Special education students in Evanston/Skokie School District 65’s early childhood programs may join their non-disabled peers in general education classrooms as part of the district’s new inclusion policy.
“In an effort to provide students an increased opportunity for more diverse experiences, we in the district have been talking about inclusion for quite some time,” said Margie Lenoir-Davis, assistant director of special services.
Administrators call it a “pilot program” for inclusion since the initiative will not be implemented at all grade levels yet. Only certain students in Services for Pre-Primary Age Children (SPPAC), a program for disabled children up to age 5, would be integrated into general education classrooms.
“There will be no twisting of arms,” said Superintendent Hardy Murphy, emphasizing that parents who prefer the current self-contained classrooms can stick with them.
Parents found out about the change through a letter sent in late June, and a growing group of parents are pushing the district to delay inclusion for one year due to the lack of details from the administration.
“I just don’t understand how parents can feel comfortable when they know all the questions that haven’t been answered,” said Richard Rykhus, whose son is in SPPAC.
GROWING CONCERNS
About 20 parents met with Murphy and other administrators July 15 to voice their concerns. Many of the policy’s specifics remain unclear, and the administration has yet to provide a written policy for parents.
“It’s kind of disturbing because you feel like something is being slid by you rather than having parent involvement,” parent Julie Burkett said.
Although most parents said they do not oppose inclusion, many have doubts about its successful implementation and wonder if schools will be prepared to handle the change with less than five weeks before school starts.
“We are completely open-minded to looking at how inclusion could be brought into the district in a thoughtful and responsible way,” Rykhus said. “We would provide so much support and resources if they would wait one year.”
For students who aren’t ready for the general education curriculum, the district will continue to have classrooms with only special needs children, but the specific number of classrooms is “flexible,” Lenoir-Davis said. The number of children who will be impacted is unclear.
To determine which special needs children are prime candidates for inclusion, every child’s Individualized Education Program will be reviewed, and the chosen children’s parents will be contacted.
Another stakeholder in this equation are the teachers. Under the new policy, many special education teachers will be co-teaching with general education teachers, meaning they would have to be paired up and trained by the Aug. 31 deadline.
Murphy admitted the administration could have communicated with parents in a more “comprehensive” manner.
“In some sense, we were kind of feeling our way along,” he said. “It was kind of difficult at that point to say to parents, ‘This is what happened,’ when in fact, things hadn’t really become solid.”
Cheryl Crosby, a special education consultant for Project CHOICES, said District 65 needs to avoid any more delays and finally hop on the national trend of inclusion.
“Illinois has just been very, very, very far behind on this,” she said. “We rank like 48th in 50 states, so I think there is some immediacy to this across the state, not just in Evanston.”
TEACHING AND TRAINING
Another key concern for parents is the lack of planning for time for teachers. They were notified about the initiative in June.
“Teachers are used to running their own classrooms, so when all of a sudden they’re told they’re going to be sharing this classroom, that’s a big deal,” Rykhus said.
Administrators at the meeting said they would try to place children with the same teacher they previously had, but there are no guarantees.
“They just are not giving us enough up-front information,” said Jennifer Multra, whose son is in SPPAC. “It’s the end of July, and we still don’t know who our teachers are.”
Lenoir-Davis assured parents that the special ed teaching assistants that will accompany the children into general education classrooms will be fully aware of the children’s IEPs.
However, delaying inclusion and spending the next year training teachers for the transition doesn’t necessarily mean success, said Dr. Cassandra Cole, a special education consultant who has worked with District 65 since 1992.
Cole emphasized that on-the-job training and “embedded professional development” is more important than the number of hours spent training teachers. Special and general teachers will have 30 minutes every day to plan and collaborate.
“I don’t see any reason why it won’t be successful,” Cole said.
Forty teachers have already participated in professional development sessions, indicating high interest among teachers, Murphy said. But some parents are still not convinced.
“There’s been inadequate training of any of the general education teachers about inclusion,” said Marian Casey, executive director of Answers for Special Kids. “We are nowhere near ready for an inclusion model with the staff we have.”
LOOKING AHEAD
Parents are asking the administration to give them a written policy by Aug. 5 in preparation for the next meeting on Aug. 11.
Although measuring the program’s success is intangible, gauging parent satisfaction and reaching the goals on the child’s IEP will be the main benchmarks for measuring success, Murphy said.
Administrators and parents will also come together six to eight weeks after the start of school to discuss the policy’s progress, Lenoir-Davis said.
Even though questions still linger, some parents are warming up to the idea of inclusion.
“For some limited number of students this year, we feel like we can make this work,” Murphy said. “At the end of the day, it’s just a group of professionals around the table saying it’s the right thing to do for students. We believe we’ve got the commitment to do it.”
