Dear Mrs. Bryant,

I am reaching out to you today with a pressing concern, regarding the needs of our special education students. More specifically to enhance learning outcomes for resources students, integrating technology that can deliver personalized and specialized instruction. Currently our district serves 23 elementary students in the special education program. Thirteen of those students are serviced through our special education resource class. The students who are serviced through resource, fall under the special education umbrella for various classified disabilities. A few examples include emotional disorders, intellectual disabilities, distinct learning handicaps, health-related limitations, and autism. This program includes remedial, compensatory and specialized supplementary instruction, which is provided in an individual or small group setting for part of the day. Students may be pulled to the resource room for a variety of reasons, including to work with educational materials in a way that suits their learning style, to better focus and take in material that may be distracting in the general education classroom or to work at a slower pace on material that is above their level. Individual needs are remediated in areas of visual and auditory processing deficits, reading, math, written expression, spelling, vocabulary and organizational skills. It is specialized instruction tailored to our students needs.

The state of Texas currently implements standardized testing for special education students in resource classes in the same manner as it does for regular education students. According to the Texas Education Agency (2023), special education students consistently underperform compared to their general education counterparts on STAAR assessments. Specifically, only 16% of special education students met grade-level expectations in math, and just 17% did so in reading. In contrast, 43% of students who were not receiving special education services reached grade level in math, and 52% met grade level in reading. As an educator in a tested grade level, this feels completely unfair to my students who are in resource class, especially when these students are reading on a grade level significantly lower than their actual grade. These students are receiving instruction and accommodations tailored to their needs, but the state still requires them to test like all other students. The state has the STAAR Alternate 2 for students with significant cognitive disabilities. It may only be considered if the student’s disability includes intellectual functioning and adaptive behavior deficits that primarily and significantly affect the student’s ability to plan, comprehend, reason, and apply social and practical skills in everyday life. These specific requirements leave many special education resource students faced with taking the STAAR test, like all other students. This leads to frustration, disappointment and a lack of confidence. As stated in HB 4545, there are also consequences for failing to pass the test successfully.

My suggestion is that we establish a dedicated committee focused on identifying and implementing an adaptive learning system that could boost STAAR scores for our resource students. The 4- phase plan that I envision would take place over a 24-month period. During the first phase, a specialized committee will be formed to evaluate various adaptive learning platforms. The committee will also establish clear evaluation criteria for selecting the most suitable platform. In phase 2, we will launch a pilot program involving 5-10 selected special education students and 1-2 resource teachers to assess the effectiveness of the chosen platform. During phase 3, data collection from the pilot program would be collected and analyzed to determine its effectiveness. The final phase would consist of preparing a comprehensive report to present to the school board and make recommendations for further implementations. The total estimated cost for this two-year program is projected to be between $185,000 and $215,000.

By the district initiating this innovation pilot program we can give our resource students the additional support they need. Our goal is to provide them with the tools and support they need to become successful and reach their academic potential. Through the careful selection and implementation of an adaptive learning platform, we can address individual learning gaps and ultimately improve overall student performance.

Thank you for considering this crucial initiative to better support our special education students.

Sincerely,

Lydia McDonald

 

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References

Texas Education Agency. (2023). STAAR performance report: Special education students.

Austin, TX: Author.