1 / 83

Reducing System-wide Racial Disproportionality in the Prevalence of Emotionally Disabled Students

Reducing System-wide Racial Disproportionality in the Prevalence of Emotionally Disabled Students. Chesapeake Bay Consulting Group www.Chesapeakebayconsulting.com 301-518-8913 Nichole Hobbs Nichole_Hobbs@Chesapeakebayconsulting.com Bob Hull Bob_Hull@Chesapeakebayconsulting.com

maine
Download Presentation

Reducing System-wide Racial Disproportionality in the Prevalence of Emotionally Disabled Students

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Reducing System-wide Racial Disproportionality in the Prevalence of Emotionally Disabled Students Chesapeake Bay Consulting Group www.Chesapeakebayconsulting.com 301-518-8913 Nichole Hobbs Nichole_Hobbs@Chesapeakebayconsulting.com Bob Hull Bob_Hull@Chesapeakebayconsulting.com Jim Mount Jim_Mount@Chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  2. Overarching Goal Participants will be able to develop a comprehensive, coordinated, early intervention system to reduce racial disproportionality in the identification and placement of students classified as Emotionally Disturbed. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  3. GoalsParticipants will Understand: • the impact of IDEA 2004 on disproportionality in special education • basic epidemiological data & concepts • how needs assessments challenge assumptions about risk and protective factors • promising practices used to respond to disproportionality 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  4. Goals Participants will Understand: • impact of delay in service on special education rates • impact of co-occurring conditions on identification and treatment • evidenced based interventions that impact identification rates & reduce placement duration • how to plan for improving assessment and IEP team decision making 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  5. What is Disproportionality? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  6. What is Disproportionality? “the extent to which membership in a given group affects the probability of being placed in a specific special education disability category.” ( Oswald, et. al. 1999.) 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  7. IDEA 2004 & Racial Disproportionality Requires state and local education agencies to develop policies and procedures designed to prevent over- identification or disproportionality by race of children with disabilities. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  8. IDEA 2004 & Racial Disproportionality Each state must provide for the collection and examination of data to determine if significant disproportionality is occurring in the stateand the local educational agencies. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  9. IDEA 2004 & Racial Disproportionality Applies to: • overall disability rates, • rates by disability code • placement in specific settings. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  10. The New Realities • Disproportionality is NOT discrimination, though discrimination may play a part. • Disproportionality is NOT cultural insensitivity and lack of diverse programming. • Disproportionality is NOT un-equal numbers of blacks and whites in special education. • Disproportionality is about the probability of being identified/placed in SPED based on race. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  11. The New Realities Require any LEA identified as being disproportionate to reserve the maximum amount of funds under 613f (15 percent of total Special Education budget) to provide comprehensive, coordinated early intervening services to those groups that are significantly over identified. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  12. Implications of No Child Left Behind and IDEA 2004 • All Service Providers must be highly qualified and provide evidence based interventions. • Do minorities/poor students have equal access to highly qualified service providers? • Do they have the same access to evidence based interventions? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  13. Successful Response Highly qualified staff and equal access to evidence based programs will be the foundation of any effort to address disproportionality. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  14. Epidemiological View The new realities dictate a new way of viewing data. For many years the medical literature has employed an epidemiological perspective, and recently OSEP has signaled that they will be using this type of data analysis.

  15. How is Disproportionality Determined? • TheRisk Ratioprovides a comparative index of risk of being placed in a particular disability category and is the preferred indicator of disproportionate representation by the Office of Special Education Programs. • Risk Ratioiscalculated by dividing the risk of one racial group by the risk of another racial group. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  16. Disproportionality: a concern for 3 decades • Black children are 2.88 times more often labeled MR and 1.92 times more often labeled ED than white children. • In some states, Asian/Pacific Islanders are more than twice as likely to be identified as SLD. • Native Americans labeled ED or SLD by a factor of two. • Note: these data are expressed asprobabilities. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  17. Are all Risk Factors Equal? What are the “Risk Factors” associated with students developing an Emotional/Behavioral Disorder? What data do you need? How is this determination made? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  18. Risk Factors from the 2001, 2002, and 2003 National Health Interview Surveys (2005) 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  19. Risk Factors from the 2001, 2002, and 2003 National Health Interview Surveys (2005) ECONOMIC RISK FAMILY STATUS RISK 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  20. Characteristics of ED (SEELS) Elementary Secondary • Male 80% 76% • African American 27% 25% • Living in Poverty 33% 30% • Single Parent 34% 38% • Other family member disabled 46% 46% 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  21. Skill Deficits of ED Students by Parent Report (SEELS) Elementary Secondary Low Social Skills 27% 33% Low Self Control Skills 29% 27% Low Assertiveness 11% 24% Low Cooperation Skills 24% 58% Normal Cognitive Skills 89% 97.5% 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  22. Education Experiencesof ED Students (SEELS) 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  23. Education Experiencesof ED Students (SEELS) 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  24. National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2 data 2004) • Secondary SPED Students (ED) • Selected Characteristics • 77% of ED students are male • 25% of ED students are Black (Pop rate 16%) • 30% of ED students are poor (Pop rate 20%) • Higher rates of one parent household, parent less than high school education • Higher rates of ADHD and Low social skills 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  25. Summary • 5% of the school aged population have significant emotional/behavioral problems. Only 1% are identified as emotionally disabled. • Children enter the special education system at younger ages. • Disabled students stay in school past the mandatory age. • Identification versus availability and quality of service? What creates disproportion? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  26. Implications of the Data • Conduct a thorough needs assessment before addressing racial disproportionality. • Effective programs can cause disproportionality: early ID/treatment efforts and Drop-Out prevention programs increase enrollment. • Assess both Risk and Protective factors. • Poor, Adolescent, African American Males will have highest rates of ED 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  27. Length of Stay Activity Ms. McGillicutty teaches the slower third grade at A Bridge Too Far Elementary. She generally has one special needs student in her class. One year, she retains Damion, a special needs student. The following year, his brother Darrien, also a special needs student enters the class. Ms. McGillicutty has doubled her rate of special education students, as measured by state and federal assessments. Imagine this going on all through Acme Township Public Schools. The following slides show the cost of retention, both for special education and for regular education students. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  28. Retention Costs 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  29. Retention Costs Looking at data from Acme Township Public Schools, note that a retention rate of 1% yields an overall increase in student population of 947, or nearly another cohort/grade. Those additional students will generate additional costs, with no positive outcomes. If Acme’s average cost per pupil is $8500 with a total budget of 110 million, then retention at 1% costs an additional 8 million dollars per year, not counting capital costs. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  30. Special Education ID @ 2% Rate 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  31. Special Education ID @ 2% Rate • The previous chart shows the impact of identification at a 2% rate. Note that as the age/grade increases, numbers of identified students increase. • The following chart assumes a 1% retention rate and a 1% identification rate to account for the overlap between the two categories. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  32. Special Educationand Retention Note: Retention provides a minimum of 150 extra SPED students per year. For a cost analysis, go to www.chesapeakeconsulting.com and view more data from Acme Township Public Schools 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  33. System Responses Some systems, having been cited for disproportionality, have responded by revising policies as their sole response. We refer to that as: 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  34. From Now On I’ll Be Good Acme Township ED Program • 100 students, 50 white & 50 black • LEA has overall ratio of 75% white, 25% black • Risk Ratio=2.0 • 10% of ED student replaced annually. • Starting now, proportion of incoming students will accurately reflect population 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  35. > 3 Years of Perfection Start: 100 @ 50:50………….Risk Ratio=2 >1 Y: 10 exited. Incoming@ 7.5:2.5 New Totals: 52.5:47.5 >2 Y: 10 exited. Incoming@ 7.5:2.5 New Totals: 55:45 >3 Y: 10 exited. Incoming@ 7.5:2.5 New Totals: 57.5:42.5 Risk Ratio=1.7 Go to www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com for more information (look in data for Acme Township 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  36. Challenging Assumptions Using a Needs Assessment Dr. Jim Mount

  37. Needs Assessment A needs assessment is a systematic exploration of data concerning a particular issue including strengths and challenges Strengths and challenges are associated with organizational and/or individual performance 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  38. A Needs Assessment Answers the Following Questions • Size the gap between current status and goals? • Who must learn What? • What changes in Behavior & Performance can close this gap? • Contingencies for Behavior & Performance • Costs and benefits for each method? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  39. Needs Assessment • Begin with a GAP analysis • Use data to challenge assumptions. What is the actual performance of individual schools compared to the goals of IDEA and NCLB? • What is the distribution over grade levels for identified students? What should it be? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  40. Needs Assessment Contributing factors? • Committed Leadership, • Staffing ratios, highly qualified staff • Availability of evidenced based interventions, • Student Characteristics, Mobility, • Policies and Procedures 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  41. What to Look For • Problems as deficits: What part of the problem can we change with skill development? • Strengths: Are we taking full advantage of our organizational strengths? • New Directions: Do we see new solutions or just using more of the same? Can we work smarter? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  42. Priorities and Changes • Cost Effectiveness: Which solutions generate most change? Immediacy, Expense, Impact will be outside variables. • What is cost of change vs. maintenance of current effort? • What are the legal mandates? • What are the executive pressures for change? • How will the family and advocacy organizations be involved? 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  43. Solutions • Everybody contributes data & proposals. This is a systems problem, not a Special Education problem. • What organizational changes do we need? • Policy and Procedure Changes • Strategic Planning • Organization Restructuring • Performance Management • Accountability, Training • Team Building 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  44. Focus on Change • Identify specific opportunities and what our new performance requirements are. • Who needs to change and how? • Systems Change Components: • Professional Development • Technical support • Supervision and focused audits • Surveillance of data • Feedback and adaptation of effort 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  45. Summary-Checklist • Perform a “gap” analysis to identify the current skills, knowledge, and abilities of your people/organization vs. the identified needs • Identify your priorities and importance of possible activities • Identify root causes of your performance problems and/or opportunities. Identify possible solutions and growth opportunities. • Evaluate costs/benefits/consequences of each proposed solution. Immediacy, Expense, Impact • Generate and communicate your recommendations for training and development, organization development, career development, and/or other interventions 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  46. By the Seat of Their Pants • Sometimes LEA’s implement interventions without performing a needs assessment. See if you can find some of the mistakes. Frederick-Arundel Regional Township Schools, a suburban school system outside Gotham, was cited for having too many African American ED students identified and placed. One Thursday afternoon the top six special education administrators and the board attorney met to determine their response. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  47. By the Seat of Their Pants After nearly three hours, they decided on an early intervention program, serving pre-K through 4th. They designed a preventative program, theorizing early intervention would reduce numbers of identified ED students later. This was expensive, since the preventative program would provide services for many non-disabled students. After approval from the Superintendent and the board, 25 counselors and social workers were hired to staff school mental health centers, located in selected elementary schools. In an attempt to save money, the system did not hire any supervisors. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  48. By the Seat of Their Pants As a result, programs sometimes lacked focus, with some centers functioning as community mental health centers, while others treated “at risk students” and teachers’ mental health issues. There was also some drift away from evidenced-based interventions, although all the centers collected copious amounts of data, which they subsequently declined to share with administrators, citing privacy issues. After 3 years, the LEA was cited again for the same infraction. The administrators were dismissed and an outside consultant doing a needs assessment found that: 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  49. By the Seat of Their Pants The bulk of African American ED students were entering the system in the 7th & 8th grades, as their parents became more successful and migrated out of Gotham into the suburbs. While the early intervention may have had some impact on their younger siblings, it did not address and had no effect on the secondary students who were responsible for the citation. When the new administrators tried to redeploy resources to serve secondary students, they met with fierce resistance. “How can you take away needed services from the youngest most vulnerable students,” asked 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

  50. By the Seat of Their Pants members of the community? The new hires, having attained tenure, did not wish to switch to working with difficult adolescents. The host schools enjoyed having their own mental health resource and were reluctant to change. The net result was that most the resources stayed in place, and other resources were diverted from programs which could not afford any cuts, including the Superintendent’s pet project, Gifted Autistic Students. This created another round of administrative downsizing in the SPED department. 301-518-8913 www.chesapeakebayconsulting.com

More Related