It's been five years since Agnes Stewart Middle School transitioned from a model of separate special education classrooms into a more collaborative approach.
Gillow-Wiles is one of more than 3,000 special ed teachers — and thousands more specialists and classified staff — across Oregon who work with the state’s roughly 74,800 special ed students in K-12 schools. Those students, who make up about 13 percent of the total student population, all have Individualized Education Programs (or IEPs), which designate the level of services they receive based on their disabilities and educational goals. The number of all children in Oregon in special education programs, aged 0 through 21, topped 85,400 for the 2012-13 school year. That’s a number that’s been on a slight but consecutive rise over the past 12 years, according to the Oregon Department of Education. Sarah Drinkwater, interim Assistant Superintendent for the state’s Office of Student Learning and Partnerships, said that the increase is based on a number of factors, including an overall increase in student population some years and a new focus on younger children. “There’s nothing that really speaks specifically to that increase, and it is slight,” she said, “but the state and all of
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TODAY’S OEA | JUNE 2013
us are really starting to look at helping the younger kids at a much earlier timeframe.” The state also issues annual special education report cards that show how school districts are doing in terms of meeting special ed goals. The results, across districts and the state, are varied. In the Junction City School District, for example, 52 percent of students with IEPs graduated with a regular diploma in four years in 201011, short of the state’s 67 percent target; in Portland, only 31 percent of special ed students graduated with a regular diploma in four years. But in the Sherwood School District, nearly 77 percent of students with IEPs graduated in four years with a regular diploma. “Some of those rates are lower than we’d like to see,” said Laura Petschauer, general supervision coordinator for ODE. “We want to improve graduation rates and increase the results for special education students because our goal is for all kids to graduate and have those foundational skills that are so important.” The discrepancies between school districts don’t necessarily illustrate
shortcomings, but instead shed a little light not only on the challenges facing special ed, but also on the strides made every day by educators and students around the state. Funding and staffing continue to be the primary obstacles hindering special education programs, which thrive best when more focused, individualized instruction is available. But dedicated staff, who enjoy helping their students progress, make a huge difference. And with the state embarking on an ambitious path of educational reform that looks to raise standards while ensuring that all students, including those in special ed, are educated and prepared for the future, the horizon ahead is a bright one. The following profiles take a look at four different special education programs across the state: their approach, their results and the differences they’re making.
Stephenson Elementary School, Portland
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ack when Paula Fahey first started as a special education teacher in