Schools today are facing a harsh reality: there is a chronic shortage of qualified speech-language pathologists (SLPs). As an SLP and clinical director who has worked with school districts across the country, I’ve watched this problem grow over the years. This, compounded with large amounts of paperwork and high caseloads, makes it difficult for SLPs to manage their workload, contributing to many students not getting the services they need.

Despite long-term efforts made by school administrators to help students and SLPs surmount service barriers, it’s clear that in-school speech-language therapy initiatives could still use a boost.

Here are three things administrators can do to improve student access to speech-language therapy.

Support ongoing SLP training

While the scope of practice for school-based SLPs is technically quite broad, SLPs may be assigned students who require highly-specialized therapeutic approaches. However, districts often don’t have the bandwidth or budget for the additional training required.

Untreated hearing loss can have lasting effects on students’ academic achievement, social relationships, and self-esteem. The Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) reports that even mild hearing loss can cause a child to miss as much as 50 percent of classroom discussion. Without appropriate management and support, children with mild to moderate hearing loss achieve one to four grade levels lower, on average, than students with typical hearing, according to American Speech Language Hearing Association.

The CDC reports that nearly 15 percent of children ages 6 to 19 have low- or high-frequency hearing loss of at least 16-decibel hearing level in one or both ears. Noise-induced hearing loss also is on the rise among young people. This is largely attributed to listening to music through earbuds at high volume. And hearing loss isn’t just affecting students. Nearly 48 million American adults have hearing loss. Assistive listening technology can help everyone in school environments, with and without hearing loss, hear more clearly.

An assistive listening system (ALS) is a wireless system with a transmitter and one or more receivers that send audio – from a teacher’s microphone, TV, or other sound sources – directly to headphones, hearing aids, or cochlear implants without amplifying ambient noise. Assistive listening systems provide a vastly improved experience for those with hearing loss.

Assistive listening systems can also help solve frustrating but common sound issues caused by distance, ambient noise, or poor room acoustics, which can challenge comprehension–even for those without hearing loss.  

States with formal policies around gifted and talented programs tend to identify more English learners and students with disabilities for those programs, according to a new study from NWEA, a not-for-profit research and educational services organization serving K-12 students.

The study uses data from the 2017-2018 Civil Rights Data Collection, the Stanford Education Data Archive, and the researchers’ own coding of individual states’ policies toward gifted and talented education.

A number of key themes emerged:

• The study confirms that English learners and students with disabilities are identified at rates that are 1/8 to 1/6 of their representation in the overall student population.
• State mandates for schools to offer services, requirements for formal gifted education plans, and regular audits for compliance are correlated with much higher rates of gifted service availability and equity for English learners and students with disabilities.
• The top 5 percent of schools with the highest equity of English learners identified as gifted were relatively lower achieving and had higher enrollments of students from low-income families.
• The top 5 percent of schools with the highest equity of students with disabilities identified as gifted were similar in size, achievement, and SES to the overall sample, but were smaller than the average school in the sample and had smaller, if more equitable, gifted and talented enrollment.

Homework can be challenging for all children, but for students with autism, it can be challenging. It is common for children with autism to have difficulties with executive functioning abilities, including planning, organization, and prioritization.

In addition, they may have issues with focus, language, and social skills, all of which can make homework time challenging for both the youngster and their parents. For those of you who are raising a neurodivergent child, here are some strategies to implement when assisting them with homework:

Create a Routine

As children on the autism spectrum tend to flourish in structured environments, establishing a regular homework routine might make the process less stressful for them. Set aside dedicated study time, designate a quiet space, and make a visual schedule for completing assignments.

The plan might be as straightforward as a list of things to complete or as elaborate as a flowchart with icons representing each step. At the start of homework time, review the plan with your child and cross off items as they are finished. Seeing their growth and knowing what is coming may keep your child’s attention and enthusiasm high.

Incorporate Interests

Many students with autism have very specialized areas of interest. Making homework time more fun for your child might be as simple as including some of their favorite activities.

If your kid likes dinosaurs, you might make a math worksheet where they count and add little plastic dinosaurs. Adding some coloring or sketching to a writing project is a great way to engage an artistic kid.

You may motivate your child to do their homework by offering them a reward relevant to their interests, such as extra time spent on a favorite activity or reading a book about a fascinating topic.

Break Tasks into Smaller Chunks

Students with autism may become overwhelmed with large tasks, such as lengthy homework assignments or projects. Tasks may be broken down into smaller segments to make them more doable and encourage your youngster to complete them.

If your child is having trouble completing an entire math assignment, try dividing it into manageable chunks and giving them breaks between work periods. A timer may help them stay on track by dividing the work time; for example, you might devote 10 minutes to reading or complete ten math problems and then take a 5-minute break.

Incorporate Sensory Activities

Many children on the autism spectrum struggle with sensory processing issues that make it difficult for them to concentrate and remain calm while doing homework. Including sensory exercises during homework time can help with sensory regulation and increase concentration.

District leaders report that one of the biggest challenges they face is a shortage of teachers, and in particular, a shortage of special education teachers. New data shows that this shortage is widespread and increasing. There is also a need for greater diversity within the profession.

Clear evidence confirms that having teachers reflect the demographics of their communities–when students of color have teachers that look like them–helps improve student learning. Growing your own (GYO) special education teacher pipeline provides a promising answer to the challenges of recruiting and retaining a diverse teacher workforce.

A GYO pipeline strategy is a program designed to address teacher shortages in schools by recruiting and training individuals from within the local community to become teachers. The program typically targets high school students, paraprofessionals, and other community members who may be interested in a career in teaching.

The program is called “Grow Your Own” because it emphasizes building up local talent and resources, rather than relying on external recruitment. The pipeline aspect of the program refers to the idea that participants are brought into the program early on and are provided with ongoing support and training as they progress towards becoming fully certified teachers. The program typically includes a combination of coursework, mentorship, and hands-on teaching experience. Participants may be provided with scholarships or stipends to help cover the cost of tuition and other expenses.

GYO: Different Shapes and Sizes

GYO programs are being rolled out across the country with two primary goals: growing and diversifying the teacher workforce. GYO programs come in many shapes and sizes, but they all focus on recruiting teachers from the community for the community. Using partnerships between school districts, colleges, and community organizations, education leaders are finding ways to encourage community members to enter the field.

The majority of GYO programs are rolled out at the district level, but more states are stepping in to provide funding and support. There is also emerging research about which GYO strategies seem to be the most effective.

New America conducted a 50-state scan to understand how communities are developing GYO programs. Many GYO programs are started at the local level with little state involvement, though that is shifting now in terms of funding and support. At least seven states fund statewide GYO programs and provide assistance to local school districts for GYO programs. State assistance is important, but many participants also feel that the strength of GYO programs is in their ability to understand and focus on local needs.

Burnout is one of the leading causes of workforce shortages in U.S. schools and its impact is being felt by students who need consistent, high-quality educators the most. Some of the hardest hit are students with unique needs that require services from qualified professionals, such as speech-language pathologists, sign-language interpreters, teachers for the vision and hearing impaired and special education teachers. Special education positions have some of the highest number of vacancies in school districts across the US.

As the number of students who receive special education services continues to grow, there is an increased demand for special educators. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), school age students who receive special education services in public schools represented about 15 percent of enrollment in the 2020-21 school year, up from 13 percent in 2009-10.

While staffing schools continues to be a priority, teacher retention is key to successful positive outcomes on campuses for students. School administrators are taking a hard look at how to prevent burnout. Preventing burnout is essential in building a positive school climate, improving morale, and keeping professionals in the field of education.

When educators have the necessary professional resources to do their job with efficacy, they can provide better services to their students. A systematic review of research studies shows preliminary evidence that teacher burnout can impact student achievement and motivation, as well as contributing to teachers leaving the field of education. 

Leveraging the power of technology and remote learning

One way to alleviate burnout in education is to harness the power of technology to provide interventions to students with disabilities. The telepractice model is increasingly becoming a viable method of filling vacancies and alleviating the burden on existing staff, while still providing students with dedicated professionals.

Remote educators can meet student academic goals by grouping students in a variety of classroom settings (individual, small group, resource, whole-classroom instruction etc.). They can also provide case management for students who have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), thereby reducing paperwork time for onsite educators. Implementing this model can help provide professional resources for onsite school staff by providing them with options to better meet the individual needs of students on their caseloads. 

1. Using remote educators to redistribute tasks

Balancing the demands of both direct teaching and indirect case management tasks has become increasingly challenging in light of staffing shortages.  While many are familiar with teacher tasks such as planning, teaching and meeting with parents, educators and school professionals are often overwhelmed because their position also includes tasks such as recordkeeping, counseling, serving on committees and after-school activities. In fact, teachers on average work about 54 hours per week, but spend 54 percent of their time on non-teaching activities, according to research by Merrimack College.

At the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Ulster Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), we have developed the architecture to accomplish and codify a leadership approach to help schools consider how to reach our most marginalized and vulnerable students.

Four years ago, my team and I designed, planned, and implemented a research-based, whole-child wraparound approach to special education. To get our initial pilot off the ground, we brought in stakeholders from across our organization: teachers, teaching assistants (TAs), aides, counselors, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, positive intervention team members, administrators, and the wider community, along with content area experts through our instructional services.

The pilot grew from five classrooms into a full-school implementation in the second year due to the county’s demand and the success of the program. We recently had the honor of presenting our model to stakeholders from across the country at AESA’s most recent conference.

When you enter a special ed classroom at Ulster BOCES, you can see a reflection of our values through careful consideration of the needs of each student. With neurodiverse and SEL practices at the forefront, advanced use of adaptive technology, and nature-based programming, we develop the love of the arts, literacy, numeracy, and inquiry skills in authentic ways to prepare our learners for lifelong success.

Each space, piece of furniture, curricular material, and multi-sensory practice was intentionally designed around a foundation of research-based practices. In addition, we incorporated the multisensory Orton-Gillingham approach for reading instruction, which has shown great success with many of our students. We also implemented the Zones of Regulation curriculum, Ross Green’s Collaborative Proactive Solutions, and Eric Jensen’s Teaching with the Brain in Mind practices, all of which serve as key foundational resources for our staff and students.  

This whole-child wraparound model is even more critical now that students and educators are facing what may be the most difficult year yet. Our K-12 pathway for special education focuses on understanding and supporting our students’ stories, dreams, and abilities, in order to help them maximize their infinite potential. Building upon a community of inclusivity, educational excellence, and clinical expertise, we provide innovative and safe academic and social-emotional learning opportunities that cultivate the best selves of all our community members.

Throughout the process of implementing our whole-child approach, we looked to our four core values to guide us:

1. Unique Self: We strive to see our learners, both adults and students, and their stories. We aim to understand how our individuals learn best, to personalize their learning journey, and empower them to know themselves, to find joy, and to maximize their infinite human potential.
2. Capacity: We are committed to investing in our staff to create highly trained learning specialists, to achieve instructional excellence, to support meaningful learning experiences, and to continue exploring and growing as we engage with our students and as their capacity grows.
3. Community: We cultivate a warm, therapeutic, family environment that fosters a sense of belonging. We nourish community members by emphasizing wellness, safety, and empathy. We believe strong relationships support self-actualization.
4. Cycles of Inquiry: We believe all learning should be joyful, rigorous, and passion-based. We believe inquiry encourages students to identify their dreams, advocate for their needs, and contribute to their communities. Through play and service learning, we create experiential and therapeutic learning opportunities that encourage learners to know their own value and appreciate their potential to affect our world for the better. We are literacy- and numeracy-centered.

As our program has continued to expand to meet the county’s demand, we have led with the whole-child wraparound model, which has three defined domains with the learner at the center:

• Each individual learner’s story;
• Their learning journey; and
• A healthy environment.

The Individual Story

At the center of our model is the unique self of each learner. We base everything we do on the individual needs and backgrounds of our students. We must know their story, history, and how they are showing up to us. Their unique story is used to cultivate an individualized plan to help the student grow and be a part of their community. For example, it’s critical that we understand the child beyond their individualized education program (IEP). This includes their history, culture, dreams, and any experiences that have shaped who they are today, such as trauma, poverty, or medical needs.

Opening the Learning Journey

We believe in an intentional focus on literacy, numeracy, and assistive technology. This model engages classroom teachers as well as reading teachers, math teachers, behavior intervention specialists, and assistive technology specialists, to name a few. Equally important for student success is our investment in building and supporting our staff and leaders’ capacity for professional growth.

We have established “whole-child team meetings” in which our instructional staff, teachers, TAs, aides, and related service providers meet regularly to discuss student progress and reflect on our instructional practices with all experts at the table.

Creating a Healthy Environment

Relationships are at the foundation of our work, and the environment in which we cultivate those relationships creates our community. Maintaining a healthy community requires therapeutic spaces where all adults and students feel safe. We design our classrooms and all spaces with intention, from color to comfort to accessibility to efficiency. To design with all students in mind, we get to know who they really are, read their IEPs, observe, listen, learn, and make decisions based on individual needs.

Each and every learning space we use for our students was designed with a particular focus and philosophy. For example, we have zen dens where students can relax, take a break, or do some art. We have calming rooms within our elementary classrooms where students can listen to music, use sensory materials, or simply be in a quiet place to practice their breathing.

We will continue to actively seek best practices for our most marginalized students. I believe the time is now to extend care for our building administrators and our educators so they, too, can care for our students.

Related:
What matters most for our special education teachers?
Creating support ecosystems for neurodivergent learners

We all know the problem. There is a frightening shortage of special education teachers and it’s getting worse. Even prior to the pandemic, 98 percent of school districts and 49 states reported that they had a shortage and a recent RAND report found that six months into the pandemic over one-third of school leaders were experiencing special education teacher vacancies.

Compounding the problem, the number of students receiving special education services is predicted to increase sharply as students who are overdue for evaluations seek help and others who have fallen behind during COVID will need additional assessments and revised services. Increases in diagnoses, particular in children diagnosed with autism, are also having an impact. Today 1 in every 44 children in the US have autism and students with autism now account for 11 percent of all students in special education, more than double the rate of a decade ago.

The Special Education Legislative Summit Council of Administrators of Special Education has called for “all hands on deck” in addressing the shortage. Speakers at the Summit highlighted three crucial areas that need to be addressed: competitive pay, stronger recruitment, and more effective professional development. But what does effective PD look like for special educators? Is it different from what other teachers need? What works? What kind? How much? And, most importantly, what types of PD will support these educators and keep them from leaving the profession?  

We now know a great deal about what types of PD can not only support our special education teachers but help them thrive. In this new era of inclusive education — a positive development — we still need to focus on helping special educators by affirming the passion and caring that led them to enter the field in the first place. The big takeaway is that we need PD that helps these teachers affirm their professional identity, develop deeper understandings of the norms, language and routines of their profession, and helps them succeed in what matters most to them — making a difference in the lives of their students. Specifically, they need learning opportunities that are classroom-embedded, specialized, ongoing, and flexible.

Classroom-Embedded PD

Special educators report that they have had good training experiences outside of the classroom, but they also say that when the time comes to implement this new knowledge into their classrooms there is a big disconnect. The theories taught are important, but practical strategies for executing them into daily classroom experiences are missing.

Related:
Special education students need a whole child approach
A fresh perspective on VR in special education

A learning disorder that can impact a child’s ability to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols—but that doesn’t affect general intelligence—dyslexia often goes unnoticed until a student displays significant struggles with reading and/or writing. The most common of all neuro-cognitive disorders, dyslexia impacts about 20 percent of the US population and represents 80-90 percent percent of all individuals who have learning disabilities.

In some cases, a dyslexia diagnosis doesn’t happen until a student is in second grade, with some cases going unnoticed until the learner is already in high school. With research showing that interventions are the most effective when they are done in kindergarten and first grade, the earlier the intervention the better.

To avoid an even bigger learning gap, we need to take a closer look at early identification, the early warning signs to look for, and what steps to take if you suspect dyslexia. 

Early identification is key

The earlier we intervene, the easier it is to address and remediate students’ difficulties. Early identification has been found to be essential in helping students succeed in school and later in life. Students with dyslexia need to be provided with interventions that are specific to their needs.

If intervention is not provided before third grade, for example, it’s 75 percent more likely that students will continue to experience reading and writing difficulties going into high school. Not only are they affected academically, but students are also affected emotionally. Struggling students can see their self-esteem and motivation decrease when they find that their peers are doing better while they are struggling despite all the time and effort they put into their reading and writing tasks.

Related:

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3 keys to teaching students with dyslexia to read

Since March 2020, we have all assuredly witnessed firsthand the importance of our community – our friends, family, co-workers, and loved ones who supported us, helped us deal with the layers of adversity, and played a critical role in helping us come out of the pandemic stronger. 

While ecosystems are important to all individuals, they are especially crucial to the caregivers and families of neurodivergent learners. Ecosystems for these individuals help provide a sense of belonging for those going through similar experiences, but also serve as a community or network of confidantes and advisors who can help give families direction when time is of the essence.  

Educational professionals play a starring role in learner ecosystems and help bolster them as they provide a listening ear, a credible source of support and validate recommendations to parents.

Let’s take a look at how these ecosystems operate and examine the role they play for neurodivergent learners, their parents, and the professionals who comprise them. 

What is a Learner Ecosystem?

I see a learner’s ecosystem as a community that provides layers of vital support to its members. 

You may be working closely with a psychologist, a learner’s teacher, and a behaviorist. But what if your learner’s teacher says you need to start working with a Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP)? Many parents would instantly feel a sense of confusion or anxiety because they have very little idea where to begin in contacting an SLP, vetting them, and initiating support services. Maybe the psychologist recommends that you find an Executive Functioning Coach for your child, which sparks questions for many caregivers: Are there any in your area who have the availability to see your child, and what qualifications are required? Starting these processes can be daunting and therefore cause a time delay, preventing caregivers and their children from getting started on their journey towards reaching their full potential. 

Creating an ecosystem for your learner–from the professionals you work with to your fellow parents to social media groups and online forums–can provide you with a powerful set of resources that can make your search for answers more effective and less time consuming. It’s also vital to reducing stress and anxiety, so you can put your best foot forward and set your learner up for success.

In early 2020, 7.3 million students received special education services as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That’s 14% of K–12 students in public schools in the United States who depend on additional—and often very specialized—services to support their ability to learn and live their lives fully.

But once the pandemic set in and schools closed their doors, the elaborately precarious systems that have been constructed to meet the needs of these students collapsed.

In October 2020, a little more than two- thirds of K-12 principals estimated that their students with disabilities would perform somewhat or much lower than they had before the pandemic. A year later, a November 2021 survey by the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates—an advocacy group for students in special education and their families—found that 86% of parents reported that their child experienced learning loss, skill regression or slower-than-expected progress in school.

The predictability of our current situation is tragic. But to blame this entirely on the pandemic is a mistake. Even before the pandemic hit, there were signs that serious trouble was brewing for students with disabilities. COVID only exacerbated a looming problem.

As districts emerge from the pandemic, how can school leaders ensure they are rebuilding and reimagining an educational experience that ensures special education students have access to equitable outcomes? A whole-child approach to special education will help accelerate the learning of this unique population.

A Whole-Child Approach for Every Child

Too often, students in special education are marginalized and lack access to the supports they need to develop academically, let alone as full human beings.

Our goal should be to ensure students leave school literate and passionate, with access to a full life and knowledge of their true selves. When a student comes to us, we should work to understand that whole child, beginning with where they’re coming from, what they need, and what they hope to accomplish. An IEP is generally a helpful document if you want to understand a student’s learning needs. But we need to get to a place where we look beyond the IEP; to help that child articulate who they are and what they aspire to be.

Building Community Around Each Student

At Ulster, we have designed our services around the belief that the student must be at the center of their educational experience. We accomplish this with the help of a staff trained to understand that they are all individual members of a community around each student. First we ask what the student is bringing to our school and think about what wraparound services that individual child will need. Then we ask: Who are the adults who will be interacting with them daily?

There may be nearly a dozen adults affecting one student’s life every day when they are in the school building, including their teacher, a teaching assistant and/or an aid, a physical therapist, a speech counselor, or social worker, to mention a few others. If that student is experiencing a crisis, we may call in our positive intervention team (or PIT crew), an administrator, or even someone from the community outside our school or their family, because our instructional model allows for unique, or “nontraditional” systems of support.

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

A collaboration between two schools co-located in a midtown Manhattan campus has bridged both of their missions in the most fruitful way possible: a hands-on project giving their respective students real-world life skills.

Students at Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction have donned the role of architects, designing a one-bedroom apartment for their “clients” at P.S. 138M, a District 75 school serving children with moderate to severe disabilities.

Allie Collacchi, a special education teacher and unit coordinator from the District 75 school, had long tried to find a space for her students to practice basic household skills, like making a bed or hanging clothes in a closet.

“We can watch videos, and we can practice on worksheets, but we can’t show them the physical skills of how to do it,” Collacchi said.

While thinking about ways to improve the teaching of life skills, she noticed that the second floor at 525 W. 50th St. had a large storage room that was mostly unused. She started dreaming of turning the space into a one-bedroom apartment where students could get hands-on practice. 

She detailed her vision during a campus-wide meeting with the five school principals who share the building. As soon as Collacchi described her idea, Meredith Matson, principal of the Urban Assembly School of Design and Construction, thought about a collaboration: her students could design the layout for the apartment. 

That’s when the project was born. 

“My students are always creating projects, but to be able to actually speak to the clients directly, get input from them, and then to be able to make the layout seems like such an amazing opportunity,” said Matson.  

Matson’s students are high schoolers in a Career and Technical Education, or CTE, program. CTE programs are designed to provide academic and work-based experiences to high school students. There are more than 130 high schools in New York City with CTE programs. At the School of Design and Construction, students learn design and architecture skills. 

“The mission of our school is to ensure that all of our students are able to design a pathway outside of high school, whether it’s college or career. And I think that a project like this is so essential to having real-world, hands-on experience where students can self discover who they want to be and what they want to explore,” said Matson.  

Under the guidance of design teacher Bartek Walicki, students started working on floor plans for the space and created a furniture wish list. Meanwhile, P.S. 138M teachers had the idea to approach IKEA in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Close to half of student may have a learning different, and more than half of parents in say they have sought supplemental learning services for their child, according to a recent survey.

The 2022 Learnfully Neurodiversity Report, from personalized learning platform Learnfully, surveyed parents and educators across the U.S. and examines awareness of learning differences and the impact of neurodiversity on educators, learners, and parents.

The report found that 41 percent of kids may have a learning difference, with 24 percent having a confirmed diagnosis and another 17 percent of parents suspecting their child has a learning difference, a number that is much higher – more than double – than accepted industry statistics.

In addition, nearly 70 percent of parents think that educational therapy, in which an educator or specialist works one-on-one with a student outside of the classroom, should be provided by schools.  

Among parents surveyed, the report found that:

Beyond the classroom: 57 percent of parents have sought supplemental learning services for their child, such as private tutoring or specialized education support

According to the CDC, 9.4 percent of children have ADHD. Teachers are often familiar with the associated behaviors of ADHD. Each child’s presentation of ADHD is unique. Some of the most common symptoms of ADHD include difficulty sustaining attention, completing assigned tasks at school (often including homework), physical restlessness, strain in social relationships and appearing off task due to daydreaming.

With nearly one in 10 kids struggling with some form of ADHD, it can put a strain on teachers in the classroom. For teachers and school systems, often the best way to manage ADHD in the classroom is to form a partnership with parents to develop a consistent strategy that can help children manage their ADHD behaviors. Consistency of care between a child’s home life and their school activities can provide the best support and least amount of disruption for the child as they transition between school and home. 

It is important to remember that the child’s brain is rapidly developing. Often they are not cognitively or emotionally developed enough to change their own behaviors. They need care and support from their parents and school systems. In many cases, teachers are aware of effective strategies for supporting children with ADHD, while parents are in new, uncharted territory as they begin to learn about the best ways to support their child.

In many school systems, teachers can look to clinicians to help develop joint parent-teacher strategies for supporting children in the classroom. Consistency of approach between home and school ensures the best outcome in both locations.

ADHD and behavioral therapy

Many clinicians use behavioral therapy to help students, parents and teachers manage the symptoms of ADHD. Behavioral therapy provides children with an array of skills that will help them be successful in the classroom and navigate through their interpersonal relationships.

The pandemic brought special education to the forefront of the dialogue about education, with the media focus mainly directed at sharing stories of students separated from the in-school supports that they had come to rely upon, and parents struggling to plug the gaps.

While the challenges were undeniable, there was also a more quietly growing chorus of stories from parents whose children experienced virtual education for the first time and found that the personalization and environmental stability it brought led to positive outcomes. When it comes to serving students with disabilities, a fully virtual school experience may, at the outset, seem like a less than ideal or even an improbable concept. But there can be compelling benefits.

“When I first began working with students virtually, I was skeptical that the therapeutic environment could be replicated online,” said Robin Corder, EdS, NCSP, who won the Idaho School Psychologist of the Year Award in 2020. “I was very wrong about that.”

As a whole, parents often cite flexibility, convenience, the ability to focus, and reductions in bullying, health risks, and social anxiety as reasons for choosing virtual schools. With more districts offering virtual options for families, serving children with disabilities should be at the top of their priorities, and it’s worth underscoring what can be learned from the infrastructure and experiences of established virtual models.

Setting Standards for Virtual Schools

Research attributes approximately 40 percent of the enrollment drop in traditional public schools to the corresponding increase in enrollment in established virtual school programs.

In early 2021, Spaulding Academy & Family Services applied for and received a technology grant from the Flutie Foundation for the purchase of virtual reality (VR) headsets. 

We are a small, nonprofit special education school serving students with a wide range of abilities, including many who are on the Autism Spectrum and/or have limited mobility, and it was very important to us from the onset that we use this technology to meet the needs of all our students.

Selecting a VR solution

When choosing which devices to purchase, it was important to us that we have the ability to create and upload custom content. Spaulding focuses on the unique needs of each student, and we strive to meet those needs in creative, innovative, and fun ways.  In this case, as in most others, that meant creating customized learning structures.

We chose ClassVR headsets because their platform allows for an efficient workflow when creating custom content – 360-degree video is quick and easy to upload, and integrations with CoSpaces and Thinglink allow us to think beyond just the physical world. The headsets themselves are also pre-loadable, so we’re able to customize each headset to the needs of a specific classroom or service provider.

To create our content, we purchased an Insta360 ONE X2 camera with selfie stick, tripod stand, and head mount. We also purchased CoSpacesEdu at the onset of the project in order to expand our world of possibilities – we will be implementing Thinglink as well!

Experiment, brainstorm, and problem solve with VR in special education

1. Our implementation team consists of Charley Suter, Spaulding’s Digital Learning Specialist, and Jen Benjamin, Occupational Therapist. After reviewing existing research and extensively discussing the still-untapped applications of this technology, and then experimenting with the devices themselves, we were able to narrow our scope of VR usage to several areas. Our main ideas centered around physiological and sensory regulation, emotional regulation, skill-building, social interaction, and transitions (new places or experiences) – all of which tend to present significant challenges for our students.

There’s no doubt that every student lost valuable in-person school time over the last two school years. But students with IEPs faced additional challenges keeping pace during remote or hybrid learning.

Now that students have generally returned to their school buildings, educators are preparing for customary IEP reviews and progress reports. However, they are likely juggling a caseload that includes students who were not able to get IEPs during remote learning, not to mention a backlog of new IEP referrals that stacked up while our students have been transitioning between in-person, remote and hybrid situations.

Fallout from the last two years includes students who have had no in-person education for 12-18 months and special education teachers who were unable to work face-to-face with many of their students. We’ve also seen the teacher shortage grow, with many retiring or moving into other careers because of the stress, or having to quarantine as new strains of COVID arise. The combination of these factors makes it difficult to keep up with a caseload under normal circumstances, adding to the frustration for everyone.

Making it even more complicated are IEP meetings happening via Zoom or Google Hangouts, using sometimes-unreliable internet connections, and the need for increased parent involvement, which is not always possible.

Over the past few years, the pandemic made online education the de-facto schooling format for nearly all Americans. While it proved viable for many, it also exposed some of the common pitfalls in the traditional online education landscape, leading to a common perception that online education formats don’t yield the same level of instruction and retention for students. However, this belief is often misguided or a direct result of imperfect execution by school systems that struggle to adapt to a virtual format.  

As an educator in the online format since the outset of my teaching career in 2013, I firmly believe that with the right practices and systems in place, there are in fact many ways in which online education offers a more supportive, inclusive, and personalized learning experience–especially for typically overlooked or isolated students, such as those with special education needs and IEPs.

Online education can offer an inclusive and discreet experience for special education students that optimizes their potential and boosts their academic performance, personal confidence, and overall growth as a student.

An important aspect of learning for all students is the student’s perception of themselves as a learner. Learning experiences can either empower a student or reinforce a negative self-perception. For example, the all-too-common phrases “I’m not as smart as them,” or “I’m not good at school,” embody this phenomenon, perpetuating negative trends like low participation or disengagement in the day’s lesson plan.

Testing anxiety shows itself in different ways for different students. It can range from refusing to do work, crying, hiding in the bathroom, and verbal aggression to physical behavior like flipping tables and desks or hitting school staff. Some students avoid school on test days, and many suffer from symptoms such as stomachaches or headaches.

In special education programs, many of our students’ disabilities are closely related to anxiety, and testing can be a trigger that heightens those negative thoughts and feelings.

It’s a common belief that testing anxiety affects only older students, such as those taking high school or college placement exams. However, testing anxiety affects students of all ages. In fact, studies have shown that test anxiety is actually the worst in the middle grades. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, this anxiety can stem from a fear of failure, negative testing experiences, or feeling unprepared.

Anxiety does not “look” the same for all students, so you have to know when to push students and when to empathize, when to listen, and when to set limits. It is important to reiterate that the entire point of assessment is not to measure who you are by a single score on a single day for a particular area in school, but rather it is to be used as an instrument to gauge progress and direct instruction for more optimal learning.

As schools, parents, and students across the country prepare for school re-entry, many are celebrating a return to the classroom. There is no shortage of studies and expert opinions stating that the majority of students learn better in-person. But, for the many students who are looking forward with hope to a September where class happens in a room rather than through a screen, there are also a significant number of students who thrived in online instruction and are nervous about losing the confidence they found in a new modality of learning.

Special education teams know this because they have always been focused on ensuring that schools find the best ways to serve and support all students, not just those in the majority or who fit the norm. For many of the students who need special accommodations, introducing technology into learning has been nothing short of revolutionary.

Many students have thrived

As the months of the pandemic progressed, school leaders started to notice that, despite the drawbacks of remote learning, there was a subset of students for whom the modality allowed them to thrive in ways they hadn’t in an in-person school setting. “Remote learning has been a disaster for many students. But some kids have thrived,” declared one article, positing that “special education students, in particular, could benefit from schools taking lessons from distance learning back into the classroom.”

Students with anxiety have been particularly called out as benefitting from remote instruction, which reduces the social variables and allows them to focus exclusively on the learning. Similarly, some students with autism have discovered benefits from online learning this year. Andrea Parrish, director of development and learning systems at the IDEALS Institute, posited that remote learning simplified the learning process for some students with autism. “They can just focus on the content or just focus on the instructions at hand,” she said. “And so they don’t have to navigate all of those other social experiences while they’re learning.”