LDOE Releases Guidance for Improving Special Education Outcomes

In an effort to support school systems in improving outcomes for Special Education Programs, the Louisiana Department of Education has released its second guidance document in an ongoing series, as per a Louisiana Believes news release.  The LDOE has already released its first issue of what its calling “Guidance for Leading Inclusive Special Education Programs” in January, and they’ve recently released a second set of supportive documents with five more slated to come later in 2022.

Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Dr. Jenna Chiasson, commented on the important need for such guidance from the Louisiana Department of Education, saying “now, more than ever, school systems are facing unprecedented challenges in meeting the emerging needs of students with disabilities. These guidance documents provide school systems with practical and timely resources to work cross-departmentally to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.”

Earlier this year in January 2022, the LDOE had released its first issue in the series: “Leveraging Data to Align Budgets and Spending to Priorities.”  The purpose of the issued guidance was to answer the question, “how do school systems create a spending plan to support the programming needs of students with disabilities?” As educators were encouraged to refer to the document, they were asked to take a self-assessment that aimed to support school system leaders wanting to identify areas to strengthen planning structures and processes when aligning budgets and spending to priorities.

Then, in February 2022, the LDOE released its second issue in the support series: “Creating Compliant Systems for Student Success.” This document and accompanying webinar set out to answer the guiding question of “How can school systems develop and maintain compliant systems that improve student outcomes?”

The guidance issued wanted to address the structures created by school systems that achieve compliance but at the cost of student outcomes, causing the individualized needs of the student with disabilities to be ignored in the name of system-wide efficiency. What was suggested what that school systems leaders rethink special education by examining these existing systems “that limit opportunities for children with disabilities; practices that put the needs of ‘the system’ over the individual needs of a child; and policies that, no matter how well-intentioned, do not have the impact of improving outcomes for students.”

These guiding documents are being issued by the Louisiana Department of Education in an ongoing effort to navigate the unique and complex challenges associated with improving the outcomes for students with disabilities. The series, which is slated to continue through at least June 2022, will support school systems in improving special education programming by leveraging best-practices cross-departmentally. By tackling systemic areas of improvement at the root of the cause, school systems and individual schools can collaborate on these improved practices across disciplines and departments for the betterment of the student with disabilities. This has already been seen with January’s Guidance for aligning both spending priorities and budgets in the effort of improving student outcomes.

LDOE adapted content for “Guidance for Leading Inclusive Special Education Programs” from a comprehensive developmental program aimed at novice special education leaders called SPED Fellow Academy as well as a partnership with a diverse group of special education leaders from across Louisiana, who serve as advisors.

Dr. Shayla Guidry Hilaire, Chief Student and School Support Officer for New Orleans Public Schools commented on being a part of the advising leaders in saying “it is an honor to be a part of a project that starts with equity as the foundation for the work that we do as special education leaders. The LDOE listened to the needs of special education leaders and created ongoing support that addresses those needs in an authentic way. Our special education community has experienced many challenges during the pandemic and these guidance materials and webinars provide hope during a time when educators are in need of ongoing support to improve outcomes for our most vulnerable learners.”

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