2010 OSEP Leadership Mega Conference Demonstrates Great Collaboration: Will Collaboration Continue through IDEA Reauthorization?

By Stephanie Smith Lee, Senior Policy Advisor, NDSS Policy Center.

Last week the Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education held it’s first ever “Mega Conference” combining what in the past have been separate conferences for leaders and staff in early childhood, parent centers, and state agencies. The conference, entitled “Collaboration to Achieve Success from Cradle to Career” was held July 30 through August 5, 2010.

See: http://leadershipmega-conf-reg.tadnet.org/ for the agenda and conference materials.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered strong support for parent involvement in a keynote on August 3, stating, “Parents of students with disabilities are some of the most determined advocates. Parents are key partners in policymaking and practice, pushing for greater access and better outcomes for their own and others’ children. I want to applaud you for your dedication to children with disabilities—and their parents. I also want to say I wish it wasn’t necessary for parents to be such fierce advocates. I understand that parents are compelled to advocate because they see that their sons and daughters aren’t getting the free, appropriate public education that federal law guarantees them.”

See: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2010/08/duncan_praises_parents_at_spec.html for an EdWeek blog and link to the Secretary’s speech.

The very welcome focus on collaboration continued on August 3 when all conference participants met together, with an estimated 1,200 participants. A Cross Departmental Panel the morning of August 4 featured Assistant Secretaries and their representatives. Panel participants highlighted collaboration, universal design for learning, inclusion, civil rights, new provisions for students with intellectual disabilities in the Higher Education Opportunity Act, and coordinating early learning programs. OSERS Assistant Secretary Alexa Posny moderated the panel and in her remarks said, “We don’t want our people in sheltered workshops” – good news to those of us working to expand inclusive employment options at competitive wages! NDSS Associate Policy Center Director, Ricki Sabia, conducted two workshops on Universal Design for Learning with Skip Stahl of CAST and Karen Erickson, Director of the Center for Literacy and Disability Studies, UNC.

Behind the scenes, there was much discussion about the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA – previously referred to as NCLB) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). There have been some rumblings that the ESEA and IDEA laws might be merged into a single law during the reauthorization process. A number of important and effective practices have emerged through new IDEA requirements and Part D funding, including Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Early Intervening Services, Response to Intervention (RTI) and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). While developed and funded through IDEA, these practices benefit ALL students and certainly should be embedded in, and funded through, the ESEA. Aligning these two laws is important and NDSS strongly supports the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support and Early Intervening Services to Improve Student Academic Achievement Act that will be introduced soon by Senators Michael Bennet, Lamar Alexander and Al Franken, that would align these preventative approaches in the two laws. NDSS also spearheaded the creation of the National UDL Task Force and is working together with thirty-nine national organizatins to incorporate UDL into Federal policy and legislation including ESEA. See www.udl4allstudents.com for more information on the Task Force. The alignment of UDL, PBIS, RTI and Early Intervening Services in IDEA and ESEA is certainly important.

However, and this is a big however, IDEA is a civil rights law as well as a funding program. There is no room for eliminating any civil rights protections and it is difficult to imagine that any good would come out of merging these two laws. A much more likely scenario is that ESEA will be reauthorized first, followed by IDEA. Important questions need to be addressed in the next IDEA reauthorization, including:

• Why aren’t children getting the free, appropriate public education (FAPE) that federal law guarantees them, as noted by Secretary Duncan?
• What needs to be improved to ensure that students with intellectual disabilities are educated in the least restrictive environment, with highly qualified teachers, access to the general education curriculum and appropriate assessments?
• What must be done to ensure that ALL children with disabilities receive FAPE, no matter what their disability is or where they live?
• What is working and what is not?

Recent news articles in LRP and Education Week have given the impression that OSEP is starting an internal process to develop IDEA reauthorization proposals, particularly with respect to OSEP monitoring, in consultation with State Special Education Directors. Reportedly, the intent is to then hold listening sessions around the country for others to comment on the proposals. One never knows just how accurate news reports may be. What we do know is that history clearly demonstrates that the most effective reauthorizations of IDEA have occurred when all stakeholders, including representatives of students and families, have an opportunity to provide input and communicate with each other at the beginning of the process. Whether it is at a child’s IEP meeting or when policy is developed at the school district, state, or national level, the most effective decisions making occurs when we all work together.