09
Jul
The National Landscape of Special Education
While we normally associate summer months with children taking a break in their education, the same can not be said of school administration. For the latter, there are no breaks for administrators that carry the district’s challenges with them in their passionate service. Administrators who carry the specific and unique challenges of their own district are recently experiencing trends that are experienced cross-country on a national scale, and that are steadily increasing. While the severity of these shared challenges might vary by region, they all include realities that district administrators are familiar with and have experienced at some point in their careers. Further, problems may change considerably depending on who is labeling them, whether it is students, parents, educators, or lawmakers.
So what are these common realities? And, how do these realities contribute to servicing special education programs?
We've drafted a list of the top realities of Public schools across the country, based on the perspective of many involved in the world of education today.
1.SHORTAGE OF QUALIFIED SERVICE PROFESSIONALS
Personnel shortages are the result of recruitment and retention challenges. There is both a shortage of professionals to fill available positions and a shortage of positions to meet the growing demand for services for America’s six million children and youth with disabilities who receive special education services. According to the National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special education and related services,:- 54% of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) report shortages in their schools. SLPs from the western region of the United States (mountain and pacific states) are most likely to report shortages.1
- Overall, 15% of educational audiologists report shortages in their schools.2
- The national ratio of school psychologists (1:1182) is twice the recommended ratio (1:500–700). Further, there will be a shortage of almost 15,000 school psychologists in the United States by 2020.3
- The national ratio of students to school counselors (482:1) is almost twice the recommended ratio (250:1).4
- National data indicate 39% of public schools have a school nurse all day, every day, while another 35% of schools have a school nurse who works part-time in one or more schools. Twenty-five percent of schools do not employ a school nurse.5
- National data indicate a critical 76% shortfall in the number of certified adapted physical education (APE) teachers needed within the United States, with an estimated 20,087 additional APE teachers needed.6
- A recent survey performed only among schools for the deaf anticipates a demand for at least 500 teachers of the deaf in these schools over the next three years. However, the majority of deaf and hard of hearing students attend school in the mainstream, therefore this number greatly underestimates the number needed.7
- 49 states report a shortage of special education teachers/related service personnel for 2013–2014.8
- 82% of special educators and SISP from across the nation report that there are not enough professionals to meet the needs of students with disabilities.9
2. A STEADY INCREASE IN THE NEED FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES.
There has been a growing increase in the number of students that require school therapy services. This increase could be seen in special education, speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or counseling. Consequently, the increase in demand has led to an increase in The number of students enrolled in special education programs. Consider the following:- Over the past decade, the number of students in the United States enrolled in special education programs has risen 30 percent, according to the National Education Association (NEA).
- Nearly six million students with disabilities attend public schools in the U.S., reports the Education Week Research Center.
- Students receiving special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Part B, make up roughly 9 percent of all six-to-21-year-olds.
- three out of every four students with disabilities spend at least 40 percent of their school day in regular classrooms, alongside peers without disabilities, according to NEA. The result is an increased need for teachers trained to face the additional challenges of teaching students with a wide variety of disabilities, even as general educators.
3. THE INCREASING COST OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES.
According to a report titled “The Misdiagnosis of Special Education Costs”, issued by The School Superintendent Association, Local school districts nationwide are experiencing increases in special education costs. In states that are placing a high priority on education reform, the special education cost increases are rapidly compromising the ability of districts to effectively fund the implementation of these reforms. However, in searching for a way to address rising costs, policymakers often err in their diagnosis of the problem.According to their research: “School district policy and practice was effective in containing and even reducing the percentage of children who required special education services. We found that cost increases were primarily due to the increased number of children with more significant special needs who require more costly services. The root causes of these increases were factors beyond the control of schools, such as advances in medical technology, the deinstitutionalization of children with special needs and privatization of services. Also contributing were economic and social factors, such as the rising number of children in poverty and the number of families experiencing social and economic stress.”Special education programs are not immune to the national trend of budget cuts. According to the annual report issued by the Department Of Education, the 2020 Special Education Fiscal Budget Request Report further illustrates the unique challenges faced by special education.4.BUDGET CUTS
School districts nationwide are experiencing various budget challenges – but recently, these challenges are increasingly being described as “crises.” In fact, Budget cuts have created huge problems for most public schools in recent years. Less funding means smaller staffs, fewer resources and a lower number of services for students. While some argue that throwing more money at the education problems won’t make them go away, others assert that lack of funding caused many of the problems in the first place.