Special Education

How Will Schools Provide Special Education During the Coronavirus Crisis?

By Corey Mitchell — March 19, 2020 5 min read
Sarah Marton, a paraprofessional at Niles Township District for Special Education in Illinois, talks with her 8th grade son Cooper Marton, as he does school work at his computer at home in Chicago. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's executive order closes all kindergarten through 12th grade schools—public and private—"for educational purposes" from March 17 through March 30.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

With a pandemic pressing tens of thousands of the nation’s school districts into extended closures, special education administrators across the nation are wrestling with a weighty dilemma: how to provide services to students with disabilities.

Federal law mandates that individuals with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in everything schools provide—including online learning.

But a mix of factors—lack of clarity in state laws, unclear guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, and a reluctance to run afoul of federal law—has left some school districts struggling to get their online learning programs off the ground.

Uncertainty has handcuffed some districts, forcing them to shut down their online learning operations, at least temporarily.

The Northshore School District in suburban Seattle—a hotspot in the national coronavirus outbreak—managed to roll out its districtwide distance learning plan for 25,000-plus students ahead of a mandatory five-week statewide shutdown.

In the weeks since campuses closed there, staff got thousands of tablets and hundreds of internet hotspots into the hands of students—only to suspend operations because school leaders fear they could be in violation of state and federal mandates for providing equitable services.

See Also: Coronavirus and Schools

In a video message released Tuesday, Kenneth Marcus, the education department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said: “Online learning is a powerful tool for educational institutions as long as it is accessible for everyone. Services, programs, and activities online must be accessible to persons, including people with disabilities, unless equally effective alternate access is provided.”

Districts face the potential loss of federal funding if they fail to provide accommodations for students with disabilities. They also face the risk of complaints, and potential legal action, from parents and disability rights advocates for running afoul of federal civil rights laws.

“The first things [schools] are thinking of is ‘Are we going to get ourselves in trouble?’'' said Phyllis Wolfram, the executive director of the Council of Administrators of Special Education.

But the situation is a Catch-22: Districts could face the same issues if they refuse to do anything at all.

“We’ve paused for a moment,” said Northshore schools Superintendent Michelle Reid. “We have to learn to navigate the rules and regulations that were written for a time we’re not in any longer. There is no written guidance that frees us from penalties.”

The Council of Chief State Schools Officers and other organizations have called on the department to clarify how districts should proceed, but for now, many district and state leaders are trying to make sense of the current guidance.

“A lot of people are looking for very specific directions,” said Erin Maguire, who oversees special education services for the Essex Westford, Vt., schools. “There’s confusion and that’s probably to be expected given the crisis we’re in.”

Distance learning in Maguire’s district is set to begin Monday.

That confusion has laid bare a troubling opportunity gap:Many schools that tout 21st century learning opportunities struggle to provide those opportunities for all students.

Online learning is “a fairly complex arena for all K-12; for students with disabilities there are additional layers,” said Sean Smith, a professor of special education at the University of Kansas, who served as one of the principal investigators for the Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities. “It’s a rude awakening for our teachers and education leaders.”

Lack of Guidance Not New

The federal education department has known for years that states have struggled to develop remote learning policies for students with disabilities.

A 2016 report from the now-shuttered Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities, a federally funded research collaborative, found that 38 states lacked clear guidance or policies on who should provide special education services in an online school setting.

The situation has not improved much in the years since, said John Eisenberg, the executive director of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education.

The current guidance is “probably not getting down to the level of instruction and the challenges that parents, teachers, and students face,” said Smith, the University of Kansas professor.

The new reality has left some districts scrambling to find resources and train staff before they can even begin efforts to teach students online—and those are just the states that have action plans.

“This crisis has triggered a re-examination of options. Some places think [online learning] is too hard to do for students with disabilities,” Eisenberg said. “But that’s not the message we want to send to the country.”

The Philadelphia school district, which educates more than 200,000 students, will not offer remote instruction during its two-week coronavirus shutdown, because many students lack equal access to technology.

“That’s a panic response,” said Denise Marshall, the executive director of the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, a disability-rights advocacy group. “We shouldn’t give districts a pass. We need them to stand up and say what they need.”

‘Uncharted Waters’

The Council of Chief State School Officers has urged the federal education department to provide clarity on special education equity for students with disabilities in an online environment, CCSSO Executive Director Carissa Moffat Miller said this week.

“The guidance that came out, there is some interpretation about that being fairly limiting and causing confusion,” Moffat Miller said on a call with reporters Wednesday.

A spokeswoman from the U.S. Education Department said the agency expects to release additional guidance on issues such as special education in “coming days.”

“Online learning is not an ideal experience,” said Reid, the Northshore schools superintendent. “So let’s extend grace to school districts as we work really hard to provide sound educational experiences for all of our students. We cannot allow perfection to be the enemy of any kind of progress.”

Now that schools are closed for weeks in many parts of the country, states must also provide guidance to schools on a host of special education issues. Among them are how to comply with deadlines to determine student eligibility for special education services and with mandates governing Individualized Education Program hearings.

“We can’t undo federal law,” Wolfram said. “Schools are facing challenges they’ve never faced before and we’re in very uncharted waters.”

Staff Writer Evie Blad contributed to this report.
A version of this article appeared in the April 01, 2020 edition of Education Week as Special Ed. Poses Complex Challenge for Districts

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Special Education Whitepaper
Inside IEP: Actionable Insights and Innovations for Student Support
Explore virtual solutions, educator burnout, parental support, and ways to create an inclusive learning environment.
Content provided by DotCom Therapy
Special Education What the Research Says One Group of Teachers Is Less Likely to Identify Black Students for Special Ed. Why That Matters
Researchers say their findings argue for diversifying the teacher workforce.
4 min read
Full length side view of Black female instructor in mid 40s with hand on shoulder of a Black elementary boy as they stand in corridor and talk.
E+/Getty
Special Education Video Inside an Inclusive Classroom: How Two Teachers Work Together
This model for inclusive education benefits students of all abilities, and the teachers instructing them.
1 min read
Special Education Using Technology for Students in Special Education: What the Feds Want Schools to Know
Assistive technology can improve outcomes for students in special education, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
4 min read
Black students using laptop in the lab with white female teacher- including a female student with special needs.
E+/Getty