Dist. 204 taking new approach to special education
Today in Indian Prairie Unit District 204, a third-grade student who doesn’t speak English very well and requires special education services might be pulled out of the classroom several times a day to meet with different specialists.
It’s called a “silo” approach to providing services and is a practice District 204 is moving away from.
“For the child who needs the most continuity and consistency in his day, we’ve created a day with even more transitions,” Assistant Superintendent Martha Baumann said. “Something is wrong with that picture.”
To better serve students like that third-grader, the district is working to shift its approach in how it delivers instruction and services. The change was recommended by an outside agency, a special education collaborative, that analyzed data from the district and scrutinized how it educates.
Superintendent Kathy Birkett and the school board called for the analysis after reviewing test scores of kids receiving special education services. They saw room for improvement and now are applying the results from the study to the district as a whole.
The report found that while the district has talented, capable staff, it could do better by having teachers and specialized staffers work together.
“We’re expecting the teachers to really share their expertise and to cross-train each other … so they can all kind of pitch in and be one unit,” Assistant Superintendent Jay Strang said. “It’s kind of a yours, mine, ours mentality.”
By working as a team, the district takes ownership of educating all the kids together.
“It’s no more your kids and our kids. They are all our kids,” Strang said.
The idea, Baumann explained, is to have services delivered to students. If that third-grader with limited English skills received services in the classroom, the specialized staff member would learn something about third-grade curriculum and the classroom teacher would learn some special service skills. “We want specialized staff pushing into the classroom and working with students,” Baumann said.
That approach, officials hope, will improve education overall in the district and ultimately raise test scores.
Deciding what recommendations to implement is a work in progress, but some of the changes already are under way.
For instance, as the district revamps its math and English curriculum this year, special education teachers along with those who work with limited English proficiency kids are in on the process. In years past, those teachers would receive the curriculum after it was drafted.
Other goals include increasing the number of students who receive special education services in higher level classes with tougher curriculum. In fact, the district plans to reduce the number of lower level classes offered.
The district also will look at culturally relevant instruction such as analyzing what classes are being taken by subgroups of students such as African-American males. Then, there will be questions like whether those numbers make sense, if more of those students could be taking honors courses and whether there are any barriers keeping them from doing so.
Changes also will occur at the district level with administrators being charged with overseeing teaching and learning rather than over a specific area like special education.
Specialists still will work with students who need targeted help, but also in collaboration with each other and classroom teachers.
District officials recognize the new approach will take some work and getting used to, but hope to provide extra training and time for collaboration.
“It’s never going to take away from the fact that in certain circumstances you need the specialists,” Baumann said. “But we are asking our specialists to do things that any well trained certified teacher could do.”