DPS Grows Special Education Plan (MI)

December 3, 2010

Lemicka Davis takes down the Osborn High School physics teacher’s instructions: Define projectile. A second teacher hovers over her shoulder to ensure she understands, but is careful not to linger too long. The junior doesn’t want to be treated differently than her 25 classmates.

The 16-year-old’s attendance in a general education physics class is a considerable step up for her from the special education classes she took for much of her school years. This year, Detroit Public Schools is copying Osborn’s full inclusion model, in use since 2003, and applying it districtwide to try to catch up to other districts in the number of students mainstreamed and to comply with federal rules.

But the transitioning this year of at least 5,000 high-schoolers with learning disabilities and mild cognitive impairments has some parents, the state’s special education chief and teachers wondering whether the proper training and resources are in place.

District official s acknowledge there have been growing pains implementing the model this year, from teacher shortages at the start of classes to pushback from parents, but the district is confident the move is the right one, pointing to success at Osborn.

Because of compliance issues, the district faces a 20 percent reduction in special education money, jeopardizing nearly $5 million a year in federal funds.

The shift allows students to earn diplomas, instead of certificates of achievement, encourages children to rise to their level of capabilities and helps the district come into compliance with a more-inclusive special education model, DPS officials say.

"These changes are not only necessary under federal law, they are really in the best interest of the students," said district spokeswoman Kisha Verdusco.

Not enough support

While students and staff at Osborn seem to have embraced the model and found success, the transition this year at other DPS schools has been rockier. The teachers union says staff members haven’t been trained in the new model, special education aides say kids are lost in the general education classrooms and some parents believe their children aren’t getting the support they need.

"We need our special education back," said Nina Zarka, a parent of a special education student at Southwestern High School who has learning disabilities in reading and math.

"The only reason I agreed to it was because I was promised there would be extra teachers in the classes."

Instead, her son has no extra teacher, is more frustrated and is failing his regular education English course, she said.

"If they were getting what they were promised and if it were done properly, then maybe it would be OK," Zarka said. "But it wasn’t done properly."

At Central High School, special education students who are failing general education classes still don’t want to be pulled out into an isolated setting because they prefer the inclusion, said Renee Kidd, lead special education teacher. Kidd has to balance the needs of the students and the realities of the finances. There are not enough teachers to double up in every classroom and the school could use a math and reading specialist, she said.

"I’m sure everyone would say they would have liked more training," Kidd said. "We definitely could have had more training. We should have had more training."

Verdusco said the district trained more than 700 teachers on team teaching during summer school and more opportunities continue to be offered to expose all teachers to training. She notes the district is only required to provide additional resources for core subjects. And since a child’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) is tailored to each child’s needs, not every student will receive an extra teacher in every core subject, Verdusco said.

Cindy Martin, a resource room teacher at Osborn, said inclusion has helped erase the stigma of special education, reduced behavior problems and allowed kids a chance to graduate.

"Put in a situation where they have to rise up, instead of being held down, most kids will rise up," Martin said.

Before attending Osborn, Joshua Hall, 17, was in special e ducation classrooms after missing so much school with sickle cell disease, but now finds school more interesting. He struggles most in math, but that class has two teachers.

"It’s best for everybody," Joshua said of DPS transitioning to the Osborn model. "If you were just isolated in one class, that wouldn’t be fun for special needs students."

Joshua’s mom, Eliza Yancy, is very proud her son is on track to be her first child to graduate. Before this year, Joshua would likely have gotten a certificate of completion if he had gone to another district school.

"He doesn’t want to be left behind, and with Osborn they got it where the special education kids get to do the same things as the regular kids," she said.

DPS lacked procedures

One reason the state began investigating DPS’ special education services in 2008 was the district’s poor data on the percentage of kids in a general education setting at least 80 percent of the time. The overall target for the state is 59 percent, but DPS had a rate of 34 percent, signaling that kids with special needs largely were not in regular classrooms.

The state found DPS lacked the procedures to evaluate children with disabilities and put them in general education classrooms as much as possible,

said Eleanor White, director of the Michigan Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Early Intervention Services.

Detroit has a history of not making individualized decisions and placing young children in special education and leaving them there, she said.
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"To expect them to perform in a general education setting, it’s just unrealistic when you have not prepared them for that," she said. "It takes a significant amount of work to make that transition. If you are going to make those program changes at high school, it would be my hope they would do that (at the middle and elementary school level too)" DPS is striving to implement inclusion at every grade level, Verdusco said.

Meanwhile, Lemicka’s confidence has grown and she’s motivated to do better.

"I’m not so shy anymore," said Lemicka, a junior. "I’m not embarrassed about it."

When she was younger, Lemicka didn’t want to go to college, but now she talks of going to community college and entering a culinary program. "Something really motivated her and opened her up," said her father, Brock Davis.

"All parents should want their child to integrate with the other kids, so they don’t feel separated or left out," he said.