I need to respond to the argument that House Study Bill 542 does not remove any services for students in special education. Although, on the surface, it looks like all special education funding and services will be maintained for districts, this is not entirely true. Certainly not the quality of services and definitely not the equity of services.
The assertion that special education will be more successful in Iowa if we focus all of the AEA services on special education and move the leadership and accountability to the DE is also filled with many fallacies.
Let me provide you with some history. When I first started as an administrator in Newton in 2000 the DE and AEAs were very compliance driven and staff who were funded out of special education dollars were to work with special education staff and students only. With this model, special education funds and services were provided to those district programs which were paid out of special education dollars. Our achievement data for students with IEPs at Newton was very concerning and we dove in to build a more effective delivery system for our students.
One of the things we did was to add a special education teacher to the Math team and we offered half of our grade level Math classes at the same time (5 sections of 7th grade Math one period, 5 sections another period, and the same for 8th grade). We ran an MTSS model where we had collaboration time for Math teachers every other day and students were grouped every three weeks based on data and instructional need. The special education teacher took the lowest performing students for each unit, which was a lot of students with Math goals but not all of the students were on IEPs. Depending on the data, some students with Math goals did not show the need for intensive instruction and were not served by the special education teacher for that unit.
Our achievement scores for students on IEPs were much improved in one year and overall Math scores improved by 10% on ITBS from one year to the next looking at cohort data. We were so excited and created a similar kind of plan for Reading using the KU Fusion program.
The response from the AEA? We could not use a special education teacher as a Core Math teacher (even though he was endorsed in Math) and call it specially designed instruction. They were very strict (as was the DE at the time) about using special education funds only for special education and IEP specially designed instruction had to take place in a special education room with a special education teacher and only students in special education. So, we had to dismantle a proven effective model because special education lived in a silo, a very ineffective silo.
Another example was when I went to the AEA and realized we had a middle school in our area who was showing enormous growth in reading. I went to visit the school and the Principal was super cagey, clearly not telling me what they were doing. It finally came out that they were using their special education teacher to deliver core instruction, much like we had at Newton. I thought, goodness, what is wrong with us that leaders have to hide the effective things they are doing because they are “breaking a rule that isn’t even a rule??”.
After that, the DE and AEAs collaborated and created the SDI Framework that clearly gives permission to provide specially designed instruction in a collaborative model, a regular education teacher can provide SDI, and a special education teacher can provide instruction to students who are not on IEPs. This was a huge game changer! To assert that the AEAs have moved away from special education is simply not true. What they have done is to embrace the proven fact that we improve achievement for students with disabilities by focusing on Core instruction being accessible and effective for all students in collaboration with special education teachers.
I am so, so afraid that this bill will take us back to the special education silo where we spend all our time and energy on compliance and special education teachers providing instruction to special education students in their special education classroom. We didn’t have good achievement then, and we won’t fix the achievement issues we have now by reverting back to what we already know doesn’t work.
Some additional key points:
- The funding that flows through to the AEAs by larger districts props up the services provided to smaller districts. This is a reality. There is not enough funding for a small, rural district to provide services for a student who resides in their district who has significant health issues, or very challenging behavior, is deaf or hard of hearing, etc. It is not a negative thing to gather together funding from a group of large and small districts so that all students, families, and teachers have access to the services that are needed.
- If larger districts take their money and provide their own services, the small districts will not have the services which are required by law for them to serve every eligible student in their district. A small or even medium sized district will not be able to replicate what the AEA provides for special education by keeping their flow through funds. If big districts pull out of the AEA, there will absolutely be services that are currently available to all districts that will no longer be available.
- The idea that a district could provide everything the AEA provides in special education and then have money left over to hire additional special education teachers is ludicrous.
- It is an extreme challenge for AEAs to find the required staff that they need. I spent four years as the Special Education Director for Prairie Lakes AEA and spent all those years looking for a Deaf Education Teacher and never found one. SLPs are very difficult to find in rural areas, let alone BCBAs, OTs, PTs, School Psychs, Social Workers, and Special Education Consultants.
Again, let’s take the time to figure out what is the root cause of our issues with achievement for students on IEPs and then address that root cause. The only way we can effectively determine root cause is by taking the time to thoroughly evaluate special education in Iowa at the AEA, DE, and district level and build a plan for reform based on what we learn.