NPS:Special Education
SPED Study Links and Documents
NPS contracted with a group to do a study of special education. Their final report is due in January.
Web site of group doing the a study of special education: http://districtandcommunitypartners.org/
RFP issued for the study:
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/purchasing/bids/fy10/10-30-RFP-SPED-Conslt(2).pdf
Glossary of Special Education Terms Used in Newton
Please add to this section and write definitions.
- Inclusion
- Integrated classes
- Inclusion Facilitator
- Team
- Aide
- Behavior Therapist
- BCBA
- Out of district placement
- Cost share
- Co-taught classrooms
- Stabilization program
- Neighborhood Inclusion
- Learning Center
- IEP
- 504 plan
- Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
- Integrated program
- Language development classes (REACH)
- Office of student services
- Early Childhood Program
- Ed Center
Report on trends in Special Education
Report on trends in Special Education by Judy Levin-Charns
See also comments on the 6/28/2010 meeting
Community Advisory Group Report on School Costs
This detailed report includes a long section on Special Education.
They looked at:
- The efficacy and fiscal sustainability of the Neighborhood Inclusion model;
- The lack of agreed-upon metrics to measure outcomes of programs and services;
- The absence of a consistent and easily understandable summary of special education costs and revenues (presented in a way that allows easy analysis of growth trends, etc.);
- A lack of transparency about the special education programs and services provided within Newton Public Schools;
- A lack of public understanding about special education generally – what it is, the diversity of the special needs population and profiles, the legal mandates under which services are provided, and the individualized nature of each student’s educational plan.
And they identified three areas of cost growth:
- Aides
- Transportation costs
- Out of district tuitions
- Contracted services
This section (bold emphasis added) discusses the idea of city wide classes. Despite the concerns raised in this report, this approach was adopted in the FY 11 budget and will be implemented this year (2010 - 2011). AFAIK, any analysis of integrated classrooms was not made public.
"In January 2008, the Newton Public Schools modeled the cost of creating substantially separate classrooms in each elementary school to determine if clustering children within their schools would reduce costs (by reducing the number of aides). The modeling showed that in 13 of the 14 elementary schools, clustering students into a substantially separate classroom would have been approximately $582,000 more expensive. The analysis did not model the costs of clustering the students across the City or by villages as this “would not only pose a further regression for any inclusive practice, but would add transportation costs.” (As noted above, special education transportation costs grew at a CAGR of 10% from 2004-2008.) Note, too, that space constraints may make the creation of substantially separate classrooms infeasible.
Substantially separate classrooms may also not be desirable or appropriate from an academic standpoint. Because each child’s needs are unique and can vary widely (even within a “common” or “like” disability), there may not be an appropriate grouping at a certain grade level to support substantially separate classrooms that would meet the students’ academic needs. The Newton Public Schools are working on modeling and documenting the viability of more integrated classrooms. The Citizen Advisory Group applauds this effort and encourages the Newton Public Schools to make its analysis available to the public."
State Reports on SPED in Newton
- State 6 year review of Newton's special education programs:
This is an excellent guide to what the school system is supposed to do. It also lists where they are close but deficient.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/2007/0207.doc
Here is the response to the items cited as partially implemented:
http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/central_admin/documents/NEWTONCAPReviewCoverLetterandApprovalFormFINAL_001.pdf
- State's Three year mid-cycle review
DESE Review of Submitted Reports and Status Sheet
Follow up on three year review
2010 Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Mid-cycle Report
Student Services Reports
The Student Services report is part of the Fiscal and Operational Report.
Report from 11/8/2010
Student Services/Special Education
The current status of the Student Services key budget areas is summarized in Appendix A.
Similar to last year, the aide accounts are projected to be over budget by $379,900 due to a
higher than expected number of new students on Individualized Education Programs. The
number of out-of-district placements at 169 students, as compared to 141 students at this time
last year, and two students more than last month, is also projected above budget. Favorable
variances in Special Education transportation increased from last month and have limited the
degree of the shortfall as did the summer services to students. Overall this total area bears
watching during the year.
The Early Childhood Program is currently serving 211 students, one less than last year at this
time. Please note that this is a correction from last month’s higher figure. As in the past, the
program serves both students with special needs and those with typical development.
Evaluation of preschool student needs is ongoing, and compliance with regulations has been
achieved by the addition of one classroom for this year.
Central High School has begun the second full year of operation with 14 students enrolled as of
November, 2010. The students continue to meet the established eligibility criteria, that is, they
returned from out-of-district placements or were prevented from being placed in a more
restrictive environment because this level of service is available in the district.
Contracted services, tuition, and all aspects of the Student Services budget are reviewed weekly
and in some cases daily so that the estimates of full cost for the fiscal year can be as accurate as
possible. Currently the out-of-district tuition projection is over budget by $108, 877, a slight
improvement since last month.
"Each report tracks special education aide
assignments, compares special education and preschool aide budgets by FTE, provides a cost breakdown for
special education aides including pre-k aides, provides preschool enrollment analysis by month, details the
contracted services and out-of-district placements accounts, and reports special education transportation spending."
Out of District Placements Graphs
The charts show the growth of out of district placements in the past three years.
In particular, the fraction of "cost share" placements is growing faster than out of district as a whole and faster than Newton placements. "Cost share" placement represent cases where the parents were unable to secure a Free and Appropriate Public Education.
Comments and links from the most recent meeting are below.
Notes from past meetings are here
Three main points related to Special Education at the June 28 meeting. Minutes and meetings summaries are not posted yet.
1 - A new Autism focused school "Integrated Learning Academy - Newton" was approved to open on Oak St. It was a formality for the school committee but Paul Stein did an inspection and reviewed their plan and gave the OK. They still have to get approval from the state, which may happen before September. See their statement of philosophy here: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY10/private_school_approval_ilan_06_28_10.pdf
2 - Judy LC gave a presentation on SPED trends. See her report here:
http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY10/sped_trends_06_28_10.pdf
One point not mentioned in the meeting: If ASD growth and Specific Learning Disorder reduction continues at current rates, ASD will become the most common diagnosis for SPED in Newton in less than 10 years.
3 - The personnel report lists lots of SPED Aide leaving. See: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/schoolcommittee/_documentsFY10/personnel_report_06_28_2010.pdf
Links to NPS and PAC Web Sites
Newton Parent Advisory Committee Web Site: http://www.newtonpac.org
PAC Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/newtonpac/
Main Newton Special Education Page: http://www3.newton.k12.ma.us/studentservices
The Newton Partnership: http://www.newton.k12.ma.us/newtonpartnership
Special Education Programs and Services
Links from NPS Web site:
Main Special Education Page
Stabilization Programs
Guide to All Programs
Co-Taught Neighborhood Classroms
We could add a page here for each school. It can include comments by parents on special education, lists of programs and services etc.
History of special education in Newton
Anyone with history, please add it here or leave it on the discussion page.
More? add your own and comment
The main Newton Public Schools Documentation Project page is here: Home Page
This project and information is not affiliated with the Newton Public Schools or the Newton School Committee. It is an independent effort by private citizens intended to help the people of Newton learn more about the Newton Public Schools
Much of this information is extracted from the document archive linked from All School Committe Docs
Additional comments and information from public sources have also been included. The contents and links may have been edited as well. No representation is made as to the accuracy or validity of this information. This page is only intended to help people more easily keep in touch with the work of the Newton School Committee
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