Everyone gets the support.”
Statesman College Preparatory Academy, a Washington, DC school serving 221 Black and low-income boys in grades 4 through 7, is designed to provide structure for all of its students, including the 29% who receive special education needs. The school also employs a therapist who works one-on-one with staff.
“We’re better off doing personal development than professional development,” founder Shawn Hardnett told the center’s researchers. “And what we find is that people are better professionals because we’ve done personal work.”
In New York City, Mott Haven Academy is a pre-K-8 charter school created to meet the needs of students affected by the child welfare system. One in four students has a disability and a third does not have stable housing. The school utilizes mental health and behavioral supports and uses the same instructional approach for all 451 students, regardless of whether they qualify for special education or not.
Mott Haven uses its flexibility as a charter school to structure staff time so that educators and disability service providers can work together. One example: Instead of pulling one student out of the classroom for extra help, an SLP helped the child’s teachers redesign their instruction, strengthening the general education teacher’s skills.
Other common strategies include hiring general education teachers who want to work with children with disabilities and special educators, and investing in ongoing training.
The 29 schools surveyed arrived at similar strategies, but did so largely independently of each other as they sought ways to address the varying challenges their students faced, Nordengren says. “What surprised me more than anything is how different these schools look from each other,” he says. “Each group found a way to identify the specific needs of its students.”
Disclosure: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation provided financial support to the Center for Learner Equity for this research and is offering financial support to The 74.
