The 'forgotten' part of special education that could lead to better outcomes for students (2023)

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Lord admitted he was struggling to get answers from Kate about what she wanted for her future; He said he needs the help of professionals to solve the mystery.

Kate had loved being in the school cast in musicals like Grease and West Side Story. Lord wondered if Kate's love of films and theater meant she might find jobs behind the scenes. But he could not find a way to translate these interests into employment in Braunschweig.

Related:Low academic expectations and poor support for special needs students 'harm their future'

Looking back, he was also concerned that educators weren't pushing Kate as hard as they could have, further disadvantaging her when looking for a career. Kate herself says her classes were easy and that she "almost never had homework."

But Lord doesn't blame the teachers. He blames the system.

"Everyone meant well," he said. "But there's only so much they can do, they can offer her. She needed extra attention everywhere.”

Many districts rely on formal assessments to help schools create effective plans for students. In Washington, D.C., a county official said that public schools give some students a questionnaire that covers questions like "Do you prefer to work alone or with others?" and "Is it more important to you to earn a lot of money or to help others?" The school administration should also discuss the goals and the necessary steps to achieve them with the students and their parents.

But lawyers and barristers surveyed said Kate's experience was widespread. Many said the vast majority of targets and measures they saw were vague or even nonsensical and did not meet legal requirements. Plans often contain too few or superficial goals.

For example, if a student likes soccer, educators may indicate that they want to join the NFL. "Anyone doing this work has seen this [in a] transition plan," said Maria Blaeuer, attorney for DC-based Advocates for Justice and Education. "This is not a transition plan. That just fills in empty lines.”

College-bound students might be instructed to research colleges and fill out college applications — but plans often don't include training in other essential skills for college, such as: B. how to learn. Transition plans often have low expectations. Parents and advocates say many special needs students are guided to the "five Fs" that a parent names: food, wrinkles, flowers, filing and dirt, related to cleaning and janitorial services.

Bob Cunningham, an expert on learning and attention issues for the nonprofitVerstanden.org, said part of the problem is that in many schools, no one “owns” the transition process. "I think because a lot of what happens in relation to children with learning and attention problems is immediate, people focus on the immediate," he said.

In other words, educators often don't think about the future until it's too late.

Related:The vast majority of students with disabilities do not obtain a university degree

In Kate's senior year, her IEP reflected transition goals, driven largely by her parents. They wanted her to take an online college course and seek work in Braunschweig in a "paid position that will leverage her theatre/acting interest and skills," according to a draft by the IEP.

Lord said he believes they were copied and pasted from emails he sent the school to ensure they were complying with the law. There was no thoughtful discussion as to whether Kate was okay with these plans and what could be done in high school to help her achieve them.

The plan "just lacked depth," Lord said. "We didn't have transition goals that we looked at and I thought that made sense."

Barbara Gunn, director of student services at the Brunswick School District, joined the school district after Kate graduated and was unable to comment on her specific situation. However, she said that creating a meaningful transition plan is of the utmost importance for all students. "This team needs to think carefully about what this student wants and can do," she said. "You have to do some sort of survey of what their interests are, what they can do." When a student like Kate isn't sure what he or she wants to do with their future, a transition goal can focus on career exploration, to gauge interest in future careers.

The district is also considering beginning the transition planning process in eighth grade instead of ninth grade to ensure that adequate time is devoted to this process. Gunn said the district provides professional development for transition-focused teachers and has recently begun sending a teacher to a regional group meeting each month to discuss transition issues.

Put the plan into action

Federal law says schools should make sure students follow the steps in their plans, but there's no one watching to make sure they do. "One of the most frustrating things is that even if the goals aren't bad, there aren't any services to support the goals," Blaeuer said. "It's very superficial."

Parents often have to shoulder the burden of making sure their children have the support they need to meet their transition goals because schools simply don't devote enough resources to this part of special education. Some schools have a full-time coordinator who focuses on transition services. Typically, special education teachers—who already have a full teaching load—are responsible for overseeing transition plans.

Related:Is teacher preparation failing for students with disabilities?

Lord attempted to do his own research into the options available to Kate and approached the school with suggestions. The district offered to place Kate in a trade school, but the family decided against it. Kate was socially successful at school and trade school focused on training students in subjects such as mechanics and cookery, which Kate had no interest in.

Administrators also told the family they could contact the Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services or apply for Vocational Rehabilitation, a government-funded service that helps people with disabilities access higher education and employment.

However, at her high school itself, there was little local to help Kate. Her IEP last year cited a service learning course as a way to introduce her to various employment opportunities. This course is available to both general education and special education students and provides students with an opportunity to volunteer in the community.

"As we approached the transition, my absolute goal was that it didn't fall off the map," Lord said. "It's unfortunate, she kinda has... it's so difficult."

achievement of goals

It doesn't have to be. Peter O'Halloran of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania received special education during his educational career due to developmental disabilities resulting from complications during his birth. Peter has trouble expressing his thoughts when reading, paying attention, and speaking.

As a child, Peter said he wanted to be a Supreme Court Justice. He loved math, social studies and working on computers. In high school, Peter began to take control of his IEP meetings and frequently provided input on his future goals and aspirations.

Chris Bradley, Peter's mother, said there was some pressure but the district was generally responsive to Peter's interests. As a sophomore in high school, Peter completed a survey for the district's technical college that connected him to the hospitality industry, an area he had no interest in. He and his mother looked at a federal report of salary information for various jobs, and he realized that an office job would offer a better quality of life than a job in the food industry.

So Bradley refused to send her son to the feeding program. Instead, she urged the school to let him try to enroll in some community college courses offered through the school's dual enrollment program. He later enrolled in a new vocational technical program in office administration that gave him the opportunity to also earn credits that he could transfer to a community college.

"If I had sat back ... Peter would probably work somewhere in the hospitality industry," Bradley said. "I don't think he would have tried to go to community college."

Related:STUDENT VOICE: They told me I would never go to college, but I just finished my freshman year - what about all the other students with autism?

The college courses had an unexpected result: Peter realized that he really didn't want to go to college and changed his goal. Although Bradley said they had more opportunities to help Peter build a more supportive network in his hometown, the school took some steps to help Peter achieve his goal of independent living, such as getting him into the bank, where he learned how to set up accounts and borrowing.

In every way, Peter was successful. After graduating from high school, he went straight into the office clerk profession as planned. He is currently employed full-time as an administrative assistant at a non-profit organization in downtown Philadelphia. He regularly speaks about his experiences with special education to local college and university classes that train teachers, counselors, and school psychologists, as well as at national and statewide educational conferences on employment, health care, and disabilities.

"It all worked out," said Chris Bradley. "I think it was really successful, but it took a lot of work. It was a full-time job for me to advocate for him.”

Kate's family has now turned to charities and services for help. Kate worked with a local group to develop a career plan and spent three weeks in Minnesota on a life skills program her parents hoped would introduce them to the idea of ​​being away from home and her improve self-representation.

On a September morning, in the college kitchen where she works, Kate looked like any other hard-working young adult. She efficiently used a machine to spit out cookie dough and placed the balls on a baking sheet. Her shoulder-length blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail - last summer she cut off 12 inches and donated it to Locks of Love - and she chatted with a co-worker about his plans for the day after his shift ended.

She said that while the baker's job was tough at first, "it's okay now. They're all very nice.” But she doesn't want to work there forever.

She's a big fan of American Girl dolls - she'd love to work in one of their stores as a personal shopper or, as she said, "maybe even set up showcases". Her father still thinks there might be a way to use her love of theater to find a career, or at least wants her to get a second job in town. He understands that Kate's case presents challenges - after all, it still confuses him. But he believes more ground could have been covered before their graduation.

"I would have liked to have had a much better idea of ​​what their interests are," Lord said. "Since high school, there's been a lot of work [for us]."

Peter, on the other hand, is now enjoying the job he had planned years ago. He enjoys talking to customers and working on the computer. He is striving to become more independent, including learning how to take care of a house (he lives at home but is saving money to buy his own) and grocery shopping himself. He said there are stereotypes about people with disabilities.

"People with disabilities can have full-time jobs," said Peter. "I wish people would look at people with disabilities and [know] that they are able to have jobs and live independently."

This story was produced byThe Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Read the full series "Willing, Able and Forgotten: How High School Special Ed Students Fail"Here. Sign up for ourNewsletter.