Minneapolis Public Schools Enhancing academic achievement
and supports for students with special needs
The Special Education Opportunities Review was based on a few key guiding principles.
Guiding Principles to Enhance Achievement of Students with Special Needs DRAFT
Most students can master grade level content
Effective core instruction is critical to a student’s learning
All systems can improve continuously
Raising student achievement is possible within our budget
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MPS has numerous strengths that help lay the foundation for continuous improvement.
Commendations DRAFT
• The district offers many in-district programs for serving a wide range of student needs
- Over 14 different citywide programs for autism, emotional disturbance, transition, etc.
- Very few out of district referrals owing to a wide range of in-district programs
• The district staff is very dedicated and passionate
- Both general education and special education staff are excited about working in schools
- Staff are committed to ensuring that all struggling students thrive
- Staff are open to the idea of improving on their current practices to improve student outcomes
• The senior leadership and staff in MPS have a strong commitment to parent engagement
- Leaders and staff engage with parents while drafting and operationalizing important policies
- Parents feel well informed about their child’s progress with regards to the IEP
- The district has invested in cultural liaisons to help engage with parents from diverse communities
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By concentrating on a small number of high impact opportunities, the district can raise achievement for struggling students.
High Impact Opportunities to Raise Achievement for Struggling Students DRAFT
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Elementary
Reading
High Impact
Opportunities
Secondary
Reading
Expectations
for students
with special
needs
1
2
3 4
5
Special
Education
Service
Providers
Citywide
Classrooms
Develop a clear and consistent
approach for providing reading
instruction at the elementary level
Implement large scale
formal reading instruction
at the secondary level
Ensure that the vast
majority of students with
special needs are
expected to master grade
level content, and are
provided the exposure
and support to do so
Maximize staff time for
students with related
services, such as speech
and language,
occupational therapy,
physical therapy, and
social work
Flexibly match the
staffing to enrollment
of citywide
classrooms, while
ensuring the needs
of students drive the
placement of such
programs
By concentrating on a small number of high impact opportunities, the district can raise achievement for struggling students.
High Impact Opportunities to Raise Achievement for Struggling Students DRAFT
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Elementary
Reading
High Impact
Opportunities
Secondary
Reading
Expectations
for students
with special
needs
1
2
3 4
5
Special
Education
Service
Providers
Citywide
Classrooms
Develop a clear and consistent
approach for providing reading
instruction at the elementary level
In Minneapolis Public Schools, a large number of students struggle to read at the elementary level.
Elementary Reading - Current Proficiency Rates DRAFT
23%
19% 20%
43%
40%
43%
Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5
% A
t o
r a
bo
ve
go
al
Ge
nera
l E
d.
Sp
ec
ial.
Ed
. • Only one in five elementary students with disabilities is at or above goal in language arts
• Over half of regular education students also struggle in reading
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1
Eight interconnected best practices have resulted in dramatic gains in reading proficiency in a variety of other districts.
Elementary Reading - Key Components of an Effective Elementary
Reading Program
DRAFT
MPS implements many but not all best practices, and not in every room
every day
Staffing of highly skilled
teachers of reading
Early identification of struggling readers
Frequent measurement of
achievement
Extensive time and balanced core
instruction
Explicit teaching of phonics
and comprehension
Connection of remediation
to core instruction
Features of
an effective
elementary
reading
program
Clear rigorous grade-level expectations Immediate and intensive additional
instruction for struggling students
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1
Students will benefit from developing a clear and consistent vision for elementary reading instruction based on best practice.
Elementary Reading – Key Opportunities DRAFT
Create an “intervention for all”
approach to elementary reading
Ensure general education
teachers take primary
responsibility for the delivery of
core reading instruction
Build a data and accountability
system to support the
elementary reading program
• Institute 2.5 hour/day literacy block in all schools
• Provide support/training for general education teachers
through reading coaches
• Provide reading interventionists to assist in the reading
block
• Ensure delivery of core and intervention instruction by
highly skilled/trained teachers to all students (including
students with mild to moderate disabilities)
• Finalize benchmark assessments and standards
• Process the data into insightful reports
• Structure time during the week for teachers to review
and make meaning of the data
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Opportunity Key Features
1
By concentrating on a small number of high impact opportunities, the district can raise achievement for struggling students.
High Impact Opportunities to Raise Achievement for Struggling Students DRAFT
9
Elementary
Reading
High Impact
Opportunities
Secondary
Reading
Expectations
for students
with special
needs
1
2
3 4
5
Special
Education
Service
Providers
Citywide
Classrooms
Implement large scale
formal reading instruction
at the secondary level
Secondary Reading - Rationale for Providing Reading Instruction at the
Secondary Level
DRAFT
Elementary Level Secondary Level
Many students at the secondary level continue to struggle with reading, particularly with comprehension.
Struggling
readers
Students struggling with reading are unlikely to succeed in English, Social
Studies, Science, or Math
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2
Students on
grade level
Struggling
readers
Students on
grade level
Many students continue to struggle in reading at the
secondary level
Some struggling students reach grade level
All struggling readers, even at the secondary level, require reading instruction in addition to English.
Secondary Reading – Key Opportunities DRAFT
Develop mechanism to identify
struggling readers at the secondary
level as well as track their success
over time
Provide opportunities within the
school day for all struggling readers
to receive at least 45 minutes of
reading instruction in addition to the
core English instruction
• Screen all incoming students using clear,
consistent criteria in all secondary grades
• Measure student progress through assessment and
monitoring
• Provide additional time for reading instruction
• Ensure all students who struggle to read receive
rigorous academic instruction by skilled teachers of
reading
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2
Opportunity Key Features
By concentrating on a small number of high impact opportunities, the district can raise achievement for struggling students.
High Impact Opportunities to Raise Achievement for Struggling Students DRAFT
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Elementary
Reading
High Impact
Opportunities
Secondary
Reading
Expectations
for students
with special
needs
1
2
3 4
5
Special
Education
Service
Providers
Citywide
Classrooms
Ensure that the vast
majority of students with
special needs are
expected to master grade
level content, and are
provided the exposure
and support to do so
Instruction for Students with Special Needs - Service Delivery Model for
Students with Special Needs DRAFT
In MPS, there is a reliance on Special Education to provide extensive academic
support for struggling students, and often outside the general education setting.
Students with IEPs, 19%
Students without IEPs,
81%
Students with IEP served in setting III
and IV, 40%
Students with IEP served in
other settings,
60%
Total students in MPS Setting for Students with IEPs
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3
MPS identifies more students
as needing special education
services than the state
average of ~14%
Of students with IEPs, more are
served in substantially separate
settings than in some districts,
where the number is less than 20%
Instruction for Students with Special Needs – SERT* Time Spent Across Settings DRAFT
Even students served in resource (inclusion) receive much of their instruction
away from the general education classroom.
Heavy reliance on a pull out/replacement model can lead to struggling students
never being exposed to grade level material or high standards
*SERTs (Special Education Resource Teachers) provide supports to students with special needs in the resource (inclusion) program
Source: schedule collection survey
Special education/re-
source classroom,
74%
Co-teaching gen. ed.
classroom, 14%
Gen. ed. classroom,
10%
Substantially separate
classroom, 2%
While most of
SERT time should
be in the general
education
classroom, only
24% of their time
on average is
spent in the
general education
classroom
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3
Instruction for Students with Special Needs - Key Opportunities DRAFT
Increase the number of
students who are educated in
an “inclusive” setting
Ensure there is no watering
down of content or
expectations for students who
are not cognitively impaired
Ensure that all students with
special needs get extra help
from teachers who are skilled in
specific content areas
• Build capacity of teachers to support inclusion
• Provide needed supports in general education classrooms
• Provide all students access to core content curriculum
• Provide extra help for the struggling students
• Assess skills and training of staff providing instruction
to students
• Provide support and training, and adjust human capital
decisions as needed
Students with mild to moderate disabilities would benefit from more instruction in a
general education setting and with general education expectations.
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3 Opportunity Key Features
By concentrating on a small number of high impact opportunities, the district can raise achievement for struggling students.
High Impact Opportunities to Raise Achievement for Struggling Students DRAFT
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Elementary
Reading
High Impact
Opportunities
Secondary
Reading
Expectations
for students
with special
needs
1
2
3 4
5
Special
Education
Service
Providers
Citywide
Classrooms
Maximize staff time for
students with related
services, such as speech
and language,
occupational therapy,
physical therapy, and
social work
Special Education Service Providers – Current Activities of
Related Service Providers
DRAFT
Activity Speech OT PT
Therapy with students 41% 32% 39%
Paperwork/IEP writing/due process 10% 11% 12%
Planning/materials preparation 8% 7% 3%
IEP testing/assessment 6% 6% 3%
Collaboration with colleagues 5% 6% 6%
Medicaid billing/service documentation 4% 6% 7%
Personal Lunch 5% 5% 3%
Travel 4% 4% 15%
Equipment maintenance and fabrication 0% 2% 2%
Attend IEP/due process meeting 2% 2% 2%
Student observation 2% 2% 1%
Attend meeting (other than IEP/due process) 2% 2% 2%
Professional development/PLC 2% 1% 1%
Coordination with outside agencies 1% 0% 1%
Parent communication 1% 0% 1%
Other 7% 14% 2%
Total time not spent providing therapy 59% 68% 61%
A large proportion of related services staff time is spent on activities that do not involve providing therapy to students.
Source: schedule collection survey
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4
• Most of staff
time is spent on
activities other
than providing
therapy to
students
• Non-therapy
responsibilities
could be
streamlined to
allow more time
with students
Special Education Service Providers – Current Activities of Mental
Health Service Providers
DRAFT
Activity Psychologists Social Workers
Counseling/crisis intervention 8% 20%
Assessment/testing/test scoring and interpretation 21%
Paperwork/IEP writing/due process 20% 12%
Collaboration with colleagues 9% 11%
Attend IEP/due process meeting 7% 10%
Attend meeting (other than IEP/due process) 6% 5%
Student observation 6% 1%
Planning/materials preparation 4% 3%
Personal Lunch 2% 3%
Parent communication 2% 7%
Assigned school duties (i.e. bus duty, lunch duty, etc) 1% 5%
Travel 1% 2%
Agency coordination of supports and services 1% 6%
Service documentation/logging service on Easy IEP 1%
Other 11% 15%
Total time not providing counseling services 92% 80%
Likewise for psychologists and social workers, only a small proportion of
total time is spent in providing counseling services to students.
Source: schedule collection survey
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4
• Most of staff
time is spent
on activities
other
counseling
• Streamlining
IEP-related
responsibilities
could
significantly
increase the
amount of
counseling
services
Some staff are asked to work with students many more hours per week than others.
Special Education Service Providers - Variation in Hours Spent Providing
Therapy to Students
(Example: Speech and language clinicians)
DRAFT
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Hours per week on therapy
Spee
ch a
nd
lan
guag
e cl
inic
ian
s
Average: 16 hours
Some clinicians spend
more than 20 hours per
week providing therapy to
students
Some clinicians spend
less than 10 hours per
week providing therapy to
students
Some staff may feel overwhelmed while others may have capacity to help out
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4
By concentrating on a small number of high impact opportunities, the district can raise achievement for struggling students.
High Impact Opportunities to Raise Achievement for Struggling Students DRAFT
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Elementary
Reading
High Impact
Opportunities
Secondary
Reading
Expectations
for students
with special
needs
1
2
3 4
5
Special
Education
Service
Providers
Citywide
Classrooms
Flexibly match the
staffing to enrollment
of citywide
classrooms, while
ensuring the needs
of students drive the
placement of such
programs
DRAFT
Determining staffing for citywide classrooms is a complex task; there is wide
deviation in staffing and enrollment in citywide classrooms from guidelines.
• Student enrollment changes throughout the year, month, and week
• Assignment of 1:1 aides may not take in to consideration aides already in the classroom
Note: Chart shows a snapshot in time; staffing may fluctuate throughout the year. District staffing guidelines were not available for Care/Treatment, DHH
Citywide, T-Plus and ECSE classrooms
Number of classrooms with more adults than the
guideline
Number of classrooms with student enrollment that
differ from the guideline
Numerous complexities lead to deviation in staffing and enrollment in citywide classrooms from guidelines:
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Citywide Classroom - Staffing and Enrollment
2
7
13
20
33
41 40
35 31
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
1 ormoreabove
0above
orbelow
1 below2 below3 below4 below5 below6 below 7 ormorebelow
Nu
mb
er
of
cla
ss
roo
ms
Number of students compared to guidelines
5
87
169
28
8
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
0 0 to 1 1 to 2 more than 2
Nu
mb
er
of
Cla
ss
roo
ms
FTEs above guidelines
Citywide Classrooms - Location and Movement
Many parents feel as though students with special needs suffer disproportionately from changes in classroom locations.
• Many perceive that the location of citywide classrooms is driven by individual principals and the
willingness to provide space
• A lack of clear and transparent processes for placing citywide programs adds to the concern that
movement of classrooms is not driven by student need
Citywide classroom
School C
School A
School B
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5
ILLUSTRATIVE
Citywide Classrooms – Key Opportunities
DRAFT
Closely match staffing to
enrollment and existing
guidelines
Create transparent, student
centered rules around location
and movement of special
education citywide programs
• Adjust staffing as student enrollment shifts
• Create guidelines for allocating SEAs
• Institute clear and transparent process for placing
citywide programs across schools
• Minimize change in location of citywide classrooms
from year to year
Management tools and systems will allow the district to serve students with severe special needs more effectively.
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5
Opportunity Key Features
DRAFT
The district has the opportunity to increase achievement for all students and improve services, all within existing budgetary constraints.
The following steps will be required:
• A thoughtful plan
• An inclusive process to gather feedback
• Tight integration and alignment of the district academic
plan with the special education plan
• A measured, balanced approach toward instituting
changes
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