Excerpts from NYU Report on Monticello CSD Special Education

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These notes are linked from the text Study Cites "Resilience", Seeing Children's Strengths, Not Stereotypes, As Keys To Achievement - Local School District Engages NYU To Aid Self-Examination. See links at the bottom of that page for original report.

Special Education Classification

While an underrepresentation of students exists by race and gender in honors courses, minority students are generally overrepresented in their classification as Special Education students.

"Table 9 shows that overall 21.8% of the student population is designated as requiring Special Education classification. Black males make up the highest segment of Special Education population followed by Hispanic males (26.1%. While males make up a significant segment of the Special Education population as well (25.6%). Overall, males make up almost 75% of the Special Education population."

"Within the classification of Special Education, disparities also emerge. Figure 1 shows that of the 25.6% of White males classified as Special Ed, about a third of those students are classified as a 504. A 504 is a behavior plan accommodation that differs from an Individualized Education Plan in that it provides accommodations for discrepancies in learning styles and is not considered stigmatic. Students who are classified as IEP are identified as having major to minor learning disabilitities. Students with IEPs are often placed in separate and special classes. Students with a 504 behavior plan accommodation do not require an IEP and are not held to the same requirements."

"Figure 2 shows that of the 26.% of Hispanic males who are classified as Special Ed, only 3.5% receive a 504 accommodation. For Black males the figure is even lower. Although Black males represent the largest segment of the Special Ed population at 30.3%, only 1.6% of Black males receive a 504 accommodation. This suggests that Black males do not get the academic accommodation afforded to a 504 classification. Further research needs to be performed to explore why the rate of 504 classification is so high in the White male population and how this impacts pathways of access for minority populations."

In general, the research shows that minority students are significantly more likely to be classified as special Ed, more likely to be classified as an IEP, and less likely to be in honors courses. This filtering of minority students blocks their access to pathways that enhance academic achievement. In fact the research shows that students who reported being more challenged in their courswork - typically honors students who tend to be White females - are more likely to have higher grades than their peers." (pp. 24-26)

"Students expressed that teachers had different expectations for different students. Notably, students in honors classes expressed a more positive scholarly experience and perceived teachers as available for help. For example, one female honors student said, "They [teachers] love what they're teaching and they connect with you on a personal level, unlike the rest of the teachers." Yet, many students suggested that teachers don't share the same expectation of achievement for all students. For example an honors student observed that, "Some teachers don't engage the whole class and maybe a certain set of students, which leaves other students in the class to wander off or travel off and once they're not paying attention, they're obviously not taking anything in. And then obviously you get more and more lost. You want to do the work, it's not going to happen, because you have no idea how to do it. So, some teachers allow students to get a little bit too far off the trail because they try to get them back on where you can't."

Students stated that some teachers had generally high expecations, while others did not. Often this affected student performance. "I get really good grades; I'm on honor roll and stuff, but I felt like this year our teachers just stopped caring," reported an advanced-level student in focus group. Another responded, "In elementary, also, I definitely felt like I got pushed more than I do in high school." Students who identified faculty members as 'having high expectations' also considered them as 'favorite' teachers. In addition, students reported that factulty had higher expectations for some students and lower expectations for others. One student who does not attend honors courses remarked, "I think there's a lot of favoritism in this school."

Recommendations

District Wide:

- The development of early detection systems for students at risk of academic failure before testing begins (before the 3rd grade) and at key transitions to middle school and then into high school, as well as utilization of the on-track indicator starting in both middle school and high school. The on-track indicator should begin at the first marking period when a student enters the school.

- Proactive academic support and enrichment for all students to ensure high expecations, exposure to rigor, and high engagement for all students from K-12.

- Training in culturyally Responsive Policies and Practices across all school levels to improve performance of all students, in particularly those most at risk for underperformance, and promoting a college-bound culture district-wide. Training should also include assisting faculty, administration, and staff to discuss issues around race and ethnicity.

Monticello High School:

- A review of student scheduling to examine the extent to which students have access to a broad array of coursework, including challenging and pre-college level courses.

- The development of school-wide policies that provide consistent and explicit expectations by grade and content level to ensure that all students are held to the same standards.

- An investigation and monitoring of discipline practices to identify how students are given referrals in order to understand and address the ways in which students are referred and the reasons. The investigation and monitoring should begin to address which teachers may be using referrals as a classroom management strategy.