School Choice and Students with Disabilities

Presented by Dr. Thomas Hehir

What We Know

• Massachusetts (Wilkens) • Charters are more apt to be inclusive of similar children • Less apt to over identifiy African American students

California

•

San Diego (Hehir & Mosqueda)

•

5.8% in charters vs. 12% in public schools

•

Only three students with mental retardation and two students with autism while traditional public schools enrolled 1,000 children with mental retardation

California

(continued) • Los Angeles (Weintraub) • Likelihood of a child with significant disabilities in charter schools is .25 of traditional public schools • Widespread accessibility issues

Massachusetts

• Wilkens • Students with significant disabilities very underrepresented in charter schools • However, some charters have enrolled these students

Are Charters More Effective?

• Tom Kane’s research in Massachusetts suggests they may be more effective when comparing students chosen with those not chosen.

• However, the role of social capital in choice needs more research as well as differences in educational environment between schools that have students with the full range of disabilities and those that do not.

Compete!

• Develop effective inclusive schools • http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/american graduate/jan-june12/amgradengaging_03 21.html

UDL at the School Level

Implementation UDL: Lessons from Three Schools

Henderson School

• • • • • • A small and diverse learning community committed to helping all children learn and succeed.

235 students representing a range of ethnic, linguistic, and ability backgrounds.

56 staff members, interns, and other volunteers collaborate to create a caring

and challenging learning environment in which children can perform at their

highest possible levels.

An inclusive school. Students involved in general education; students with mild, moderate, and significant disabilities; and students considered talented and gifted learn together and from each other.

All Henderson students participate in visual arts, dance, music, and hands-on

science classes. Henderson students and staff have gained widespread recognition for their outstanding performances.

Strong family leadership and involvement. Henderson parents have been active as decision-makers and coordinators of many endeavors including after school activities, curriculum related workshops, focus groups, assistive technology, family outreach, and special activities.

Samuel Mason School

• • • • • • An Effective Practice Pilot School where students are taught in fully inclusive classrooms.

Teachers are dual-certified in regular and special education with extensive training in literacy, math investigations and character education.

Through creative allocation of funding and commitment of caring partners, each classroom is staffed by two or more adults, resulting in a very low student teacher ratio.

Business and community partnerships have a strong presence in the school, including the Boston YMCA, NewMarket Business Association and John Hancock Services.

Parents as partners. Active members of the school's governance board and Instructional Leadership Team. Parent-designed center staffed by community liaisons, Home Reading Coordinator and Mason parent leaders, provides workshops and training for assisting children in literacy, math and home reading strategies, bridging the gap between home and school.

Children at the Mason School are taught to be independent.

Top 50 Elementary Schools in Massachusetts during 2005 and also winning the Vanguard Award in 2003 for Mass Insight Education.

Boston Arts Academy

• • • • • Urban school founded on the conviction that academics and the arts are equally important to student development and achievement.

The arts are integrated throughout the academic curriculum motivating students with a variety of learning styles to succeed in high school and pursue higher education.

BAA’s 405 students reflect the diversity of the seventeen Boston neighborhoods from which they come: 49% are African American, 29% Latino, 17% Caucasian, 3% Asian, and 2% self-identified as Other.

Nearly 60% come from low-income households. Because of its success with urban students, BAA is a recognized leader in public education reform movement.

Innovative use of the arts as a strategy for improving teaching and learning has attracted national and international attention. Through the school’s Center for Arts in Education, BAA’s best practices are documented and shared with educators, administrators and policymakers worldwide.

The Four Frames of Leadership

(Bolman and Deal) •

Symbolic Frame

(Value and culture matter) •

Structural Frame

(Organization, resources, policies, etc.) •

Political Frame

(How an organization deals with issues of power) •

Human Resource Frame

(How the individuals within the organization are treated, supported and developed)

Symbolic Frame

(Values and culture matter)

• Strong mission orientation • Leaders tell the story of the school and it’s students • School leaders believe they are involved in a larger change effort to remake schooling to be more equitable and inclusive • Ceremonies celebrating success and promoting mission are common

Structural Frame (Organization, resources, policies, etc.)

• All resources in one basket • The leaders are exceptionally entrepreneurial • Collaborative teaching and problem solving opportunities • Extended time • Integration of community resources • UDL utilizing both high and low tech is ubiquitous • Strong integration of the arts

Political Frame

(How an organization deals with issues of power)

• • • • • • Opinion leaders are essential elements of promoting change (Skrtic) Principals actively seek political support to secure necessary resources Principals actively seek both vertical and horizontal support within their school Principals actively seek community support Principals engage in a delicate dance of being both insiders and countercultural change agents Implementers and clients matter

Human Resource Frame

(How the individuals within the organization are treated, supported and developed)

• All persons working within the schools are connected to the mission • Leadership is distributed • Teacher leadership is encouraged and valued • Collaborative problem solving is the norm • A recognition that specialized expertise is necessary • Teachers and other staff evidence high morale • Significant resources are available for staff development • Clear expectations that all need to constantly improve their ability to address the needs of diverse learners

Biggest Take Away

• All of these schools have moved from “egg crate” performance organizations to collaborative problem solving organizations • Kids at the margins have driven this organizational change