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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: NPR uses only the first names of minors in this story because it discusses their learning disabilities and placement in special education.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BAY POINT, Calif. — The sun would just be rising when teacher Mary Acebu began her days. She’d blast music on the way to work to get energized and get to her classroom by 6:30 to prepare for her students’ arrival at 8. Often, it’d be dark by the time she headed home, sometimes with paperwork in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like so many special education teachers around the country, this was Acebu’s life for much of the 10 years she’s been teaching at Riverview Middle School, in this small, unincorporated northern California town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t do that anymore,” she says with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because Acebu has been experimenting with artificial intelligence for the last two years to get through paperwork more quickly and says it’s helped her instead use precious time for student interaction. “I have time to talk to the kiddos and really build those relationships,” she says, “instead of sitting here in front of my computer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, schools nationwide have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/05/15/1247795768/children-disabilities-special-education-teacher-shortage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">struggled with hiring and retaining\u003c/a> special educators. In the 2024-25 school year, \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher-shortages-subjects-across-states-factsheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">45 states reported\u003c/a> special education teacher shortages, and staff turnover is worse in schools that largely serve low-income students, like Riverview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some special educators say part of what makes them feel overworked is legally required paperwork layered on top of regular teaching duties. Acebu is one of a growing number of those teachers around the nation using AI to help speed up that paperwork — including for writing individualized education programs (IEPs). Educators and families maintain these detailed documents that outline goals and services students need to meet those goals at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-10-28-CDT-AI-IEP-Brief-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a recent survey\u003c/a> by the nonpartisan Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), 57% of special education teachers polled nationwide said they used AI to help develop individualized plans for their students in the 2024-25 school year. That’s up from 39% the previous school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with the survey results, the CDT warned of privacy, legal and ethical risks around using AI. Other research, however, including from the University of Virginia (UVA) and the University of Central Florida (UCF), has shown that when used appropriately, AI can help special education teachers craft IEPs of equal or higher quality than when teachers produce them alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the time saved can benefit students, too. “The more face time a student with a disability has with a teacher, that often yields better outcomes for them, both educationally, functionally — just across the board,” says Olivia Coleman, a researcher and professor at UCF who has been studying the role of AI in special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu says that rings true in her classroom. She points out King, one of her eighth graders, as an example. “He was a non-reader, beginning of seventh grade. He’s reading now.” That, for Acebu, is the \u003cem>point\u003c/em> of IEPs — to put what’s on paper into practice for her students. She says that is only possible with intentional, hands-on work in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What IEPs are and why they matter\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every seventh and eighth grader in Mary Acebu’s class learns differently — some work independently, some in pairs, others with headphones on and yet others with speech-to-text technology. Those differences are captured in each child’s IEP, a document required by federal law for each of the over 8 million students with disabilities in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4000x2668+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8d%2F57%2F8601fa57482dbd294f690c16221d%2F36a0496-tif.jpg\" alt=\"Mary Acebu has been a special education teacher for a decade at Riverview Middle School. She is part of a task force that is working on an AI policy for her school district.\">\u003cfigcaption>Mary Acebu has been a special education teacher for a decade at Riverview Middle School. She is part of a task force that is working on an AI policy for her school district.\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> (Talia Herman for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every IEP includes annual goals tailored to each student’s present needs, but importantly, “also where you want them to go within the next year,” says Danielle Waterfield, Coleman’s research partner at UVA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Coleman and Waterfield say while many teachers report feeling bogged down by the work that goes into developing IEPs, teachers also recognize they are a necessary tool for students with disabilities to get a quality education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu says that to develop those goals, teachers must know each student’s learning style intimately. “The key term is ‘individualized.’ No two kids are the same,” she says. For special educators, the process involves hours of meetings and a deep knowledge of complex education law and policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It used to take Acebu around 45 minutes to develop three or four IEP goals per student. She points to a big, blue binder at least 5 inches thick on her bookshelf that contains California’s education standards. “It used to be flipping through all those pages,” to find the right standard to match unique student goals, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Using AI — with a ‘human touch’ \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A couple of years ago, Acebu began taking courses on how to safely and effectively use AI. Around the same time, her district, Mt. Diablo Unified, entered agreements with companies that offer education-focused AI tools including MagicSchool AI and Google. They promise to protect sensitive student data, a primary concern for those who warn against the risks of using AI in schools. A growing number of districts are adopting such products, though \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/technology/which-states-require-schools-to-have-ai-policies/2025/09\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">only a few states\u003c/a> have official AI education policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, using a district-vetted tool, Acebu customized chatbots for her school and trained them on state standards, assessments and other special education data. She now uses her “little assistants” for a wide range of tasks, from creating personalized worksheets to developing IEP goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, she says, “you’re double-checking everything. Like you have to put that human touch, that’s the final step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4000x2668+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5c%2F9b%2F7917c6324542801ed762bdb30d77%2F36a9904-tif.jpg\" alt=\"King, an eighth grader, went from not being able to read to reading confidently since he joined Acebu's class last year. She says that has been possible, in part, because AI has given her more time to work directly with students in the classroom and less on paperwork.\">\u003cfigcaption>King, an eighth grader, went from not being able to read to reading confidently since he joined Acebu’s class last year. She says that has been possible, in part, because AI has given her more time to work directly with students in the classroom and less on paperwork.\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> (Talia Herman for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4500x3000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F46%2F00%2F54e6a456459fa6fb438ca613f8a0%2F36a9793-tif.jpg\" alt=\"For a science project, King made turtle pieces from clay. They are part of a board game he created with Acebu's help called Turtle Catastrophe. It was one of two projects from his school that was accepted at a local science fair.\">\u003cfigcaption>For a science project, King made turtle pieces from clay. They are part of a board game he created with Acebu’s help called Turtle Catastrophe. It was one of two projects from his school that was accepted at a local science fair.\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> (Talia Herman for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01626434261419099\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In their research,\u003c/a> Coleman and Waterfield found special education teachers nationwide are using AI to help write IEP goals, track student progress, synthesize data and create differentiated learning materials, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu is uniquely equipped to use tech-tools: She just earned her doctorate in instructional technology and is on her district’s AI task force, which is developing an official AI policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Acebu’s less tech-savvy colleagues, however, were skeptical, including Paul Stone, who has been a special educator at Riverview for 22 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the number of students he serves shot up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to say it’s killing me, but it has put a huge stressor on my mental health and my life,” Stone says of his work this year. “It would be kind of nice if there were two jobs, like one paperwork job and one working with the kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, a few weeks ago, after a tutorial from Acebu, he gave her chatbot a shot. He was surprised by the results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an amazing time-saver so far,” he says. Stone has used AI for a number of things including producing simple summaries of complicated data to present to parents at IEP meetings. “I mean, it’s not like ‘that’s it, I’m done.’ I still have to go through and check it all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and Acebu both say it could help them, and other educators, avoid burnout. Yet, Ariana Aboulafia, who was the lead author of CDT’s report, calls AI tools “a Band-Aid” for special education teachers who feel overworked.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Using AI in special education — with guardrails\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Band-Aid or not, more teachers \u003cem>are \u003c/em>using AI around the country. There are a litany of concerns about its use, especially in special education, which is highly regulated. “Student privacy is number one,” says Acebu. “Don’t put information there that’s gonna identify your students.” CDT’s Aboulafia adds that while the risks around privacy may be reduced if a school is using a vetted vendor, data breaches could still make that information vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not all teachers are using district-approved tools. Coleman, Waterfield and CDT’s research all found that educators around the country are using AI both formally and informally — from free consumer platforms like ChatGPT and Claude to district-approved tools like MagicSchool AI, Google Gemini and Playground IEP, among others. To help teachers navigate this complicated landscape, Waterfield and Coleman \u003ca href=\"https://ciddl.org/navigating-ai-in-iep-development-a-framework-for-ethical-practice/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">developed a “decision tree”\u003c/a> for ethical AI use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another consideration is the fact that AI models can be biased, including against people with disabilities, says Aboulafia, who leads the Disability Rights in Technology Policy Project at CDT. In addition, she worries AI models built on pattern recognition are, “to a certain extent, inherently incompatible with a process that legally requires individualization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aboulafia is most concerned about the 15% of teachers CDT’s survey found have been relying entirely on AI to develop IEPs. There must always be a “human in the loop,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu, who happens to be her district’s teacher of the year, says these days, she comes to class just 30 minutes before her students, and leaves just after the last bell. This has improved her work-life balance and the quality of her teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King, the eighth grader in her class who has evolved into a confident reader, also goes to math class now without any additional support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the dream of every special educator,” she says, beaming. “But guess what? That takes a lot of hard work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AI tools, Acebu says, have given her more time for that kind of hard work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Editor’s note: NPR uses only the first names of minors in this story because it discusses their learning disabilities and placement in special education.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BAY POINT, Calif. — The sun would just be rising when teacher Mary Acebu began her days. She’d blast music on the way to work to get energized and get to her classroom by 6:30 to prepare for her students’ arrival at 8. Often, it’d be dark by the time she headed home, sometimes with paperwork in tow.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Like so many special education teachers around the country, this was Acebu’s life for much of the 10 years she’s been teaching at Riverview Middle School, in this small, unincorporated northern California town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t do that anymore,” she says with a laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because Acebu has been experimenting with artificial intelligence for the last two years to get through paperwork more quickly and says it’s helped her instead use precious time for student interaction. “I have time to talk to the kiddos and really build those relationships,” she says, “instead of sitting here in front of my computer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, schools nationwide have \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/05/15/1247795768/children-disabilities-special-education-teacher-shortage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">struggled with hiring and retaining\u003c/a> special educators. In the 2024-25 school year, \u003ca href=\"https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher-shortages-subjects-across-states-factsheet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">45 states reported\u003c/a> special education teacher shortages, and staff turnover is worse in schools that largely serve low-income students, like Riverview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some special educators say part of what makes them feel overworked is legally required paperwork layered on top of regular teaching duties. Acebu is one of a growing number of those teachers around the nation using AI to help speed up that paperwork — including for writing individualized education programs (IEPs). Educators and families maintain these detailed documents that outline goals and services students need to meet those goals at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to \u003ca href=\"https://cdt.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-10-28-CDT-AI-IEP-Brief-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a recent survey\u003c/a> by the nonpartisan Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), 57% of special education teachers polled nationwide said they used AI to help develop individualized plans for their students in the 2024-25 school year. That’s up from 39% the previous school year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Along with the survey results, the CDT warned of privacy, legal and ethical risks around using AI. Other research, however, including from the University of Virginia (UVA) and the University of Central Florida (UCF), has shown that when used appropriately, AI can help special education teachers craft IEPs of equal or higher quality than when teachers produce them alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And the time saved can benefit students, too. “The more face time a student with a disability has with a teacher, that often yields better outcomes for them, both educationally, functionally — just across the board,” says Olivia Coleman, a researcher and professor at UCF who has been studying the role of AI in special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu says that rings true in her classroom. She points out King, one of her eighth graders, as an example. “He was a non-reader, beginning of seventh grade. He’s reading now.” That, for Acebu, is the \u003cem>point\u003c/em> of IEPs — to put what’s on paper into practice for her students. She says that is only possible with intentional, hands-on work in the classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What IEPs are and why they matter\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Every seventh and eighth grader in Mary Acebu’s class learns differently — some work independently, some in pairs, others with headphones on and yet others with speech-to-text technology. Those differences are captured in each child’s IEP, a document required by federal law for each of the over 8 million students with disabilities in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4000x2668+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F8d%2F57%2F8601fa57482dbd294f690c16221d%2F36a0496-tif.jpg\" alt=\"Mary Acebu has been a special education teacher for a decade at Riverview Middle School. She is part of a task force that is working on an AI policy for her school district.\">\u003cfigcaption>Mary Acebu has been a special education teacher for a decade at Riverview Middle School. She is part of a task force that is working on an AI policy for her school district.\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> (Talia Herman for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Every IEP includes annual goals tailored to each student’s present needs, but importantly, “also where you want them to go within the next year,” says Danielle Waterfield, Coleman’s research partner at UVA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Coleman and Waterfield say while many teachers report feeling bogged down by the work that goes into developing IEPs, teachers also recognize they are a necessary tool for students with disabilities to get a quality education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu says that to develop those goals, teachers must know each student’s learning style intimately. “The key term is ‘individualized.’ No two kids are the same,” she says. For special educators, the process involves hours of meetings and a deep knowledge of complex education law and policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It used to take Acebu around 45 minutes to develop three or four IEP goals per student. She points to a big, blue binder at least 5 inches thick on her bookshelf that contains California’s education standards. “It used to be flipping through all those pages,” to find the right standard to match unique student goals, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then came AI.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Using AI — with a ‘human touch’ \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A couple of years ago, Acebu began taking courses on how to safely and effectively use AI. Around the same time, her district, Mt. Diablo Unified, entered agreements with companies that offer education-focused AI tools including MagicSchool AI and Google. They promise to protect sensitive student data, a primary concern for those who warn against the risks of using AI in schools. A growing number of districts are adopting such products, though \u003ca href=\"https://www.edweek.org/technology/which-states-require-schools-to-have-ai-policies/2025/09\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">only a few states\u003c/a> have official AI education policies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recently, using a district-vetted tool, Acebu customized chatbots for her school and trained them on state standards, assessments and other special education data. She now uses her “little assistants” for a wide range of tasks, from creating personalized worksheets to developing IEP goals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then, she says, “you’re double-checking everything. Like you have to put that human touch, that’s the final step.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4000x2668+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F5c%2F9b%2F7917c6324542801ed762bdb30d77%2F36a9904-tif.jpg\" alt=\"King, an eighth grader, went from not being able to read to reading confidently since he joined Acebu's class last year. She says that has been possible, in part, because AI has given her more time to work directly with students in the classroom and less on paperwork.\">\u003cfigcaption>King, an eighth grader, went from not being able to read to reading confidently since he joined Acebu’s class last year. She says that has been possible, in part, because AI has given her more time to work directly with students in the classroom and less on paperwork.\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> (Talia Herman for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4500x3000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F46%2F00%2F54e6a456459fa6fb438ca613f8a0%2F36a9793-tif.jpg\" alt=\"For a science project, King made turtle pieces from clay. They are part of a board game he created with Acebu's help called Turtle Catastrophe. It was one of two projects from his school that was accepted at a local science fair.\">\u003cfigcaption>For a science project, King made turtle pieces from clay. They are part of a board game he created with Acebu’s help called Turtle Catastrophe. It was one of two projects from his school that was accepted at a local science fair.\u003cbr>\n\u003ccite> (Talia Herman for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01626434261419099\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In their research,\u003c/a> Coleman and Waterfield found special education teachers nationwide are using AI to help write IEP goals, track student progress, synthesize data and create differentiated learning materials, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu is uniquely equipped to use tech-tools: She just earned her doctorate in instructional technology and is on her district’s AI task force, which is developing an official AI policy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of Acebu’s less tech-savvy colleagues, however, were skeptical, including Paul Stone, who has been a special educator at Riverview for 22 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then the number of students he serves shot up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to say it’s killing me, but it has put a huge stressor on my mental health and my life,” Stone says of his work this year. “It would be kind of nice if there were two jobs, like one paperwork job and one working with the kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, a few weeks ago, after a tutorial from Acebu, he gave her chatbot a shot. He was surprised by the results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s an amazing time-saver so far,” he says. Stone has used AI for a number of things including producing simple summaries of complicated data to present to parents at IEP meetings. “I mean, it’s not like ‘that’s it, I’m done.’ I still have to go through and check it all.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and Acebu both say it could help them, and other educators, avoid burnout. Yet, Ariana Aboulafia, who was the lead author of CDT’s report, calls AI tools “a Band-Aid” for special education teachers who feel overworked.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Using AI in special education — with guardrails\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Band-Aid or not, more teachers \u003cem>are \u003c/em>using AI around the country. There are a litany of concerns about its use, especially in special education, which is highly regulated. “Student privacy is number one,” says Acebu. “Don’t put information there that’s gonna identify your students.” CDT’s Aboulafia adds that while the risks around privacy may be reduced if a school is using a vetted vendor, data breaches could still make that information vulnerable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But not all teachers are using district-approved tools. Coleman, Waterfield and CDT’s research all found that educators around the country are using AI both formally and informally — from free consumer platforms like ChatGPT and Claude to district-approved tools like MagicSchool AI, Google Gemini and Playground IEP, among others. To help teachers navigate this complicated landscape, Waterfield and Coleman \u003ca href=\"https://ciddl.org/navigating-ai-in-iep-development-a-framework-for-ethical-practice/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">developed a “decision tree”\u003c/a> for ethical AI use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another consideration is the fact that AI models can be biased, including against people with disabilities, says Aboulafia, who leads the Disability Rights in Technology Policy Project at CDT. In addition, she worries AI models built on pattern recognition are, “to a certain extent, inherently incompatible with a process that legally requires individualization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aboulafia is most concerned about the 15% of teachers CDT’s survey found have been relying entirely on AI to develop IEPs. There must always be a “human in the loop,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acebu, who happens to be her district’s teacher of the year, says these days, she comes to class just 30 minutes before her students, and leaves just after the last bell. This has improved her work-life balance and the quality of her teaching.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>King, the eighth grader in her class who has evolved into a confident reader, also goes to math class now without any additional support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the dream of every special educator,” she says, beaming. “But guess what? That takes a lot of hard work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AI tools, Acebu says, have given her more time for that kind of hard work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Edited by: Nirvi Shah\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visual design and development by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348775569/la-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Oliver, an only child, was born in 2018, and he and his parents don’t live near family. When the pandemic hit, “it was kinda like a perfect storm” during such an important time in early childhood development, said Dan, Oliver’s dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oliver’s teachers noticed early on in preschool that he was having a hard time engaging with his peers and would keep to himself during group activities, Dan said. His parents initially brushed it off as shyness. “It really surprised us because we don’t see that at home at all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as his teachers brought up their concerns, Dan and his wife, who weren’t familiar with the special education system, began to learn all about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were prepared to send Oliver to the local public school for kindergarten. But when they found out about Copper Island Academy, they saw an opportunity for Oliver to experience a different type of school, one that reminded Dan of his own school experience, when class sizes were smaller and students connected with their peers and teachers beyond traditional academics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy is where “sisu” — a Finnish word describing an internal level of grit and perseverance — is paramount. It’s a K-8 charter school serving students and their families from the surrounding area of Calumet, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Tucked behind an EMS vehicle service center on the only road to and from the town’s one-room airport, you might never know that the school is there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66188\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1562px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-66188 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg\" alt=\"A poster is displayed on a wall\" width=\"1562\" height=\"1463\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg 1562w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-768x719.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-1536x1439.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1562px) 100vw, 1562px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A poster creating an acronym of the word “sisu” is on display at Copper Island Academy. \u003ccite>(Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Launched in the fall of 2021, the school was developed by educator duo and married couple Matt and Nora Laho. But this isn’t just their brainchild. It was actualized in collaboration with community members and families searching for an answer to their concerns about public education — like increased screentime, a lack of joy in learning, less challenging lessons and dwindling extracurricular offerings — during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parent community also wanted more skilled trades and culinary arts in the day-to-day curriculum, Laho said. For example, parents noted the slow decline in shop classes offered in public schools, so Copper Island made a concerted effort to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group considered many education models, Laho said, including Montessori and hybrid models, but ultimately they landed on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55006/the-teachers-role-in-finlands-phenomenon-based-learning\">Finnish education model\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Finnish education model is marked by teacher autonomy and collaboration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/47909/how-kids-learn-better-by-taking-frequent-breaks-throughout-the-day\">frequent breaks\u003c/a>, inclusive practices and differentiation, according to \u003ca href=\"https://taughtbyfinland.com/\">Tim Walker\u003c/a>, Copper Island Academy’s Finnish education model consultant, who has written several books about \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/Teach-Like-Finland/\">teaching in Finland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers in Finland are highly respected professionals, and it’s difficult to obtain teaching credentials. Teachers are allotted ample time for planning and prep, and they’re expected to leave school at the end of the day alongside their students. In the U.S., teacher shortages are common, morale and teacher pay are low and planning and prep periods are painfully short.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding area are home to the highest percentage of people of Finnish heritage outside of Finland itself. But that didn’t mean schools in the area operated like their cross-Atlantic counterparts. For the Lahos, the Finnish model represented what parents and families in the area wanted most out of their children’s education: hands-on classrooms, real-world life skills and a focus on joy.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What’s so great about Finland? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Finland emerged as an unexpected global leader in education after the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, published in 2001, ranked Finland number one among the 31 other participating countries. The U.S. showed middle-of-the-road academic scores and was ranked in the 15th spot that same year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2001, the Bush administration also reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and rolled out the No Child Left Behind Act in public schools across the country in 2002, so education reform was already top of mind in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the decade following the 2001 PISA scores, Finland continued to rank in the top three participating countries. Within that time, the U.S. was one of many countries that looked to Finland’s balanced approach to learning for guidance on pedagogical practices, which included differentiated learning and early intervention practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the 2010s, Finland’s PISA scores began to fall, and the hype died down. And organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which administers the PISA exams, began to encourage schools to focus more on student well-being beyond academic success, said Walker, an American teacher who taught in Finland for more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the draw to a Finnish model still remains today in education circles, and for Copper Island Academy, it landed close to home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for parents like Dan, Copper Island had the added benefit of an inclusive special education program. He said enrolling Oliver at Copper Island Academy “was the best decision we possibly could have made.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Special education, the Finnish way\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Oliver has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a highly detailed, legally binding document, requiring an official diagnosis. The family asked we not use their last name because of privacy concerns for their child. IEPs adjust the curriculum for an individual student in order to meet their goals. Part of Oliver’s education plan includes push-ins during general education classroom time with Jennifer Gervais, one of Copper Island Academy’s special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Push-ins are a form of support that keeps students in the classroom alongside their peers rather than in a siloed special education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a push-in on one of his more difficult mornings, Gervais sits next to Oliver and quietly prompts him to participate. The other students are used to her presence in their classroom and aren’t phased. Oliver’s responses are very quiet, but he does take part in a phonics lesson led by his teacher, Ms. Erva. And if you listen very carefully, you can hear his peers encouraging him with a “good job, Oliver,” after his turn to play the phonics game is over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66186\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66186\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_JenGervais_headshot-e1773379859400.png\" alt=\"Woman in front of window\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Copper Island Academy teacher Jennifer Gervais. \u003ccite>(Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Although Oliver’s experience at Copper Island Academy has been positive, many students struggle to get the services they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities#:~:text=In%202022%E2%80%9323%2C%20the%20number,of%20all%20public%20school%20students.\">7.5 million students\u003c/a> receiving special education services in the U.S. — the majority of whom are diagnosed with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder\">specific learning disorders\u003c/a> like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. Even for those students who are identified as needing to receive special education services early on, the path to receiving these supports is hard to navigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most often in the U.S., students must exhaust Tier 1 and Tier 2 support services, which consist of specialized, small group instruction from a general education teacher, specialists or paraeducators, before receiving an IEP — a Tier 3 special education service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the special education system in Finland is marked by teacher and family collaboration, personalized learning and trust in teacher expertise; special education intervention in Finland is seen as a preventative and inclusive practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s getting support,” said Helmi Betancourt, an elementary special education teacher in Helsinki, Finland. Like many special education teachers in Finland, Betancourt is assigned to many different classrooms. Throughout the week, she spends a couple of hours in each of her assigned classrooms teaching alongside the general education teacher. If there is an individual student or smaller group of students who need extra help outside of their general education classroom, Betancourt has the flexibility to pull them into a separate learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision to support a student with special education resources is seen as a pedagogical one, and is accessible for any student in the classroom who is struggling with academic or behavioral issues, according to Betancourt and her colleague in special education, Anna-Mari Vuohelainen. Teachers are free to make these decisions without the explicit consent of parents and without waiting for a diagnosis for additional support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s based on the benefit of the child,” not on a diagnosis, Betancourt said. They use a classroom-based support system to be more inclusive of special education students in their general education classrooms, and to make sure that other students who are not yet receiving support, but might need it, get it as early as possible. This also makes for less paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is that nobody has to wait for the support that they need,” said Betancourt, because sometimes, getting a diagnosis takes a long time and it’s unfair to a student if they can’t get support for years. And the students identified as having the most intensive needs receive them in a setting that makes the most sense for their needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there isn’t necessarily a one-to-one application of the Finnish education model to the U.S. special education system.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Early intervention and measuring student growth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Early intervention is one of the hallmarks of the Finnish education model, and is one that Copper Island has emulated. According to Laho, early intervention allows Copper Island to tackle problems as they emerge and before a formal special education referral needs to be placed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to identify student needs, teachers across departments regularly meet to hold student success meetings. These meetings occur outside of traditional IEP or special education meeting requirements, and all students are considered. This is where they identify students who are struggling, collaborate on how to help the student and regularly check in. Student success meetings often happen before parent involvement, and if the plan to remediate doesn’t work, then they might have to call a parent in to work out a more robust support plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teachers attend student success meetings, but not necessarily to provide special education services. They’re there because of their expertise in Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. It’s a seemingly small distinction to make, but a rather important one that advances a culture of trust and respect in educators who are highly regarded for their pedagogical expertise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The success of these meetings is measured in individual student growth, not achievement. The teachers and admin focus on answering questions like: Where did this student start the year? Where are they mid-year, and where did they end the year? And according to Laho, student growth is the most useful measurement that Copper Island tracks, and they do so without compromising measurable achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students at Copper Island Academy score very high on traditional indicators of student achievement. Most notably, they received a score of 99.03 in the 2024-25 Michigan School Index — a state-run public school accountability system that evaluates overall school achievement on a scale of 0-100 — placing the school in the top 3.5% of all Michigan public schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Inclusion first for special education students \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The school’s unwavering stance on inclusion of all students in general education classrooms was a big deal for Gervais.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other schools throughout her experience in special education, which spans more than a decade, Gervais has had to fight to get special education students included in the general education classroom, she said. Self-contained special education support is not an uncommon practice in public schools across the U.S., in which students receiving differing levels of special education support are kept from their general education peers for much of the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although some level of inclusion in general education classrooms is a North Star for special education in the U.S. public school system, it isn’t always possible or recommended for every student. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not have a number or percentage of general education classroom time that each student with an IEP is required to meet. Rather, inclusion is measured by Least Restrictive Environment practices. But across special education, the measurable benchmark for “good” general education classroom integration time per student hovers around \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59\">80%\u003c/a>, although classroom time alone doesn’t automatically lead to improved outcomes, said Chris Lemons, a professor who specializes in learning disabilities at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teaching presents its own unique challenges, but according to Jeremy Jarvi, who has taught in self-contained, mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe special education classrooms in the Bay Area, the prominent issues that come to mind are systemic and bureaucratic in nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t force it,” said Jarvi, of inclusion in all cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For parents like \u003ca href=\"http://www.danielwillingham.com/\">Daniel Willingham\u003c/a> and his wife, navigating the special education system for their daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-willingham-how-to-interact-with-a-disabled-child-20180322-story.html\">Esprit\u003c/a>, over a decade ago was challenging and frustrating. Willingham is an education expert, and his wife is a teacher, but even then, it took a lot of time and expertise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be clear, my child was profoundly disabled and so education for her looked quite different,” Willingham said. “It’s not like she was having trouble reading … she couldn’t speak.” So education for Esprit looked like setting up systems for her to be able to communicate “yes” and “no,” and inclusion in a general education classroom wasn’t possible or the best option for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Esprit’s medical conditions required in-home care and schooling, Willingham and his family experienced many of the common failures and triumphs of the U.S. special education system. They dealt with the frustration that comes with “tangling with bureaucracy,” but also benefited from interactions with educators and therapists who were “working very, very hard under very difficult circumstances trying to help children,” Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We frequently marveled that anyone was able to navigate through this system,” especially families without a stay-at-home parent, Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Paraeducators and classroom staffing\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Classroom staffing can be an issue, according to Jarvi, and at previous schools he found himself spending a lot of time each week training paraeducators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On top of working with the kids, I’m training adults … you hope that they get it the first time,” but they don’t always, and this takes time away from individualized instruction, Jarvi said of his past experiences. He now works with experienced paraeducators who have made a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paraeducators are recognized by many states as essential to the K-12 classroom. And for some, like Lemons, the Stanford professor, the idea of paraeducators in the classroom is promising. This is not only because there are more paraeducators than special education teachers in the public school system, but also because they are with students throughout the entire school day, including in special education and general education classrooms, Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S. paraeducators only need a high school diploma, and “in many districts, [paraeducators] receive the least amount of training, the least amount of support; they’re paid the least, but in many ways, they’re kind of the cog in the system that makes everything work, especially for kids with more extensive support needs,” Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, Copper Island has had a positive experience with their paraeducators because of their willingness to go through the extra training and credentialing that the school requires outside of Michigan’s academic standards, according to Laho. The school’s paraeducators are trained on Orton-Gillingham or Morphology, which are touted for their detailed and unique approach to literacy education, especially for students who struggle. Laho said having paraeducators trained in these two methods allows for flexibility “to use multiple different people to attack a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Trust in special education teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Finland, conversations between special education teachers and general education teachers happen on a regular basis, and pedagogical approaches to addressing all student learning are shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Walker, the special education teacher who assisted in his Finnish classroom was seen as an “instructional coach who’s not at a higher level than the general ed teacher, but is still this trusted colleague … who has specialized knowledge in assisting kids who need more support in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second set of discerning eyes can go a long way. Knowing that he wasn’t alone in providing attentive and individualized instruction for students with IEPs or those who needed a little bit of extra help with a specific subject matter was a relief to Walker. This practice of part-time, in-classroom special education instruction also allowed for Walker to exercise intellectual humility. He acknowledged that the special education teacher’s presence in his classroom two times per week exposed growth areas to better meet student needs, a ritual that he welcomed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a lot of teachers out there, especially in the United States — when they don’t have this type of [inclusive] model — it’s very easy for you to feel alone in your classroom,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These types of experiences have roots in teacher training programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., “typically, teachers who are trained to be general education teachers receive way too little training related to supporting kids with disabilities,” said Lemons, pointing out that some graduate schools of education, like Stanford’s, offer only one course focused on students with disabilities to elementary teacher candidates. On top of that, he said there’s almost zero training on how general education teachers can build effective working relationships with special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even at Copper Island, where teachers are trained in differentiation, general education teachers have had some trepidation about approaching differentiated learning practices. But experts like Gervais are available and willing to work with general education teachers to adjust their lessons so that everyone can learn with their peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told every one of them, ‘I will gladly show you because in special ed you learn to differentiate anything that’s thrown at you,’” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And offering to help general education teachers with differentiating their work also benefits other students outside of special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t just teach to that middle student. It helps everybody,” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Brain breaks for everyone, outside\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like schools in Finland, Copper Island prioritizes outdoor time for all students, which happens at a greater frequency than a typical U.S. school. This was one of the major draws for Dan and his family, and regular outdoor time during the school day has helped Oliver come out of his shell, connect with friends and focus in the classroom, Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But time outside at this school doesn’t just happen during recess and lunch; it happens every 45 minutes for 15 minutes at a time. This is Copper Island’s version of “brain breaks” — a tried and true method of allowing for, typically, classroom time spent away from academic subjects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brain breaks are used in both American and Finnish schools, but the way that Copper Island does brain breaks is different from most U.S. schools. Typically, brain breaks in American classrooms are occasional, very short, in-class and not necessarily physical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brain breaks at Copper Island are always spent outside — rain or shine or snow — and they happen seamlessly at all grade levels. When the brain break begins, students walk quietly through the hallways and out into the schoolyard. Once the break is over, a whistle is blown, and the students quickly and quietly pile through the school’s back doors, returning to their classrooms with minimal prompting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually, moments of transition like these are a stress point for teachers, who are tasked with managing energetic or even disengaged students itching to get away from the lesson plan, and then coaxing them back into the lesson plan. It might even be unfathomable to some teachers across the U.S. to get all students outside for a brain break and then settled and back into the classroom, all within 15 minutes, multiple times per day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there wasn’t any yelling or running down hallways to get to a brain break at Copper Island when I visited. And when asked, teachers repeatedly brushed off any potential stress or anxiety around transitions in and out of brain breaks. It turns out these breaks aren’t just good for students, they’re good for the teachers too, who spend most of their classroom time executing highly engaged and individualized lesson plans for all of their students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edvF_AJXU5I&t=222s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s only one rule during brain breaks at Copper Island Academy — sports balls aren’t allowed. “The minute that you give a sports ball to somebody, you put rules and limitations on [their play],” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, kids in elementary school are encouraged to play with each other and throughout the various outdoor spaces, like their play structure, the perimeter of surrounding woods, in the garden or on the structure made of industrial-sized rubber tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sports balls are reintroduced during brain breaks for middle schoolers, who Laho said might need additional motivation to move their bodies and spend time outdoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Can Copper Island be replicated? It depends\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding Houghton County area are a pocket of the U.S. that has preserved old town Americana charm, for better or for worse. Some people don’t lock their front doors, and they leave their keys in their cars when they are away, just in case someone needs to borrow them. The people are kind and welcoming, and very quick to recommend their claim to fame: the meat pasty. And Copper Island Academy reflects these unique traits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The families in the community had worried that the Finnish model in a location with such an overwhelmingly large population of people with Finnish heritage would be seen as exclusionary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Laho, the diversity at Copper Island Academy reflects that of the surrounding area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So far we haven’t seen any discrepancies between, you know, one demographic or another,” Laho said about student academic achievement and behavioral data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school has also made a significant effort to support teachers beyond their professional development days with Walker and more than what you might find in an average American public school classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something fundamental took place during the pandemic, Walker said. In the scramble to overhaul in-person learning to virtual learning, along with the pressure to mitigate learning loss, teachers started to publicly acknowledge their dismal working conditions, Walker said. And American society took notice, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was something about COVID that broke many educators,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But paying attention to teacher well-being in a holistic manner at Copper Island has paid off. The school’s baby pilot program allows new mothers, who are only allotted 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave by federal standards, to ease their way back into teaching full time again after having a baby. On certain days, babies are allowed in the classroom, and teachers meet their hours without having to choose continuous, outsourced child care for their infants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teachers also created a support group they call “Tsemppiä,” a Finnish word that doesn’t have a direct translation, but one that Walker compared to terms like “godspeed” or “strength” and is used in Finland as a word of encouragement. And the Tsemppiä group at Copper Island does just that — it exists as a support group made by and for teachers experiencing difficulties in their personal lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Tsemppiä was established before Walker came on as an educational consultant, he quickly recognized its purpose from his days teaching in Finland. The U.S. has a habit of creating and encouraging “super teachers,” Walker said — individuals who exceed, above and beyond, which harbors competition to be “the best.” In his experience, “super teachers” don’t really exist in Finland, Walker said, and instead there’s more of a spirit of teamwork and collaboration between teachers. The adoption of this part of Finnish culture is a big part of why Copper Island has been able to be so successful, Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, the administrators don’t seem to hover at Copper Island; rather, as Laho said, they trust their teachers to get their work done. If lesson planning needs to happen at home, then that works for the school administrators. If teachers need to leave the building with the students at 3:20 p.m. when the school day is over, that also works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy experiences the everyday limitations that many American schools and educators face. “I wish we could pay our teachers what they’re worth financially,” said Laho, adding that the school does “find ways to leverage what [they do] have to help” their teachers in other ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to try to find ways to support the teachers in what they’re doing, knowing that we’re asking them to do a lot within our model,” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66185\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1262px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66185\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png\" alt=\"Man smiling for portrait\" width=\"1262\" height=\"1618\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png 1262w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-160x205.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-768x985.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-1198x1536.png 1198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1262px) 100vw, 1262px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Copper Island Academy co-founder Matt Laho. \u003ccite>(Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for students, the school has put into place measures to encourage their belonging in the community. Students are grouped intentionally in classrooms, which gives them the opportunity to work and play with the peers that they may not organically gravitate toward, Laho said. This practice of belonging and empathy extends throughout the school culture, both in the classroom, outdoors and in the community, Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when Dan is out in the neighborhood with his son, or at a local hockey game, all of the hard work that Oliver and his teachers have done to face challenging social situations has paid off. Now, when Oliver sees someone familiar outside of school, “[he] always points out, ‘Hey, there’s my friend from school’ or ‘there’s my teacher,’” Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He described enrolling Oliver in Copper Island as one of the best decisions he’s recently made and is glad he did it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that connection between the students and the students and their and their teachers is really great,” he said. “Really, really great.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Oliver, an only child, was born in 2018, and he and his parents don’t live near family. When the pandemic hit, “it was kinda like a perfect storm” during such an important time in early childhood development, said Dan, Oliver’s dad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oliver’s teachers noticed early on in preschool that he was having a hard time engaging with his peers and would keep to himself during group activities, Dan said. His parents initially brushed it off as shyness. “It really surprised us because we don’t see that at home at all,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But as his teachers brought up their concerns, Dan and his wife, who weren’t familiar with the special education system, began to learn all about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They were prepared to send Oliver to the local public school for kindergarten. But when they found out about Copper Island Academy, they saw an opportunity for Oliver to experience a different type of school, one that reminded Dan of his own school experience, when class sizes were smaller and students connected with their peers and teachers beyond traditional academics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy is where “sisu” — a Finnish word describing an internal level of grit and perseverance — is paramount. It’s a K-8 charter school serving students and their families from the surrounding area of Calumet, Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula. Tucked behind an EMS vehicle service center on the only road to and from the town’s one-room airport, you might never know that the school is there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66188\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1562px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-66188 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg\" alt=\"A poster is displayed on a wall\" width=\"1562\" height=\"1463\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983.jpg 1562w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-160x150.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-768x719.jpg 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_SISUacronymposter-1-scaled-e1773380265983-1536x1439.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1562px) 100vw, 1562px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A poster creating an acronym of the word “sisu” is on display at Copper Island Academy. \u003ccite>(Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Launched in the fall of 2021, the school was developed by educator duo and married couple Matt and Nora Laho. But this isn’t just their brainchild. It was actualized in collaboration with community members and families searching for an answer to their concerns about public education — like increased screentime, a lack of joy in learning, less challenging lessons and dwindling extracurricular offerings — during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matt Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The parent community also wanted more skilled trades and culinary arts in the day-to-day curriculum, Laho said. For example, parents noted the slow decline in shop classes offered in public schools, so Copper Island made a concerted effort to bring them back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The group considered many education models, Laho said, including Montessori and hybrid models, but ultimately they landed on the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55006/the-teachers-role-in-finlands-phenomenon-based-learning\">Finnish education model\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Finnish education model is marked by teacher autonomy and collaboration, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/47909/how-kids-learn-better-by-taking-frequent-breaks-throughout-the-day\">frequent breaks\u003c/a>, inclusive practices and differentiation, according to \u003ca href=\"https://taughtbyfinland.com/\">Tim Walker\u003c/a>, Copper Island Academy’s Finnish education model consultant, who has written several books about \u003ca href=\"https://wwnorton.com/books/Teach-Like-Finland/\">teaching in Finland\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Teachers in Finland are highly respected professionals, and it’s difficult to obtain teaching credentials. Teachers are allotted ample time for planning and prep, and they’re expected to leave school at the end of the day alongside their students. In the U.S., teacher shortages are common, morale and teacher pay are low and planning and prep periods are painfully short.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding area are home to the highest percentage of people of Finnish heritage outside of Finland itself. But that didn’t mean schools in the area operated like their cross-Atlantic counterparts. For the Lahos, the Finnish model represented what parents and families in the area wanted most out of their children’s education: hands-on classrooms, real-world life skills and a focus on joy.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>What’s so great about Finland? \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the early 2000s, Finland emerged as an unexpected global leader in education after the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, published in 2001, ranked Finland number one among the 31 other participating countries. The U.S. showed middle-of-the-road academic scores and was ranked in the 15th spot that same year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2001, the Bush administration also reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and rolled out the No Child Left Behind Act in public schools across the country in 2002, so education reform was already top of mind in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the decade following the 2001 PISA scores, Finland continued to rank in the top three participating countries. Within that time, the U.S. was one of many countries that looked to Finland’s balanced approach to learning for guidance on pedagogical practices, which included differentiated learning and early intervention practices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the 2010s, Finland’s PISA scores began to fall, and the hype died down. And organizations like the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which administers the PISA exams, began to encourage schools to focus more on student well-being beyond academic success, said Walker, an American teacher who taught in Finland for more than 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the draw to a Finnish model still remains today in education circles, and for Copper Island Academy, it landed close to home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for parents like Dan, Copper Island had the added benefit of an inclusive special education program. He said enrolling Oliver at Copper Island Academy “was the best decision we possibly could have made.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Special education, the Finnish way\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Oliver has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), a highly detailed, legally binding document, requiring an official diagnosis. The family asked we not use their last name because of privacy concerns for their child. IEPs adjust the curriculum for an individual student in order to meet their goals. Part of Oliver’s education plan includes push-ins during general education classroom time with Jennifer Gervais, one of Copper Island Academy’s special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Push-ins are a form of support that keeps students in the classroom alongside their peers rather than in a siloed special education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a push-in on one of his more difficult mornings, Gervais sits next to Oliver and quietly prompts him to participate. The other students are used to her presence in their classroom and aren’t phased. Oliver’s responses are very quiet, but he does take part in a phonics lesson led by his teacher, Ms. Erva. And if you listen very carefully, you can hear his peers encouraging him with a “good job, Oliver,” after his turn to play the phonics game is over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66186\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66186\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_JenGervais_headshot-e1773379859400.png\" alt=\"Woman in front of window\" width=\"1920\" height=\"2560\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Copper Island Academy teacher Jennifer Gervais. \u003ccite>(Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Although Oliver’s experience at Copper Island Academy has been positive, many students struggle to get the services they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities#:~:text=In%202022%E2%80%9323%2C%20the%20number,of%20all%20public%20school%20students.\">7.5 million students\u003c/a> receiving special education services in the U.S. — the majority of whom are diagnosed with \u003ca href=\"https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/specific-learning-disorder/what-is-specific-learning-disorder\">specific learning disorders\u003c/a> like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia. Even for those students who are identified as needing to receive special education services early on, the path to receiving these supports is hard to navigate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most often in the U.S., students must exhaust Tier 1 and Tier 2 support services, which consist of specialized, small group instruction from a general education teacher, specialists or paraeducators, before receiving an IEP — a Tier 3 special education service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the special education system in Finland is marked by teacher and family collaboration, personalized learning and trust in teacher expertise; special education intervention in Finland is seen as a preventative and inclusive practice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everybody’s getting support,” said Helmi Betancourt, an elementary special education teacher in Helsinki, Finland. Like many special education teachers in Finland, Betancourt is assigned to many different classrooms. Throughout the week, she spends a couple of hours in each of her assigned classrooms teaching alongside the general education teacher. If there is an individual student or smaller group of students who need extra help outside of their general education classroom, Betancourt has the flexibility to pull them into a separate learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The decision to support a student with special education resources is seen as a pedagogical one, and is accessible for any student in the classroom who is struggling with academic or behavioral issues, according to Betancourt and her colleague in special education, Anna-Mari Vuohelainen. Teachers are free to make these decisions without the explicit consent of parents and without waiting for a diagnosis for additional support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s based on the benefit of the child,” not on a diagnosis, Betancourt said. They use a classroom-based support system to be more inclusive of special education students in their general education classrooms, and to make sure that other students who are not yet receiving support, but might need it, get it as early as possible. This also makes for less paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea is that nobody has to wait for the support that they need,” said Betancourt, because sometimes, getting a diagnosis takes a long time and it’s unfair to a student if they can’t get support for years. And the students identified as having the most intensive needs receive them in a setting that makes the most sense for their needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there isn’t necessarily a one-to-one application of the Finnish education model to the U.S. special education system.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Early intervention and measuring student growth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Early intervention is one of the hallmarks of the Finnish education model, and is one that Copper Island has emulated. According to Laho, early intervention allows Copper Island to tackle problems as they emerge and before a formal special education referral needs to be placed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In order to identify student needs, teachers across departments regularly meet to hold student success meetings. These meetings occur outside of traditional IEP or special education meeting requirements, and all students are considered. This is where they identify students who are struggling, collaborate on how to help the student and regularly check in. Student success meetings often happen before parent involvement, and if the plan to remediate doesn’t work, then they might have to call a parent in to work out a more robust support plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teachers attend student success meetings, but not necessarily to provide special education services. They’re there because of their expertise in Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention. It’s a seemingly small distinction to make, but a rather important one that advances a culture of trust and respect in educators who are highly regarded for their pedagogical expertise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The success of these meetings is measured in individual student growth, not achievement. The teachers and admin focus on answering questions like: Where did this student start the year? Where are they mid-year, and where did they end the year? And according to Laho, student growth is the most useful measurement that Copper Island tracks, and they do so without compromising measurable achievement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students at Copper Island Academy score very high on traditional indicators of student achievement. Most notably, they received a score of 99.03 in the 2024-25 Michigan School Index — a state-run public school accountability system that evaluates overall school achievement on a scale of 0-100 — placing the school in the top 3.5% of all Michigan public schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Inclusion first for special education students \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The school’s unwavering stance on inclusion of all students in general education classrooms was a big deal for Gervais.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other schools throughout her experience in special education, which spans more than a decade, Gervais has had to fight to get special education students included in the general education classroom, she said. Self-contained special education support is not an uncommon practice in public schools across the U.S., in which students receiving differing levels of special education support are kept from their general education peers for much of the day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although some level of inclusion in general education classrooms is a North Star for special education in the U.S. public school system, it isn’t always possible or recommended for every student. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act does not have a number or percentage of general education classroom time that each student with an IEP is required to meet. Rather, inclusion is measured by Least Restrictive Environment practices. But across special education, the measurable benchmark for “good” general education classroom integration time per student hovers around \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=59\">80%\u003c/a>, although classroom time alone doesn’t automatically lead to improved outcomes, said Chris Lemons, a professor who specializes in learning disabilities at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special education teaching presents its own unique challenges, but according to Jeremy Jarvi, who has taught in self-contained, mild-to-moderate and moderate-to-severe special education classrooms in the Bay Area, the prominent issues that come to mind are systemic and bureaucratic in nature.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We can’t force it,” said Jarvi, of inclusion in all cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For parents like \u003ca href=\"http://www.danielwillingham.com/\">Daniel Willingham\u003c/a> and his wife, navigating the special education system for their daughter, \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-willingham-how-to-interact-with-a-disabled-child-20180322-story.html\">Esprit\u003c/a>, over a decade ago was challenging and frustrating. Willingham is an education expert, and his wife is a teacher, but even then, it took a lot of time and expertise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To be clear, my child was profoundly disabled and so education for her looked quite different,” Willingham said. “It’s not like she was having trouble reading … she couldn’t speak.” So education for Esprit looked like setting up systems for her to be able to communicate “yes” and “no,” and inclusion in a general education classroom wasn’t possible or the best option for her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Esprit’s medical conditions required in-home care and schooling, Willingham and his family experienced many of the common failures and triumphs of the U.S. special education system. They dealt with the frustration that comes with “tangling with bureaucracy,” but also benefited from interactions with educators and therapists who were “working very, very hard under very difficult circumstances trying to help children,” Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We frequently marveled that anyone was able to navigate through this system,” especially families without a stay-at-home parent, Willingham said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Paraeducators and classroom staffing\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Classroom staffing can be an issue, according to Jarvi, and at previous schools he found himself spending a lot of time each week training paraeducators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“On top of working with the kids, I’m training adults … you hope that they get it the first time,” but they don’t always, and this takes time away from individualized instruction, Jarvi said of his past experiences. He now works with experienced paraeducators who have made a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paraeducators are recognized by many states as essential to the K-12 classroom. And for some, like Lemons, the Stanford professor, the idea of paraeducators in the classroom is promising. This is not only because there are more paraeducators than special education teachers in the public school system, but also because they are with students throughout the entire school day, including in special education and general education classrooms, Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S. paraeducators only need a high school diploma, and “in many districts, [paraeducators] receive the least amount of training, the least amount of support; they’re paid the least, but in many ways, they’re kind of the cog in the system that makes everything work, especially for kids with more extensive support needs,” Lemons said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, Copper Island has had a positive experience with their paraeducators because of their willingness to go through the extra training and credentialing that the school requires outside of Michigan’s academic standards, according to Laho. The school’s paraeducators are trained on Orton-Gillingham or Morphology, which are touted for their detailed and unique approach to literacy education, especially for students who struggle. Laho said having paraeducators trained in these two methods allows for flexibility “to use multiple different people to attack a problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Trust in special education teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In Finland, conversations between special education teachers and general education teachers happen on a regular basis, and pedagogical approaches to addressing all student learning are shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Walker, the special education teacher who assisted in his Finnish classroom was seen as an “instructional coach who’s not at a higher level than the general ed teacher, but is still this trusted colleague … who has specialized knowledge in assisting kids who need more support in the classroom.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second set of discerning eyes can go a long way. Knowing that he wasn’t alone in providing attentive and individualized instruction for students with IEPs or those who needed a little bit of extra help with a specific subject matter was a relief to Walker. This practice of part-time, in-classroom special education instruction also allowed for Walker to exercise intellectual humility. He acknowledged that the special education teacher’s presence in his classroom two times per week exposed growth areas to better meet student needs, a ritual that he welcomed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For a lot of teachers out there, especially in the United States — when they don’t have this type of [inclusive] model — it’s very easy for you to feel alone in your classroom,” Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These types of experiences have roots in teacher training programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the U.S., “typically, teachers who are trained to be general education teachers receive way too little training related to supporting kids with disabilities,” said Lemons, pointing out that some graduate schools of education, like Stanford’s, offer only one course focused on students with disabilities to elementary teacher candidates. On top of that, he said there’s almost zero training on how general education teachers can build effective working relationships with special education teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even at Copper Island, where teachers are trained in differentiation, general education teachers have had some trepidation about approaching differentiated learning practices. But experts like Gervais are available and willing to work with general education teachers to adjust their lessons so that everyone can learn with their peers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I told every one of them, ‘I will gladly show you because in special ed you learn to differentiate anything that’s thrown at you,’” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And offering to help general education teachers with differentiating their work also benefits other students outside of special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t just teach to that middle student. It helps everybody,” Gervais said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Brain breaks for everyone, outside\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Like schools in Finland, Copper Island prioritizes outdoor time for all students, which happens at a greater frequency than a typical U.S. school. This was one of the major draws for Dan and his family, and regular outdoor time during the school day has helped Oliver come out of his shell, connect with friends and focus in the classroom, Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But time outside at this school doesn’t just happen during recess and lunch; it happens every 45 minutes for 15 minutes at a time. This is Copper Island’s version of “brain breaks” — a tried and true method of allowing for, typically, classroom time spent away from academic subjects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brain breaks are used in both American and Finnish schools, but the way that Copper Island does brain breaks is different from most U.S. schools. Typically, brain breaks in American classrooms are occasional, very short, in-class and not necessarily physical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brain breaks at Copper Island are always spent outside — rain or shine or snow — and they happen seamlessly at all grade levels. When the brain break begins, students walk quietly through the hallways and out into the schoolyard. Once the break is over, a whistle is blown, and the students quickly and quietly pile through the school’s back doors, returning to their classrooms with minimal prompting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Usually, moments of transition like these are a stress point for teachers, who are tasked with managing energetic or even disengaged students itching to get away from the lesson plan, and then coaxing them back into the lesson plan. It might even be unfathomable to some teachers across the U.S. to get all students outside for a brain break and then settled and back into the classroom, all within 15 minutes, multiple times per day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there wasn’t any yelling or running down hallways to get to a brain break at Copper Island when I visited. And when asked, teachers repeatedly brushed off any potential stress or anxiety around transitions in and out of brain breaks. It turns out these breaks aren’t just good for students, they’re good for the teachers too, who spend most of their classroom time executing highly engaged and individualized lesson plans for all of their students.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/edvF_AJXU5I'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/edvF_AJXU5I'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>There’s only one rule during brain breaks at Copper Island Academy — sports balls aren’t allowed. “The minute that you give a sports ball to somebody, you put rules and limitations on [their play],” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, kids in elementary school are encouraged to play with each other and throughout the various outdoor spaces, like their play structure, the perimeter of surrounding woods, in the garden or on the structure made of industrial-sized rubber tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sports balls are reintroduced during brain breaks for middle schoolers, who Laho said might need additional motivation to move their bodies and spend time outdoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Can Copper Island be replicated? It depends\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Calumet and the surrounding Houghton County area are a pocket of the U.S. that has preserved old town Americana charm, for better or for worse. Some people don’t lock their front doors, and they leave their keys in their cars when they are away, just in case someone needs to borrow them. The people are kind and welcoming, and very quick to recommend their claim to fame: the meat pasty. And Copper Island Academy reflects these unique traits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The families in the community had worried that the Finnish model in a location with such an overwhelmingly large population of people with Finnish heritage would be seen as exclusionary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Laho, the diversity at Copper Island Academy reflects that of the surrounding area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So far we haven’t seen any discrepancies between, you know, one demographic or another,” Laho said about student academic achievement and behavioral data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school has also made a significant effort to support teachers beyond their professional development days with Walker and more than what you might find in an average American public school classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Something fundamental took place during the pandemic, Walker said. In the scramble to overhaul in-person learning to virtual learning, along with the pressure to mitigate learning loss, teachers started to publicly acknowledge their dismal working conditions, Walker said. And American society took notice, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There was something about COVID that broke many educators,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But paying attention to teacher well-being in a holistic manner at Copper Island has paid off. The school’s baby pilot program allows new mothers, who are only allotted 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave by federal standards, to ease their way back into teaching full time again after having a baby. On certain days, babies are allowed in the classroom, and teachers meet their hours without having to choose continuous, outsourced child care for their infants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The teachers also created a support group they call “Tsemppiä,” a Finnish word that doesn’t have a direct translation, but one that Walker compared to terms like “godspeed” or “strength” and is used in Finland as a word of encouragement. And the Tsemppiä group at Copper Island does just that — it exists as a support group made by and for teachers experiencing difficulties in their personal lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although Tsemppiä was established before Walker came on as an educational consultant, he quickly recognized its purpose from his days teaching in Finland. The U.S. has a habit of creating and encouraging “super teachers,” Walker said — individuals who exceed, above and beyond, which harbors competition to be “the best.” In his experience, “super teachers” don’t really exist in Finland, Walker said, and instead there’s more of a spirit of teamwork and collaboration between teachers. The adoption of this part of Finnish culture is a big part of why Copper Island has been able to be so successful, Walker said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, the administrators don’t seem to hover at Copper Island; rather, as Laho said, they trust their teachers to get their work done. If lesson planning needs to happen at home, then that works for the school administrators. If teachers need to leave the building with the students at 3:20 p.m. when the school day is over, that also works.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copper Island Academy experiences the everyday limitations that many American schools and educators face. “I wish we could pay our teachers what they’re worth financially,” said Laho, adding that the school does “find ways to leverage what [they do] have to help” their teachers in other ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want to try to find ways to support the teachers in what they’re doing, knowing that we’re asking them to do a lot within our model,” Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_66185\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1262px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-66185\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png\" alt=\"Man smiling for portrait\" width=\"1262\" height=\"1618\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184.png 1262w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-160x205.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-768x985.png 768w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2026/03/MS_CIA_MattLaho_headshot2-e1773379757184-1198x1536.png 1198w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1262px) 100vw, 1262px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Copper Island Academy co-founder Matt Laho. \u003ccite>(Marlena Jackson-Retondo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As for students, the school has put into place measures to encourage their belonging in the community. Students are grouped intentionally in classrooms, which gives them the opportunity to work and play with the peers that they may not organically gravitate toward, Laho said. This practice of belonging and empathy extends throughout the school culture, both in the classroom, outdoors and in the community, Laho said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And when Dan is out in the neighborhood with his son, or at a local hockey game, all of the hard work that Oliver and his teachers have done to face challenging social situations has paid off. Now, when Oliver sees someone familiar outside of school, “[he] always points out, ‘Hey, there’s my friend from school’ or ‘there’s my teacher,’” Dan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He described enrolling Oliver in Copper Island as one of the best decisions he’s recently made and is glad he did it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Kellen Hedler is actively engaged in his fourth-grade classroom: He raises his hand to correctly answer a math question, he reads prompts out loud for the class and he gathers with classmates to watch a science experiment during a lesson on erosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen has Down syndrome, and he spends more than 80% of his school day with his non-disabled peers. That level of inclusion in a general education classroom involves a lot of thoughtful planning on the part of his teachers at Frontier Elementary School in Edmond, Okla.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, says that inclusion also came with a learning curve: Back in college, he studied to become a general education teacher, but he doesn’t remember learning how to teach special education students like Kellen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have you differentiate lessons for assignments,” Frederick recalls of his college classes. “And then, when you’re in it, you feel very underprepared. Because it’s a real situation, you’re dealing with real people. You don’t want to mess it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities, like Kellen, are spending more time in general education classrooms. In 1989, less than a third of students with disabilities spent at least 80% of their day in general education, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_204.60.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>federal data\u003c/u>\u003c/a> shows. By 2022, that number had more than doubled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means general education teachers are more likely than ever to be working with students who have special needs. And yet, according to NPR reporting, the 10 largest universities in the country have a patchwork of special education requirements for future teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to elementary teacher prep programs, which are designed to prepare students to earn state teaching certifications, six of those institutions require education students to take just one dedicated course in special education. The remaining four require more than one course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But teacher prep degree paths are evolving. Some of the institutions that only require one course, including Texas A&M University and the University of Central Florida, told NPR they have bulked up the rest of their courses to infuse practices intended to reach every learner — not just typical ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7481x4987+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb0%2Ffd%2F4f730bbb4b21b8fda0d3fe6bb330%2Fnpr-k-233.png\" alt=\"Kellen's homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson.\">\u003cfigcaption>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And a new kind of degree is also becoming more common: Dual-licensure or “unified” degree programs aim to prepare students to earn both general education and special education certification. These programs are sprouting up across the country, including at Texas A&M, Wichita State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Northern Iowa.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lessons in special education don’t only happen in special education classes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The University of Central Florida’s teacher prep program has been under a gradual shift over the last seven years. Mary Little is a professor and program coordinator at UCF. She says the school has put a focus on learning from experience, and so its special education course is taught alongside a classroom internship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very [clearly] connecting theory and practice, collaboratively, within inclusive settings,” Little says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When teachers in training encounter questions in their internship classrooms, they can workshop them in real time with expert faculty. According to Little, challenges that come up include figuring out the appropriate learning accommodations for students with disabilities and working with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), which are legal documents that outline the services and accommodations each student is entitled to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little says the school is also intentional about infusing inclusive practices throughout its teacher prep program. That includes emphasizing a teaching practice known as Universal Design for Learning, or UDL. It prioritizes flexible methods of instruction to meet the needs of students who may learn in a variety of ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, in a first grade lesson on basic addition, a teacher could use pictures, tactile items and virtual tools to not only describe the math problem verbally, but also tangibly and visually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What might have, in the past, have been putting numbers up and having students look at those simple numbers, or giving students a worksheet and having them count off boxes or something has been expanded with UDL,” says Andrea Borowczak, director of UCF’s School of Teacher Education. “You’re trying to be accessible for all students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That also means not waiting for a child to be identified as having a disability before offering accommodations or specialized instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6240x4160+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F9a%2F1584ccd145768b0d15a6b633fd1f%2Fnpr-k-141.png\" alt=\"Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government.\">\u003cfigcaption>Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really helping all of our [teacher prep] students to thoughtfully prepare lesson presentations and assessments, and ways to demonstrate learning over multiple pathways, so that more of the students can access, master and demonstrate curriculum and content knowledge,” Little explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little and Borowczak say their school is also working on a new dual licensure program in early childhood education and special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, at least 4 of the 10 largest U.S. universities offer dual licensure or “unified” degree programs that prepare teachers to work in both general education and special education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘All students are general education students’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Kurth chairs the Department of Special Education at The University of Kansas, or KU, which recently debuted a \u003ca href=\"https://catalog.ku.edu/education/curriculum-teaching/bse-elementary-education/elementary-education-unified-conc/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>unified degree\u003c/u>\u003c/a> geared toward future teachers who want to serve in either general or special education classrooms. It requires eight more special education courses than the school’s traditional teaching degree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just one catch: For students with disabilities to benefit from dual degree programs like this, people have to choose to enroll in them, over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s going to require a paradigm shift to a philosophy that “all students are general education students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if you leave a unified program knowing how to teach all students, you know how to individualize instruction; you know how to collaborate with people across disciplines; you know how to understand students, IEPs and understand the general education curriculum,” Kurth says. “You’re just going to be a more confident and more capable teacher.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s too early to say if the department would switch to a unified-only education program. But it’s a possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I could honestly see a time in the near future where we do only have a unified program, because I think it has been really well-received,” Kurth said. “We’re maybe just a little cautious in trying to do too many big changes at once.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KU assistant professor Lisa Didion isn’t shy about pitching the school’s new unified degree program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, during a special education course that’s required for all KU education majors, she told her students that by joining the unified program, they would learn more strategies to reach all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s what’s really going to make a difference, is that if we have general educators that are trained like special educators, then we are really going to start moving that [needle],” Didion said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, said he’s considering switching to the unified program. He said as someone with disabilities, it’s important to him to be part of a “better system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important,” Erickson said. “But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody is able to succeed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities are spending more time in regular classrooms. Federal law encourages schools to teach these students alongside their peers as much as possible, but regular teachers aren’t always trained to serve students with disabilities. Beth Wallis from StateImpact Oklahoma reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BETH WALLIS, BYLINE: At Frontier Elementary in Edmond, Oklahoma, fourth-grader Kellen Hedler is in a general education classroom, working in a small group with his teacher, Adam Frederick. Today, they work on subtraction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ADAM FREDERICK: Nine take away six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN HEDLER: That’s hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: That is a hard one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen has Down syndrome. This small-group time is a chance for Frederick to give students like Kellen more attention, while others work independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Do you want the number line for it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Oh, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: OK. Two, three, four, five, six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen works with a tactile aid called a number line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: One. Two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Basically, a set of blocks that help with counting. They help him get to the right answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Three.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Three. Write it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen spends over 80% of his school day with his general-education peers. That means all of his teachers have to understand his learning style. But Frederick says he doesn’t remember taking any courses on special education when he got his teaching degree. Adapting his teaching to all kinds of learners was something he had to learn once he was in the classroom. He says that’s paid off for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: I do have students who are still doing addition with finger counting, yet I’m trying to teach multiplication. That gives me the opportunity to try to teach multiplication through addition for those students, and it gives our students who are on-level or above-level another strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Federal data show that more and more students with disabilities are spending at least 80% of their school day in general-education classrooms. That’s a benchmark often cited in federal datasets. In the last 35 years, the share of students who meet that benchmark has more than doubled. But how are teacher prep programs at universities changing to meet the needs of more inclusive classrooms?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LISA DIDION: When we think about students with disabilities, I want you to think about them as all of our students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Lisa Didion is teaching a class on special education to education majors at the University of Kansas, or KU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: A lot of times, when you get in school, sometimes they’re like, those are your students. These are my students. And we want to get rid of that kind of mentality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: The class is discussing how to advocate for their future students with disabilities – like actively participating in the process around individualized education programs, or IEPs. Those are documents that outline services a school is supposed to provide for each student with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Who in my classroom has a disability, and how can I better allow them to access that material? Questions about that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, raises his hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BENJAMIN ERICKSON: In many ways, it’s very individual, of…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: …Trying to figure out – with IEPs and stuff and trying to figure out, like, how do we make the environment least restrictive for this student, even if it might not be the same for another student?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: At the end of the class, Didion makes a pitch for students to join a new kind of major called Elementary Education Unified. It has eight more required special education courses than a regular education degree at KU, which only has two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: You will be able to have access to more strategies and go in-depth so that you can learn the skills to support all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Erickson is considering switching to the unified program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: I’m somebody who has a couple disabilities. I have ADHD. I was born with some brain disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: He says he still has more to learn, and it matters to him to be part of a better system for kids who learn differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important. But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody’s able to succeed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Unified programs are flourishing in Kansas, and not just at KU. Wichita State, Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State offer them. The University of Northern Iowa debuted a unified degree in early childhood education last year. Oklahoma State University is working to launch a similar program. There’s just one catch – for students with disabilities to start benefiting from these new teacher programs, people have to choose to enroll in them over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For NPR news, I’m Beth Wallis in Tulsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kellen Hedler is actively engaged in his fourth-grade classroom: He raises his hand to correctly answer a math question, he reads prompts out loud for the class and he gathers with classmates to watch a science experiment during a lesson on erosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen has Down syndrome, and he spends more than 80% of his school day with his non-disabled peers. That level of inclusion in a general education classroom involves a lot of thoughtful planning on the part of his teachers at Frontier Elementary School in Edmond, Okla.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, says that inclusion also came with a learning curve: Back in college, he studied to become a general education teacher, but he doesn’t remember learning how to teach special education students like Kellen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have you differentiate lessons for assignments,” Frederick recalls of his college classes. “And then, when you’re in it, you feel very underprepared. Because it’s a real situation, you’re dealing with real people. You don’t want to mess it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities, like Kellen, are spending more time in general education classrooms. In 1989, less than a third of students with disabilities spent at least 80% of their day in general education, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_204.60.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>federal data\u003c/u>\u003c/a> shows. By 2022, that number had more than doubled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means general education teachers are more likely than ever to be working with students who have special needs. And yet, according to NPR reporting, the 10 largest universities in the country have a patchwork of special education requirements for future teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to elementary teacher prep programs, which are designed to prepare students to earn state teaching certifications, six of those institutions require education students to take just one dedicated course in special education. The remaining four require more than one course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But teacher prep degree paths are evolving. Some of the institutions that only require one course, including Texas A&M University and the University of Central Florida, told NPR they have bulked up the rest of their courses to infuse practices intended to reach every learner — not just typical ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7481x4987+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb0%2Ffd%2F4f730bbb4b21b8fda0d3fe6bb330%2Fnpr-k-233.png\" alt=\"Kellen's homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson.\">\u003cfigcaption>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And a new kind of degree is also becoming more common: Dual-licensure or “unified” degree programs aim to prepare students to earn both general education and special education certification. These programs are sprouting up across the country, including at Texas A&M, Wichita State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Northern Iowa.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lessons in special education don’t only happen in special education classes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The University of Central Florida’s teacher prep program has been under a gradual shift over the last seven years. Mary Little is a professor and program coordinator at UCF. She says the school has put a focus on learning from experience, and so its special education course is taught alongside a classroom internship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very [clearly] connecting theory and practice, collaboratively, within inclusive settings,” Little says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When teachers in training encounter questions in their internship classrooms, they can workshop them in real time with expert faculty. According to Little, challenges that come up include figuring out the appropriate learning accommodations for students with disabilities and working with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), which are legal documents that outline the services and accommodations each student is entitled to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little says the school is also intentional about infusing inclusive practices throughout its teacher prep program. That includes emphasizing a teaching practice known as Universal Design for Learning, or UDL. It prioritizes flexible methods of instruction to meet the needs of students who may learn in a variety of ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, in a first grade lesson on basic addition, a teacher could use pictures, tactile items and virtual tools to not only describe the math problem verbally, but also tangibly and visually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What might have, in the past, have been putting numbers up and having students look at those simple numbers, or giving students a worksheet and having them count off boxes or something has been expanded with UDL,” says Andrea Borowczak, director of UCF’s School of Teacher Education. “You’re trying to be accessible for all students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That also means not waiting for a child to be identified as having a disability before offering accommodations or specialized instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6240x4160+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F9a%2F1584ccd145768b0d15a6b633fd1f%2Fnpr-k-141.png\" alt=\"Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government.\">\u003cfigcaption>Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really helping all of our [teacher prep] students to thoughtfully prepare lesson presentations and assessments, and ways to demonstrate learning over multiple pathways, so that more of the students can access, master and demonstrate curriculum and content knowledge,” Little explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little and Borowczak say their school is also working on a new dual licensure program in early childhood education and special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, at least 4 of the 10 largest U.S. universities offer dual licensure or “unified” degree programs that prepare teachers to work in both general education and special education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘All students are general education students’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Kurth chairs the Department of Special Education at The University of Kansas, or KU, which recently debuted a \u003ca href=\"https://catalog.ku.edu/education/curriculum-teaching/bse-elementary-education/elementary-education-unified-conc/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>unified degree\u003c/u>\u003c/a> geared toward future teachers who want to serve in either general or special education classrooms. It requires eight more special education courses than the school’s traditional teaching degree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just one catch: For students with disabilities to benefit from dual degree programs like this, people have to choose to enroll in them, over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s going to require a paradigm shift to a philosophy that “all students are general education students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if you leave a unified program knowing how to teach all students, you know how to individualize instruction; you know how to collaborate with people across disciplines; you know how to understand students, IEPs and understand the general education curriculum,” Kurth says. “You’re just going to be a more confident and more capable teacher.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s too early to say if the department would switch to a unified-only education program. But it’s a possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I could honestly see a time in the near future where we do only have a unified program, because I think it has been really well-received,” Kurth said. “We’re maybe just a little cautious in trying to do too many big changes at once.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KU assistant professor Lisa Didion isn’t shy about pitching the school’s new unified degree program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, during a special education course that’s required for all KU education majors, she told her students that by joining the unified program, they would learn more strategies to reach all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s what’s really going to make a difference, is that if we have general educators that are trained like special educators, then we are really going to start moving that [needle],” Didion said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, said he’s considering switching to the unified program. He said as someone with disabilities, it’s important to him to be part of a “better system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important,” Erickson said. “But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody is able to succeed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities are spending more time in regular classrooms. Federal law encourages schools to teach these students alongside their peers as much as possible, but regular teachers aren’t always trained to serve students with disabilities. Beth Wallis from StateImpact Oklahoma reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BETH WALLIS, BYLINE: At Frontier Elementary in Edmond, Oklahoma, fourth-grader Kellen Hedler is in a general education classroom, working in a small group with his teacher, Adam Frederick. Today, they work on subtraction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ADAM FREDERICK: Nine take away six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN HEDLER: That’s hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: That is a hard one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen has Down syndrome. This small-group time is a chance for Frederick to give students like Kellen more attention, while others work independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Do you want the number line for it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Oh, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: OK. Two, three, four, five, six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen works with a tactile aid called a number line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: One. Two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Basically, a set of blocks that help with counting. They help him get to the right answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Three.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Three. Write it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen spends over 80% of his school day with his general-education peers. That means all of his teachers have to understand his learning style. But Frederick says he doesn’t remember taking any courses on special education when he got his teaching degree. Adapting his teaching to all kinds of learners was something he had to learn once he was in the classroom. He says that’s paid off for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: I do have students who are still doing addition with finger counting, yet I’m trying to teach multiplication. That gives me the opportunity to try to teach multiplication through addition for those students, and it gives our students who are on-level or above-level another strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Federal data show that more and more students with disabilities are spending at least 80% of their school day in general-education classrooms. That’s a benchmark often cited in federal datasets. In the last 35 years, the share of students who meet that benchmark has more than doubled. But how are teacher prep programs at universities changing to meet the needs of more inclusive classrooms?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LISA DIDION: When we think about students with disabilities, I want you to think about them as all of our students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Lisa Didion is teaching a class on special education to education majors at the University of Kansas, or KU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: A lot of times, when you get in school, sometimes they’re like, those are your students. These are my students. And we want to get rid of that kind of mentality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: The class is discussing how to advocate for their future students with disabilities – like actively participating in the process around individualized education programs, or IEPs. Those are documents that outline services a school is supposed to provide for each student with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Who in my classroom has a disability, and how can I better allow them to access that material? Questions about that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, raises his hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BENJAMIN ERICKSON: In many ways, it’s very individual, of…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: …Trying to figure out – with IEPs and stuff and trying to figure out, like, how do we make the environment least restrictive for this student, even if it might not be the same for another student?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: At the end of the class, Didion makes a pitch for students to join a new kind of major called Elementary Education Unified. It has eight more required special education courses than a regular education degree at KU, which only has two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: You will be able to have access to more strategies and go in-depth so that you can learn the skills to support all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Erickson is considering switching to the unified program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: I’m somebody who has a couple disabilities. I have ADHD. I was born with some brain disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: He says he still has more to learn, and it matters to him to be part of a better system for kids who learn differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important. But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody’s able to succeed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Unified programs are flourishing in Kansas, and not just at KU. Wichita State, Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State offer them. The University of Northern Iowa debuted a unified degree in early childhood education last year. Oklahoma State University is working to launch a similar program. There’s just one catch – for students with disabilities to start benefiting from these new teacher programs, people have to choose to enroll in them over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For NPR news, I’m Beth Wallis in Tulsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Sueli Gwiazdowski, 24, says she switched high schools three times when she was growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wanted to stay at her first school because she loved being on the speech and debate team – but the campus wasn’t wheelchair accessible. Her second school forced her to learn in a separate room, away from her non-disabled friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to fight my way out of that by going to a lot of…meetings and asserting that I was capable and able to participate in the general education setting,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gwiazdowski has medical and physical disabilities and was, for many years, a full-time wheelchair user.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal law protects against the kind of discrimination Gwiazdowski says she experienced, and she invoked that law – the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) – throughout her schooling to advocate for herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite frankly, had it not been for the publicly accessible resources that the Department of Education has provided to students with disabilities like myself, I probably would not have gone to college,” says Gwiazdowski, who is now both a college graduate and an advocate for disability rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I definitely wouldn’t be waiting for law school to start this fall had it not been for those resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the U.S. Education Department’s role in helping students with disabilities may be changing soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump has said his administration is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/21/nx-s1-5336330/trump-education-department-student-loans-special-education-fsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>going to move\u003c/u>\u003c/a> “special needs” to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), an agency that recently announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/01/g-s1-57485/hhs-fda-layoffs-doge-cdc-nih\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>its own drastic cuts\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. His administration hasn’t specified exactly which programs will be moved, and whether IDEA is among them, but the conservative policy playbook \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/11/05/g-s1-32720/what-is-project-2025-trump-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Project 2025\u003c/u>\u003c/a> does propose moving IDEA to HHS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5907x3938+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc9%2F12%2Fcf8cade04d58b0b1b240053c2155%2Fgettyimages-2206813203.jpg\" alt=\"Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump depart after the president signed an executive order, on March 20, aimed at closing the Education Department.\">\u003cfigcaption>Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump depart after the president signed an executive order, on March 20, aimed at closing the Education Department. \u003ccite> (Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Department of Education spokesperson Madi Biedermann said, “The Department is actively reviewing where [Education Department] programs can be responsibly managed to best serve students and families. This will be done in partnership with Congress, other agencies, and national and state education leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts tell NPR any such move would be incredibly complicated. Special education laws are “intertwined” with the Education Department, says Katy Neas, a former deputy assistant secretary in the department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To have the separation away from a broader institution of education just seems misguided to me,” says Neas, who now leads The Arc, an advocacy organization for people with disabilities. Neas says moving some of the legally protected programs to another agency would also require an act of Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some conservatives wonder if the federal government has even been that helpful when it comes to special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, parents make their [education plans] with their local educators, right? With their school and their school district. They don’t make it with Washington,” says Jonathan Butcher, an education researcher at the Heritage Foundation, which helped shape Project 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With so many questions swirling around the future of federal involvement in special education, here’s a look at how the Department of Education traditionally contributes to the schooling of students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Helping schools follow federal laws aimed at students with disabilities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Department of Education oversees many federal laws that govern how students with and without disabilities experience school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But IDEA is one of the primary ways the federal government contributes to educating disabled students. The law enshrines the right of every child to “a free and appropriate public education,” and it says students with disabilities have a right to individual education programs (IEPs) that lay out the services each child is entitled to. IDEA is also the vehicle through which the federal government sends money to schools to help pay for those services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only does the Department of Education provide funding for staffing and resources to the individual school divisions, but IDEA, I mean, that’s your accountability framework,” says Mark Burnette, superintendent of Carroll County Public Schools in rural southwestern Virginia. He says nearly a fifth of his students qualify for services under IDEA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8079x5568+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3b%2F00%2F913290e146a9b0ac7e4c5fddfa72%2Fap23166786415011.jpg\" alt=\"Special education teacher Vivien Henshall walks with student Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, as Scarlett's mother, Chelsea, follows with a service dog. Because of her disabilities, Scarlett needs regular access to a nurse at school.\">\u003cfigcaption>Special education teacher Vivien Henshall walks with student Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, as Scarlett’s mother, Chelsea, follows with a service dog. Because of her disabilities, Scarlett needs regular access to a nurse at school. \u003ccite> (Lindsey Wasson | AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nationwide, IDEA serves about 7.5 million students, or 15% of the K-12 student population. In fiscal year 2024, Congress set aside $15.4 billion for IDEA. The Education Department is in charge of distributing that money to states, which then pass those funds on to qualifying school districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IDEA funds are used to pay for special education teachers and staff, technology to meet students’ individual needs, instructional materials, transportation and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A child who has a hearing impairment may need a sign language interpreter or captioning to really follow what’s going on in class,” says Neas. “It’s those things that allow a child with a disability to really learn the same material as their non-disabled peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Education is responsible for monitoring whether states and school districts are following IDEA, and other laws aimed at students with disabilities. That includes Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which says students are entitled to reasonable accommodations, such as scheduled breaks for a child with diabetes to have a snack or check their insulin levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department also provides IDEA guidance to state leaders, and collect data that help determine eligibility for IDEA funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Enforcing special education law and the civil rights of students with disabilities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, is the Education Department’s enforcement arm. When students face discrimination at school, they can file a complaint with OCR, which could lead to a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This office is responsible for discrimination complaints on the basis of race, sex, national origin and other categories, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/reports/annual/ocr/report-to-president-and-secretary-of-education-2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>OCR data\u003c/u>\u003c/a> shows disability discrimination has historically made up the largest share of complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7e%2F9f%2F7b1e20cb4d19982b3e6552bbe0b0%2Fgettyimages-1248158925.jpg\" alt=\"In 2023, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the Four Rivers Special Education District, in Jacksonville, Ill., for allegedly leaning on law enforcement to discipline students with disabilities, ProPublica reported. This photo shows a hallway at the Garrison School, which is part of that district.\">\u003cfigcaption>In 2023, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the Four Rivers Special Education District, in Jacksonville, Ill., for allegedly leaning on law enforcement to discipline students with disabilities, ProPublica \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/federal-investigation-illinois-garrison-school-arrests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported\u003c/a>. This photo shows a hallway at the Garrison School, which is part of that district. \u003ccite> (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sueli Gwiazdowski wishes she would have taken advantage of OCR during her schooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The formal complaint process would have allowed me to be a kid,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would have let her put the responsibility of enforcement “in the laps of the attorneys and investigators who are paid to do that at the Office for Civil Rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the number of OCR complaints has reached record highs, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/07/05/nx-s1-4993770/discrimination-complaints-students-with-disabilities-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>many have dragged through the system\u003c/u>\u003c/a> for months on end. But recently, OCR’s capacity to handle all those cases was further strained: When U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon slashed the Education Department’s workforce nearly in half, OCR also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/nx-s1-5325854/trump-education-department-layoffs-civil-rights-student-loans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>lost more than 40% of its staff\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, along with seven of its 12 regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration promised it would preserve “resources for children with special disabilities.” But the mass layoffs also affected the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, where Neas used to work. The teams that conduct research on special education, help determine eligibility for IDEA funds and those who provide legal guidance to state and local leaders were also impacted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you don’t have any type of accountability standards or someone to report to, then that leaves room for people to take advantage of programs and not provide the services that they need to provide,” says Burnette, the superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Gilberg, a special education attorney in New York and Connecticut who also has autism, says one of his disabled clients recently filed a complaint with OCR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With no Department of Education functioning in that area, that puts [their case] to a standstill,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gilberg notes that without OCR, “The only recourse a family would have would, in theory, be to sue the school district in either federal court or state court…and that takes a lot of time and a lot of money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The future role of the federal government in special education\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several of the experts NPR spoke with expressed concern about moving special education programs to HHS, and away from the Education Department, an institution that specializes in helping all students learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alison Barkoff, who led disability programs at HHS until last year, says splintering special education programs into different agencies “is really counterproductive to what IDEA and the goals of special education are about, which is students with disabilities as students first, as part of their schools, part of their classrooms. And that can’t happen if it’s separated from general education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Butcher of the Heritage Foundation sees the proposed moves as an opportunity to improve the role of the federal government in the lives of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think that moving it to another agency is an appropriate move because I don’t think that we have evidence that the U.S. Department of Education has effectively served these families,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Change is difficult and that’s why it doesn’t happen very often at the federal level, but this is an opportunity to streamline federal processes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Disability advocate Sueli Gwiazdowski says \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/26/nx-s1-5213714/a-1975-law-helped-kids-with-disabilities-access-education-schools-now-need-more-help\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>history has shown\u003c/u>\u003c/a> the dangers of separating the rights of disabled students from non-disabled students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When educating disabled students has not been considered part of normative general education, that has looked like what? It’s looked like institutionalization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She worries if special education were to move to HHS, disability could be categorized as a health concern rather than an integrated part of public life, including in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Reporting contributed by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wfyi.org/news/authors/dylan-peers-mccoy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Dylan Peers McCoy\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Digital story edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348780034/nicole-cohen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Nicole Cohen\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Radio story edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/6576424/steve-drummond\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Steve Drummond\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visuals by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-8194/mhari-shaw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Mhari Shaw\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Special education laws and the U.S. Department of Education have evolved together over nearly five decades. Now, the Trump administration seems to want to separate the two.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sueli Gwiazdowski, 24, says she switched high schools three times when she was growing up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wanted to stay at her first school because she loved being on the speech and debate team – but the campus wasn’t wheelchair accessible. Her second school forced her to learn in a separate room, away from her non-disabled friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I had to fight my way out of that by going to a lot of…meetings and asserting that I was capable and able to participate in the general education setting,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gwiazdowski has medical and physical disabilities and was, for many years, a full-time wheelchair user.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal law protects against the kind of discrimination Gwiazdowski says she experienced, and she invoked that law – the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) – throughout her schooling to advocate for herself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Quite frankly, had it not been for the publicly accessible resources that the Department of Education has provided to students with disabilities like myself, I probably would not have gone to college,” says Gwiazdowski, who is now both a college graduate and an advocate for disability rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I definitely wouldn’t be waiting for law school to start this fall had it not been for those resources.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the U.S. Education Department’s role in helping students with disabilities may be changing soon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Trump has said his administration is \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/21/nx-s1-5336330/trump-education-department-student-loans-special-education-fsa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>going to move\u003c/u>\u003c/a> “special needs” to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), an agency that recently announced \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/01/g-s1-57485/hhs-fda-layoffs-doge-cdc-nih\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>its own drastic cuts\u003c/u>\u003c/a>. His administration hasn’t specified exactly which programs will be moved, and whether IDEA is among them, but the conservative policy playbook \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/11/05/g-s1-32720/what-is-project-2025-trump-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>Project 2025\u003c/u>\u003c/a> does propose moving IDEA to HHS.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5907x3938+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc9%2F12%2Fcf8cade04d58b0b1b240053c2155%2Fgettyimages-2206813203.jpg\" alt=\"Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump depart after the president signed an executive order, on March 20, aimed at closing the Education Department.\">\u003cfigcaption>Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and President Donald Trump depart after the president signed an executive order, on March 20, aimed at closing the Education Department. \u003ccite> (Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Department of Education spokesperson Madi Biedermann said, “The Department is actively reviewing where [Education Department] programs can be responsibly managed to best serve students and families. This will be done in partnership with Congress, other agencies, and national and state education leaders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts tell NPR any such move would be incredibly complicated. Special education laws are “intertwined” with the Education Department, says Katy Neas, a former deputy assistant secretary in the department’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To have the separation away from a broader institution of education just seems misguided to me,” says Neas, who now leads The Arc, an advocacy organization for people with disabilities. Neas says moving some of the legally protected programs to another agency would also require an act of Congress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some conservatives wonder if the federal government has even been that helpful when it comes to special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, parents make their [education plans] with their local educators, right? With their school and their school district. They don’t make it with Washington,” says Jonathan Butcher, an education researcher at the Heritage Foundation, which helped shape Project 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With so many questions swirling around the future of federal involvement in special education, here’s a look at how the Department of Education traditionally contributes to the schooling of students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Helping schools follow federal laws aimed at students with disabilities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Department of Education oversees many federal laws that govern how students with and without disabilities experience school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But IDEA is one of the primary ways the federal government contributes to educating disabled students. The law enshrines the right of every child to “a free and appropriate public education,” and it says students with disabilities have a right to individual education programs (IEPs) that lay out the services each child is entitled to. IDEA is also the vehicle through which the federal government sends money to schools to help pay for those services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not only does the Department of Education provide funding for staffing and resources to the individual school divisions, but IDEA, I mean, that’s your accountability framework,” says Mark Burnette, superintendent of Carroll County Public Schools in rural southwestern Virginia. He says nearly a fifth of his students qualify for services under IDEA.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8079x5568+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F3b%2F00%2F913290e146a9b0ac7e4c5fddfa72%2Fap23166786415011.jpg\" alt=\"Special education teacher Vivien Henshall walks with student Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, as Scarlett's mother, Chelsea, follows with a service dog. Because of her disabilities, Scarlett needs regular access to a nurse at school.\">\u003cfigcaption>Special education teacher Vivien Henshall walks with student Scarlett Rasmussen, 8, as Scarlett’s mother, Chelsea, follows with a service dog. Because of her disabilities, Scarlett needs regular access to a nurse at school. \u003ccite> (Lindsey Wasson | AP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nationwide, IDEA serves about 7.5 million students, or 15% of the K-12 student population. In fiscal year 2024, Congress set aside $15.4 billion for IDEA. The Education Department is in charge of distributing that money to states, which then pass those funds on to qualifying school districts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IDEA funds are used to pay for special education teachers and staff, technology to meet students’ individual needs, instructional materials, transportation and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A child who has a hearing impairment may need a sign language interpreter or captioning to really follow what’s going on in class,” says Neas. “It’s those things that allow a child with a disability to really learn the same material as their non-disabled peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Department of Education is responsible for monitoring whether states and school districts are following IDEA, and other laws aimed at students with disabilities. That includes Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which says students are entitled to reasonable accommodations, such as scheduled breaks for a child with diabetes to have a snack or check their insulin levels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department also provides IDEA guidance to state leaders, and collect data that help determine eligibility for IDEA funds.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Enforcing special education law and the civil rights of students with disabilities\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, is the Education Department’s enforcement arm. When students face discrimination at school, they can file a complaint with OCR, which could lead to a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This office is responsible for discrimination complaints on the basis of race, sex, national origin and other categories, but \u003ca href=\"https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/reports/annual/ocr/report-to-president-and-secretary-of-education-2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>OCR data\u003c/u>\u003c/a> shows disability discrimination has historically made up the largest share of complaints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/3000x2000+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F7e%2F9f%2F7b1e20cb4d19982b3e6552bbe0b0%2Fgettyimages-1248158925.jpg\" alt=\"In 2023, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the Four Rivers Special Education District, in Jacksonville, Ill., for allegedly leaning on law enforcement to discipline students with disabilities, ProPublica reported. This photo shows a hallway at the Garrison School, which is part of that district.\">\u003cfigcaption>In 2023, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the Four Rivers Special Education District, in Jacksonville, Ill., for allegedly leaning on law enforcement to discipline students with disabilities, ProPublica \u003ca href=\"https://www.propublica.org/article/federal-investigation-illinois-garrison-school-arrests\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reported\u003c/a>. This photo shows a hallway at the Garrison School, which is part of that district. \u003ccite> (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Sueli Gwiazdowski wishes she would have taken advantage of OCR during her schooling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The formal complaint process would have allowed me to be a kid,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would have let her put the responsibility of enforcement “in the laps of the attorneys and investigators who are paid to do that at the Office for Civil Rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In recent years, the number of OCR complaints has reached record highs, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/07/05/nx-s1-4993770/discrimination-complaints-students-with-disabilities-schools\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>many have dragged through the system\u003c/u>\u003c/a> for months on end. But recently, OCR’s capacity to handle all those cases was further strained: When U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon slashed the Education Department’s workforce nearly in half, OCR also \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/12/nx-s1-5325854/trump-education-department-layoffs-civil-rights-student-loans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>lost more than 40% of its staff\u003c/u>\u003c/a>, along with seven of its 12 regional offices.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration promised it would preserve “resources for children with special disabilities.” But the mass layoffs also affected the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, where Neas used to work. The teams that conduct research on special education, help determine eligibility for IDEA funds and those who provide legal guidance to state and local leaders were also impacted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you don’t have any type of accountability standards or someone to report to, then that leaves room for people to take advantage of programs and not provide the services that they need to provide,” says Burnette, the superintendent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Michael Gilberg, a special education attorney in New York and Connecticut who also has autism, says one of his disabled clients recently filed a complaint with OCR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With no Department of Education functioning in that area, that puts [their case] to a standstill,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gilberg notes that without OCR, “The only recourse a family would have would, in theory, be to sue the school district in either federal court or state court…and that takes a lot of time and a lot of money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>The future role of the federal government in special education\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Several of the experts NPR spoke with expressed concern about moving special education programs to HHS, and away from the Education Department, an institution that specializes in helping all students learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alison Barkoff, who led disability programs at HHS until last year, says splintering special education programs into different agencies “is really counterproductive to what IDEA and the goals of special education are about, which is students with disabilities as students first, as part of their schools, part of their classrooms. And that can’t happen if it’s separated from general education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jonathan Butcher of the Heritage Foundation sees the proposed moves as an opportunity to improve the role of the federal government in the lives of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-embed npr-promo-card insettwocolumn\">\n\u003cdiv class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\u003c/div>\n\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I think that moving it to another agency is an appropriate move because I don’t think that we have evidence that the U.S. Department of Education has effectively served these families,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Change is difficult and that’s why it doesn’t happen very often at the federal level, but this is an opportunity to streamline federal processes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Disability advocate Sueli Gwiazdowski says \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/26/nx-s1-5213714/a-1975-law-helped-kids-with-disabilities-access-education-schools-now-need-more-help\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>history has shown\u003c/u>\u003c/a> the dangers of separating the rights of disabled students from non-disabled students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When educating disabled students has not been considered part of normative general education, that has looked like what? It’s looked like institutionalization.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She worries if special education were to move to HHS, disability could be categorized as a health concern rather than an integrated part of public life, including in schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Reporting contributed by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wfyi.org/news/authors/dylan-peers-mccoy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Dylan Peers McCoy\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Digital story edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/348780034/nicole-cohen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Nicole Cohen\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Radio story edited by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/6576424/steve-drummond\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Steve Drummond\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>Visuals by: \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/g-s1-8194/mhari-shaw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cem>\u003cu>Mhari Shaw\u003c/u>\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "a-researcher-said-the-evidence-on-special-education-inclusion-is-flawed-readers-weighed-in",
"title": "A Researcher Said the Evidence on Special Education Inclusion is Flawed. Readers Weighed In",
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"content": "\u003cp>I am always happy when my work generates a public discussion. That happened after a January \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-special-education-inclusion-research-flawed/\">column\u003c/a> I wrote about a prominent scholar’s critique of the evidence for including children with disabilities in general education classrooms. Advocates, parents and teachers argued for inclusion, against inclusion and for some hybrid of the two. The director of education at the Learning Disabilities Association of America weighed in, as did the commissioner of special education research at the U.S. Department of Education. More than 160 people commented on one \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/specialed/comments/1i0iyat/a_prominent_professor_of_special_education_argues/\">Reddit discussion\u003c/a> about the story. Here’s a sampling of views I received or saw on social media. (\u003cem>Comments were lightly edited for clarity\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Inclusion in the general education classroom is a ‘human right’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Abby Taylor recently earned her doctorate in special education at Vanderbilt University, where Douglas Fuchs, the author of the controversial paper, is a professor. She is now an adjunct professor of special education at the University of West Georgia. According to her \u003ca href=\"https://www.westga.edu/profile.php?emp_id=94150\">professional biography\u003c/a>, her passion is in supporting special education inclusion and she has taught in an inclusive preschool classroom. Taylor emailed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We are always working towards supporting people’s understanding of inclusion as a human right and not as an intervention or variable in a research study. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Given that segregation is inherently flawed and unethical regardless of how students perform, it is critical to recognize our country’s systemic educational barriers for students with disabilities even within the context of inclusion (thus, preventing students with disabilities from achieving their full potential even within inclusive settings).…This published article alone perpetuates harmful rhetoric that leads to the further exclusion and mistreatment of children with disabilities despite their legally mandated right to inclusion in the general education setting.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Higher test scores aren’t the only or even the most important goal\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chris Yarrell, an attorney at the \u003ca href=\"https://cleweb.org/about-cle/\">Center for Law and Education\u003c/a>, which advocates for low-income students, posted \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/chrisyarrell.bsky.social/post/3lg2f66bi5k2q\">his thoughts\u003c/a> on Bluesky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The article notes that Dr. Fuchs “is concentrating on academic outcomes” and acknowledges that inclusion may have “psychological or social benefits” that were [not] studied. Yet, this seems to imply that these benefits are less relevant to students’ academic success\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Social or psychological benefits—like peer interaction, belonging, and reduced isolation—aren’t incidental to learning/academic achievement. They’re foundational. A sense of inclusion and connection creates the conditions for academic engagement and success.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Opting for private school\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Beth Netherland, who says she is the mother of a child with learning struggles, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/BethNetherland/status/1879352651579871356\">posted\u003c/a> on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The problem w/ gen Ed & special ed is that both typically use low value practices. My son w/ ADHD & speech/ language difficulties (DevLangDis) received early & intensive literacy interventions, & he’s thriving in general Ed classes at a private Catholic school. Straight A’s.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Most families would be okay w/ some pull out services if the school actually used evidence based methods. Most of the time that’s not the case. They’re either warehousing our children in sped [special education] or warehousing them in gen Ed. It’s a travesty.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Bucka says she is the mother of a child with disabilities and is a multi-tiered system of supports (\u003ca href=\"https://mtss4success.org/essential-components\">MTSS\u003c/a>) specialist, which is one approach to supporting children who are struggling in school, including those with disabilities in a general education classroom. She \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/nbucka.bsky.social/post/3lfp5l2h45s2f\">posted\u003c/a> on Bluesky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Inclusion is not my priority. My top concern? My son learning skills (like reading and life skills). I know my kid and he wouldn’t learn optimally in inclusive settings. This article is the first time I’ve seen this complexity well represented.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Poor instruction and progress for students with learning disabilities\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Monica McHale-Small is the director of education at the Learning Disabilities Association of America, which advocates for children with dyslexia and other learning struggles. She emailed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The outcome of inclusion for students with SLD [students with learning disabilities] is frequently less than positive.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In my advocacy work at LDA [Learning Disabilities Association] as well as during my 27 years in public schools in Pennsylvania, I cannot tell you how often I see situations where students have an IEP [individualized education programs for students who are diagnosed with a disability], spend the majority or all of their time in the general education classroom, and have made frighteningly little academic progress. Often, these children are being given A’s and B‘s on their report cards but standardized assessments indicate their reading and/or math skills have stagnated and the gap between them and their non-disabled peers grows each year. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Frustrated teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A sixth grade teacher in Texas asked me not to publish her name. In an email, she told me how hard it is to give her students with disabilities the attention they need in her general education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I do believe they are at a disservice due to the nonexistent one-on-one academic support they need in the general education classroom\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also described how special education professionals periodically observe her classroom and tell her how to instruct the student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Unfortunately, the observer lacks the realization of the other students’ educational needs as well. I feel inadequate, but mostly disheartened when a student with disabilities is “thrown to the wolves” and there is not a classroom environment that’s beneficial for the student’s academics and social skills.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another unnamed teacher, who goes by the social media handle @yvrteacher, identified herself as a mom and an educator. She \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/yvrteacher/status/1879537552014926117\">posted\u003c/a> this on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Almost nowhere actually does inclusion well so it’s no wonder it’s not successful. I’ve never seen a properly implemented inclusion model in 22 years of teaching. I do believe with adequate supports and people, it could work. No one will pay for that though.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>No mention of preschoolers \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Karen Nemeth is the founder of Language Castle, which is involved in early childhood dual language education. Nemeth previously was a child care and preschool agency grant and project manager, and an education specialist for the New Jersey Department of Education. She \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/karennemethlc.bsky.social/post/3lfqatpgedk2w\">posted\u003c/a> on Bluesky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>When you see this article, please join in shouting “THIS REPORT DOES NOT MENTION PRESCHOOL” to alert any headline-only readers so they can avoid misinterpreting this for use in early childhood education. Are you with me?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Flawed research\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don Magnuson, a therapeutic recreation specialist in St. Paul, Minnesota, emailed me about his experience as a college student assisting in studies of including people with disabilities in parks and recreation programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I witnessed how researchers could intentionally design the study to get the results they wanted, which made it neither valid nor reliable. It was driven by a political agenda, not by good science. Sadly, this research was often used to close down adaptive programs or not allow new adaptive programs to get started, causing actual harm to people with disabilities.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In my profession back in the late 1980s and 1990s, including people with disabilities in regular parks and recreation programs was all the rage, largely fueled by flawed research. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>It takes courage for anyone to question the dominant narrative…There is resistance, of course, because so many people have staked their entire academic reputations on inclusion and don’t have the intellectual humility to concede that they might have been wrong.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Financial constraints\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Justin Baeder, a former public school principal in Seattle who now conducts professional development for school leaders, posted a \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/eduleadership/status/1880020011487465965\">video commentary\u003c/a> on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I’ve been saying for a while now, without this type of evidence, that I don’t think inclusion works as well as we’re being told…If you have a student who needs a quiet classroom, who needs a calm environment, who needs a room with fewer kids in it and more adults, and not quite as much going on because they get overstimulated or there are lots of reasons that a kid might need a different type of classroom. I think often when inclusion is put in the IEP [individualized education program], it’s to save money. It’s because inclusion is what’s available. It’s not because inclusion is what the kid actually needs. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A music education professor who uses the name Blue Octäve Cult on Bluesky \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/blueoctavecult.bsky.social/post/3lfs65fcjhk23\">wrote this\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Investing in the general ed classroom will never happen because they’ve been increasing class sizes for the last 30 years. The policymakers are clearly on the side of [a] “do more with less” business model where instruction is the product rather than a process.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A future research agenda \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nathan Jones is the commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), which funds studies on the instruction of students with disabilities. Jones is on leave from Boston University, where he is a professor of special education. His six-year term at the Department of Education began in 2023. After my story came out, Jones both emailed and talked to me and my colleague Meredith Kolodner, who is also reporting about special education. This is some of what he had to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Jones’ own research before he joined the administration, he found that more time spent in general education classrooms was associated with a \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07419325241268747\">“slight” improvement in academic outcomes\u003c/a>. Also, over the past 20 years, new reading and math interventions have been created and tested for children with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>There is a body of evidence that supports intensive instruction for many students. I think he [Fuchs] is exactly right there.\u003c/em>..\u003cem>I don’t think that it’s at cross purposes to value inclusion while at the same time valuing students getting the academic support that they need. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Special education has such a history of seclusion and separation and segregation that having nuanced arguments is hard. Even to say something like “supplemental” or “pull out” implies that a student is being robbed of the opportunity to receive instruction with their same-age peers. But I think if you were to explain it to educators or explain it to parents in terms of what students were actually getting, I think you would probably find a lot of agreement for providing students [with] supports for success in the general education curriculum. I think that would have pretty wide popularity, but the semantics of it is really tricky.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones wants to fund more studies to show how to do inclusion effectively, but also how to bring the basket of new interventions to more students.* So far, these interventions have been tested on only small groups of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We have evidence here and there, but it’s not sufficient evidence to provide clear guidance to folks that are making decisions.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are practical concerns, too, Jones said. Where are the extra classrooms for students to receive reading interventions when they are pulled out of their regular classes? Which regular classes should students skip to receive their interventions?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones worries most about the shortage of well-qualified teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We have evidence from at least one state that support staff such as paraeducators have shortages even worse than our special educators. And in most states, general educators are not required to take more than a single course to support kids with disabilities.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I get stressed out wherever we put kids. I’m not sure where the well-qualified personnel are. If you’re making an argument for inclusion, I think you also have to make an argument that the educators providing that instruction have received sufficient training to support those students. And simultaneously, if you’re making an argument that we need well-qualified special educators providing that instruction, then you have to grapple with the fact that schools don’t have them in many cases.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A tough discussion\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Clearly, many readers are passionate about helping students with disabilities. No matter their point of view, they would probably all agree with what Ashlyn, who goes by the handle \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/swingonastar3\">@swingonastar3\u003c/a>, posted on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We need to have a tough discussion about inclusion. It’s time\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci>*Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized how NCSER supports education research. It funds studies initiated by outside researchers. \u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contact staff writer \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/author/jill-barshay/\">\u003cem>Jill Barshay\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> at 212-678-3595 or barshay@hechingerreport.org\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-readers-react-special-education-inclusion/\">\u003cem>inclusion in schools\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was written by Jill Barshay and produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>I am always happy when my work generates a public discussion. That happened after a January \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-special-education-inclusion-research-flawed/\">column\u003c/a> I wrote about a prominent scholar’s critique of the evidence for including children with disabilities in general education classrooms. Advocates, parents and teachers argued for inclusion, against inclusion and for some hybrid of the two. The director of education at the Learning Disabilities Association of America weighed in, as did the commissioner of special education research at the U.S. Department of Education. More than 160 people commented on one \u003ca href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/specialed/comments/1i0iyat/a_prominent_professor_of_special_education_argues/\">Reddit discussion\u003c/a> about the story. Here’s a sampling of views I received or saw on social media. (\u003cem>Comments were lightly edited for clarity\u003c/em>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Inclusion in the general education classroom is a ‘human right’\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Abby Taylor recently earned her doctorate in special education at Vanderbilt University, where Douglas Fuchs, the author of the controversial paper, is a professor. She is now an adjunct professor of special education at the University of West Georgia. According to her \u003ca href=\"https://www.westga.edu/profile.php?emp_id=94150\">professional biography\u003c/a>, her passion is in supporting special education inclusion and she has taught in an inclusive preschool classroom. Taylor emailed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We are always working towards supporting people’s understanding of inclusion as a human right and not as an intervention or variable in a research study. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Given that segregation is inherently flawed and unethical regardless of how students perform, it is critical to recognize our country’s systemic educational barriers for students with disabilities even within the context of inclusion (thus, preventing students with disabilities from achieving their full potential even within inclusive settings).…This published article alone perpetuates harmful rhetoric that leads to the further exclusion and mistreatment of children with disabilities despite their legally mandated right to inclusion in the general education setting.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Higher test scores aren’t the only or even the most important goal\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chris Yarrell, an attorney at the \u003ca href=\"https://cleweb.org/about-cle/\">Center for Law and Education\u003c/a>, which advocates for low-income students, posted \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/chrisyarrell.bsky.social/post/3lg2f66bi5k2q\">his thoughts\u003c/a> on Bluesky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The article notes that Dr. Fuchs “is concentrating on academic outcomes” and acknowledges that inclusion may have “psychological or social benefits” that were [not] studied. Yet, this seems to imply that these benefits are less relevant to students’ academic success\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Social or psychological benefits—like peer interaction, belonging, and reduced isolation—aren’t incidental to learning/academic achievement. They’re foundational. A sense of inclusion and connection creates the conditions for academic engagement and success.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Opting for private school\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Beth Netherland, who says she is the mother of a child with learning struggles, \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/BethNetherland/status/1879352651579871356\">posted\u003c/a> on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The problem w/ gen Ed & special ed is that both typically use low value practices. My son w/ ADHD & speech/ language difficulties (DevLangDis) received early & intensive literacy interventions, & he’s thriving in general Ed classes at a private Catholic school. Straight A’s.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Most families would be okay w/ some pull out services if the school actually used evidence based methods. Most of the time that’s not the case. They’re either warehousing our children in sped [special education] or warehousing them in gen Ed. It’s a travesty.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nicole Bucka says she is the mother of a child with disabilities and is a multi-tiered system of supports (\u003ca href=\"https://mtss4success.org/essential-components\">MTSS\u003c/a>) specialist, which is one approach to supporting children who are struggling in school, including those with disabilities in a general education classroom. She \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/nbucka.bsky.social/post/3lfp5l2h45s2f\">posted\u003c/a> on Bluesky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Inclusion is not my priority. My top concern? My son learning skills (like reading and life skills). I know my kid and he wouldn’t learn optimally in inclusive settings. This article is the first time I’ve seen this complexity well represented.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Poor instruction and progress for students with learning disabilities\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Monica McHale-Small is the director of education at the Learning Disabilities Association of America, which advocates for children with dyslexia and other learning struggles. She emailed me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The outcome of inclusion for students with SLD [students with learning disabilities] is frequently less than positive.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In my advocacy work at LDA [Learning Disabilities Association] as well as during my 27 years in public schools in Pennsylvania, I cannot tell you how often I see situations where students have an IEP [individualized education programs for students who are diagnosed with a disability], spend the majority or all of their time in the general education classroom, and have made frighteningly little academic progress. Often, these children are being given A’s and B‘s on their report cards but standardized assessments indicate their reading and/or math skills have stagnated and the gap between them and their non-disabled peers grows each year. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Frustrated teachers\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A sixth grade teacher in Texas asked me not to publish her name. In an email, she told me how hard it is to give her students with disabilities the attention they need in her general education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I do believe they are at a disservice due to the nonexistent one-on-one academic support they need in the general education classroom\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also described how special education professionals periodically observe her classroom and tell her how to instruct the student.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Unfortunately, the observer lacks the realization of the other students’ educational needs as well. I feel inadequate, but mostly disheartened when a student with disabilities is “thrown to the wolves” and there is not a classroom environment that’s beneficial for the student’s academics and social skills.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another unnamed teacher, who goes by the social media handle @yvrteacher, identified herself as a mom and an educator. She \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/yvrteacher/status/1879537552014926117\">posted\u003c/a> this on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Almost nowhere actually does inclusion well so it’s no wonder it’s not successful. I’ve never seen a properly implemented inclusion model in 22 years of teaching. I do believe with adequate supports and people, it could work. No one will pay for that though.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>No mention of preschoolers \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Karen Nemeth is the founder of Language Castle, which is involved in early childhood dual language education. Nemeth previously was a child care and preschool agency grant and project manager, and an education specialist for the New Jersey Department of Education. She \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/karennemethlc.bsky.social/post/3lfqatpgedk2w\">posted\u003c/a> on Bluesky.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>When you see this article, please join in shouting “THIS REPORT DOES NOT MENTION PRESCHOOL” to alert any headline-only readers so they can avoid misinterpreting this for use in early childhood education. Are you with me?\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Flawed research\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Don Magnuson, a therapeutic recreation specialist in St. Paul, Minnesota, emailed me about his experience as a college student assisting in studies of including people with disabilities in parks and recreation programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I witnessed how researchers could intentionally design the study to get the results they wanted, which made it neither valid nor reliable. It was driven by a political agenda, not by good science. Sadly, this research was often used to close down adaptive programs or not allow new adaptive programs to get started, causing actual harm to people with disabilities.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>In my profession back in the late 1980s and 1990s, including people with disabilities in regular parks and recreation programs was all the rage, largely fueled by flawed research. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>It takes courage for anyone to question the dominant narrative…There is resistance, of course, because so many people have staked their entire academic reputations on inclusion and don’t have the intellectual humility to concede that they might have been wrong.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Financial constraints\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Justin Baeder, a former public school principal in Seattle who now conducts professional development for school leaders, posted a \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/eduleadership/status/1880020011487465965\">video commentary\u003c/a> on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I’ve been saying for a while now, without this type of evidence, that I don’t think inclusion works as well as we’re being told…If you have a student who needs a quiet classroom, who needs a calm environment, who needs a room with fewer kids in it and more adults, and not quite as much going on because they get overstimulated or there are lots of reasons that a kid might need a different type of classroom. I think often when inclusion is put in the IEP [individualized education program], it’s to save money. It’s because inclusion is what’s available. It’s not because inclusion is what the kid actually needs. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A music education professor who uses the name Blue Octäve Cult on Bluesky \u003ca href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/blueoctavecult.bsky.social/post/3lfs65fcjhk23\">wrote this\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Investing in the general ed classroom will never happen because they’ve been increasing class sizes for the last 30 years. The policymakers are clearly on the side of [a] “do more with less” business model where instruction is the product rather than a process.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A future research agenda \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Nathan Jones is the commissioner of the National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER), which funds studies on the instruction of students with disabilities. Jones is on leave from Boston University, where he is a professor of special education. His six-year term at the Department of Education began in 2023. After my story came out, Jones both emailed and talked to me and my colleague Meredith Kolodner, who is also reporting about special education. This is some of what he had to say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Jones’ own research before he joined the administration, he found that more time spent in general education classrooms was associated with a \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/07419325241268747\">“slight” improvement in academic outcomes\u003c/a>. Also, over the past 20 years, new reading and math interventions have been created and tested for children with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>There is a body of evidence that supports intensive instruction for many students. I think he [Fuchs] is exactly right there.\u003c/em>..\u003cem>I don’t think that it’s at cross purposes to value inclusion while at the same time valuing students getting the academic support that they need. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Special education has such a history of seclusion and separation and segregation that having nuanced arguments is hard. Even to say something like “supplemental” or “pull out” implies that a student is being robbed of the opportunity to receive instruction with their same-age peers. But I think if you were to explain it to educators or explain it to parents in terms of what students were actually getting, I think you would probably find a lot of agreement for providing students [with] supports for success in the general education curriculum. I think that would have pretty wide popularity, but the semantics of it is really tricky.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones wants to fund more studies to show how to do inclusion effectively, but also how to bring the basket of new interventions to more students.* So far, these interventions have been tested on only small groups of students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We have evidence here and there, but it’s not sufficient evidence to provide clear guidance to folks that are making decisions.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are practical concerns, too, Jones said. Where are the extra classrooms for students to receive reading interventions when they are pulled out of their regular classes? Which regular classes should students skip to receive their interventions?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jones worries most about the shortage of well-qualified teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We have evidence from at least one state that support staff such as paraeducators have shortages even worse than our special educators. And in most states, general educators are not required to take more than a single course to support kids with disabilities.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>I get stressed out wherever we put kids. I’m not sure where the well-qualified personnel are. If you’re making an argument for inclusion, I think you also have to make an argument that the educators providing that instruction have received sufficient training to support those students. And simultaneously, if you’re making an argument that we need well-qualified special educators providing that instruction, then you have to grapple with the fact that schools don’t have them in many cases.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>A tough discussion\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Clearly, many readers are passionate about helping students with disabilities. No matter their point of view, they would probably all agree with what Ashlyn, who goes by the handle \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/swingonastar3\">@swingonastar3\u003c/a>, posted on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>We need to have a tough discussion about inclusion. It’s time\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ci>*Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly characterized how NCSER supports education research. It funds studies initiated by outside researchers. \u003c/i>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contact staff writer \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/author/jill-barshay/\">\u003cem>Jill Barshay\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> at 212-678-3595 or barshay@hechingerreport.org\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-readers-react-special-education-inclusion/\">\u003cem>inclusion in schools\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was written by Jill Barshay and produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A prominent professor of special education is about to ignite a fierce debate over a tenet of his field, that students with disabilities should be educated as much as possible alongside their peers in general education classrooms, a strategy known as inclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a paper that reviews more than 50 years of research, Douglas Fuchs of Vanderbilt University and the American Institutes for Research along with two colleagues at both institutions, argues that the academic benefits of including students with disabilities in general education classrooms are not settled science despite the fact that numerous studies have found that children with disabilities learn more that way. Fuchs said the paper is slated to be published this spring in the Journal of Learning Disabilities and he expects it to be made public online sooner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not saying that the evidence indicates full inclusion cannot work,” said Fuchs. “We’re saying that the evidence in terms of where to place these children is extremely weak, is fundamentally flawed, and no conclusions can be drawn from the evidence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs also notes that there is a growing body of high quality research on how to teach children with disabilities or who are at risk of being diagnosed with a disability. These studies are randomized control trials of interventions that require hours of intense, specialized instruction. For many, if not most students with disabilities, Fuchs argues, a separate setting, such as a separate classroom or even a separate school, might be the best way to get the instruction they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some number of kids with disabilities can and should be in general classrooms,” Fuchs said. “It’s manifestly obvious that they’re doing reasonably well. They should stay there. But for a majority, they need intensive instruction, and we know how to provide intensive instruction. The evidence is, I dare say, overwhelming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs’ view challenges \u003ca href=\"https://www.abtglobal.com/insights/publications/report/summary-of-the-evidence-on-inclusive-education\">hundreds of studies\u003c/a> that have consistently found that inclusive educational settings have substantial benefits for the cognitive and social development of children with disabilities. That research has been instrumental in persuading lawmakers to increase funding to help schools accommodate students with disabilities, in some cases hiring extra special education teachers for every class. Roughly \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities\">15 percen\u003c/a>t of U.S. public school students have been diagnosed with a disability and receive services, according to the most recent data, so this debate over special education placement affects not only the academic prospects of students with disabilities but also the cost and structure of the whole educational system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper, “Reframing the Most Important Special Education Policy Debate in Fifty Years: \u003cem>How\u003c/em> versus \u003cem>Where\u003c/em> to Educate Students with Disabilities in America’s Schools,” was co-authored by Allison Gilmour, a researcher of special education at the American Institutes for Research, and Jeanne Wanzek, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt. Fuchs provided me with a pre-publication draft and gave me permission to discuss it with other experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The core of Fuchs’ critique is that previous researchers failed to distinguish between students with disabilities who are sent to separate special education classrooms and students with disabilities who are included in general education classrooms. They are fundamentally different. Children who are placed in separate settings for a significant part or most of the day tend to have more severe disabilities and academic struggles. It should be no surprise to anyone that higher achieving students with milder disabilities end up with higher test scores than students who initially had lower test scores and more severe disabilities. That isn’t proof that a child with a disability learns more in a general education classroom. Ideally, from a research perspective, you’d want to randomly assign students with disabilities to both types of classrooms and see where they learn more. But that’s unethical, and impractical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers call this problem “selection bias” and they have tried to overcome it with statistical techniques. For example, they have compared students with disabilities who have similar demographic characteristics, such as the same race or ethnicity, similar family income and the same type of disability. Inclusion still comes out on top. However, Fuchs points out that many of these studies have still failed to account for the two most important factors: how the student was doing academically before the disability was diagnosed and the severity of the disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in the late 1980s, the federal government started to collect data on these two important, confounding factors – academic achievement before diagnosis and disability severity – so that policymakers could see how well students were faring under the 1975 federal law that mandates support for educating students with disabilities. Fuchs and his co-authors reviewed a \u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED341228\">1991 analysis\u003c/a> of this data, called the \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20154014\">National Longitudinal Transition Study\u003c/a>, and noted that it initially reported that high school students with disabilities learned more when they learned alongside their general education peers. But the appendix of \u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED341228\">the report\u003c/a> disclosed that the advantage for special education inclusion disappeared when the academic gains were adjusted for prior academic achievement and measures of the students’ functional skills. Fuchs said there were no differences in outcomes between the two settings when researchers compared students who started with the same test scores and had the same disability severity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some recent studies with statistical sophistication still show that inclusion prevails. For example, in two studies of Indiana students with disabilities published in \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022466920925033\">2021\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00224669221097945\">2023\u003c/a>, researchers found that the more time that students spent in an inclusive setting, the better they did. However, Fuchs and his co-authors pointed out that more than half the students were thrown out of the 2021 study because of missing data and research design. They say the studies compared only the two extremes of students who spent 80 percent of the time or more in general education versus 80 percent of the time or more in separate classrooms, which was a very small group of students (only 75 in math and 63 in English language arts). Even with statistical adjustments for prior academic achievement, it’s hard to equate these two groups. Fuchs and his co-authors concluded that the validity of the two studies is “problematic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not the first time Fuchs has questioned the gospel that inclusion is best. In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.proquest.com/openview/268f2c637914690295517745d468e5f2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41842\">article published 30 years ago\u003c/a>, Fuchs criticized the wisdom of always educating children with disabilities in the general education classroom. In 2023, Fuchs published \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10442073221097713\">a study\u003c/a> showing that even states with the highest rates of special education inclusion did not have consistently improving test scores for children with disabilities. Scores declined in some states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs and his colleagues’ sharp critique of the strength of the evidence for inclusion is controversial, but they are not alone. In December 2022, the Campbell Collaboration, a widely respected international nonprofit organization that reviews research evidence for public policy purposes, also concluded that the benefits for inclusion were \u003ca href=\"https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/review/inclusion-children-with-special-educational-needs/\">inconsistent and inconclusive\u003c/a>. The Campbell reviewers threw out 99 percent of the 2,000 studies they found because of poor quality and research design, for reasons similar to those Fuchs describes. Only 15 studies survived. They found that math and reading scores, along with psychological, emotional and behavioral measures, were no higher for children with disabilities who learned in general education classrooms, on average, compared to children who learned in separate special education classrooms. Advocates for children with disabilities disputed the findings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lynn Newman, a researcher at SRI, a California-based research organization, has worked on multi-year studies of students with disabilities for the federal government. She said Fuchs’ paper makes some good points, but she said his argument also has some “holes” because it excludes some well-designed studies of more recent data, in which inclusion appears to be beneficial, especially among high-school students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newman explained to me that there was very little support for students with disabilities in general education classrooms in the 1980s and 1990s. Inclusion has since improved, she said. She cited four studies (\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0034654315583135\">one\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2165143415588047\">two\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2165143420959793\">three\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0885728809346960\">four\u003c/a>), published between 2009 and 2021, showing that students fared better with inclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I showed this research to Fuchs, who agreed that the methodology and quality were good, but he noted that these studies didn’t analyze whether students were learning more in one place than another. Instead, the studies focused on other outcomes like employment after high school. “The articles Newman identified are barking up a different tree,” he said by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs is concentrating on academic outcomes. He admits there may be other psychological or social benefits to learning alongside peers in general education classes. He did not study those. But those benefits could be even more important to parents, and to lifetime success. (Fuchs also did not review the evidence of how students without disabilities are affected by peers with disabilities in their classrooms. That is a different \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1747938X17300131\">body of research\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measuring academic outcomes for students with disabilities is difficult. Students with disabilities are more likely to fail a general education class. Grades between the two settings – special education and general education – cannot be directly compared. Test scores are often lacking, especially before and after changes in special education placements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other scholars I talked to said Fuchs lumped all disabilities together. Two specialists in children with the most severe disabilities who need extensive support showed me recent \u003ca href=\"https://meridian.allenpress.com/ajidd/article-abstract/129/5/405/502855/Impact-of-Educational-Placement-on-the-Goal?redirectedFrom=fulltext\">studies\u003c/a> that point to \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1540796920943469\">superior learning\u003c/a> when these students are included in the general classroom, even though they rarely are. However, those students represent only 1 percent of the student population with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many ways, this debate shows how science responds to changing conditions. Decades ago, there weren’t many ways to help children with disabilities. Today there is a growing body of research about the best ways to teach children, especially young elementary school children, who are having difficulties with reading and math. Some of these interventions require daily instruction away from the general education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs doesn’t think his argument will lead to segregating all children with disabilities in self-contained classrooms. He envisions schools where students would be pulled out of the general education classroom on a daily basis to receive the reading and math instruction they need in a separate classroom. Some children with mild dyslexia, he said, might need only an hour a day of intensive reading instruction. Meanwhile some high-functioning children with Down syndrome might be able to remain in the regular general education class during reading time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just as the quality of separate, special education may be evolving, so too is the quality of inclusion in a general education classroom. Schools are getting better at supporting and accommodating students with disabilities. Clearly, a good version of inclusion will outperform a bad version of a separate classroom. And a good version of intense, specialized instruction will outperform a bad version of an inclusive classroom where the general education teacher is \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/teacher-preparation-failing-students-disabilities/\">overwhelmed and lacks training\u003c/a>. Too often, students aren’t getting the support they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School leaders are in a tough spot when they have to decide whether to invest in improving the general classroom to accommodate everyone or to create and refine interventions that happen outside of the classroom. And at the moment, research can’t really tell them what works best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-special-education-inclusion-research-flawed/\">\u003cem>special education inclusion\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was written by Jill Barshay and produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A prominent professor of special education is about to ignite a fierce debate over a tenet of his field, that students with disabilities should be educated as much as possible alongside their peers in general education classrooms, a strategy known as inclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a paper that reviews more than 50 years of research, Douglas Fuchs of Vanderbilt University and the American Institutes for Research along with two colleagues at both institutions, argues that the academic benefits of including students with disabilities in general education classrooms are not settled science despite the fact that numerous studies have found that children with disabilities learn more that way. Fuchs said the paper is slated to be published this spring in the Journal of Learning Disabilities and he expects it to be made public online sooner.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re not saying that the evidence indicates full inclusion cannot work,” said Fuchs. “We’re saying that the evidence in terms of where to place these children is extremely weak, is fundamentally flawed, and no conclusions can be drawn from the evidence.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs also notes that there is a growing body of high quality research on how to teach children with disabilities or who are at risk of being diagnosed with a disability. These studies are randomized control trials of interventions that require hours of intense, specialized instruction. For many, if not most students with disabilities, Fuchs argues, a separate setting, such as a separate classroom or even a separate school, might be the best way to get the instruction they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Some number of kids with disabilities can and should be in general classrooms,” Fuchs said. “It’s manifestly obvious that they’re doing reasonably well. They should stay there. But for a majority, they need intensive instruction, and we know how to provide intensive instruction. The evidence is, I dare say, overwhelming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs’ view challenges \u003ca href=\"https://www.abtglobal.com/insights/publications/report/summary-of-the-evidence-on-inclusive-education\">hundreds of studies\u003c/a> that have consistently found that inclusive educational settings have substantial benefits for the cognitive and social development of children with disabilities. That research has been instrumental in persuading lawmakers to increase funding to help schools accommodate students with disabilities, in some cases hiring extra special education teachers for every class. Roughly \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities\">15 percen\u003c/a>t of U.S. public school students have been diagnosed with a disability and receive services, according to the most recent data, so this debate over special education placement affects not only the academic prospects of students with disabilities but also the cost and structure of the whole educational system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The paper, “Reframing the Most Important Special Education Policy Debate in Fifty Years: \u003cem>How\u003c/em> versus \u003cem>Where\u003c/em> to Educate Students with Disabilities in America’s Schools,” was co-authored by Allison Gilmour, a researcher of special education at the American Institutes for Research, and Jeanne Wanzek, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt. Fuchs provided me with a pre-publication draft and gave me permission to discuss it with other experts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The core of Fuchs’ critique is that previous researchers failed to distinguish between students with disabilities who are sent to separate special education classrooms and students with disabilities who are included in general education classrooms. They are fundamentally different. Children who are placed in separate settings for a significant part or most of the day tend to have more severe disabilities and academic struggles. It should be no surprise to anyone that higher achieving students with milder disabilities end up with higher test scores than students who initially had lower test scores and more severe disabilities. That isn’t proof that a child with a disability learns more in a general education classroom. Ideally, from a research perspective, you’d want to randomly assign students with disabilities to both types of classrooms and see where they learn more. But that’s unethical, and impractical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers call this problem “selection bias” and they have tried to overcome it with statistical techniques. For example, they have compared students with disabilities who have similar demographic characteristics, such as the same race or ethnicity, similar family income and the same type of disability. Inclusion still comes out on top. However, Fuchs points out that many of these studies have still failed to account for the two most important factors: how the student was doing academically before the disability was diagnosed and the severity of the disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in the late 1980s, the federal government started to collect data on these two important, confounding factors – academic achievement before diagnosis and disability severity – so that policymakers could see how well students were faring under the 1975 federal law that mandates support for educating students with disabilities. Fuchs and his co-authors reviewed a \u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED341228\">1991 analysis\u003c/a> of this data, called the \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20154014\">National Longitudinal Transition Study\u003c/a>, and noted that it initially reported that high school students with disabilities learned more when they learned alongside their general education peers. But the appendix of \u003ca href=\"https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED341228\">the report\u003c/a> disclosed that the advantage for special education inclusion disappeared when the academic gains were adjusted for prior academic achievement and measures of the students’ functional skills. Fuchs said there were no differences in outcomes between the two settings when researchers compared students who started with the same test scores and had the same disability severity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some recent studies with statistical sophistication still show that inclusion prevails. For example, in two studies of Indiana students with disabilities published in \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0022466920925033\">2021\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00224669221097945\">2023\u003c/a>, researchers found that the more time that students spent in an inclusive setting, the better they did. However, Fuchs and his co-authors pointed out that more than half the students were thrown out of the 2021 study because of missing data and research design. They say the studies compared only the two extremes of students who spent 80 percent of the time or more in general education versus 80 percent of the time or more in separate classrooms, which was a very small group of students (only 75 in math and 63 in English language arts). Even with statistical adjustments for prior academic achievement, it’s hard to equate these two groups. Fuchs and his co-authors concluded that the validity of the two studies is “problematic.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is not the first time Fuchs has questioned the gospel that inclusion is best. In an \u003ca href=\"https://www.proquest.com/openview/268f2c637914690295517745d468e5f2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=41842\">article published 30 years ago\u003c/a>, Fuchs criticized the wisdom of always educating children with disabilities in the general education classroom. In 2023, Fuchs published \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/10442073221097713\">a study\u003c/a> showing that even states with the highest rates of special education inclusion did not have consistently improving test scores for children with disabilities. Scores declined in some states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs and his colleagues’ sharp critique of the strength of the evidence for inclusion is controversial, but they are not alone. In December 2022, the Campbell Collaboration, a widely respected international nonprofit organization that reviews research evidence for public policy purposes, also concluded that the benefits for inclusion were \u003ca href=\"https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/review/inclusion-children-with-special-educational-needs/\">inconsistent and inconclusive\u003c/a>. The Campbell reviewers threw out 99 percent of the 2,000 studies they found because of poor quality and research design, for reasons similar to those Fuchs describes. Only 15 studies survived. They found that math and reading scores, along with psychological, emotional and behavioral measures, were no higher for children with disabilities who learned in general education classrooms, on average, compared to children who learned in separate special education classrooms. Advocates for children with disabilities disputed the findings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lynn Newman, a researcher at SRI, a California-based research organization, has worked on multi-year studies of students with disabilities for the federal government. She said Fuchs’ paper makes some good points, but she said his argument also has some “holes” because it excludes some well-designed studies of more recent data, in which inclusion appears to be beneficial, especially among high-school students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newman explained to me that there was very little support for students with disabilities in general education classrooms in the 1980s and 1990s. Inclusion has since improved, she said. She cited four studies (\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0034654315583135\">one\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2165143415588047\">two\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2165143420959793\">three\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0885728809346960\">four\u003c/a>), published between 2009 and 2021, showing that students fared better with inclusion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I showed this research to Fuchs, who agreed that the methodology and quality were good, but he noted that these studies didn’t analyze whether students were learning more in one place than another. Instead, the studies focused on other outcomes like employment after high school. “The articles Newman identified are barking up a different tree,” he said by email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs is concentrating on academic outcomes. He admits there may be other psychological or social benefits to learning alongside peers in general education classes. He did not study those. But those benefits could be even more important to parents, and to lifetime success. (Fuchs also did not review the evidence of how students without disabilities are affected by peers with disabilities in their classrooms. That is a different \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1747938X17300131\">body of research\u003c/a>.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Measuring academic outcomes for students with disabilities is difficult. Students with disabilities are more likely to fail a general education class. Grades between the two settings – special education and general education – cannot be directly compared. Test scores are often lacking, especially before and after changes in special education placements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other scholars I talked to said Fuchs lumped all disabilities together. Two specialists in children with the most severe disabilities who need extensive support showed me recent \u003ca href=\"https://meridian.allenpress.com/ajidd/article-abstract/129/5/405/502855/Impact-of-Educational-Placement-on-the-Goal?redirectedFrom=fulltext\">studies\u003c/a> that point to \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1540796920943469\">superior learning\u003c/a> when these students are included in the general classroom, even though they rarely are. However, those students represent only 1 percent of the student population with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many ways, this debate shows how science responds to changing conditions. Decades ago, there weren’t many ways to help children with disabilities. Today there is a growing body of research about the best ways to teach children, especially young elementary school children, who are having difficulties with reading and math. Some of these interventions require daily instruction away from the general education classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fuchs doesn’t think his argument will lead to segregating all children with disabilities in self-contained classrooms. He envisions schools where students would be pulled out of the general education classroom on a daily basis to receive the reading and math instruction they need in a separate classroom. Some children with mild dyslexia, he said, might need only an hour a day of intensive reading instruction. Meanwhile some high-functioning children with Down syndrome might be able to remain in the regular general education class during reading time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And just as the quality of separate, special education may be evolving, so too is the quality of inclusion in a general education classroom. Schools are getting better at supporting and accommodating students with disabilities. Clearly, a good version of inclusion will outperform a bad version of a separate classroom. And a good version of intense, specialized instruction will outperform a bad version of an inclusive classroom where the general education teacher is \u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/teacher-preparation-failing-students-disabilities/\">overwhelmed and lacks training\u003c/a>. Too often, students aren’t getting the support they need.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>School leaders are in a tough spot when they have to decide whether to invest in improving the general classroom to accommodate everyone or to create and refine interventions that happen outside of the classroom. And at the moment, research can’t really tell them what works best.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-special-education-inclusion-research-flawed/\">\u003cem>special education inclusion\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was written by Jill Barshay and produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/higher-education/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for\u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003cem>Proof Points\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and other \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletters\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Sam is a smiling, wiggly six-year-old who loves dinosaurs and “anything big and powerful,” says his mother, Tabitha, a full-time parent and former special education teacher. Sam lives with his seven siblings and parents in a small town in central Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam has significant disabilities including cri-du-chat syndrome — a rare genetic disorder. He can use a walker for short distances, but he mostly gets around using a wheelchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, Sam has been bestowing Sign names upon everyone in his house— Sam primarily communicates using American Sign Language (ASL) because he’s partially deaf. His own name translates to “Sam Giggles,” which he does a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Sam started going to school, Tabitha says he has faced a number of challenges getting the services he needs, including classroom instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do you teach a child to learn if they don’t even speak the same language as you, and you haven’t found a way to bridge that gap?” Tabitha asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of language barriers in the classroom, Sam also hasn’t been getting special education support, and he has had trouble accessing the school grounds in his wheelchair. Since February of last year, Sam has been doing virtual school, and before that, he was going to school in-person. At first, the school was unable to provide a wheelchair-accessible bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that these stories are tragic for the teachers. I think they’re tragic for the students,” Tabitha says. “I think what we’ve failed to do as a society is not make it tragic for the people who are making the decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Seeking solutions\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Tabitha has spent years fighting to get Sam the services he needs to get a free and appropriate public education, which is guaranteed by federal law. Eventually, she turned to the federal government for help and filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a culmination of many things – like the fact that Sam’s school acknowledges that he primarily communicates in ASL, and that his hearing could worsen, but he has yet to receive instruction in his native language.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District reports say Sam’s current hearing loss does not meet the state of Georgia’s criteria for “deaf or hard of hearing,” meaning they don’t have to provide him instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I got to the point where I felt like I couldn’t do anything about it and yet I knew the law was on my side. That’s when I decided to file.” Tabitha recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She felt like a federal complaint was a last resort to get Sam a quality education. But the investigation into his case has been going on for a year and a half now. It’s time that Sam can’t get back.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Scarce resources\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Over the course of a year – in 2022 and 2023 – the Department of Education received over 19,000 discrimination complaints based on race, color, national origin, sex, age and disability. NPR heard from many parents around the country who said their cases took too long to resolve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catherine Lhamon is the assistant secretary of education for civil rights. She says she shares these families’ frustration about long wait times, but that a thorough investigation involves an often complicated, time-consuming process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lhamon says that the OCR’s investigators are also overwhelmed, with more than 50 cases each. Part of the problem is a backlog from the pandemic, and a severe special educator shortage around the country. But it’s also about money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, Congress flat-funded our office. And that has meant that we are not able to bring on new people even though we are now seeing close to double the cases that we were seeing ten years ago,” Lhamon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While thousands of cases are dragging through the system, there is one option Lhamon says has made faster resolutions possible: early mediation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, parents and districts can more easily choose to meet with an OCR mediator instead of going through a formal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Tabitha and John, mediation didn’t work in a past state complaint, so they opted for an investigation. Now, because of how long the OCR investigation is taking, Tabitha is considering suing the school district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of their concerns with the district have deepened since they filed, but they have seen some progress. Sam’s school eventually provided a wheelchair-accessible bus. Last year, Sam got an ASL interpreter, though the district has since taken that service away. The fight has been draining for Tabitha, but it’s one worth waging, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If Sam’s future is wide open, that’s my dream. I want him to experience what any six year old gets to experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam is a 6-year-old with an infectious laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAM: (Laughter).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: He lives with his seven siblings and parents in a small town in central Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hi, Ms. Keisha (ph). I just put him down and changed his poopy diaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KEISHA: All right. Excellent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: Sam starts his day with his nurse, Keisha. He refers to her as robot Keisha in American Sign Language, or ASL. It’s how Sam primarily communicates because he’s partially deaf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: So he has just related her to one of her – his favorite things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: And so she does the robot dance for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: That’s Sam’s mom, Tabitha. She’s a full-time parent and former special educator. Since Sam started going to school, he’s faced quite a few challenges getting the services he needs, including instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: How do you teach a child to learn if they don’t even speak the same language as you and you haven’t found a way to bridge that gap?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: On top of language barriers in the classroom, Sam also hasn’t been getting special education support and has had trouble accessing the school grounds in his wheelchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: I think that these stories are tragic for the teachers. I think they’re tragic for the students. And I think what we failed to do as a society is not make it tragic for the people who are making the decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: After years of fighting to get Sam the services he needs to get the public education he’s guaranteed by federal law, Tabitha eventually turned to the federal government for help. She filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: When I got to the point where I felt like I couldn’t do anything about it, and yet I knew the law was on my side, that’s when I decided to file.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: Federal law guarantees every student with a disability a free and appropriate public education, which Tabitha feels Sam is being denied. So Tabitha eventually turns to the federal government for help. She filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: When we don’t teach him to read, he doesn’t have the option to be an explorer through reading. When we don’t teach him to access the building and give him the supports he needs, then he doesn’t make those peer buddies, and his world is limited to just his family and not his community. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m opening up the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: CONSIDER THIS – the federal government is seeing an all-time high of discrimination complaints, many from families of students with disabilities. Coming up, how one mother is fighting for her son to get a quality education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: From NPR, I’m Adrian Florido.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: It’s CONSIDER THIS FROM NPR. Students with disabilities often face a tough time getting the services they need at school. When they can’t get them, many families seek help from the federal government. And right now, the Department of Education is swamped with a record number of discrimination complaints. That backlog is leaving families across the country waiting months, even years, for help. NPR’s Jonaki Mehta visited one such family in central Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JONAKI MEHTA, BYLINE: It’s a lazy summer day for many kids in middle Georgia. But one family of 10 is up and at them on a Tuesday morning at 7:30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: It’s a messy house – well lived in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Full-time parent and former special education teacher Tabitha calls up to her husband, John.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Dad, can you bring Sam down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Their youngest of eight children, Sam, is rubbing his eyes as he comes down the stairs in his father’s arm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Here comes Mr. Sam. Good morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam’s got a busy day ahead. He’ll have a lesson with his new teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, an occupational therapy session, followed by speech and language pathology. Sam is a smiling, wiggly 6-year-old who loves to dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAM: (Laughter).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Today, he’s chosen to wear a purple T-shirt with a roaring blue T. rex across the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Oh, he’s a dinosaur fanatic – anything scary and big and powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam has significant disabilities, including cri-du-chat syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. He mostly gets around using a wheelchair. Sam’s also partially deaf. His primary language is American Sign Language, or ASL. Lately, he’s been practicing his name. It’s an outward-facing fist stroking one cheek. It stands for Sam giggles, which he does a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAM: (Laughter).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam lives in a small town, so we’re only using first names in this story, since he and his siblings are minors, and we want to freely discuss Sam’s disabilities. Once Sam is done with his morning routine of nebulizers and medications, he signs the word ball to tell his mom he’s ready for his favorite activity…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF BALLS THUMPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: …Playing in his ball pit. Sam’s parents and nurse can provide him with much of the support he needs at home, but his education has proven to be a huge obstacle. Since February of last year, Sam’s been doing virtual school. Before that, he was going to school in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: But then there were so many issues with transporting. They couldn’t transport his equipment. They couldn’t have his wheelchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: At first, there was no school bus with wheelchair access. At one point, Tabitha says the district asked her to leave Sam’s wheelchair at school throughout the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Sam’s nurse would have to carry him up the steps, put him into a seat belt. The bus driver and the aide would carry up the bags, you know…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: And with his medical equipment, that’s a lot of bags. Tabitha would often end up taking Sam to school herself, equipment in tow. The newly built school campus is only a few blocks from their home. But she’d often get there to find the four accessible parking spaces blocked by school police cars. She showed me dozens of pictures and drove me to the school lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: And we find that there’s obstacles every time we come, whether it’s a…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Tabitha drives over and shows me a crosswalk with a curb cutout for wheelchair access on one side, but no cutout on the other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: So there’s no access for us to cross the street safely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: When he was going to school in person, Sam was in a general education classroom along with other pre-K students, but…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: He was never given a special ed teacher in that class or special ed support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: His school district acknowledges that Sam primarily communicates in ASL and that his hearing could worsen, but district reports say Sam’s current hearing loss does not meet Georgia’s criteria for deaf or hard of hearing, meaning they don’t have to provide him instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: It’s that whole theory of he’s not deaf enough. I don’t know if you know how offensive that term is. I’m being told, but he can hear, and I’m saying, but he can’t hear all of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: NPR reached out to the director of special education in the district. She said she couldn’t speak about Sam’s case with me to protect his privacy. But in an email, she said, quote, “the district takes each student’s individual needs into account when developing individual educational programs for students with disabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States and districts have long complained that the onus falls on them for providing services because the federal government has historically failed to provide the funds they promised states for special education. For Tabitha, her frustration led her to file a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in December 2022. She had a long list of concerns for Sam, like wheelchair access issues and lack of special ed support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five months later, OCR told Tabitha they would investigate three things – whether Sam was being denied a free and appropriate public education, which is guaranteed by federal law, whether the playground was inaccessible to disabled people and whether the parking lot was inaccessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: I thought that OCR would be able to handle this, that we would make some forward progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: But the investigation into Sam’s case has been going on for a year and a half now – valuable time in Sam’s young life and his education. Over the course of a year in 2022 and 2023, the Department of Education received over 19,000 discrimination complaints based on race, color, national origin, sex, age and disability. I heard from many parents around the country who said their cases took too long to resolve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CATHERINE LHAMON: I share the frustrations that you’re hearing from families about how long that takes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: That’s Catherine Lhamon. She’s the assistant secretary of education for civil rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LHAMON: And we also owe them careful evaluation of facts to figure out how the law applies to the particular concern, and that is invariably a complicated process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Lhamon says OCR’s investigators are overwhelmed, with more than 50 cases each. Part of the problem is a backlog from the pandemic, but it’s also about money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LHAMON: Last year, Congress flat-funded our office, and that meant we are not able to bring on new people, even though we are now seeing close to double the cases we were seeing 10 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: There is one option Lhamon says has made faster resolutions possible – early mediation. Now, parents and districts can easily opt for a meeting with an OCR mediator instead of a formal investigation. For Tabitha and John, mediation didn’t work out in a past state complaint, so this time, they opted for an investigation. While some of their concerns with the district have deepened since they filed, they have seen some progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school eventually provided a bus with wheelchair access. Last year, Sam got an ASL interpreter, though the district has since taken that service away. And just a couple of weeks before I met him, Sam started Zoom lessons with Jessica (ph), a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JESSICA: OK. Your turn to sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Backpack. Good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JESSICA: Backpack – you remember that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: In the lesson I watched, Sam read a story with Jessica and signed his responses to some of her questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JESSICA: You read today, and you matched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: It’s magic. He has learned more sign in the last three weeks faster than he’s ever picked up sign language before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Tabitha says that’s all great, but it’s only for five hours a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Imagine if that was every day, like it’s supposed to be, and all day, like it’s supposed to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Now Tabitha is considering suing the school district. But with a single income and a family of 10, she doesn’t know if they can afford a lawyer. This whole process has been draining for her, but Tabitha tears up as she tells me why her fight for Sam matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: (Crying) There’s a certain reality you face where you’re grieving your child, and they’re still here. I totally want to give him everything while he’s with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: What’s your dream for Sam? Like, what do you want for his future?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: If Sam’s future is wide open, that’s my dream. Like, I want him to experience what every 6-year-old gets to experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: As we drive back from the school, Sam signs to his mom through the rearview mirror.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Yes. Signing swim right now – splash, splash, splash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: At the small, gated pool in their backyard, off comes Sam’s orthosis braces and shoes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF VELCRO RIPPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Off come his socks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Can you help me take off your socks? Put them off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam slides to the edge of the water and sticks in his bare feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Kick, kick, kick – fast, fast, fast, fast – (vocalizing).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: When Tabitha tries to convince him to go inside the house, Sam instead signs what any 6-year-old splashing in a swimming pool on a hot summer day would – more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: More? You want in more? (Laughter) Just a little bit more, OK?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: In middle Georgia, I’m Jonaki Mehta, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: This episode was produced by Jonaki Mehta and Marc Rivers. It was edited by Steven Drummond and Adam Raney. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. Thanks to our CONSIDER THIS+ listeners, who support the work of NPR journalists and help keep public radio strong. Supporters also hear every episode without messages from sponsors. Learn more at plus.npr.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: It’s CONSIDER THIS FROM NPR. I’m Adrian Florido.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Sam is a smiling, wiggly six-year-old who loves dinosaurs and “anything big and powerful,” says his mother, Tabitha, a full-time parent and former special education teacher. Sam lives with his seven siblings and parents in a small town in central Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam has significant disabilities including cri-du-chat syndrome — a rare genetic disorder. He can use a walker for short distances, but he mostly gets around using a wheelchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lately, Sam has been bestowing Sign names upon everyone in his house— Sam primarily communicates using American Sign Language (ASL) because he’s partially deaf. His own name translates to “Sam Giggles,” which he does a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Sam started going to school, Tabitha says he has faced a number of challenges getting the services he needs, including classroom instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“How do you teach a child to learn if they don’t even speak the same language as you, and you haven’t found a way to bridge that gap?” Tabitha asks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of language barriers in the classroom, Sam also hasn’t been getting special education support, and he has had trouble accessing the school grounds in his wheelchair. Since February of last year, Sam has been doing virtual school, and before that, he was going to school in-person. At first, the school was unable to provide a wheelchair-accessible bus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that these stories are tragic for the teachers. I think they’re tragic for the students,” Tabitha says. “I think what we’ve failed to do as a society is not make it tragic for the people who are making the decisions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Seeking solutions\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Tabitha has spent years fighting to get Sam the services he needs to get a free and appropriate public education, which is guaranteed by federal law. Eventually, she turned to the federal government for help and filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a culmination of many things – like the fact that Sam’s school acknowledges that he primarily communicates in ASL, and that his hearing could worsen, but he has yet to receive instruction in his native language.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>District reports say Sam’s current hearing loss does not meet the state of Georgia’s criteria for “deaf or hard of hearing,” meaning they don’t have to provide him instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When I got to the point where I felt like I couldn’t do anything about it and yet I knew the law was on my side. That’s when I decided to file.” Tabitha recalled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She felt like a federal complaint was a last resort to get Sam a quality education. But the investigation into his case has been going on for a year and a half now. It’s time that Sam can’t get back.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Scarce resources\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Over the course of a year – in 2022 and 2023 – the Department of Education received over 19,000 discrimination complaints based on race, color, national origin, sex, age and disability. NPR heard from many parents around the country who said their cases took too long to resolve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Catherine Lhamon is the assistant secretary of education for civil rights. She says she shares these families’ frustration about long wait times, but that a thorough investigation involves an often complicated, time-consuming process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lhamon says that the OCR’s investigators are also overwhelmed, with more than 50 cases each. Part of the problem is a backlog from the pandemic, and a severe special educator shortage around the country. But it’s also about money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Last year, Congress flat-funded our office. And that has meant that we are not able to bring on new people even though we are now seeing close to double the cases that we were seeing ten years ago,” Lhamon said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While thousands of cases are dragging through the system, there is one option Lhamon says has made faster resolutions possible: early mediation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, parents and districts can more easily choose to meet with an OCR mediator instead of going through a formal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Tabitha and John, mediation didn’t work in a past state complaint, so they opted for an investigation. Now, because of how long the OCR investigation is taking, Tabitha is considering suing the school district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of their concerns with the district have deepened since they filed, but they have seen some progress. Sam’s school eventually provided a wheelchair-accessible bus. Last year, Sam got an ASL interpreter, though the district has since taken that service away. The fight has been draining for Tabitha, but it’s one worth waging, she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If Sam’s future is wide open, that’s my dream. I want him to experience what any six year old gets to experience.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam is a 6-year-old with an infectious laugh.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAM: (Laughter).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: He lives with his seven siblings and parents in a small town in central Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hi, Ms. Keisha (ph). I just put him down and changed his poopy diaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KEISHA: All right. Excellent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: Sam starts his day with his nurse, Keisha. He refers to her as robot Keisha in American Sign Language, or ASL. It’s how Sam primarily communicates because he’s partially deaf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: So he has just related her to one of her – his favorite things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: And so she does the robot dance for him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: That’s Sam’s mom, Tabitha. She’s a full-time parent and former special educator. Since Sam started going to school, he’s faced quite a few challenges getting the services he needs, including instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: How do you teach a child to learn if they don’t even speak the same language as you and you haven’t found a way to bridge that gap?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: On top of language barriers in the classroom, Sam also hasn’t been getting special education support and has had trouble accessing the school grounds in his wheelchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: I think that these stories are tragic for the teachers. I think they’re tragic for the students. And I think what we failed to do as a society is not make it tragic for the people who are making the decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: After years of fighting to get Sam the services he needs to get the public education he’s guaranteed by federal law, Tabitha eventually turned to the federal government for help. She filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: When I got to the point where I felt like I couldn’t do anything about it, and yet I knew the law was on my side, that’s when I decided to file.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: Federal law guarantees every student with a disability a free and appropriate public education, which Tabitha feels Sam is being denied. So Tabitha eventually turns to the federal government for help. She filed a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: When we don’t teach him to read, he doesn’t have the option to be an explorer through reading. When we don’t teach him to access the building and give him the supports he needs, then he doesn’t make those peer buddies, and his world is limited to just his family and not his community. So that’s what I’m doing. I’m opening up the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: CONSIDER THIS – the federal government is seeing an all-time high of discrimination complaints, many from families of students with disabilities. Coming up, how one mother is fighting for her son to get a quality education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: From NPR, I’m Adrian Florido.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: It’s CONSIDER THIS FROM NPR. Students with disabilities often face a tough time getting the services they need at school. When they can’t get them, many families seek help from the federal government. And right now, the Department of Education is swamped with a record number of discrimination complaints. That backlog is leaving families across the country waiting months, even years, for help. NPR’s Jonaki Mehta visited one such family in central Georgia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JONAKI MEHTA, BYLINE: It’s a lazy summer day for many kids in middle Georgia. But one family of 10 is up and at them on a Tuesday morning at 7:30.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: It’s a messy house – well lived in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Full-time parent and former special education teacher Tabitha calls up to her husband, John.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Dad, can you bring Sam down?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Their youngest of eight children, Sam, is rubbing his eyes as he comes down the stairs in his father’s arm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Here comes Mr. Sam. Good morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam’s got a busy day ahead. He’ll have a lesson with his new teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing, an occupational therapy session, followed by speech and language pathology. Sam is a smiling, wiggly 6-year-old who loves to dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAM: (Laughter).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Today, he’s chosen to wear a purple T-shirt with a roaring blue T. rex across the back.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Oh, he’s a dinosaur fanatic – anything scary and big and powerful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam has significant disabilities, including cri-du-chat syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. He mostly gets around using a wheelchair. Sam’s also partially deaf. His primary language is American Sign Language, or ASL. Lately, he’s been practicing his name. It’s an outward-facing fist stroking one cheek. It stands for Sam giggles, which he does a lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SAM: (Laughter).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam lives in a small town, so we’re only using first names in this story, since he and his siblings are minors, and we want to freely discuss Sam’s disabilities. Once Sam is done with his morning routine of nebulizers and medications, he signs the word ball to tell his mom he’s ready for his favorite activity…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF BALLS THUMPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: …Playing in his ball pit. Sam’s parents and nurse can provide him with much of the support he needs at home, but his education has proven to be a huge obstacle. Since February of last year, Sam’s been doing virtual school. Before that, he was going to school in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: But then there were so many issues with transporting. They couldn’t transport his equipment. They couldn’t have his wheelchair.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: At first, there was no school bus with wheelchair access. At one point, Tabitha says the district asked her to leave Sam’s wheelchair at school throughout the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Sam’s nurse would have to carry him up the steps, put him into a seat belt. The bus driver and the aide would carry up the bags, you know…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: And with his medical equipment, that’s a lot of bags. Tabitha would often end up taking Sam to school herself, equipment in tow. The newly built school campus is only a few blocks from their home. But she’d often get there to find the four accessible parking spaces blocked by school police cars. She showed me dozens of pictures and drove me to the school lot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: And we find that there’s obstacles every time we come, whether it’s a…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Tabitha drives over and shows me a crosswalk with a curb cutout for wheelchair access on one side, but no cutout on the other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: So there’s no access for us to cross the street safely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: When he was going to school in person, Sam was in a general education classroom along with other pre-K students, but…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: He was never given a special ed teacher in that class or special ed support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: His school district acknowledges that Sam primarily communicates in ASL and that his hearing could worsen, but district reports say Sam’s current hearing loss does not meet Georgia’s criteria for deaf or hard of hearing, meaning they don’t have to provide him instruction in ASL.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: It’s that whole theory of he’s not deaf enough. I don’t know if you know how offensive that term is. I’m being told, but he can hear, and I’m saying, but he can’t hear all of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: NPR reached out to the director of special education in the district. She said she couldn’t speak about Sam’s case with me to protect his privacy. But in an email, she said, quote, “the district takes each student’s individual needs into account when developing individual educational programs for students with disabilities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>States and districts have long complained that the onus falls on them for providing services because the federal government has historically failed to provide the funds they promised states for special education. For Tabitha, her frustration led her to file a complaint with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in December 2022. She had a long list of concerns for Sam, like wheelchair access issues and lack of special ed support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five months later, OCR told Tabitha they would investigate three things – whether Sam was being denied a free and appropriate public education, which is guaranteed by federal law, whether the playground was inaccessible to disabled people and whether the parking lot was inaccessible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: I thought that OCR would be able to handle this, that we would make some forward progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: But the investigation into Sam’s case has been going on for a year and a half now – valuable time in Sam’s young life and his education. Over the course of a year in 2022 and 2023, the Department of Education received over 19,000 discrimination complaints based on race, color, national origin, sex, age and disability. I heard from many parents around the country who said their cases took too long to resolve.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CATHERINE LHAMON: I share the frustrations that you’re hearing from families about how long that takes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: That’s Catherine Lhamon. She’s the assistant secretary of education for civil rights.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LHAMON: And we also owe them careful evaluation of facts to figure out how the law applies to the particular concern, and that is invariably a complicated process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Lhamon says OCR’s investigators are overwhelmed, with more than 50 cases each. Part of the problem is a backlog from the pandemic, but it’s also about money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LHAMON: Last year, Congress flat-funded our office, and that meant we are not able to bring on new people, even though we are now seeing close to double the cases we were seeing 10 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: There is one option Lhamon says has made faster resolutions possible – early mediation. Now, parents and districts can easily opt for a meeting with an OCR mediator instead of a formal investigation. For Tabitha and John, mediation didn’t work out in a past state complaint, so this time, they opted for an investigation. While some of their concerns with the district have deepened since they filed, they have seen some progress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The school eventually provided a bus with wheelchair access. Last year, Sam got an ASL interpreter, though the district has since taken that service away. And just a couple of weeks before I met him, Sam started Zoom lessons with Jessica (ph), a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JESSICA: OK. Your turn to sign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Backpack. Good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JESSICA: Backpack – you remember that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: In the lesson I watched, Sam read a story with Jessica and signed his responses to some of her questions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>JESSICA: You read today, and you matched.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: It’s magic. He has learned more sign in the last three weeks faster than he’s ever picked up sign language before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Tabitha says that’s all great, but it’s only for five hours a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Imagine if that was every day, like it’s supposed to be, and all day, like it’s supposed to be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Now Tabitha is considering suing the school district. But with a single income and a family of 10, she doesn’t know if they can afford a lawyer. This whole process has been draining for her, but Tabitha tears up as she tells me why her fight for Sam matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: (Crying) There’s a certain reality you face where you’re grieving your child, and they’re still here. I totally want to give him everything while he’s with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: What’s your dream for Sam? Like, what do you want for his future?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: If Sam’s future is wide open, that’s my dream. Like, I want him to experience what every 6-year-old gets to experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: As we drive back from the school, Sam signs to his mom through the rearview mirror.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Yes. Signing swim right now – splash, splash, splash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: At the small, gated pool in their backyard, off comes Sam’s orthosis braces and shoes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF VELCRO RIPPING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Off come his socks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Can you help me take off your socks? Put them off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: Sam slides to the edge of the water and sticks in his bare feet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: Kick, kick, kick – fast, fast, fast, fast – (vocalizing).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: When Tabitha tries to convince him to go inside the house, Sam instead signs what any 6-year-old splashing in a swimming pool on a hot summer day would – more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>TABITHA: More? You want in more? (Laughter) Just a little bit more, OK?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MEHTA: In middle Georgia, I’m Jonaki Mehta, NPR News.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: This episode was produced by Jonaki Mehta and Marc Rivers. It was edited by Steven Drummond and Adam Raney. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. Thanks to our CONSIDER THIS+ listeners, who support the work of NPR journalists and help keep public radio strong. Supporters also hear every episode without messages from sponsors. Learn more at plus.npr.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FLORIDO: It’s CONSIDER THIS FROM NPR. I’m Adrian Florido.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copyright 2024 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Why Children with Disabilities Are Missing School and Losing Skills",
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"content": "\u003cp>On a recent school day in Del Norte County, Calif., in one of the state’s northernmost school districts, 17-year-old Emma Lenover sits at home on the couch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some ways, Emma is a typical teen. She loves Disneyland and dance class. But she has already faced more adversity than some classmates will in a lifetime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of October and all of November, there was no school because there was no aide,” says Emma’s mother, Melony Lenover, leaning her elbows into the kitchen table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emma has multiple health conditions, including cerebral palsy. She uses a wheelchair, a feeding tube and is nonverbal. To communicate, she uses a special device, like an iPad, that speaks a word or phrase when she presses the corresponding button. She is also immunocompromised and has mostly done school from home this year, over Zoom, with help from an aide in the classroom. At least, that’s what was supposed to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melony Lenover says her daughter’s special education plan with the district guarantees her a dedicated, one-on-one aide. But the district is in the throes of a special education staffing crisis. In the fall, without an aide, Emma had to stop school. As a result, she missed out on the dance and art classes she loves and regressed on her communication device.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that a district could struggle so mightily with special education staffing that students are missing school – that’s not just a Del Norte problem. \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/10_17_2023.asp\">A recent federal survey\u003c/a> of school districts across the U.S. found special education jobs were among the hardest to staff and vacancies were widespread. But what’s happening in Del Norte is extreme. Which is why the Lenovers and five other families are \u003ca href=\"https://wildrivers.lostcoastoutpost.com/2023/dec/22/staffing-shortage-have-been-impacting-dnusd-specia/\">suing the school district\u003c/a>, as well as state education leadership, with help from the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Education says it cannot comment on pending litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very, very, very, very difficult when we are trying to bring people on board, trying to provide these services, when we want the best that we can give – cause that’s our job – and we can’t,” says Del Norte Superintendent Jeff Harris. Harris says he cannot comment on the lawsuit, but he acknowledges the staffing crisis in Del Norte is very real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63805\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-63805 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped1.jpeg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped1-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma Lenover, left, works through a literacy lesson at home with special education teacher Sarah Elston. Emma loves these visits and, on this day, waited anxiously at the picture window for Elston to arrive. \u003ccite>(Cory Turner/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December, after the lawsuit was filed, district special educator Sarah Elston told the local \u003ca href=\"https://wildrivers.lostcoastoutpost.com/2023/dec/22/staffing-shortage-have-been-impacting-dnusd-specia/\">Wild Rivers Outpost\u003c/a>: “Just a few days ago I had two or three [aides] call out sick, they weren’t coming to work, and so this starts my morning at 5:30 having to figure out who’s going to be with this student… It is constant crisis management that we do in special education today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Del Norte’s isolation makes it more difficult to hire needed staff\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The district sits hidden away like a secret between Oregon, the frigid Pacific and some of the largest redwood trees in the world. It’s too isolated and the pay is not competitive enough, Harris says, to attract workers from outside Del Norte. Locally, these aides – like the one Emma requires – earn about as much as they would working at McDonald’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris has even tried hiring contractors from Oregon. But “it’s a two-hour drive from southern Oregon here,” Harris says, “so four hours of the paid contract time was not even serving students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s hiring process is also too burdensome, according to Harris, taking weeks to fill a job. Hoping to change that, the district declared a special education staffing state of emergency earlier this school year, but the problem remains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, the district still had more than 40 special education job openings posted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melony Lenover says she knows supporting Emma can be challenging. But decades ago, Congress made clear, through the federal \u003ca href=\"https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-i/1401/9\">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act\u003c/a>, that her daughter is legally entitled to that support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government said it would cover 40% of the cost of providing special education services, but it has never come close to fulfilling that promise. In 2023, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.naesp.org/blog/funding-falls-short-for-students-with-disabilities/#:~:text=From%20its%20inception%2C%20IDEA%20authorized,to%20provide%20special%20education%20services.\">National Association of Elementary School Principals said\u003c/a>, “Since the law was enacted, the closest the federal government has come to reaching the 40 percent commitment was 18 percent in 2004-2006, and current funding is at less than 13 percent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this leaves Melony Lenover chafing at what she considers a double standard for children with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’d been one of my typically-functioning kids who are not in school for two months, [the school district] would be coming after me,” Lenover says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many places, a child who has missed about 18 school days – far less than Emma – is considered chronically absent. It’s a crisis that triggers a range of emergency interventions. Lenover says Emma’s absences weren’t treated with nearly the same urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Emma Lenover still doesn’t have a dedicated aide, she is finally getting help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We said as a team, enough is enough,” says Sarah Elston, who is Emma’s special education teacher. “We’re gonna do whatever it takes to get this girl an education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elston has been working with her high school principal to patch together as much help as they can for Emma, including shifting a classroom aide to help Emma participate remotely in one of her favorite classes, dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How the staffing shortage can become dangerous\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Linda Vang is another plaintiff in the Del Norte lawsuit, alongside Emma Lenover’s parents. On a recent Thursday, she sits at her kitchen table, her back to a refrigerator covered with family photos. She grips her phone hard, like a lifeline, watching old videos of her son, Shawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cell phone videos show a young boy with a broad smile, being urged by his mother to pull up his socks. Or being taught by his doting sister to ride a scooter. Or dressed up for what appears to be a wedding, and doing the chicken dance. He is a joyful kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much has changed since then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn is a pseudonym, chosen by Vang and his attorneys in the lawsuit. We’re not using his real name because Shawn is a minor and his mother asked us to protect his identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand Shawn’s role in the lawsuit – and the depths of Del Norte’s staffing crisis – you have to understand what happened to him on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was 15 at the time. Shawn has autism and is nonverbal, and as part of his special education plan, he gets his own, dedicated aide at school. But again, because of Del Norte’s struggles to hire enough special education staff, those aides are often in short supply and undertrained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn’s lead teacher that day, Brittany Wyckoff, says, when he grew frustrated in class, his fill-in aide did not follow procedure. It was snack time, but “this staff said, ‘No, you’re not being calm’ and pulled [the snack] away. So that wasn’t the appropriate way to handle it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another staff member later told police Shawn had begun to calm down, but the aide still wouldn’t give him the snack – pistachios. Instead, Wyckoff says, the aide used a firm tone and continued telling Shawn to calm down. Shawn got more agitated, hitting himself in the face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The aide later told police he began to worry Shawn might try to bite him – because Shawn had bitten other staff before. Witnesses told police he warned Shawn, “You will not bite me. You will not bite me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyckoff says standard procedure, when a student gets agitated and potentially violent, is to move classroom furniture – a table, a desk – between your body and the student. Instead, Wyckoff says, this aide moved furniture out of the way. When Shawn moved toward the aide, unobstructed, the aide raised his hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The staff member just instantly reached out and choked [Shawn],” Wyckoff remembers. “And full-on, like one hand over the other hand choke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple staff told police, Shawn had not tried to bite the aide. Wyckoff says she was yelling at the aide to stop and finally pulled him off of Shawn, “who was turning purple.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How the incident led to missed school\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The aide left school after choking Shawn and went to a local bar for a beer, according to the police report. He later told police he’d acted in self-defense. When he was arrested, for child endangerment, and asked why he hadn’t called police himself, the aide said, because he’d been in many similar situations and didn’t think this rose to that level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district attorney ultimately chose not to file charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63803\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-63803 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped2.jpeg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped2-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma, left, works with her sister, Kelsey Mercer, to join one of her favorite school classes, dance, from home. \u003ccite>(Cory Turner/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Linda Vang says the incident changed Shawn. He became less trusting and was scared to return to the classroom. “It is the hardest thing in my life to watch my son go through this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make matters worse, after the incident, the school couldn’t provide Shawn with a new aide, and, like Emma Lenover, he couldn’t do school without one. After the encounter, he was forced to miss two months of school – because of the staffing crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just week after week, them telling us, ‘There’s no staff. There’s no staff,’ ” Vang remembers. “I feel for him. I’m angry for him. I’m upset for him. It’s hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, Superintendent Jeff Harris can’t comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, or on the incident involving Shawn, but he defends the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t come in everyday going, ‘How can we mess with people’s lives?’ We come in every day going, ‘What can we do \u003cem>today\u003c/em> to make this work?’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn, like Emma, lost skills during his time away from school. His mother says he struggled more to control his behavior and was less willing to use his communication device.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn is back at school and finally improving, Vang says. He even likes the aide he has now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It has been very hard the last year. But you know, we’re getting there. You know, I’m doing my best, every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>With inadequate staff, students can lose vital skills\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Wyckoff, Shawn’s former teacher, says the staff shortage is so acute that some aides are being hired with little to no special education experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They could know absolutely nothing about working with a student with special needs,” Wyckoff says, “and [the district] is like ‘Hey, you’ve gotta work with the most intensively behaviorally challenging student. Good luck!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyckoff says the staff the district \u003cem>is \u003c/em>able to hire need more and better training, too. The stakes are just too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Harris says the district does provide staff training, but he also has to balance that with the need to get staff into classrooms quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veteran special education staff in Del Norte tell NPR they’ve seen what happens when students with disabilities don’t get consistent, quality support: They lose skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One particular student, he was doing well,” says Emily Caldwell, a speech-language pathologist in the district. “We were talking about removing his communication device from coming to school because he’s communicating verbally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caldwell works with many students who, like Shawn and Emma, use a communication device. This student, though, had been learning to use his own voice. It was a big deal, Caldwell says. But the student began losing those skills as he was shuffled between inexperienced staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63804\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63804\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped3-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped3-1.jpeg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped3-1-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma, right, communicates with her sisters Ashley Lenover, left, and Kelsey Mercer using body language and a special tablet device. \u003ccite>(Cory Turner/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, “he’s not communicating verbally at school anymore, he’s only using his device and only when prompted,” Caldwell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a student whose toileting skills have regressed,” says Sarah Elston, Emma’s teacher. “I have more than one student who have lost skills on their [communication] device, that is their only way of communicating with the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This sense of loss, Elston says, keeps her up at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Jeff Harris acknowledges the effects of the staffing crisis have been painful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you have a child who can’t do something that they were able to do before because they don’t have that consistency, that’s hard. I mean, that’s a knife to the heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Looking forward\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit against the Del Norte Unified School District and state education officials is ongoing. The families hope it will not only help their children, but also raise awareness around a crisis they know is larger than themselves – and larger than Del Norte.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Del Norte teachers are doing everything they can to support their students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elston, Wyckoff and Caldwell all say they have raised alarms with the district around students not getting the support they’re entitled to – and even being mistreated by untrained or inexperienced staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caldwell says some veteran staff have quit out of frustration. Though she insists, she’s staying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just worry,” Caldwell says, tearing up. “The kids I work with, most of them don’t communicate effectively without support. And so they can’t go home and be like, ‘Hey, Mom, so-and-so held me in a chair today.’ And so I feel like, if I wasn’t there and if I wasn’t being that voice and that advocate, who would be?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Digital story edited by: Nicole Cohen\u003cbr>\nAudio stories produced by: Lauren Migaki\u003cbr>\nAudio stories edited by: Nicole Cohen and Steve Drummond\u003cbr>\nVisual design and development by: LA Johnson\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>On a recent school day in Del Norte County, Calif., in one of the state’s northernmost school districts, 17-year-old Emma Lenover sits at home on the couch.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In some ways, Emma is a typical teen. She loves Disneyland and dance class. But she has already faced more adversity than some classmates will in a lifetime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All of October and all of November, there was no school because there was no aide,” says Emma’s mother, Melony Lenover, leaning her elbows into the kitchen table.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emma has multiple health conditions, including cerebral palsy. She uses a wheelchair, a feeding tube and is nonverbal. To communicate, she uses a special device, like an iPad, that speaks a word or phrase when she presses the corresponding button. She is also immunocompromised and has mostly done school from home this year, over Zoom, with help from an aide in the classroom. At least, that’s what was supposed to happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melony Lenover says her daughter’s special education plan with the district guarantees her a dedicated, one-on-one aide. But the district is in the throes of a special education staffing crisis. In the fall, without an aide, Emma had to stop school. As a result, she missed out on the dance and art classes she loves and regressed on her communication device.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The fact that a district could struggle so mightily with special education staffing that students are missing school – that’s not just a Del Norte problem. \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/10_17_2023.asp\">A recent federal survey\u003c/a> of school districts across the U.S. found special education jobs were among the hardest to staff and vacancies were widespread. But what’s happening in Del Norte is extreme. Which is why the Lenovers and five other families are \u003ca href=\"https://wildrivers.lostcoastoutpost.com/2023/dec/22/staffing-shortage-have-been-impacting-dnusd-specia/\">suing the school district\u003c/a>, as well as state education leadership, with help from the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Department of Education says it cannot comment on pending litigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very, very, very, very difficult when we are trying to bring people on board, trying to provide these services, when we want the best that we can give – cause that’s our job – and we can’t,” says Del Norte Superintendent Jeff Harris. Harris says he cannot comment on the lawsuit, but he acknowledges the staffing crisis in Del Norte is very real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63805\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-63805 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped1.jpeg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped1-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma Lenover, left, works through a literacy lesson at home with special education teacher Sarah Elston. Emma loves these visits and, on this day, waited anxiously at the picture window for Elston to arrive. \u003ccite>(Cory Turner/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In December, after the lawsuit was filed, district special educator Sarah Elston told the local \u003ca href=\"https://wildrivers.lostcoastoutpost.com/2023/dec/22/staffing-shortage-have-been-impacting-dnusd-specia/\">Wild Rivers Outpost\u003c/a>: “Just a few days ago I had two or three [aides] call out sick, they weren’t coming to work, and so this starts my morning at 5:30 having to figure out who’s going to be with this student… It is constant crisis management that we do in special education today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Del Norte’s isolation makes it more difficult to hire needed staff\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The district sits hidden away like a secret between Oregon, the frigid Pacific and some of the largest redwood trees in the world. It’s too isolated and the pay is not competitive enough, Harris says, to attract workers from outside Del Norte. Locally, these aides – like the one Emma requires – earn about as much as they would working at McDonald’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harris has even tried hiring contractors from Oregon. But “it’s a two-hour drive from southern Oregon here,” Harris says, “so four hours of the paid contract time was not even serving students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district’s hiring process is also too burdensome, according to Harris, taking weeks to fill a job. Hoping to change that, the district declared a special education staffing state of emergency earlier this school year, but the problem remains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, the district still had more than 40 special education job openings posted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Melony Lenover says she knows supporting Emma can be challenging. But decades ago, Congress made clear, through the federal \u003ca href=\"https://sites.ed.gov/idea/statute-chapter-33/subchapter-i/1401/9\">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act\u003c/a>, that her daughter is legally entitled to that support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government said it would cover 40% of the cost of providing special education services, but it has never come close to fulfilling that promise. In 2023, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.naesp.org/blog/funding-falls-short-for-students-with-disabilities/#:~:text=From%20its%20inception%2C%20IDEA%20authorized,to%20provide%20special%20education%20services.\">National Association of Elementary School Principals said\u003c/a>, “Since the law was enacted, the closest the federal government has come to reaching the 40 percent commitment was 18 percent in 2004-2006, and current funding is at less than 13 percent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All this leaves Melony Lenover chafing at what she considers a double standard for children with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’d been one of my typically-functioning kids who are not in school for two months, [the school district] would be coming after me,” Lenover says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many places, a child who has missed about 18 school days – far less than Emma – is considered chronically absent. It’s a crisis that triggers a range of emergency interventions. Lenover says Emma’s absences weren’t treated with nearly the same urgency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Emma Lenover still doesn’t have a dedicated aide, she is finally getting help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We said as a team, enough is enough,” says Sarah Elston, who is Emma’s special education teacher. “We’re gonna do whatever it takes to get this girl an education.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elston has been working with her high school principal to patch together as much help as they can for Emma, including shifting a classroom aide to help Emma participate remotely in one of her favorite classes, dance.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How the staffing shortage can become dangerous\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Linda Vang is another plaintiff in the Del Norte lawsuit, alongside Emma Lenover’s parents. On a recent Thursday, she sits at her kitchen table, her back to a refrigerator covered with family photos. She grips her phone hard, like a lifeline, watching old videos of her son, Shawn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The cell phone videos show a young boy with a broad smile, being urged by his mother to pull up his socks. Or being taught by his doting sister to ride a scooter. Or dressed up for what appears to be a wedding, and doing the chicken dance. He is a joyful kid.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Much has changed since then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn is a pseudonym, chosen by Vang and his attorneys in the lawsuit. We’re not using his real name because Shawn is a minor and his mother asked us to protect his identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To understand Shawn’s role in the lawsuit – and the depths of Del Norte’s staffing crisis – you have to understand what happened to him on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was 15 at the time. Shawn has autism and is nonverbal, and as part of his special education plan, he gets his own, dedicated aide at school. But again, because of Del Norte’s struggles to hire enough special education staff, those aides are often in short supply and undertrained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn’s lead teacher that day, Brittany Wyckoff, says, when he grew frustrated in class, his fill-in aide did not follow procedure. It was snack time, but “this staff said, ‘No, you’re not being calm’ and pulled [the snack] away. So that wasn’t the appropriate way to handle it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another staff member later told police Shawn had begun to calm down, but the aide still wouldn’t give him the snack – pistachios. Instead, Wyckoff says, the aide used a firm tone and continued telling Shawn to calm down. Shawn got more agitated, hitting himself in the face.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The aide later told police he began to worry Shawn might try to bite him – because Shawn had bitten other staff before. Witnesses told police he warned Shawn, “You will not bite me. You will not bite me.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyckoff says standard procedure, when a student gets agitated and potentially violent, is to move classroom furniture – a table, a desk – between your body and the student. Instead, Wyckoff says, this aide moved furniture out of the way. When Shawn moved toward the aide, unobstructed, the aide raised his hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The staff member just instantly reached out and choked [Shawn],” Wyckoff remembers. “And full-on, like one hand over the other hand choke.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Multiple staff told police, Shawn had not tried to bite the aide. Wyckoff says she was yelling at the aide to stop and finally pulled him off of Shawn, “who was turning purple.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How the incident led to missed school\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The aide left school after choking Shawn and went to a local bar for a beer, according to the police report. He later told police he’d acted in self-defense. When he was arrested, for child endangerment, and asked why he hadn’t called police himself, the aide said, because he’d been in many similar situations and didn’t think this rose to that level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district attorney ultimately chose not to file charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63803\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-63803 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped2.jpeg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped2-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma, left, works with her sister, Kelsey Mercer, to join one of her favorite school classes, dance, from home. \u003ccite>(Cory Turner/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Linda Vang says the incident changed Shawn. He became less trusting and was scared to return to the classroom. “It is the hardest thing in my life to watch my son go through this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To make matters worse, after the incident, the school couldn’t provide Shawn with a new aide, and, like Emma Lenover, he couldn’t do school without one. After the encounter, he was forced to miss two months of school – because of the staffing crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just week after week, them telling us, ‘There’s no staff. There’s no staff,’ ” Vang remembers. “I feel for him. I’m angry for him. I’m upset for him. It’s hard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Again, Superintendent Jeff Harris can’t comment on the specifics of the lawsuit, or on the incident involving Shawn, but he defends the district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t come in everyday going, ‘How can we mess with people’s lives?’ We come in every day going, ‘What can we do \u003cem>today\u003c/em> to make this work?’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn, like Emma, lost skills during his time away from school. His mother says he struggled more to control his behavior and was less willing to use his communication device.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Shawn is back at school and finally improving, Vang says. He even likes the aide he has now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It has been very hard the last year. But you know, we’re getting there. You know, I’m doing my best, every single day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>With inadequate staff, students can lose vital skills\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Wyckoff, Shawn’s former teacher, says the staff shortage is so acute that some aides are being hired with little to no special education experience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They could know absolutely nothing about working with a student with special needs,” Wyckoff says, “and [the district] is like ‘Hey, you’ve gotta work with the most intensively behaviorally challenging student. Good luck!'”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wyckoff says the staff the district \u003cem>is \u003c/em>able to hire need more and better training, too. The stakes are just too high.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Harris says the district does provide staff training, but he also has to balance that with the need to get staff into classrooms quickly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veteran special education staff in Del Norte tell NPR they’ve seen what happens when students with disabilities don’t get consistent, quality support: They lose skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One particular student, he was doing well,” says Emily Caldwell, a speech-language pathologist in the district. “We were talking about removing his communication device from coming to school because he’s communicating verbally.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caldwell works with many students who, like Shawn and Emma, use a communication device. This student, though, had been learning to use his own voice. It was a big deal, Caldwell says. But the student began losing those skills as he was shuffled between inexperienced staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63804\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 700px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63804\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped3-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"525\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped3-1.jpeg 700w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/05/sped3-1-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emma, right, communicates with her sisters Ashley Lenover, left, and Kelsey Mercer using body language and a special tablet device. \u003ccite>(Cory Turner/NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Now, “he’s not communicating verbally at school anymore, he’s only using his device and only when prompted,” Caldwell says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have a student whose toileting skills have regressed,” says Sarah Elston, Emma’s teacher. “I have more than one student who have lost skills on their [communication] device, that is their only way of communicating with the world.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This sense of loss, Elston says, keeps her up at night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Superintendent Jeff Harris acknowledges the effects of the staffing crisis have been painful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you have a child who can’t do something that they were able to do before because they don’t have that consistency, that’s hard. I mean, that’s a knife to the heart.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Looking forward\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit against the Del Norte Unified School District and state education officials is ongoing. The families hope it will not only help their children, but also raise awareness around a crisis they know is larger than themselves – and larger than Del Norte.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, Del Norte teachers are doing everything they can to support their students with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Elston, Wyckoff and Caldwell all say they have raised alarms with the district around students not getting the support they’re entitled to – and even being mistreated by untrained or inexperienced staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Caldwell says some veteran staff have quit out of frustration. Though she insists, she’s staying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just worry,” Caldwell says, tearing up. “The kids I work with, most of them don’t communicate effectively without support. And so they can’t go home and be like, ‘Hey, Mom, so-and-so held me in a chair today.’ And so I feel like, if I wasn’t there and if I wasn’t being that voice and that advocate, who would be?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "The Surprising Effects of $10,000 Pay Hikes for Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Areas",
"headTitle": "The Surprising Effects of $10,000 Pay Hikes for Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Areas | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">School leaders nationwide often complain about how \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/10_17_2023.asp\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hard it is to hire teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and how teaching job vacancies have mushroomed. Fixing the problem is not easy because those shortages aren’t universal. Wealthy suburbs can have a surplus of qualified applicants for elementary schools at the same time that a remote, rural school cannot find anyone to teach high school physics. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/01623737241235224?journalCode=epaa\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> published online in April 2024 in the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis illustrates the inconsistencies of teacher shortages in Tennessee, where one district had a surplus of high school social studies teachers, while a neighboring district had severe shortages. Nearly every district struggled to find high school math teachers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tennessee’s teacher shortages are worse in math, foreign languages and special education\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63490\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63490\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2-160x98.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2-768x473.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2019–2020 survey of Tennessee school districts showed staffing challenges for each subject. Tech = technology; CTE = career and technical education; ESL = English as a second language. \u003ccite>(Source: Edwards et al (2024), “Teacher Shortages: A Framework for Understanding and Predicting Vacancies.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>High school math teacher shortages were widespread in Tennessee\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63488\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4-160x36.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4-768x173.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Surpluses of high school social studies teachers were next door to severe shortages\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63489\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3-160x37.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3-768x178.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Elementary school teacher shortages were problems in Memphis and Nashville, but not in Knoxville\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6-160x38.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6-768x184.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"143\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5-160x29.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5-768x141.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Perceived staffing challenges from a 2019-20 survey of Tennessee school districts. \u003ccite>(Source: Edwards et al (2024), “A Framework for Understanding and Predicting Vacancies.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Economists have long argued that solutions should be \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/a-smart-strategy-for-tackling-teacher-shortages/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">targeted at specific shortages\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Pay raises for all teachers, or subsidies to train future teachers, may be good ideas. But broad policies to promote the whole teaching profession may not alleviate shortages if teachers continue to gravitate toward popular specialties and geographic areas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some school systems have been experimenting with targeted financial incentives. Separate groups of researchers studied what happened in two places – Hawaii and Dallas, Texas – when teachers were offered significant pay hikes, ranging from $6,000 to $18,000 a year, to take hard-to-fill jobs. In Hawaii, special education vacancies continued to grow, while the financial incentives to work with children with disabilities unintentionally aggravated shortages in general education classrooms. In Dallas, the incentives lured excellent teachers to high-poverty schools. Student performance subsequently skyrocketed so much that the schools no longer qualified for the bump in teacher pay. Teachers left and student test scores fell back down again. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This doesn’t mean that targeted financial incentives are a bad or a failed idea. But the two studies show how the details of these pay hikes matter because there can be unintended consequences or obstacles. Some teaching specialities – such as special education – may have challenges that teacher pay hikes alone cannot solve. But these studies could help point policy makers toward better solutions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I learned about the Hawaii study in March 2024 when Roddy Theobald, a statistician at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), presented a working paper, “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://caldercenter.org/publications/impact-10000-bonus-special-education-teacher-shortages-hawai%E2%80%98i\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Impact of a $10,000 Bonus on Special Education Teacher Shortages in Hawai’i\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” at the annual conference of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. (The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in an academic journal and could still be revised.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the fall of 2020, Hawaii began offering all of its special education teachers an extra $10,000 a year. If teachers took a job in an historically hard-to-staff school, they also received a bonus of up to $8,000, for a potential total pay raise of $18,000. Either way, it was a huge bump atop a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/OTM/TeachersSalarySchedule20-21.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">$50,000 base salary\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Theobald and his five co-authors at AIR and Boston University calculated that the pay hikes reduced the proportion of special education vacancies by a third. On the surface, that sounds like a success, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/hawaii-disability-education-teacher-shortage/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">other news outlets reported it that way\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But special ed vacancies actually rose over the study period, which coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, and ultimately ended up higher than before the pay hike. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was reduced by a third was the gap between special ed and general ed vacancies. Vacancies among both groups of teachers initially plummeted during 2020-21, even though only special ed teachers were offered the $10,000. (Perhaps the urgency of the pandemic inspired all teachers to stay in their jobs.) Afterwards, vacancies began to rise again, but special ed vacancies didn’t increase as fast as general ed vacancies. That’s a sign that special ed vacancies might have been even worse had there been no $10,000 bonus. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the researchers dug into the data, they discovered that this relative difference in vacancies was almost entirely driven by job switches at hard-to-staff schools. General education teachers were crossing the hallway and taking special education openings to make an extra $10,000. Theobald described it as “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These job switches were possible because, as it turns out, many general education teachers initially trained to teach special education and held the necessary credentials. Some never even tried special ed teaching and decided to go into general education classrooms instead. But the pay bump was enough for some to reconsider special ed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Hawaii’s special education teacher vacancies initially fell after $10,000 pay hikes in 2020, but subsequently rose again\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63491\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1-160x101.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1-768x485.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The dots represent the vacancy rates for two types of teachers. \u003ccite>(Source: Theobald et al, “The Impact of a $10,000 Bonus on Special Education Teacher Shortages in Hawai‘i,” CALDER Working Paper No. 290-0823)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This study doesn’t explain why so many special education teachers left their jobs in 2021 and 2022 despite the pay incentives or why more new teachers didn’t want these higher paying jobs. In a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/hawaii-disability-education-teacher-shortage/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">December 2023 story in Mother Jones\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, special education teachers in Hawaii described difficult working conditions and how there were too few teaching assistants to help with all of their students’ special needs. Working with students with disabilities is a challenging job, and perhaps no amount of money can offset the emotional drain and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244020918297\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">burnout that so many special education teachers experience\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dallas’s experience with pay hikes, by contrast, began as a textbook example of how targeted incentives ought to work. In 2016, the city’s school system designated four low-performing, high-poverty schools for a new \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/46767\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE)\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> initiative. Teachers with high ratings could earn an extra $6,000 to $10,000 (depending upon their individual ratings) to work at these struggling elementary and middle schools. Existing teachers were screened to keep their jobs and only 20% of the staff passed the threshold and remained. (There were other reforms too, such as uniforms and a small increase in instructional time, but the teacher stipends were the main thrust and made up 85% of the ACE budget.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five researchers, including economists Eric Hanushek at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and Steven Rivkin at the University of Illinois Chicago, calculated that test scores jumped immediately after the pay incentives kicked in while scores at other low-performing elementary and middle schools in Dallas barely budged. Student achievement at these previously lowest-performing schools came close to the district average for all of Dallas. The district launched a second wave of ACE schools in 2018 and again, the researchers saw similar improvements in student achievement. Results are in a working paper, “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://caldercenter.org/publications/attracting-and-retaining-highly-effective-educators-hard-staff-schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Attracting and Retaining Highly Effective Educators in Hard-to-Staff Schools\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” I read a January 2024 version. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The program turned out to be so successful at boosting student achievement that three of the four initial ACE schools no longer qualified for the stipends by 2019. Over 40% of the high-performing teachers left their ACE schools. Student achievement fell sharply, reversing most of the gains that had been made.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For students, it was a roller coaster ride. Amber Northern, head of research at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, blamed adults for \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/ups-and-downs-dallass-pay-performance-roller-coaster\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">failing to “prepare for the accomplishment they’d hoped for\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, it’s unclear what should have been done. Allowing these schools to continue the stipends would have eaten up millions of dollars that could have been used to help other low-performing schools. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And even if there were enough money to give teacher stipends at every low-performing school, there’s not an infinite supply of highly effective teachers. Not all of them want to work at challenging, high poverty schools. Some prefer the easier conditions of a high-income magnet school. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These were two good faith efforts that showed the limits of throwing money at specific types of teacher shortages. At best, they are a cautionary tale for policymakers as they move forward. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This story about \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-when-schools-experimented-with-10000-pay-hikes-for-teachers-in-hard-to-staff-areas-the-results-were-surprising/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">teacher pay\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was written by Jill Barshay and produced by \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/span>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proofpoints/\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Proof Points newsletter\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">School leaders nationwide often complain about how \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/10_17_2023.asp\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">hard it is to hire teachers\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and how teaching job vacancies have mushroomed. Fixing the problem is not easy because those shortages aren’t universal. Wealthy suburbs can have a surplus of qualified applicants for elementary schools at the same time that a remote, rural school cannot find anyone to teach high school physics. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">A \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/01623737241235224?journalCode=epaa\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">study\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> published online in April 2024 in the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis illustrates the inconsistencies of teacher shortages in Tennessee, where one district had a surplus of high school social studies teachers, while a neighboring district had severe shortages. Nearly every district struggled to find high school math teachers. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Tennessee’s teacher shortages are worse in math, foreign languages and special education\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63490\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63490\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2-160x98.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image2-768x473.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A 2019–2020 survey of Tennessee school districts showed staffing challenges for each subject. Tech = technology; CTE = career and technical education; ESL = English as a second language. \u003ccite>(Source: Edwards et al (2024), “Teacher Shortages: A Framework for Understanding and Predicting Vacancies.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>High school math teacher shortages were widespread in Tennessee\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63488\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4-160x36.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image4-768x173.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Surpluses of high school social studies teachers were next door to severe shortages\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63489\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"181\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3-160x37.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image3-768x178.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Elementary school teacher shortages were problems in Memphis and Nashville, but not in Knoxville\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-63486\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"187\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6-160x38.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image6-768x184.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63487\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63487\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"143\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5-160x29.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image5-768x141.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Perceived staffing challenges from a 2019-20 survey of Tennessee school districts. \u003ccite>(Source: Edwards et al (2024), “A Framework for Understanding and Predicting Vacancies.” Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis.)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Economists have long argued that solutions should be \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.future-ed.org/a-smart-strategy-for-tackling-teacher-shortages/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">targeted at specific shortages\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Pay raises for all teachers, or subsidies to train future teachers, may be good ideas. But broad policies to promote the whole teaching profession may not alleviate shortages if teachers continue to gravitate toward popular specialties and geographic areas.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Some school systems have been experimenting with targeted financial incentives. Separate groups of researchers studied what happened in two places – Hawaii and Dallas, Texas – when teachers were offered significant pay hikes, ranging from $6,000 to $18,000 a year, to take hard-to-fill jobs. In Hawaii, special education vacancies continued to grow, while the financial incentives to work with children with disabilities unintentionally aggravated shortages in general education classrooms. In Dallas, the incentives lured excellent teachers to high-poverty schools. Student performance subsequently skyrocketed so much that the schools no longer qualified for the bump in teacher pay. Teachers left and student test scores fell back down again. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This doesn’t mean that targeted financial incentives are a bad or a failed idea. But the two studies show how the details of these pay hikes matter because there can be unintended consequences or obstacles. Some teaching specialities – such as special education – may have challenges that teacher pay hikes alone cannot solve. But these studies could help point policy makers toward better solutions.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">I learned about the Hawaii study in March 2024 when Roddy Theobald, a statistician at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), presented a working paper, “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://caldercenter.org/publications/impact-10000-bonus-special-education-teacher-shortages-hawai%E2%80%98i\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Impact of a $10,000 Bonus on Special Education Teacher Shortages in Hawai’i\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">,” at the annual conference of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. (The paper has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in an academic journal and could still be revised.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In the fall of 2020, Hawaii began offering all of its special education teachers an extra $10,000 a year. If teachers took a job in an historically hard-to-staff school, they also received a bonus of up to $8,000, for a potential total pay raise of $18,000. Either way, it was a huge bump atop a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.hawaiipublicschools.org/DOE%20Forms/OTM/TeachersSalarySchedule20-21.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">$50,000 base salary\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Theobald and his five co-authors at AIR and Boston University calculated that the pay hikes reduced the proportion of special education vacancies by a third. On the surface, that sounds like a success, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/hawaii-disability-education-teacher-shortage/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">other news outlets reported it that way\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. But special ed vacancies actually rose over the study period, which coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, and ultimately ended up higher than before the pay hike. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">What was reduced by a third was the gap between special ed and general ed vacancies. Vacancies among both groups of teachers initially plummeted during 2020-21, even though only special ed teachers were offered the $10,000. (Perhaps the urgency of the pandemic inspired all teachers to stay in their jobs.) Afterwards, vacancies began to rise again, but special ed vacancies didn’t increase as fast as general ed vacancies. That’s a sign that special ed vacancies might have been even worse had there been no $10,000 bonus. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">As the researchers dug into the data, they discovered that this relative difference in vacancies was almost entirely driven by job switches at hard-to-staff schools. General education teachers were crossing the hallway and taking special education openings to make an extra $10,000. Theobald described it as “robbing Peter to pay Paul.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These job switches were possible because, as it turns out, many general education teachers initially trained to teach special education and held the necessary credentials. Some never even tried special ed teaching and decided to go into general education classrooms instead. But the pay bump was enough for some to reconsider special ed. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Hawaii’s special education teacher vacancies initially fell after $10,000 pay hikes in 2020, but subsequently rose again\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_63491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 780px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-63491\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"780\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1.png 780w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1-160x101.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/04/image1-768x485.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The dots represent the vacancy rates for two types of teachers. \u003ccite>(Source: Theobald et al, “The Impact of a $10,000 Bonus on Special Education Teacher Shortages in Hawai‘i,” CALDER Working Paper No. 290-0823)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This study doesn’t explain why so many special education teachers left their jobs in 2021 and 2022 despite the pay incentives or why more new teachers didn’t want these higher paying jobs. In a \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/hawaii-disability-education-teacher-shortage/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">December 2023 story in Mother Jones\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, special education teachers in Hawaii described difficult working conditions and how there were too few teaching assistants to help with all of their students’ special needs. Working with students with disabilities is a challenging job, and perhaps no amount of money can offset the emotional drain and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2158244020918297\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">burnout that so many special education teachers experience\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Dallas’s experience with pay hikes, by contrast, began as a textbook example of how targeted incentives ought to work. In 2016, the city’s school system designated four low-performing, high-poverty schools for a new \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/46767\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE)\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> initiative. Teachers with high ratings could earn an extra $6,000 to $10,000 (depending upon their individual ratings) to work at these struggling elementary and middle schools. Existing teachers were screened to keep their jobs and only 20% of the staff passed the threshold and remained. (There were other reforms too, such as uniforms and a small increase in instructional time, but the teacher stipends were the main thrust and made up 85% of the ACE budget.)\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Five researchers, including economists Eric Hanushek at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and Steven Rivkin at the University of Illinois Chicago, calculated that test scores jumped immediately after the pay incentives kicked in while scores at other low-performing elementary and middle schools in Dallas barely budged. Student achievement at these previously lowest-performing schools came close to the district average for all of Dallas. The district launched a second wave of ACE schools in 2018 and again, the researchers saw similar improvements in student achievement. Results are in a working paper, “\u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://caldercenter.org/publications/attracting-and-retaining-highly-effective-educators-hard-staff-schools\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Attracting and Retaining Highly Effective Educators in Hard-to-Staff Schools\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.” I read a January 2024 version. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The program turned out to be so successful at boosting student achievement that three of the four initial ACE schools no longer qualified for the stipends by 2019. Over 40% of the high-performing teachers left their ACE schools. Student achievement fell sharply, reversing most of the gains that had been made.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">For students, it was a roller coaster ride. Amber Northern, head of research at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, blamed adults for \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/ups-and-downs-dallass-pay-performance-roller-coaster\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">failing to “prepare for the accomplishment they’d hoped for\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Still, it’s unclear what should have been done. Allowing these schools to continue the stipends would have eaten up millions of dollars that could have been used to help other low-performing schools. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">And even if there were enough money to give teacher stipends at every low-performing school, there’s not an infinite supply of highly effective teachers. Not all of them want to work at challenging, high poverty schools. Some prefer the easier conditions of a high-income magnet school. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">These were two good faith efforts that showed the limits of throwing money at specific types of teacher shortages. At best, they are a cautionary tale for policymakers as they move forward. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"soldout": {
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"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
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"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
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"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
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