Program aims to prevent kids from being rushed into special education

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Program aims to prevent kids from being rushed into special education

By Singleton-Rickman

Staff Writer

Last Updated:May 26. 2008 11:29PM

Published: May 27. 2008 4:30AM

School districts across the country are adopting early intervention programs

in hopes of steering some children away from expensive special education

classes.

While it's a cost savings to the system, the payoff comes mainly for the

student who, through intervention from the school, won't be among those

identified as in need of special education.

The adoption of such programs, known as Response to Intervention, is

catching on across the country as school districts are trying to cut down on

over-identification - too many children being shunted off to special

education who don't need to be there. This year, there were 84,772 special

education students in Alabama schools. The cost to educate a student through

a special education program can be twice as much as a general education

student, up to $12,000 a year.

Researchers have long argued that students are getting stuck in special

education not because of biological disabilities but because of

environmental factors, such as parents not reading to their children enough

or allowing children to stay home from school too often.

Alabama is joining the drive to help steer children as early as kindergarten

away from special education through intervention programs at the first sign

that they are falling behind their peers in basic subjects such as reading

and math. Teachers keep careful records, and children in need of help get

extra instruction.

Alabama has yet to deliver the Response to Intervention plan for

implementation in schools, but some education officials say it could be as

early as this summer.

" When RTI became the buzz word, we were told that about half of the special

education students had actual learning disabilities and the others simply

hadn't had proper instruction or a conducive learning environment, " said

Lynn Sharp, special education coordinator for Florence City Schools. " The

feeling was that if they had more or a different, more-intense type of

instruction there would be (academic) improvement. "

The RTI model is a multi-tiered approach using research-based interventions.

Students move through the tiers of intervention based on the progress made

at each level.

Before a student can be referred for a special education evaluation, the

student must have had intensive interventions in the three tiers for a

significant amount of time at each level with no measurable progress.

Students not experiencing success after three tiers of intervention will

most likely be students with severe cognitive disabilities.

Response to Intervention is considered a general education program and is

implemented through the general education curriculum. School districts

across the state are implementing their own interventions. Several local

districts are having success through intervention programs, including

special reading programs and remediation classes. Local schools have

implemented student support teams.

The intensity of the instruction has paid off markedly in districts such as

Colbert County. That district has raised expenditures, to the tune of

$183,000 since 2006, for additional research-based programs that are helping

prevent special education referrals.

Special education enrollment in Colbert County has decreased in the past

three years from 14.9 to 12.7 percent, a sign that the intervention is

working, according to the district's special education coordinator, Vicki

Turberville.

Money in a school district's special education budget provides teachers,

classroom aides, transportation, evaluations, counseling or therapy and

professional development for teachers.

In Muscle Shoals, nearly 7 1/2 percent of the school district's funds is

dedicated to special education. In that district, special education numbers

were up this year from 170 to 225 students.

Approximately 5 percent of all public high school students are identified as

having a learning disability, with most being in the area of reading.

The cost of testing students referred to special education covers a wide

range. Sharp said certain testing kits can cost up to $1,000. Though

Florence has an in-house psychometrist - those who measure a student's

mental progress - and four other employees who handle special education

referrals, much of the expense of special education comes through

contracting with those who test the children. All referrals to special

education must first have mandatory vision and hearing screenings.

The Bush administration is backing Response to Intervention, allowing

districts to spend up to 15 percent of the money they receive for special

education on the program and setting aside $14 million in federal dollars to

help states implement it.

Response to Intervention found its foothold nearly a decade ago in school

districts in Oregon and Iowa. In Virginia, special education numbers

statewide dipped by about 4,000 students this year, which officials

attribute, at least partly, to increased early intervention.

In Oklahoma, where 15 school districts are piloting the program, some

schools reported a 50 percent decrease in the number of special education

referrals between 2006 and 2007.

Still, there is a fear that children with learning disabilities might have

to wait too long to get the intensive help they need.

" There are really no guidelines for how long a child can remain in RTI

before they are moved into evaluation, but we hear from some parents that it

can take a long, long time, " said Pat Lillie, a board member for the

Learning Disabilities Association of America and mother of two sons who were

in special education programs.

Some educators say it could take as long as three years to get the early

intervention system in place, and then it might not save the school district

much money, even if fewer children end up in special education.

Highfield, special education coordinator for Muscle Shoals City

Schools, said the danger of the method of identifying students with learning

disabilities is that research shows that more that 75 percent of the

students in special education probably don't have a true disability but

haven't had intensive, effective instruction.

" The longer a child goes with a disability in reading without identification

and intervention, the more difficult the task of remediation, and the chance

of success is less likely, " she said.

Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or

lisa.singleton-rickman@....