Written by Nate Levenson
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NCLB is demanding higher levels of student achievement, but school budgets are shrinking. School districts continue to lobby the state and federal government for more funds, but that won’t happen given the current economic crisis. School districts are on our own to tackle the twin challenges of controlling special education costs and improving student achievement.
What’s more, we have a moral (not to mention legal) imperative to not just cut services for these students; tough financial times don’t change the reality that students with special needs are often learning at a less-than-satisfactory level. Our challenge is to do more and spend less.
But there's a silver lining in the form of a 10-Step process with more than 75 specific strategies to help you balance the budget and improve student achievement.
When I became superintendent in Arlington, Massachusetts in 2005, special ed costs were climbing, service for students with special needs was spotty, and results weren’t what we wanted. To make matters worse, we were experiencing a ballooning population of autistic children; tuitions for out-of-district schools were skyrocketing; and transportation vendors were hiking prices by as much as 100%. Despite all this, we were able to reduce special ed spending in the district compared to the status quo, to raise student achievement, and—surprisingly—to increase parent satisfaction.
In the eight schools participating in our changes over three years, the number of special ed students reaching proficiency increased by 26% in English and 22% in math. The high school was ranked in the top 2% by U.S. News and World Report, and the entire district was twice recognized by School Matters, a partnership of Standard & Poor’s, the Gates Foundation and the Broad Foundation, for outperforming districts of similar social-economic status. In both cases, closing the achievement gap of our special ed students factored heavily into the award selections. How did we do it? We did it by implementing a 10-Step Process that can be used in all districts.
