Special education symposium among pre-conference events

A pair of full-day symposiums, one on student achievement and special education and the other on legal issues for experienced board members, along with an orientation for new trustees and the first day of CSBA’s Delegate Assembly, preceded the CSBA’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in San Diego.

Special education expert Alice Parker led a morning workshop on current research and best practices for students with special needs, including a component on autism. Blending information and humorous asides in a three-hour presentation, the executive director of Innovation and Dissemination for Special Education with Aspire Public Schools also discussed Response to Intervention, or RtI, which involves strategies for addressing students’ cognitive needs, as well as the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and No Child Left Behind Act.

Noting the disturbing increase in autism diagnoses in children in California and throughout the nation, Parker stressed, “We must intervene as early as possible so we can effect growth and change” in children identified with “this very devastating disorder.” Parker also critiqued the report, “An Opportunity to Achieve Real Change for Californians with Autism Spectrum Disorders,” issued in September by the California Legislative Blue Ribbon Commission on Autism. It contained good policy recommendations but “not a lot of new information under the sun,” Parker commented.

Whitcomb Hayslip, director of Infant and Preschool Support Services for the Los Angeles Unified School District, followed Parker’s presentation with a cogent argument for the importance of early childhood special education.

“High-quality preschool is not watered-down kindergarten,” Hayslip said as he presented examples of effective service delivery models for preschoolers. His approach hinges on two principles: that children are more alike than different and that all children have unique and individual needs.

“Effective early childhood programs bring these two ideas together,” Hayslip said.

Rounding out the special education forums, three superintendents from Southern California school districts conducted a workshop on best practices in RtI, sharing research and methods that have proved successful in their districts. Richard Bray of Tustin Unified School District, Gwen Gross of Irvine USD and Beverly Rohrer of Manhattan Beach USD were joined in their presentation by Carolyn Seaton, executive director of Educational Services at Manhattan Beach USD.

Echoing a remark made by Parker, Bray asserted that RtI should really be called “Response to Instruction,” not “Intervention.”

“It’s really for all kids, not just special education kids,” Bray said, adding, “You don’t need new books; you don’t need more money. … You just reallocate your resources.”