A Change Will Do You Good

How Public Policy May (Eventually)

Shape the Way We View Least
Restrictive Environment
Gina Garner, PhD
Aquinas College
AERA 2011, New Orleans
http://www.scribd.com/doc/52608385/
AERA2011finalGarner
I'm thinking - you know, it's changed over the years,
I mean, it really has. I've been in education for, I don't know,
24 years or something…as I think of it now,
I think of it as general ed. That's what it is.
It's the regular classroom, the regular curriculum,
that's the goal where we should be trying to get everyone to.
(Interview-Regional Administrator)
if we get supports in the classroom and teach
them…more universal design, for all the kids
… and as we get more technology, kids can
access textbooks and things much more
interactively, not just reading, I think that will
make it easier because it won't - it won't be the
exception, it'll be automatically look at the
general ed class and it's only rare that you
take, you know, a kid out of it. But right now,
we're not there. (Interview-State
Administrator)
Least Restrictive Environment
612 (a) (5) In general.--To the maximum extent
appropriate, children with disabilities, including
children in public or private institutions or other
care facilities, are educated with children who are
not disabled, and special classes, separate
schooling, or other removal of children with
disabilities from the regular educational
environment occurs only when the nature or
severity of the disability of a child is such that
education in regular classes with the use of
supplementary aids and services cannot be
achieved satisfactorily.
 Problem?
• “Appropriate” “Satisfactorily” vague terms
• Room for local interpretation
• Result: wide variation of placement rates
• State regulations = Federal regulations
 Administrator Role in LRE
• A vital member of team
– Authorize resource distribution
– Vital to successful inclusion
– Administrator attitudes set tone
– Administrators from state to building concerned
with LRE
• Higher level concerns: accountability, assistance
• Lower level concerns: meeting student needs,
distributing resources with available funding,
keeping students with special education needs in the
general ed environment.
LRE variance happens beyond state
regulatory language.

Local influence must be

considered.
Administrators distribute/request
resources-are key to school/district
philosophy

Are administrators key to

LRE variance?
So I - I think that the LRE has become
more understood and more process-
oriented in terms of - we have gone
from get this kid out of my class kind
of the classic "I can't deal any more" to
okay, here's what can be done within
the general ed classroom - here's what
needs to be supported or, no, we can't
provide that in gen ed. So I do think
we're a lot further along that road than
we were. But there's always room for
improvement. (Interview-Riverdale
Building #2)
What are the factors administrators consider
when determining a Least Restrictive
Environment placement recommendation?

How do administrators balance the procedural

and other requirements set forth in various
regulations with the individual needs of the
student when making these recommendations?

What are the conflicts administrators

experience and how do they mediate these
in their recommendations?
 Study Design
• Qualitative/Narrative approach
• Examine Administrator perspective from multiple
levels of special education administration (state,
regional, district, building)
• Interviews (9)
• Textual data: state/district LRE data, written policy
statements, federal policy statements, federal law,
State Performance Plans, State Annual
Performance Reports, training/guidance documents
 Subject profiles
# Location/Title Experience
1 Everystate: Coordinator, Office of 10+years in classroom,PhD research in teacher
Special Education and Early perspectives on LRE,
Intervention Services
2 Regional Special Education 24 years in education, some classroom teaching
Administrator experience
3 Charter: Special Education Director Classroom teacher experience, several years as
special education administrator, advanced degree
candidate
4 Riverdale District Special Education 15 years high school teacher,
Director
5 Riverdale Building Administrator Several years elementary teacher, first year
#1 principal, advanced degree candidate
6 Riverdale Building Administrator 20+ years teacher, 15+years principal,
#2
7 Sunnydale District Special 10+ years classroom teacher, 10+ years
Education Director administrator, advanced degree
8 Sunnydale Building Administrato r 15+years special educator, years
#1
9 Sunnydale Building Administrato
r 20+ years special educator,
#2
Research sites and LRE %
Site % SPED > 80% 40-79% <40% Separate

Everystate 14.3 52.7 24.5 16.6 4.3

Regional 16.0 57.1 20.9 17.7 3.1

Sunnydale 19.2 34.9 27.74 33 4.22

Riverdale 12.64 20.14 30.03 17.36 0

Charter 12 65 <30 <5 0

US Average 8.9* 57 22 15 3.5

 Analysis
• Multi-dimensional analysis of data (Allison 1999)
• Examine phenomenon from alternate
perspectives/frameworks
• Three-dimensional view of administrators’
perspectives on Least Restrictive Environment
• Environments/Factors-Hasazi et al.
• Decisions-March
• Street-Level Bureaucrats-Lipsky
 Street-Level Bureaucrats
• Primary conversation (Weatherly & Lipsky
1977)
– Apply larger state or national policy to local
context
– Level of discretionary decision-making
– Accountable to both policy and clients
– Capability to distribute resources
 Street-Level Bureaucrats
• Alternate Discourse- Maynard-Moody & Musheno
2000 -narrative research
– Street level workers (Citizen Agents)
– Client worth
• Day & Klein 1987
– Horizontal and Vertical Accountability
– Accountability -public, professional, participatory
• Hupe & Hill 2007
– Governance factors (policymakers addressing discretion)
– Vagueness of law or regulation encourages contextual
discretion
So when I walked in to the District I saw the
principals not really having a solid understanding
of the supports that we're obligated to have in place
for kids to make them successful. A number of
them thought in black and white. They're either
successful or they're not, and if I'm disciplining
them, they don't belong here, they need to go
somewhere else, and they're not seeing it as a
continuing of support…and I'm seeing…working
with them there's been sort of an evolution that I'm
glad to have happen because they're calling me
now and saying, this is what's going on, what
should we be doing (Interview-Riverdale District
Administrator)
 SLB-LRE-Change
• Original SLB theory-change as a result of
discretionary changes to policy on local level
• New theories incorporate change into
accountability measures
• More accountability from policy
– Limit discretion
– Connect accountability to
policy/colleagues/clients
• Change of thought/attitude due to policy
action over time (and accountability)
I'm thinking - you know, it's changed over
the years, I mean, it really has. I've been
in education for, I don't know, 24 years or
something, um, as I think of it now, I
think of it as general ed. That's what it is.
It's the regular classroom, the regular
curriculum, that's the goal where we
should be trying to get everyone to.
(Interview-Regional Administrator)
 Policy Makers Organizational
Vertical Values
•IDEA Accountability
•NCLB Determine
Discretion
Priorities

Professional
Colleagues Horizontal Discretion
Accountability
Allocate
Resources

Students/Parents Dimensional
Accountability LRE Decision
Okay, 35 years ago, we were
saying give us your needy, we
know what to do – we are the
solution. And over time, through
the ages here, people have started
to realize – wrong answer – this is
not – children don't benefit. This
isn't the best thing for children.
Then you had to go back and resell
to general ed, you're the answer…
we're a support to you. And
they're your children. (Interview-
Sunnydale Building
Administrator #1)
I think there’s a long-standing history in special
education that we’re going to take these kids and
make them better, and I think if we came – if we
had a collective understanding that there’s
nothing wrong with these kids, we just need to
help level the playing field for them, I think that
would change some decision-making – I think
people go into special education for a reason,
because they want to protect kids, and the pull-
out situation obviously hasn’t been what’s best
for kids because our – our post school outcomes
are not good and we have 30 years of research
after that. (Interview-Riverdale District
Administrator)
We have a State performance targets, … for
Number Five and it says in little parentheses
"80% or more of the day in general ed setting" -
… they need to go and look at their policies and
procedures, and come up - because if you're not
meeting the target, you get a determination, you
know, you might be rated low and then we
come in and do some work with you…the hard
part is to not say to people, it's your fault
-principal or some administrator says, oh the
kid'll be fully included. It'll solve our problem.
And it's not looking … individually. So how do
you move people toward a target and still have
that individual decision-making? (Interview-
State Administrator)
Now of course, I'm speaking as an 11-year
principal veteran. But at the time, LRE
sounded to me like, all right, we're getting
rid of our special ed rooms and we're
dumping children with extremely special
needs into rooms of unprepared gen ed
teachers, with very little support. Now
that's, of course, not exactly what
happened, but that was - I would say, not
necessarily an ethos, but certainly a
common misconception on the part of gen
ed teachers all over the place. (Interview-
Riverdale Building #2)
I really - I don't believe that adults that are involved in
special education decision making make bad decisions
purposefully. I don't think that adults that make those
decisions are purposefully putting kids in resource
rooms, or putting kids in self-contained classrooms just
because they feel like it. I mean, they didn't wake up this
morning and say I'm gonna be mean today. I would bet
money that most administrators that make decisions of
putting kids in self-contained classrooms and resource
room rooms for large portions of the day, their decisions
are 50/50 money and behavior. They are afraid for
-everybody's worried about being taken to court.
(Interview-Charter School Administrator)
that's the most difficult part -
understanding what do they really
need, what is the source of what do
they really need and placing them
based on that. (Interview-Riverdale
Building #1)

I guess my - really, my primary concern is that we're

doing right by students. I mean, is this the right
placement for this kid at this time, you know?
Because, I also think that it can vary. I mean, I don't
know that it always is going to be the same.
(Interview-Regional Administrator)
 Some key findings…
• Indication of systemic change in how LRE is
perceived by administrators
• Accountability has influence
• Change at policy level would greatly restrict
administrative discretion
• Administrator accountability is multi-dimensional
with particular reference to client accountability
• Rules provide parameters for decision:
organizational values provide guides for decisions
using limited rationality
 Implications
• Accountability measures may provide impetus to
change local values, but must allow for local
discretion
• Administrator discretion is vital in responding to
local and individual needs. Values serve to keep
discretion in check
• How influential is client accountability? Is this a
local phenomenon or more widespread among
administrators or SLBs?
• Combination of multi-dimensional accountability
and strong value of client service = change in
administrator perceptions.
Thank you!