The New Hampshire Department of Education has released a count of all the special education students in districts around the state. Some school districts identify very few students, proportionally. But other districts have coded as many as one in five students as needing special services. People who work in the special education field say these differences from town to town don't surprise them at all. New Hampshire Public Radio's Raquel Maria Dillon explores why.
Yesterday, when Governor Craig Benson filed for reelection, he promised to focus on special education during a second term.
BENSON :10 We've come up with a program called Limitless Learning, to find way to code students who need it, but not students who can be helped in other ways.
Benson says he's worried that students who really need help won't have access to resources because others are being misdiagnosed with disabilities.
BENSON :28 Variety of coding across state is dramatic, ranges from 5% in some towns to 26%. … There's no rhyme or reason as to why those differences exist, other than fact that its and inconsistent way of doing things. And every child you put label on has label for life and drains the resources that are available in total pool.
Those statistics come from the Department of Education. 31-thousand children in New Hampshire – or 14.8% of state's population of 3-to-21-year-olds – have been identified as having special needs. That's higher than the national average, but not for New England. These students' disabilities can range from severe developmental delays to attention deficit disorder, from hearing problems to behavioral problems. 42% of the state's special education students have specific learning disabilities.
Each of those 31-thousand children is evaluated and identified locally, by a team that can include teachers, administrators, experts, doctors, child psychologists, and of course, parents. The process is required by federal law and there are state and federal criteria.
So how do state special education officials explain the variability between districts? Why is 21% of the student population in the Rochester district coded as special ed, and only 6% of Bow's students are coded. Director of the state Bureau of Special Education, Mary Ford, says there are dozens of variables.
FORD 07/:23 there are probably many reasons: ed of parents, capacity of schools to offer quality programming so fewer students need to be identified, philosophy of school – this could be way to insure…
Ford says early identification and intervention …
According to state data, Rochester identifies one in five students as special ed – more than any other school district in the state. Sharon Pray is city's Special Education director.
PRAY 07 I believe our school district is very conservative make sure that we don't over identify our students. look like we have high # from Rochester. But many are coded in other towns and move to our town and we have to continue services.
And Pray says Rochester's student population is very mobile. Many families move into the district looking for low rents, and leave a couple years later. The district is more economically diverse than neighboring communities on the Seacoast. And indeed, research shows that there's a correlation between poverty rates and the rate of special education identification.
Pray says other families move to Rochester to take advantage of the district's veteran special education teachers and its programs for deaf students and autistic children.
Halfway across the state, in a much wealthier town – Bow – only 6% of students are coded. Superintendent Kathy Holt says that's because there are other programs and resources available to students. So students don't need to go through the process of being coded and developing an Individualized Education Program, or I-E-P.
HOLT 53/:?? Say in my district I have reading support available. And I don't need an IEP for, whereas another district may not have that for a student without an IEP. …
53/:55 if I can meet the needs of this child without IEP, we're not going to just do it for fun.
Holt also says Bow families also take advantage of outside resources in the community – doctors and specialists in Concord and Manchester, as well as parents groups. And
But if poverty and high rates of students with learning disabilities go hand in hand, one would assume that school districts in wealthy areas would have fewer special needs kids, and school districts in poorer areas would have more. That's not necessarily the case.
Back toward the Seacoast, Carmen Young is the special education director for the Oyster River School district in Durham, where 18% of students are coded as special ed.
YOUNG 35 there isn't as much stigma to being in sped program. So we have a lot of people referring. Legally when parent requests evaluation, we must conduct one. Higher level of awareness as program that's avail to help children if they need it.
Young says there are a lot of highly educated parents in her district, and they know their rights.
Up North, in Colebrook, Special Ed Director Kathleen Letts says many parents do not want their kids to be coded.
LETTS 61 however if parent decides not to have kid coded. We give them services anyway.
Letts' district codes only about 9% of students for special services. That statistic says a lot about her district's philosophy about special ed.
LETTS 72/:15 I am concerned for taxpayer. That's right up there with concern for children. …
73 watching that bottom line is extremely important. Found that using creative ways, innovative programs. Helps them before meet criteria for special services. Then you don't have to code them. That's why our #s are so low.
Those numbers also say a lot about Colebrook's resources – there are very few specialists available. The closest child psychologist is at least 45 minutes away by car. Letts says that does not contribute to fewer kids being identified as in need of special services.
LETTS 80 if we need to have evaluations done, we don't have any problem. Folks up here are very used to driving to Concord. It's kinda like driving to the store. You get in the car and you sit there for 3 hours and then you're there.
Letts says she struggled to hire and retain qualified special education teachers. But Colebrook students benefit from small classes and stable schools – the students who enroll in pre-school together often graduate high school together.
Mary Ford at the Bureau of Special Education says identification rates are not the best measure of how schools are serving their special education students.
FORD 21 we need to look at their achievement data, graduation rates, dropout rates, what's happening after they graduate.
Dr. Alan Pardy agrees. He runs the New Hampshire Association of Special Education Directors. He says data on identification rates is useful, but it needs to be put in perspective before politicians start to worry about over-identification.
PARDY :22 Legitimate question but Erroneous to say too many identified, there maybe some places where there aren't enough students effected. The research supports early intervention. As opposed to waiting and then identifying as special ed.
Pardy says politicians should trust the professionals – the special education directors. But since Special education is the mother of all federal unfunded mandates. And since the bulk of the cost of educating children with disabilities falls on cities and towns. And since it's an election year, that's unlikely.
For NHPR News, I'm RMD.
