Special but striving
STATE EDUCATION officials are looking warily at the large number of special education students in Boston who spend most of their school week in separate classrooms with other disabled students. But what looks like warehousing to some may actually be educational improvement.
Forty-four percent of Boston's almost 12,000 special education students spend at least 60 percent of their school day in separate activities. That's higher than any other urban school district in the state. Boston officials are reviewing those numbers to see if more special ed students can switch to mainstream classrooms. But they are also challenging conventional thinking that they say places too much emphasis on where students sit rather than what students learn. That's a bold position in a field where the passion of parents and advocates has been known to push aside the better judgment of local educators and state lawmakers.
The strong emphasis on standards that began with the Education Reform Act of 1993 was, until recently, largely a phenomenon of regular education classrooms. But some special education practitioners are now insisting on similar rigorous standards for students with learning disabilities, autism, retardation, and emotional problems. It's paying off. In 2000, only 23 percent of special ed students in Boston earned a passing grade or better on the mathematics portion of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam for fourth graders. Last year, 41 percent of students earned passing grades. Improvement rates are even more dramatic in the higher grades.
Public discussions on special ed usually center on eligibility requirements or on mainstreaming special needs students with their regular ed classmates. Often, the integrated approach is the best route to educational and social success. But it is encouraging to see education officials in Boston stressing the need to close the achievement gap between their special ed students and those in other cities and towns who often come from more advantaged backgrounds.
''Boston may be ahead of the curve by focusing on curriculum and instruction, not just placement," says Carolyn Riley, who oversees special ed in Boston. She aims to integrate special ed into the culture of every school by ensuring that every special needs student has access to grade-level curriculum and every special ed teacher participates in schoolwide professional development. Where the student finally sits, she says, is a joint decision made by parents and teachers.
State law requires special ed students to be educated in the least restrictive physical environment possible. But student achievement, not location, is the better test of success.
