Understanding the Diversity in Today's Schools

Who are Children in Today’s Schools? • In most schools, there are students who come from homes of poverty and there are many students of color. • Some will be learning English as a second language, others will have disabilities, while others will qualify for gifted and talented programs.

Ethnicity • European Americans comprise 67% of the population • “Minority” percentages are rising • California, New Mexico, and Texas do not have any group that represent a majority. • Maryland, Georgia, and Nevada will soon have the same situation. • Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing group in the US. • African-Americans are the second largest group.

Language And Poverty • By the year 2030, 40% of school aged students will not have English as their first language. • Economic segregation plagues our country and our schools. • A large number of children live in foster care or are homeless.

What Discrepancies Exist In Educational Outcomes For Students? • Achievement Gap • There are differences in student proficiency when examined by ethnic groups. • Growing up in poverty can negatively impact children’s mental and behavioral development as well as their overall health which makes it difficult for them to learn.

What Discrepancies Exist In Educational Outcomes For Students? • High School Graduation Rates • Only 51% of students with disabilities graduated from high school with a regular diploma. • About 1 in 3 of these students drop out of school. • Graduation rates were the lowest for African American students with disabilities.

Why Is It Important For Teachers To Know About Student’s Backgrounds? • The diversity that exists in the student population does not exist in the teaching force and creates a demographic divide in many schools. • It is important that the teaching force include a reasonable proportion of teachers who share the cultural and language experiences of their students.

Why Is It Important For Teachers To Know About Student’s Backgrounds? • When a teacher’s cultural assumptions lead to the conclusion that a student’s academic or social behavior is outside the norm of appropriate, the teacher may make well intended decisions that undermine the student’s educational success.

Culture • Culture is defined as “the values, traditions, worldview, and social and political relationships created, shared, and transformed by a group of people bound together by a common history, geographic location, language, social class, religion, or other shared history” (Nieto & Bode, 2008, p. 171).

Culture • Culture influence beliefs about education, the value of education, participation style, and the role of parents in education. • Understanding the impact of culture on student behavior requires that teachers look at their own and their students’ behavior in new ways.

Culturally Responsive Teachers • Learn about culture and differences • Recognize that all students can achieve • Reflect on their beliefs • Get to know their students • Use an asset oriented lens

Using a Diverse Curriculum • The school curriculum is not culturally neutral but is a reflection of the European American culture. • Teachers need “wide ranging knowledge of subject matter content so that they can construct a curriculum that includes multiple representations addressing the prior experiences of different groups of students” (Banks et al., 2005, p. 251)

Referring a student for anevaluation to determine eligibility • Parents, or other adults involved with the student can make a referral for an evaluation. • A referral can be made at any time. • A district may not refuse a referral in order to try other supportive services.

The Six Basic Principles The federal and state special education laws and the rights of parents and students in special education are grounded upon six basic principles.

The Six Principles 1. Parent and Student Participation 2. Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) 3. Appropriate Evaluation 4. Individualized Education Program (IEP) 5. Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) 6. Procedural Safeguards

Areas of Education Where Parent and Student Participation is Guaranteed • Referral • Evaluation • Eligibility Determination • IEP Development • MCAS Participation • Placement Decisions • Disciplinary Actions

How quickly can I get services? • Consent to Evaluate 30 School Working Days (SWD) to Evaluate. • Team meeting to determine eligibility no later than 15 SWDs later. If eligible, development of IEP and determination of placement at that Team meeting. • Proposed IEP & Placement to parent. • Services upon parental consent. 45 School Working Days

Principle #3 -AppropriateEvaluation • Initial evaluation • 3 year re-evaluation • Individualized assessments • Non-discriminatory assessments • Includes a variety of tools and strategies, including information provided by the parent

When is a student eligible for Special Education? A student is eligible if all three of the following are true: • The student has one or more disabilities. • The student is not making effective progress in school as a result of the disability(ies). • The student requires special education in order to make effective progress.

Some specific evaluation rights: • Right to discuss both the proposed evaluations and evaluators prior to the evaluation. • Right to an evaluation in the student’s native language or mode of communication. • If appropriate, right to an evaluation of need for Braille instruction. • Right of parents to consent or refuse evaluation. • Right to independent educational evaluation when parents disagree with the results of the evaluation done by the school district. • Right to appeal a finding of “No Eligibility.”

Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) • Anytime you are dissatisfied with the district’s evaluation. • Parents’ option to participate in a sliding fee scale to share the cost of the IEE with the district. • School district is obligated to consider information from IEE.

Disability Categories • Autism • Deaf/Blindness • Emotional-Behavioral Disability • Hearing Impaired • Mild Mental Disability • Multiple Disability

Disability Categories Cont. • Orthopedic Impairment • Other Health Impairment • Specific Learning Disability • Speech or Language Impairment • Traumatic Brain Injury • Visual Impairment

Autism • These deficits are not primarily the result of an emotional-behavior disability. • Evaluation data confirms an adverse effect on educational performance. • The student has a developmental disability, generally evident before age 3, significantly effecting verbal and nonverbal communication, and social interaction.

Deaf/Blind • The student meets the eligibility criteria for both hearing impairment and visual impairment. • The combination of the two impairments causes severe educational needs that cannot be met by one disability category. • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance.

Emotional-Behavioral Disability • When provided with interventions to meet instructional and social-emotional needs, the student continues to exhibit one or more of the following, when compared to the child’s peer and cultural reference groups, across settings, over a long period of time and to a marked degree:

Emotional-Behavioral Disability Continued • Severe deficits in social competence or appropriate behavior which cause an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with adults or peers, and/or • Severe deficits in academic performance which are not commensurate with the student’s ability level and are not solely a result of intellectual, sensory, or other health factors but are related to the child’s social-emotional problems, and/or

Emotional-Behavioral Disability Continued • A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression, and/or • A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance. • The severe deficits in social competence, appropriate behavior, and academic performance is not the result of isolated inappropriate behaviors that are the result of willful, intentional, or wanton actions.

Emotional-Behavioral Disability Continued • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Hearing Impaired • The student has a hearing loss, whether permanent or fluctuating, of (25) decibels or greater which exists through the speech frequencies of 500, 1000, and 2,000 Hertz in the better ear, and • Deficits exist in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification.

Hearing Impaired Continued • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance. • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Mild Mental Disability • The student has cognitive functioning at least (2) standard deviations (70), but not more than (3) standard deviations (55), below the mean. • Adaptive behavior is at least (2) standard deviations (70) below the mean. • Severe deficits in overall academic performance including acquisition, retention, and application of knowledge.

Mild Mental Disability Continued • Deficits are typically manifested during the developmental period. • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance. • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Multiple Disability • The student has a combination of two (2) of the following disabilities: autism, emotional-behavioral disability, hearing impairment, mild mental disability, functional mental disability, orthopedic impairment, other health impaired, specific learning disability, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment, deaf/blind.

Multiple Disability Continued • The student’s disability is not solely a combination of deafness and blindness. • The student’s disability is not a combination of speech or language impairment and one other disabling condition. • The combination of these disabilities causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated through special education programs solely for one impairment.

Multiple Disability Continued • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Orthopedic Impairment • The existence of an impairment caused by a congenital anomaly (e.g. clubfoot, absence of a member, etc.) • The existence of an impairment caused by disease (e.g. poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.) • The existence of an impairment from other causes such as cerebral palsy, amputations, fractures, burns that cause contractions, etc.

Orthopedic Impairment Continued • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance. • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Other Health Impaired • The existence of a health impairment caused by chronic or acute health problems such as heart condition, tuberculosis, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, epilepsy, rheumatic fever, nephritis, asthma, lead poisoning, leukemia, diabetes, acquired immune deficiency syndrome, attention deficit disorder, or attention deficit hyperactive disorder, or specify diagnosis of other health impairment.

Other Health Impaired Continued • The effect of the impairment on strength, vitality, alertness (including heightened alertness to environmental stimuli that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment must be documented by a licensed physician. • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance.

Other Health Impaired Continued • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Specific Learning Disability • The student has a severe aptitude / achievement discrepancy as identified by a validated regression method and does not achieve commensurate with his or her age and ability levels on one or more of the following areas: oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, math calculation, math reasoning.

Specific Learning Disability Continued • The severe discrepancy between ability and achievement is not primarily the result of a visual, hearing, or motor impairment, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or environmental, cultural, economic disadvantage. • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance. • Effects of educationally relevant medical findings and environment, cultural, or economic disadvantage are to be documented.

Specific Learning Disability Continued • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Speech or Language Impairment • The student must exhibit communication disorder in one or more of the following areas: stuttering, impaired articulation, language impairment, voice impairment, delayed acquisition of language, or absence of language. • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance. • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision

Traumatic Brain Injury • Evaluation information collected across multiple settings that verifies an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairments, or both, and is NOT congenital, degenerative, or brain injury induced by birth trauma. Traumatic brain injury is evidenced by information that indicates an open or closed head injury resulting in an impairment in one or more of the following areas:

Traumatic Brain Injury Continued • Cognition, language, memory, attention, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgment, problem solving, sensory, perceptual, motor abilities, psycho-social behavior, physical functions, information processing and speech. • A current, educationally relevant statement, completed by a qualified professional verifies the existence of a traumatic brain injury. The qualified professional must state the diagnosis and extent of the brain injury. • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance.

Traumatic Brain Injury Continued • Evaluation information confirms that lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Evaluation information confirms that limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Visual Impairment • The student’s visual acuity, even with prescribed lenses, is 20/70 or worse in the better eye; or visual acuity is better than 20/70 and the child has any of the following conditions: medically diagnosed progressive loss of vision, visual field of (20) degrees or worse, medically diagnosed condition of cortical blindness, or a functional loss of vision.

Visual Impairment Continued • The student requires specialized materials and instruction in orientation and mobility, braille, visual efficiency or tactile exploration; and • Evaluation information confirms there is an adverse effect on educational performance. • Lack of instruction in reading and/or math was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision. • Limited English proficiency was not a determinant factor in the eligibility decision.

Understanding the Diversity in Today's Schools