New report on special education and D75 schools

See this new report, "Improving Special Education in NYC's District 75," about the multiple problems with the separate special education district known as D75, which also reveals how dysfunctional the entire system of special education is in NYC public schools. The study was carried out by specialists and administrators from other large school districts, under the aegis of the Council of the Great City Schools, and recommends keeping the special nature and services of D75 intact, but integrating them into the rest of the school system more effectively and efficiently.

The report reveals a far higher proportion of NYC special education students in separate, segregated settings than other districts throughout the state; pervasive conflicts between the principals of D75 schools that are located within regular schools over the way in which their students are deprived of access to essential facilities; how low-achieving students are referred to D75 placements as the time nears for state assessments grows near, so their school of origin won't be saddled with their test scores; how D75 students have few opportunities to be incorporated in the regular school’s classes or to interact with the rest of the student population, even when located in the same building; the way in which the new schools started by DOE commonly exclude and discriminate against D75 students; the manner in which Leadership Academy graduates principals with no apparent interest or training in improving outcomes for these students; the inappropriate practice of referring eighth grade students to D75 schools who have been retained multiple times, as well as high school students with few course credits, and students with “challenging behavior,” and the failure of DOE to include “anything in the accountability system pertaining to incentives or sanctions for the achievement of students with disabilities.”

Here's just one meaty excerpt, detailing yet another inadequate aspect of the school progress reports, as designed by Columbia Law Professor James Liebman, head of DOE's Accountability office:

Community schools can be recognized for the exemplary performance of students with disabilities (as well as other high-need students), but the process does not recognize the differences among students with disabilities ranging from relatively small-impact speech-language impairment to challenging sensory, emotional, or cognitive impairments.

A school can gain only three extra credit points on its overall score for exemplary gains among high-need students, such as those with disabilities.

• The Progress Report does not appear to take into consideration the extent to which students—

Are referred to other schools just prior to state assessments

Are enrolled by community schools following a District 75 placement

Are included and supported in the general education program

Are given access to general education programs and activities, if they are in District 75.

But check out the whole report; it is an excellent if rather depressing read.

Does DOE have plans to cut services for visually and hearing impaired children?

This entry was written by a parent familiar with the concerns of visually impaired students and their families:

NYC Public School Parents has learned that the Department of Education has floated a plan to eliminate the Educational Vision Services (EVS) and Hearing Education Services (HES) offices in District 75, which oversees special education programs in our schools. Currently, 1,000 children with visual impairments and 3,000 children with hearing impairments are being served by the these offices. Last week, the head of Educational Vision Services was informed by District 75 and the Chancellor's Office that EVS would be closing and that the principals of schools would take over the supervision of the special instructors for these children. When parents started protesting, the reorganization was temporarily put on hold, but not cancelled.

Such a dismantling would likely have a devastating impact on the students in the system with visual and hearing impairments. Children who are blind or visually impaired need all kinds of special services that others don’t —for example, to learn braille, to be provided with books in braille or large print, and to learn travel skills, like walking with a cane. Many of these children are fully functioning intellectually, but need these services to be able to learn. They need special equipment as well. Regular special ed teachers don't teach these skills, teachers who specialize in working with visually impaired students do. Similarly, hearing impaired students need teachers who can teach sign language, as well as interpreters and other special services. This latest "reorganization" has the potential to completely disrupt those services.

Principals of individual schools are not equipped to supervise or support these specialized staff. In fact, these teachers usually work with students at several schools. The offices threatened with closure have the expertise to ensure that students with these disabilities get the help they need and that their teachers (and schools) receive the support and oversight necessary to make sure they do. If the responsibility to provide these very specialized services are dumped on the principals' shoulders, along with all their other new duties, how can they possibly be expected to manage?

Since the DOE's plans for special education have not been fully disclosed, it's difficult to guess what kind of structure they might have in mind once EVS and HES were closed, and what other current supports might also be slated for elimination. Only one thing is for sure: As usual, no one actually working with these students was consulted about these changes, least of all their parents.

Parents of visually and hearing impaired students are up in arms and plan to attend the meeting of the Citywide Council on Special Education tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 6:30pm at Tweed to demand some answers. Stay tuned.