Special education abuses in Kentucky????
Are some Kentucky school systems using special education classes to cover up shortcomings in their regular education programs?
Are some staffers who decide which kids need special education not properly trained and qualified to make those determinations?
The disturbing answer to both questions at the November 15, 2011 meeting of the Kentucky Legislature’s Education Assessment and Accountability Subcommittee (EAARS) is – YES!
These bombshells were lobbed by Dr. Deborah Nelson from the Kentucky Office of Education Accountability as she presented an approval draft of a report titled “Appropriate Identification and Service of Students with Disabilities in Kentucky: Special Education Eligibility, Funding, and Personnel Training.”
Some key comments in the report:
• “In some districts, special education has become the default option for students that are struggling in general education. In these cases, identification of students for special education is more reflective of shortcomings in general education than it is of disability.”
In other words, schools are labeling kids as learning disabled when the real problem is that the school education program is deficient and these kids could learn in a regular classroom, IF they were properly taught. This may contribute to a report finding that identification of special education students runs from a low of eight percent in a few districts to a state-leading 25 percent rate in another district in 2011.
• “Teacher and administrator ARC (Admissions and Release Committee) members may not be fully prepared by their preservice training with the range of skills necessary to gather and evaluate evidence, administer and interpret assessments, and develop high quality IEPs (Individual Education Plans).”
Basically, in some schools kids are being shoved into the learning disabled category by a team that does not include any members fully qualified to make such decisions.
This slide, modified from Dr. Nelson’s Power Point presentation of her report, shows the minimum makeup of the ARC. Note that neither the special education teacher nor the district administrator might meet minimal requirements to do their technical and involved jobs well.
Certainly, neither regular teachers nor parents would have such knowledge.
Special Ed Identification Process from OEA
So, who is navigating this out of control boat?
• “Kentucky law…does not require participation of specific staff such as school psychologists or other trained diagnosticians in either the ARC or the evaluation process.”
In fact, the report also says:
• “Thirty districts employed no school psychologists.”
This deficiency helps create special education Admissions and Release Committees that are devoid of real technical expertise.
It sounds like a system out of control, and it may be. After audits described in Dr. Nelson’s report were conducted in 38 districts with high identification rates of students with disabilities, the numbers of such students dropped notably across Kentucky by 3,400 students. But, more work remains to be done in this area.
Schools may have an unfortunate financial motivation to over-identify students as learning disabled, as well. Schools get more money for these students. So, mistakes in special education identification are costly.
Dr. Nelson’s report has a number of recommendations to improve our learning disabled programs in Kentucky, and the legislature and the Kentucky Department of Education need to pay close attention.