Cluster Area IV: 
Free Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment

 

Executive Summary/Overview In 1994, the Board of Regents adopted a policy statement requiring each local school district and public agency providing education to students with disabilities to ensure that students with disabilities ages three through 21 are provided a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE), consistent with Federal and State laws and regulations. The State Education Department is required to ensure that each public agency providing education to students with disabilities establishes and implements procedures that meet Federal and State Requirements. New York State School Reform and specifically special education reform, initiated in 1995, focused not only on providing access for students with disabilities but on improving the results for all students with disabilities by improving educational achievement and ensuring success in the general curriculum as well as integration with nondisabled peers throughout the educational experience. As a result, high standards were established, progress on those standards are measured and reported, and students receive academic intervention services, as needed, to achieve these standards. The impact of the school reform initiatives is summarized by the trend data. For example, since 1997, there has been a 269 percent increase in the number of students with disabilities tested for the Regents Examination in English (based on 2003 data). More than twice as many students with disabilities passed the exam in 2003 than took it in 1997. Of those students tested, 59 percent achieved a passing score. While the numbers taking the Regents Examination in English in the Big Five Cities has also increased significantly as evidenced by a 656 percent increase in participation from 1997 to 2003, and a passing rate of 42.6 percent in 2003, the numbers taking the test continues to be disproportionate in the Big Five Cities. Although the population of students with disabilities in the Big Five Cities is 42.3 percent of the total population of all students with disabilities, these students represented only 21 percent of the students taking the test in 1997 and only 28.7 percent in 2003. This data indicates that full access to Regents level courses continues to be a concern in the Big Five Cities. Additionally, increasing percentages of students with disabilities are earning Regents High School Diplomas. In 2002-2003, 13.5 percent of students with disabilities who completed high school earned such diplomas as compared to 4.4 percent in 1995-96. Students with disabilities in wealthy (low need relative to resources) earn high school diplomas (Regents, Local, and High School Equivalency diplomas) at a significantly higher rate than students in districts with higher need relative to resources. For example, the percentage of students with disabilities in New York City earning a diploma decreased from 51.5 percent in 2001-2002 to 49.1 percent in 2002-2003. In contrast, 90.1 percent of students with disabilities earned a high school diploma in the low need relative to resource districts in 2002-2003. In the 1997 Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Congress called for greater efforts to ensure that minority children were accurately assessed and placed in special education only if appropriate. In New York State, the largest numbers of racially and ethnically diverse students are concentrated in high need school districts, which includes the Big Five Cities. These students often enter school districts where adequate support services in general education are rarely available, greater numbers of teachers are uncertified and the lack of resources make it difficult to provide quality instruction and early intervention. Many of these high need school districts have few resources for intensive interventions that are essential to students who are struggling to read. Such interventions play a major role in reducing the number of inappropriate referrals to special education. Additionally, there continues to be challenges regarding the number of students identified as disabled and in the provision of special education services in the least restrictive environment (including the over representation of minorities in special education). Children from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds have been disproportionately identified in specific disability categories (mentally retarded and emotionally disturbed) and placed in separate education settings away from their non-disabled peers. Many districts have disproportionate placements of students in separate classes or separate site programs and have a limited continuum of special education services. The Big Five Cities tend to use the “special class” and “separate school” models for greater percentages of students with disabilities. For example, in 2002-03, the Big Five Cities placed 38.1 percent in general education classrooms less than 40 percent of the time as compared to 19.4 percent of students with disabilities in other school districts statewide. As a result, almost twice as many students with disabilities in the Big Five Cities are further isolated from their peers in general education, and have less access to the general curriculum and to teachers who are appropriately certified in core content areas. The percentage of students with disabilities educated in separate settings has decreased from 9.1 percent in 1997-1998 to 7.4 percent in 2002-2003, however, NYS places almost twice as many students with disabilities in separate settings compared with the 2002-03 national average of 4.0 percent. New York State surpasses the national average by 3.6 percentage points in the placement of students with disabilities in general education programs for 80% or more of their day, however, the extent to which students with disabilities are afforded integrated opportunities varies statewide. Significant gains have been made with respect to providing integrated opportunities for preschool children with disabilities. In 2002-2003, 58.7 percent of preschool students with a disability were served in either natural settings or in settings that included non-disabled children as compared to 32.3 percent in 1995-1996. New York State surpasses the National average (54.9 percent) of preschool children with disabilities in integrated settings by 3.8 percentage points. For students educated in separate settings, it is likely that they will have less access to a rigorous general education curriculum, which results in lower performance on State assessments and less likelihood of meeting graduation requirements. As a result, their ability to access postsecondary education and employment is affected. Access to post secondary education and employment is further impacted when students with disabilities drop out of school. In 2002-03, the dropout rate for students with disabilities decreased from 7.3 percent to 6.7 percent. This decrease is consistent across each of the need resources categories of school districts. Districts must comprehensively implement the Regents least restrictive policy to ensure that those students who are identified as needing special education services receive these services in the least restrictive environment: http://www.vesid.nysed.gov/specialed/publications/policy/lrepolicy.htm. However, for those students who legitimately require more segregated placements, there must be equal access within these programs to a rigorous general education curriculum and highly skilled teachers. To assist districts in providing appropriate programs for students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment, the Department of Elementary, Middle, Secondary and Continuing Education (EMSC) and the Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) have provided intensive technical assistance to school districts which should also assist school districts to address disproportionality. As presented in cluster one, General Supervision, the SED’s Special Education Training and Resource Center network (SETRC) is one of the primary strategies available to assist Local Education Agencies (LEA’s) and schools address LRE issues. All SETRC Development Specialists are available to provide professional development and technical assistance on issues and needs associated with the LRE, such as general education supports, pre-referral strategies, access to the general curriculum, universal design for learning (UDL), alternative assessment strategies, and so forth. All SETRC Professional Development and technical assistance is based on local district Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) planning activities. New York’s State Improvement Grant (SIG) is designed to stimulate systems change and improvement through integrated strategies using a variety of resources. For example, the Regional School Support Centers (RSSC’s) are a joint initiative between general and special education and are intended to assist low performing districts and schools to close the performance gap in achievement by assisting the district/school with data analysis and planning, identifying appropriate goals and benchmarks, and coordinating a variety of resources from numerous program areas. Each RSSC has a special education professional member, who is responsible for coordinating special education components and training or supporting leadership in targeted SIG districts. Regional SIG Support teams address disproportionality by utilizing root cause analysis, problem-solving strategies and intensive training and support for each targeted district based on district need and identified outcomes. Additionally, through the Higher Education Support Center at Syracuse University, Institutes of Higher Education work with Regional School Support Centers and SIG targeted district teams to improve the link between preservice and in-service education programs. Increased emphasis on preparing students for participation in an integrated workforce continues to be a focus of the New York State Education Department. In 2001, the New York State Board of Regents reauthorized the Part 100 Regulations to include an approved Career and Technical Education program providing greater flexibility in curriculum courses for high school students who want to pursue career and technical education programs to meet graduation requirements. With this shift in orientation, several new initiatives were developed with the focus increasingly becoming the integration of academic and career standards. Originally data with respect to students taking and passing advanced occupational education exams was reported. While gaps between general and special education students continued to exist, the difference between the passing rate of special education and general education students on advanced occupational education examinations from 1997-98 to 1999-2000 decreased by 5.1 percentage points. New data collection processes were established to reflect this new policy and are indicated in the tables below. Additionally, VESID coordinates the New York State Longitudinal Post School Indicator Study (NYSLPSI) part of which provides data about preparation for employment for general and special education students. Students in the Classes of 2000 and 2001 are interviewed upon school exit and then again one, three and five years beyond school exit. The research indicates significantly more general and special education students are participating in community work experiences with post school employment rates increasing for those students participating in career planning activities. Additional information about this study can be found in the Secondary Transition portion of this document (See Cluster V, Secondary Transition, Table ST.I, Background/Trend Data).  New York State Education Department activities that support the implementation of the least restrictive environment policies include: Reallocating discretionary special education dollars and technical assistance efforts to support districts with the greatest need; Strengthening teacher preparation programs through formal collaborations with Institutes of Higher Educations offering teacher preparation programs; Reforming teacher education programs and certification requirements in keeping with the No Child Left Behind legislation; Further redesigning the special education Quality Assurance system to focus on implementation of LRE requirements; Targeting technical assistance network activities so as to focus on districts identified with high rates of placements of students with disabilities in separate sites. (See Appendix 17b); Providing technical assistance to individual districts based on data driven needs as identified in the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) which is required of all school districts; Implementing New York’s State Improvement Grant (SIG) and SIG Supplementary Grant to focus on disproportionality and improving outcomes in low-performing schools; Providing intensive professional development to targeted districts in need of improvement across performance indicators (including LRE); Providing intensive professional development to regional and State level staff as well as to identified districts with respect to Chapter 405 issues; Providing intensive technical assistance to the Large Five Cities and other districts in need of improvement based on key performance measures and disproportionality data as per the State Improvement Grant (SIG); Establishing a data management system, Comprehensive Special Education Information System (CSEIS) to track the frequency and type of LRE issues identified, thus informing technical assistance needs on a regional and/or statewide basis; Establishing Partnership Agreements with the Big 5 Cities which involves collaboration between school personnel and technical assistance networks with a focus on developing strategic plans for addressing critical issues, such as LRE; Developing and piloting a State model Career and Technical Education (CTE) Skills Achievement Profile for students with disabilities pursuing IEP diplomas as a means of documenting student attainment/achievement of career and technical knowledge and skills, as well as work-related skills and/or certification or licenses; Establishing an approved Career and Technical Education (CTE) program providing greater flexibility in curriculum courses for high school students who want to pursue career and technical education programs to meet graduation requirements and obtain a technical endorsement; Promoting the use of a Career Plan which serves as a document for learners to record their development in the areas of self knowledge, career exploration, career and life goals, classroom learning application and foundation skill awareness; Conducting post school research, part of which focuses on student preparation for employment, so as to inform the development of policies and practices; Promoting several formal interagency collaborations focused on creating and maintaining safe and effective learning environments in schools; Continuing program development grants focused on staff development activities primarily around positive behavioral interventions targeting students with autism and severe emotional disturbance on home instruction or in inappropriate placements; Developing, revising and distributing information on FAPE/LRE issues to families, school district personnel, parent networks and training networks; Implementing Reading and Math Improvement Initiatives focused on closing the gap for students with disabilities; Researching the impact of graduation requirements on students with disabilities to assist in further policy development; Providing deaf, deaf-blind or blind students matriculated in degree granting post secondary program monetary grants which assist them in obtaining access to supports necessary for academic success; Publishing a preschool special education quality indicator study with the purpose of guiding future preschool education policy development by identifying educational practices that affect general education placement rates as preschool students transition to school age programs; developing standards-based learning outcomes and indicators for kindergarten participation and establishing a self assessment guide for providers based on research based quality indicators. Additionally, grants are being offered to special education preschool providers to support this program self assessment and subsequent development of continuous program improvement activities; Implementing a Preschool Longitudinal Study to determine the long-term effects of preschool special education programs; and Amending regional space plan requirements to support the movement of students from separate to integrated settings. (See Cluster 1 - General Supervision - Table GS.I, II, III - Special Education Space Requirements Plans).

Top of Page