Superintendent's Comments on Special Education Review

From a release submitted by Superintendent Karen Baldwin

On Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the regular meeting of the Suffield Board of Education the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) presented its recommendations and findings from the Special Education Program Review they conducted in the district. The board of education contracted with CREC in the spring of 2011 to better understand the special education processes in the district, resource utilization, communication and collaboration processes and the educational benefit received by the children who receive services under the special education designation.

Peg MacDonald, Ph.D. from CREC explained to the board of education and the public that data was collected and analyzed over a six-month period from state and local documents. 33 Individualized Education Plan (IEP) reviews, 11 in-depth student reviews, 32 classroom observations, 171 parent surveys and focus group interviews with 132 stakeholders representing 45 parents and 87 staff members. The parent survey return rate of 50 percent was notably strong, compared to the standard rate of survey returns at roughly 13 percent for mail response surveys.

Overall, the program review found that more than 80 percent of parents at the elementary and middle school level were satisfied with their child's program, their child's participation in the school community and the skills their child was learning. The preschool and high school parents indicate a mid-70 percent range agreement in the same categories, which although representing a solid base of support, is less than the elementary and middle levels. More specifically, more than half of the parents of preschool and high school children with autism indicated on the survey that they were not satisfied with the skills their child was learning.

CREC identified several areas for improvement of the educational benefit for students with special needs. The two foundational recommendations were the need to improve: data collection and analysis that monitors student progress and informs instruction and communication and collaboration with parents on collection and analysis of student data and staff supervision and instructional leadership to guarantee high quality services and fidelity of implementation.

CREC commended the staff members in the buildings for providing time and information for the report. Dr. MacDonald also recognized the parents of students with disabilities in Suffield as contributing enormously to the report through their survey responses and interviews with team members. Dr. MacDonald highlighted that the superintendent and district leadership team have identified core approaches of scientific research based intervention and differentiated instruction, along with strategies and structures that will support the work that is required to enhance educational benefit for students with disabilities. The CREC report also cited program strengths in a variety of areas. These include compliance with documentation, process timelines and meeting targets for appropriately including students with disabilities in the general education programs.

Superintendent of Schools Karen Baldwin shared with the board that CREC's recommendation for a three-year special education plan and a high priority 100-day plan was in the initial phases of development and that the plan would be communicated broadly with all stakeholders and serve to inform school and district improvement plans.

Suffield Board of Education Chairwoman Mary Roy responded that, "The board of education is eager to support the superintendent in the change and improvement work and the results are timely as the board begins the strategic planning process and the upcoming budget development plans."