Six years into a wide-ranging equity initiative, St. Paul Public Schools is sticking far fewer students with the special-education label.
Concerned that too many children, especially African-Americans, were being identified for specialized services, the district in 2011 set out to educate more students in mainstream classrooms.
The approach has been blamed for an increase in student misbehavior, but the district’s efforts were praised in a state compliance review in June.
The Education Department commended the district’s co-teaching model, in which general-education and special-education teachers share a classroom, and its attempts at using different instructional tactics in lieu of formal individualized education plans (IEPs).
Each of the last seven years, the district’s special-ed enrollment has declined, to 15.3 percent this fall from 18.6 percent in 2010. The statewide average is 15.1 percent.
Had St. Paul’s rate not changed, more than 1,000 additional students would now be on individualized education plans.
“It was very purposeful,” said Gail Ghere, the district’s interim director of specialized services. “It’s a significant issue to put a disability label on a child.”
ADDRESSING EQUITY
Toward a goal of preparing all students for college or careers, St. Paul and school districts across the country have been paying closer attention to where their students are learning. Historically, white students have been over represented in gifted and advanced classes, while high numbers of non-white students have been placed in alternative classrooms.
In 2012, St. Paul closed most of its special-ed learning centers and moved those students into mainstream classrooms. The district also pushed its English language learners more quickly into core classes.
A state compliance review of English language services last year criticized the district for taking away language support from emerging English speakers. The district responded by hiring 10 teachers for this school year and shifting its staffing toward intermediate English speakers from those just learning the language.
STAFFING CONCERNS
This year’s review of special-ed services, however, largely was positive, with two items for corrective action.
First, the state said St. Paul schools don’t call in substitutes when their teaching assistants miss work.
“When a paraprofessional is absent, teachers observe an increase in negative behavior and a decrease in academic support for specific students, which impacts everyone in the classroom,” the review stated.
Ghere said the district doesn’t have a list of subs because it can’t even fill its permanent teaching-assistant jobs. As of last week, the district had 34 openings for special-ed teaching assistants. That shouldn’t be such a problem next year when the district raises its base pay to $15 an hour, she said.
GETTING TEACHERS BUY-IN
The state review also found a lack of teacher buy-in for the system of interventions required before a child can get a special-ed assessment.
The state says schools must document two such interventions; as an example, a child struggling with reading comprehension might be asked to pause and create mental images as he reads.
But 45 percent of St. Paul teachers said this pre-referral process unreasonably delays special-ed assessments.
“Some general education teachers admitted they are actually deterred from referring a student because the process takes so much time and is so involved and tedious,” the report said.
Ghere acknowledged more training is needed. Many teachers, for example, still think they must try each intervention for eight weeks, but that hasn’t been the case for years.
APPEASING WARY PARENTS
Although the state and school district see St. Paul’s special-ed trends in a positive light, some parents have complained that it’s too difficult to obtain specialized services in the district.
In a federal lawsuit filed earlier this year, a mother alleges, in part, that the district waited eight months before assessing her English-learning child for an IEP.
In 2014, the district settled a federal civil rights complaint related to L’Etoile du Nord French Immersion, where school leaders allegedly refused to assess children for disabilities or to abide by their IEPs.
Lynn Shellenberger, a parent and co-chair of the district’s special education advisory council, said Monday it’s largely positive that fewer St. Paul students are being referred to special education. But she said some schools make it too hard for parents to get their children the help they may need.
“If we’re constantly looking at ways to keep kids out of special ed, are we deterring kids who should be there?” she said.
COVERING THE COSTS
The bulk of the decline in special-ed students since fall 2010 has come in three categories. As of last December, compared with six years prior:
- 1.55 percent of all district students were classified as having emotional or behavioral disorders, down from 2.65 percent;
- 2.69 percent had speech or language impairments, down from 3.57 percent; and
- 3.51 percent had a specific learning disability, down from 4.61 percent.
Besides equity concerns, the district faces financial pressure to keep kids in mainstream classrooms.
Special-ed services cost the district an average of $13,524 per student last year, and state and federal funding doesn’t come close to cover those costs. The St. Paul district in 2015-16 spent $42.6 million of its general revenue on special education, according to a recent state education department report.
