Where Special Education’s ‘Phase One’ is Off and Running
by Anne Silverstein
Phase One of the special education initiative is now well underway at 265 schools – 10 networks – this year. CSA has been monitoring Principal feedback on the pilot program; what the union has found is that Principals support
the philosophy of the initiative but many feel the rollout
has been uneven.
CSA, in cooperation with the Department of Education, visited PS 304, Bronx, to learn about how one school fared in the rollout. Later this spring, CSA will also report on the initiative at a middle school and a high school.
Principal Joseph Nobile was not enthusiastic when he first heard about the special education initiative.
True, he was already working with Principal Barbara Hanson, the head of P 10, a special education school, who shares a building with him. For seven years now, they have selected a few students from her school to attend some general education
classes in his school when appropriate. The school leaders carefully worked with teachers to modify and adapt curriculum when necessary, and the staffs at both schools were encouraged by the results. Students at the two schools benefited from the flexibility. “Staff too,” said Mr. Nobile.
His earlier fears about the initiative, however, were quickly assuaged. “Support has been coming from the top,” he told a visitor to his school on a rare sunny day in February, giving a nod to the DOE officials sitting at his conference table: Deputy Chancellor Laura Rodriguez, Lauren Katzman, Executive Director of Special Education, Deputy 6 Cluster Leader Irene Rogan, Network 607 Leader Elmer Myers, and Lisa Scheib, an Associate Director for the DOE. Also at the meeting were PS 304 Assistant Principal Bonnie Boltax and Ms. Hanson.
“Irene rolled it out,” he said, with a clear explanation of what the DOE wanted and what the hurdles and benefits would be. In addition, the staff was involved in a lot of professional development in big and small groups. “We always turn-key things to our
staff,” he said. Teachers and other staff were enthusiastic once it was clearly explained. In addition, through workshops, parents learned about the initiative and were brought on board.
“This whole thing doesn’t work unless you give a whole lot of support. Laura’s office committed to us and held to those commitments,” said Ms. Rogan. Mainstreaming special education children is not a new idea, of course. What is new, said Ms. Rodriguez and the others, is that the city is making a systemic effort to reach every child with an IEP and re-evaluate his or her needs. If placement in one or more general education classes a week is appropriate, then so be it. “You’ll see different configurations in schools,” she said; flexibility is the key to making the implementation work.
A Phase One specialist was assigned to every network, said Ms. Rodriguez. In addition, a new IEP has been introduced and a new data system – SESIS, and the DOE has provided some training on that as well. (The system-wide implementation of the initiative was originally slated for next fall, but because of glitches with SESIS as well as in other areas, the DOE has pushed back the implementation until 2012.)
“We’re looking at everything that the state is requiring in either 2011 [or] 2012 for all kids,” said Ms. Rodriguez, including how the initiative meshes with the new Common Core State Standards.
At Mr. Nobile’s school, 42 students were in selfcontained classes; 11 of them have moved into general education classes for part of the day. “We looked at every child in a 12-1-1 class [and asked] ‘Why is this kid still in a restrictive environment?”
“The research says that kids do better no matter what the disability,” when they attend school with general education students, said Ms. Katzman, and the general ed children thrive as well. In addition, this initiative emphasizes keeping children in their community schools and providing the services they need in those schools rather than sending them to other neighborhoods, said Mr. Myers.
“You start taking a look at every single child,” he said, and then answer the following question: Can you do better for that child?
Said Ms. Boltax, “Scheduling is difficult,” of course, but the benefits for most of the children are so dramatic that the school staff is completely supportive of these efforts. Mr. Nobile smiled at that. “It does require some work,” he admitted, but they all concurred: “Difficult ain’t bad!”
“If we continue to do this work, we will graduate more students who are ready for careers and college,” said Ms. Rogan. And that’s really the whole point.
