Parents Say D65 is Failing Children With Complex Disabilities

By Larry Gavin

Fifteen parents voiced concerns at the District 65 School Board's meetings on April 21 and May 12 about how the District evaluates and educates children with disabilities. Some of the parents have children diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, autism or Asperger's syndrome.

"These are very complex disabilities," Cari Levin told the RoundTable. "They are very difficult children to work with, even for a highly trained professional. The administration is failing these children and staff by failing to provide an appropriate physical environment for the children and by failing to provide appropriate support for their staff."

Ms. Levin, a licensed clinical social worker and District 65 parent, is a founder of Citizens for Appropriate Special Education. (CASE). "Our goal is to ensure that children in District 65 receive the special education services they need and deserve," said Ms. Levin. In a letter to members of the Board, Ms. Levin praised teachers, aides, ancillary staff and specialists for their "caring and dedicated" work. "Where the system breaks down is at the level of the Special Services Supervisors on up," she said. "The Special Services Administration does not give the school staff enough support through training, clinical supervision, professional development, and additional staff and resources to do their job."

"We're looking at children who are challenged in a number of ways," Superintendent Hardy Murphy told the RoundTable. "Everyone is trying to provide supports to children so they can achieve. We are working with parents who are trying to deal with serious concerns. Everyone has to be compassionate."

Nancy Traver, a member of CASE, said her son, Willie, has a bipolar disorder. She said he suffered emotional breakdowns almost daily; he was suspended almost weekly; he hurt other children, aides and teachers; he begged to stay home; he was failing in every grade; he was barred from riding the bus. "We asked to have him placed in a therapeutic day school," said Ms. Traver. "The District refused." She said a social worker said her son was not getting structure at home, and said to take him off sugar. She said, "I don't feel staff there was trained in working with bipolar children."

Ms. Traver said she retained a nationally respected child psychiatrist, who diagnosed her child as having a bipolar disorder, and spent $9,000 on an attorney before the District agreed that her son needed private placement in a therapeutic facility.

"I think there are many parents who will tell you that until you hire an attorney, the District will overlook your requests for services, "she said." Unfortunately, many parents in the District don't have the resources to hire a lawyer, so their kids are not getting the services they need."

Ms. Levin told members of the School Board that the District provided her son Sam, who was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, with co-teaching in a general education classroom at Haven, rather than placing him in a self-contained classroom to receive more individualized support. She was told that the Emotional Disability/Behavioral Disorder classroom at Haven had a social environment that would be too "brutal" for her son, and that the school did not have a self-contained classroom available that would meet her son's needs. She filed a "due process" complaint before a hearing officer appointed by the State Board of Education to seek appropriate placement for her son.

After hearing four days of testimony, the hearing officer determined that the educational program provided by District 65 for Ms. Levin's son was "an inappropriate, mostly mainstreamed and co-taught IEP, in large classes, with minimal social work and psychological services, from which this particular student would receive little or no benefit." The order found the District's program, "does not address his desperate need for specialized instruction in a small controlled environment that will allow him to begin to develop the insight and internal controls he will need to manage his bipolar disorder and to become a functioning, independent adult." The order further found the District should have trained staff on bipolar disorder and that Sam should receive a special out-of-district placement at the District's expense.

"The most egregious part of this experience for me was that the administration chose to fight us legally rather than acknowledge that they didn't have an appropriate placement for my son," said Ms. Levin. "Our son was suffering socially, failing academically, and falling apart emotionally."

Other parents had similar stories. Petra Guy told the RoundTable that her son had "awesome, wonderful" teachers at District 65 until her son was placed in a separate special education behavioral disorder class. In that classroom, she said the teacher screamed at students, and that at one meeting the teacher said she had successfully coached prisoners and taught gang members at other schools. The teacher was not aware her child was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder for almost three weeks, Ms. Guy said.

In order to secure a change, Ms. Guy said she had to consult with a professional advocate. "The problem is we have to fight for everything we need. This happens to a lot of low-income and minority families. I have no doubt in my mind."

While saying her son was now in a self-contained classroom in the District with a wonderful, caring teacher, Ms. Guy added, "Now I have to start to worry about next year; it's going to be a daily fight." She said the District should not "make it so hard."

The teacher referred to by Ms. Guy said her (the teacher's) comments were taken out of context. The teacher also said parents request that she be their children's teacher.

Cynthia Rolfe, a parent of a special needs child, said the District is less likely to keep children with autism and emotional illness in the general classroom with aides and services than other elementary schools in the State. She said she was recently appointed the Special Education Parent Liaison for Lincoln School, and she asked parents to speak at the Board's meeting. "They were afraid that their child's services will be removed or reduced if they speak out about their frustrations with the Special Services administration," she said.

Geneva Oatman, director of special services for the District, said, "In spite of every effort to provide appropriate services and placements, there are still areas where we and parents do not come to total agreement." She said parents are encouraged to start with their building level staff to resolve disagreements and to work their way up to District administrators if necessary. When disagreements still exist, the State provides three formal mechanisms to resolve differences: a complaint, mediation, and a due process hearing.

There have been a combined total of 2 complaints, 5 mediations, and 4 due process hearings in 2006-07 and 2007-08 according to data presented by Ms. Oatman.

Marge Lenoir-Davis, supervisor of private-day placement for the District, said the District uses consultants and psychiatrists to evaluate students when necessary. She added, "We have provided instruction on bipolar disorder to staff and how it may look in the classroom. We believe we have the appropriate staff, the appropriate knowledge, and the appropriate assistance to make evaluations of students."

Dr. Murphy said, "Everyone is trying to provide supports so children can achieve. We are wrestling with parents' expectations. Sometimes there's a difference of opinion on what's appropriate, what's best for a child. We are trying to come up with something that's effective. I think the District works very hard to work to address the needs of students, and we place that first."

Dr. Murphy cited a State Report on Special Education Performance which reflected that 39% of parents of children in pre-K to third grade and 50% of parents of fourth to eighth graders were not satisfied with the educational services their children received. He said these percentages show that "addressing the needs and expectations of children with disabilities is probably the most challenging part of public education." "We have to work with all the energy we have to address the concerns," said Dr. Murphy.

Board member Katie Bailey suggested that the District conduct a parent survey to find out how many District 65 parents are satisfied with the special education services provided by the District and to find out what the issues are. "It would be good to find out where we are with our own District," she said. While the Board discussed whether to conduct a survey, no decision was made to do so.

D65 Reports on Special Education Services

By Larry Gavin

Geneva Oatman, director of special services for School District 65, reported on the accomplishments of the District in educating students with disabilities in a Special Services Report presented to the Board in a five-hour meeting on May 12 that was attended by about 90 parents.

She said that the District had implemented many of the recommendations made by an outside consultant, Dr. Cassandra Cole, following an analysis of the District's special education program in 2002; that the District has addressed areas of noncompliance identified by the State Board of Education in a June 2006 report; and that the District has implemented other initiatives, including "Unified Delivery of Instruction" and "Response to Intervention."

"We have many things to celebrate," she said. "We are proud of our success and remain committed to the success of students with disabilities."

At the May 12 meeting and at a prior Board meeting, 15 parents voiced concerns about how the District was educating children with disabilities. Parents said stability was important for students with a disability and the District should not transfer students with disabilities to new schools, that the District should improve transitions of students to the middle schools and the high school, that the District was resistant to providing needed services to students and other issues. See accompanying story.

Special Education Services
Under federal law, special education services must be provided to students classified as having one of 13 different disabling conditions. Data presented by Ms. Oatman shows that ninety percent of District 65's students classified as having a disability have one of the five following disabilities: speech/ language impairment (40%); specific learning disability (31%); emotional disability (9%); cognitive disability (6%); or autism (4%).

This year, District 65 has a total of 1,238 students in the pre-K through eighth-grade levels classified as having a disability. Nineteen percent of the District's students have a disability, Ms. Oatman said. The statewide average is 15%.

"Special education is specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of students with a disability," said Ms. Oatman. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) is prepared for each student with a disability. Parents are entitled to participate in the process. The IEP sets out the child's strengths and weaknesses; it sets out goals and short term objectives; it provides for appropriate special education services; and it provides for an appropriate educational placement. as determined by the IEP team based upon the students' identified needs. The placement decision is the last decision made in forming the IEP.

Ms. Oatman said federal regulations mandate that students with disabilities be educated "with their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate," in other words, the least restrictive environment. In selecting the least restrictive environment, the general education classroom, with support and modifications, must be the first placement option considered. The options include:

· General Education with consultation and accommodations.
· General Education with direct Special Education in the classroom, using flexible grouping strategies and co-teaching.
· General Education with direct Special Education support outside the classroom.
· Special classroom settings, enrolling only students with disabilities, and having groups based upon the similarity of educational needs.
· Separate schools, with tuition paid for by the District.

According to the Special Services Report, the percentage of students receiving special education services outside of the general education classroom 21% of the time or less and between 21-60% of the time has remained relatively constant in the last three years. About 58% of the District's IEP students are educated less than 21% of the time outside the general education classroom, and about 17% are educated outside the general education classroom between 21and 59% of the time. These are both within targets set by the State Board of Education, said Ms. Oatman.

The major shifts have been a decrease - from 12% to 3% - in the percentage of students assigned to a separate educational facility outside the District and an increase in the percentage of students educated more than 60% of the time outside the general education classroom. Ms. Oatman said the District exceeds the State's target for students educated in a separate facility, when Rice and Park Schools are taken into account.

Unified Delivery of Instruction
"Our ideas for a Unified Delivery of Instruction are becoming a reality," said Ms. Oatman. Under the initiative, which Dr. Murphy has said is a "culture change" for the District, the entire school staff takes "collective responsibility" for students with a disability. The District has been providing staff development to increase the capacity of general education teachers to address the needs of students with a disability in the general classroom and to increase the capacity of special education staff to teach the general education curriculum.

The District is also in the process of implementing a State mandated initiative "Response to Intervention." Under this initiative the District uses its collective resources to intervene early and provide appropriate interventions and supports to prevent learning and behavioral problems from becoming larger issues. Under this model, staff not only analyzes "what has been working for a child, but what has not been working for a child," and appropriate adjustments in the interventions should be made.

Student Progress
"The thing we're most proud of is that since 2003, test scores for students with disabilities in District 65 have increased 96% in reading and 91% in math," said Ms. Oatman.

A student's IEP team decides how a student will participate in the State's assessment program. Students may take the Illinois Standard Assessment Test (ISAT), with or without accommodations as determined by the IEP team. If the team decides the ISAT is not appropriate for a particular student, the student will take the Illinois Alternate Assessment (IAA).

The accompanying table shows the percentage of students with an IEP in District 65 and in the State who met or exceeded standards on the 2003 and the 2007 ISATs for the grade level indicated. While there have been substantial increases in both District 65 and the State, the increases in the District have outpaced the increases for the State.

Disproportionality
A higher percentage of the District's minority students receive special education services than white students: 21% of the District's black students, 18% of its Hispanic students, and 11% of its white students receive special education services.

In the last two years, the Illinois State Board of Education determined that the District had a disproportionate number of black students categorized as having an emotional disability. This year, the ISBE determined that the District had a disproportionate number of white students classified as having autism. After reviewing the District's self-assessments, the ISBE determined that neither disproportionality was due to inappropriate identification.

Future Steps
Board president Mary Erickson said, "A lot has been done; it's been a very complex job. We want to support the administration to continue to move forward."

Ms. Oatman said the administration's immediate priorities include incorporating best practices to increase access to the general education curriculum, utilizing an automated IEP system to increase compliance with State and Federal regulations, and providing professional development that enhances outcomes for students with disabilities.

Three Board members emphasized the importance of maintaining stability for students with disabilities and keeping special education programs at the same schools, so students would not need to transfer schools to continue to receive special education services. The Board asked Dr. Murphy to notify them when a special education program was going to be moved.

Mary Rita Luecke said Dr. Cole analyzed the District's special education program five years ago, and suggested she be retained to perform an updated analysis. Other Board members suggested that the District improve communication with parents. Former Board member Jonathon Baum suggested in the public comment section that the staff maintain data showing whether special education services provided in each student's IEP was being provided. Perhaps due to the midnight hour, the Board did not reach a decision on these issues.

D202 Team Studies Model of NY High School Detracking Program

By Jennie Berkson

District 202 representatives visited Southside High School in Rockville Centre, N.Y., to review its approach to education. That approach - offering only honors classes to a racially and economically mixed student body of about 1,100 students - has reportedly resulted in dramatic improvements in achievement for all students.

"In developing our restructuring plan to ensure that all students experience a rigorous curriculum, we have reviewed the professional literature and tapped into national networks," reported Laura Cooper, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction and Marilyn Madden, assistant superintendent/principal. "Southside High School . . . emerged as one of the schools that have made significant progress by ensuring that all students experience an honors level curriculum."

Dr. Cooper and Judith Levinson, director of research, valuation and assessment, visited the school in March, followed in April by another team composed of six teachers, Ms. Madden and School Board vice president Rachel Hayman. They reported to the District 202 Board about their visits at the May 12 Board meeting.

Southside High School, with 1,138 students, is the sole high school in a K-12 district of 3,500 students. According to a September 2007 article in the publication The School Administrator, "Rockville Centre is a diverse suburban school district ... Nearly 77 percent [of the students] are white and live in upper-middle-class households. About 3 percent of the students are Asian-Americans . . . and 20 percent are African American or Latino. Most of the district's African-American and Latino students are eligible for free or reduced price lunch. ..."

According to the report, all freshmen and sophomores take honors-level classes in all subjects. No other level than honors is offered at the school. Juniors can choose to follow the Regents track, an honors-level track that prepares students to take the New York State Regents examination, or the International Baccalaureate (IB) track, "a comprehensive and challenging course of study," similar to [advanced-placement] AP-level study. Seniors continue the track they chose in junior year.

Rockville Centre has been working on detracking for about 20 years. said Dr. Cooper. According to The School Administrator article, "although only a handful of minority students selected IB courses when grades 9 and 10 were tracked, more than half of all African-American and Latino students are [now] taking IB English, IB History and IB Mathematics courses, and nearly a third of all minority students in the Class of 2009 are IB diploma candidates."

"When I first saw the . . . outline of their courses, I was intrigued by how straightforward and simple it is," said Julie Mallory, Evanston Township High School English teacher. "There is one course level offered to all students freshman and sophomore years in the major academic disciplines - honors level. That curriculum is grounded in the belief that all students deserve the best curriculum. This is the mantra that we heard."

Science teacher Terri Sowa told the Board about staff development at Southside. "Staff development is very teacher-directed," she said. "There were not a lot of outside consultants or workshops. They realize that teachers know best what they need to be successful."

With all students taking honors level classes, support programs in the school are a critical part of the equation, according to the report. William Farmer, another science teacher, told the Board support for students at Southside includes a "zero hour," when teachers have office hours first thing in the morning, as well as peer tutoring and support classes in specific topics for which students get grades and credit. The support classes have 8-12 students; students can register for support classes in more than one area.

English teacher Liz Hartley, who met with students from Southside, reported that younger students "came into the school knowing that the gates were going to be open for them. They were all coming in on a level playing field. Everyone was being taught equitably with rigor. As freshmen, they are coming into the school getting ready for the eleventh grade."

History teacher D'Wayne Bates, who also met with students, reported that students at Southside said their system "gives us exposure to new knowledge that only AP and honors [students] used to get" and that it "lessens the racial and gender disparity in classrooms."

"Something I really liked was that everyone, from the administrators on down, was on the same page with this," said Mr. Bates. "As a teacher and a coach (I know that) the best teams are the ones when all the coaches are on the same page, teaching the same fundamentals." He also commented that there appeared to be a lot of continuity in how students were prepared to approach each subsequent year's work.

"What struck me during our visit was the absolute commitment expressed from all levels of staff was that their approach was the right thing to do," said Ms. Hayman. "Everyone was singing the same song." She summarized the lessons of the visit.

"We need to provide equality of opportunity for all students," she said. "All students can be successfully challenged in heterogeneous classrooms. This is true as long as a rigorous honors curriculum is provided and that adequate supports are provided to both students and teacher.

"If we allow hard work, rather than test scores or recommendations, to determine opportunities for our students" Ms. Hayman continued, "that will permit students to take on a higher level of learning with ease.

"We have to keep our focus on the endgame," she concluded. "The endgame is . . . are we preparing all of our students to succeed in college and the workplace?"

Board member Margaret Lurie said she had learned about the Southside program at a Minority Student Achievement Network conference some time before and asked if any other schools followed their model and met with similar success. Dr. Cooper responded that she did not know of any other district that had gone as far as Southside. Most of those she knew of were detracking "course by course," she said.

"This is the second time this year that we've had detracking come up," commented Board member Omar Khuri. "I'm just wondering if we're prepared to begin having a more comprehensive discussion about that."

"Certainly it's time to begin a discussion about it," responded Ms. Hayman. "With the Freshman Humanities changes we have a great opportunity to look at how successful we are next year." The District recently decided to remove the regular level from the Freshman Humanities program, reducing the number of tracks from four to three. "We need to take each piece of the curriculum and see what changes we can make to provide a high level education for all of our students," Ms. Hayman continued.

"As long as I've been on the Board, we've been talking about detracking and making the regular classes more rigorous," said Board member Mary Wilkerson. "This is the first time we've done anything about it." She said she felt the one-level approach was positive because it did not give students the option "to step down and not work hard enough to stay in the class. ... Now we have the supports in place to help the students."

"We felt heartened by this trip," said Dr. Cooper. "It reinforced some of the things we are doing . . . it's given us support and wisdom about what some of our colleagues in another place have learned."

Barnes Organ To Strike a Chord for Its 50th Birthday.

At 3 p.m. on May 18 Evanston Township High School will hold its Spring Choral Concert, showcasing the breadth of student talent in the school's choral program. A special concert feature will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the school's refurbished Barnes organ.

Housed in the auditorium, the organ was designed, built and donated to ETHS in 1957-58 by Dr. William H. Barnes, a 1910 ETHS graduate. As pictured above, he supervised the construction and installation of the organ, a composite of a number of excellent organs. At the time Dr. Barnes called the organ, valued at $40,000 in 1958, "a thoroughbred with mongrel antecedents."

As described in the 1958 ETHS annual report, the organ is enclosed in two expression chambers; an unenclosed section is playable from the top manual with a large chorus dispason mixture. Double-decked to a height of 30-feet above the floor level, the organ has a tonal scheme suitable to accompany large choruses, fill in and augment the orchestra when it is used for accompaniment, or support and sustains audience singing when needed.

Dr. Barnes, who built and consulted on 400 organs throughout the United States, was the leading authority on organ construction and tonal design for decades. A Harvard graduate with a doctorate in music, he was also known locally as the organist and choirmaster of First Baptist Church. He died in 1980 at age 87.

Concert tickets are $2 for adults, $1 for students, and free to senior citizens and Boosters Club ticket holders and will be available at the door. Parking is available in the lot on Dodge Avenue.