Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Syracuse City School District:
Special Education System Review
Submitted by Cross & Joftus with funding from Say Yes to Education
Jacquelyn Thompson
Meghan Neary
Scott Joftus
Monica Rosen
November 30, 2011
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Executive Summary
Introduction
Say Yes engaged Cross & Joftus to review the programming, services, and instruction for
students with disabilities and to recommend ways to improve outcomes for the almost 20 percent
of Syracuse students who receive special education services. From September through November
2011, the firm examined six core elements:
1) Outcomes for students with disabilities as compared to the general population and other
student subgroups
2) The district’s “systemic coherence” in support of students with disabilities
3) The district’s staffing levels for serving students with disabilities
4) Students with disabilities’ access to the core curriculum, highly effective instruction, and
tiered interventions
5) Students’ placement into and exit from the special education programs, including
development and monitoring of students’ IEPs and any special issues related to English
language learners
6) Communications from the state regarding program non-compliance
Methods
Cross & Joftus considered multiple data in its review. Interviews and focus groups were
conducted with approximately 170 district staff and stakeholders during eight days of on-site
visits. Conducted by teams of consultants, these sources provided data regarding district policies
and practices that impact the provision of educational programming, instruction, and special
education services for students with disabilities. The review also included an examination of
student outcome data, budgets, organizational and staffing charts, a sample of Individual
Education Programs (IEPs), letters and findings from the state, curricular materials, policy
documents, and descriptions of student support services. In addition, a Focused Classroom
Walkthrough tool was used to sample teaching and learning practices in 103 classrooms across
15 schools. And finally, a teacher and administrator survey (31 percent response rate) provided
additional information about district-wide instructional practices and student supports.
Overview of District Strengths and Challenges
The multiple review methods provided opportunities to verify both perceptions and evidence of
overall strengths and challenges in SCSD. In analyzing the varied data, a focus on systems and
practices within the district that impact students with disabilities led to the following findings of
strengths and challenges.
District Strengths
From union president to parents, Syracuse stakeholders express optimism that impending
changes will provide opportunities for district-wide improvements and ultimately student
outcomes. Fortunately, Syracuse City School District possesses a number of strengths to draw
from as efforts to improve are implemented. District wide, the following strengths are evident:
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The superintendent’s 100-day rapid-response initiative is seen as a strength by many
building leaders across the district, as it is both focused and actionable
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Executive Summary
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The Say Yes to Education theory of action has brought a needed focus on reducing
barriers to supporting student achievement and a level of interagency collaboration that is
reported to be without precedent in Syracuse
The anticipated five-year strategic plan can bring focus and coherence to meeting
challenges facing the district
The district is moving ahead with targeted facility improvements
Members of the existing leadership team have brought a number of practices and
initiatives to SCSD over the past few years that hold promise; in addition, efforts to
implement these practices point to the care and concern embodied by those who have
worked to bring improvements to the district
There are additional strengths that are specific to the delivery of special education programs and
services. These include:
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High-quality early childhood education programs exist and focus on inclusion of children
with disabilities – this includes a strong and committed leadership team for early
childhood programs
The emergent Consultant Teacher model has potential for providing inclusive and
standards-based teaching and learning opportunities for students with disabilities
Schools of Promise, where fully implemented, has a history of providing inclusive
teaching and learning practices with positive impact on outcomes for students with
disabilities
The district has made significant strides in controlling costs for special education
programs and services, as evidenced by changes in staffing patterns, the low level of outof-district placement of students with disabilities as compared to other districts in New
York, the overall comparative level of instructional expenditures, on-going attention to
cost management by the special education leadership team, and collaboration between the
Department of Special Programs and the Office of Special Education to maximize the
potential of federal special education funds
An experienced and dedicated special education leadership team with combined
background of special and general education, including building level administration
experience, that is well regarded by district staff and stakeholders
There has been focused and responsive special education leadership over the past few
years, leading to a number of initiatives, including:
o Introduction of a response to intervention (RtI) system and the district adoption of
the SCSD four-tier model of instruction and intervention
o Development of the Prioritized Curriculum to support instruction in core content
for targeted students with disabilities at the high school level
o A centralized model of oversight for IEP team meetings called for re-evaluation
of eligibility
o A reading program (Wilson) targeted to improving reading proficiency for
students with disabilities, using an in-district professional development and
coaching model
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Executive Summary
o Fiscal and personnel support for district implementation of the Positive Behavior
Intervention and Support (PBIS) initiative
o A newsletter that provides timely information to staff and building leadership
o An effective model of special education liaisons providing timely and responsive
support to building administrators
o Focused efforts to insure a continuum of programs and services across each of the
district’s quadrants
o Current efforts to accommodate students with IEPs in district summer school and
after school programs
o Timely responsiveness to vice principal’s concerns as they execute their
responsibilities as on-site administrator responsible for special education
o Timely response as well to parent concerns, including support for and regular
meetings with the Special Education Parent-Teacher-Student Association
o Timely response to staff concern and questions through the monthly leadership
forum, where any staff member may attend and get questions answered
o Responsiveness to compliance findings and corrective action, as indicated by the
New York Special Education Quality Assurance Central Regional Office
District Challenges
Building on district strengths requires focused attention to systemic challenges; this is
foundational for improvements to be realized for students with disabilities. Systemic challenges
across the SCSD include the following:
• A lack of effective and sustained implementation strategies for the district’s targeted
initiatives—including the four-tier framework, PBIS, and the emerging common core
curriculum—and lack of measures of implementation fidelity to address:
o Inconsistent implementation of a core curriculum
o Inconsistent implementation of instructional strategies to support diverse learning
needs, such as differentiated instruction, access to and use of supporting
technologies, access to appropriate instructional and learning materials, and
evidence-based instructional strategies
o Inconsistent development of targeted and intensive interventions in Tiers 2 and 3
of the district’s four-tier framework of instruction and intervention
• Limited professional development opportunities for educators that are timely, jobembedded, and aligned with prioritized instructional improvement for all students
• Inadequate staffing levels for instructional coaches
• School attendance patterns in the district, which reduce student access to instruction and
need further analyses and action
• High rates of referral to, and eligibility for, special education in relationship to the
delivery of core instruction, targeted interventions, and fidelity of implementation of
general education instruction and supports over time, including:
o Inconsistent use of student progress monitoring and data-driven student
interventions
o Inconsistent use of Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions (tied to district implementation
of the four-tier instructional framework)
o A perspective within the district that identifies special education as a default
system for struggling learners
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Executive Summary
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Disproportionate rate of suspensions of students, with and without disabilities, across the
district, including:
o Inconsistent discipline practices for minor offenses and behavior, and resulting
impact on access to instruction (and ultimately drop-out rate)
o Inconsistent implementation of teaching and reinforcement of appropriate
behavior that supports students remaining in school (tied to a need for on-going
professional development in behavior support and management at the classroom
and building levels)
Limited evidence-based strategy for addressing the needs and realities of a highly diverse
student and community population, such as:
o Embracing a school culture that respects the diversity of students
o Embracing practices that bring differential supports to meet the needs of students,
including immigrant students and English language learners (ELLs)
o Addressing the unique challenges of adolescent immigrant and ELL students who
have a limited time to achieve a diploma
o Addressing supports for secondary students with significant disabilities to
improve transition to, and readiness for, post-school options
Information technology that does not provide a nimble and responsive approach to
student progress monitoring to support timely instructional and intervention decisionmaking
Continued attention to providing adequate physical plant facilities that support health,
safety, and acceptable learning environments across the district
The report elaborates on these and other strengths (+) and challenges (Δ) and provides specific
recommendations (✔) in each section.
Summary of Recommendations
This summary integrates specific recommendations presented in each of the areas of review
conducted by the Cross & Joftus team and creates a global overview of the collective specific
recommendations contained in the report. It should be noted that several recommendations, or
similar recommendations, appear in more than one section of the report; this summary indicates
such emphasis with an asterisk (*).
Summarized recommendations are as follows:
✔ Create a five-year strategic plan for the district.
• Include components that specifically address improving supports for students with
disabilities and others at risk of school failure.
• Include components that articulate procedures for improving human capital district-wide.
✔ Foster systemic coherence across the district and effective implementation of the five-year
strategic plan by building an infrastructure for leadership, support, and operations.
• Create a mechanism for regular collaboration and data-driven decision-making.
• Support coordinated planning and improvement efforts across departments.*
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Executive Summary
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Assess the level to which continuous decreases in administrative infrastructure erodes
coherent focus on strategic goals and necessary support for all staff to effectively
implement non-negotiable and prioritized programs and practices.
Develop a robust professional development system to increase the effective use of
evidence-based practices.*
Create a district culture and skill set that affirms diversity and effectively supports all
students to achieve.*
Assess the impact of the current level of implementation of Courageous Conversations
About Race and determine if this should be continued, adjusted, or replaced to better
address challenges of school culture and cultural competencies.
✔ Improve human capital processes, including screening, selection, evaluation, and on-going
professional development to achieve universal excellence in teaching and learning.
• Enhance the current screening process to identify the skills, knowledge, and abilities
demonstrated by effective SCSD special educators.
• Create a feedback loop to inform and continuously improve special education teacher
screening and selection.
• Leverage teacher evaluations to inform teacher screening and align all human capital
processes.
• Build upon the current and strong special education liaison staffing model and assess the
benefit of increasing the number of liaisons to better support a coherent and focused
system of support for building administrators, problem-solving, and attention to standards
of practice in special education.
• Strongly consider the addition of another assistant director in special education to oversee
and support the development and continued leveraging of the special education liaison
model and to assist with the coordination of professional development, IEP monitoring,
and review, and district special education data tracking and analysis.
• Assess the impact of recent reductions in the number of instructional coaches in the
district, as this is a high-leverage staffing model that supports coherent delivery of
effective instruction and improved student achievement.
✔ Develop and fully implement a well-defined core curriculum supported by robust and
sustained professional development, differentiated instruction, and tiered
interventions and supports in order to leverage access to the general curriculum for students with
disabilities and other students at risk of school failure.
• Evaluate the impact of special education program models on student learning.
• Provide supports to schools to ensure effective implementation of special education
program models and interventions.
• Fully implement the district’s four-tier framework for instruction and targeted and
intensive interventions.*
• Fully implement a district reading program in the early grades that is evidence-based,
adheres to the principles articulated by the National Reading Panel, and supported by
structured instructional coaching*
• Include the teaching and positive reinforcing of pro-social or “school” behavior as a
component of core instruction.*
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Executive Summary
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Respond to expressed need of staff to develop strong skills in supporting positive student
behavior.*
Implement a classroom observation system that systematically collects data about the use
of high-impact teaching and learning processes, engages teachers and administrators in
substantive conversations about instruction and student work, and informs the delivery of
coaching and professional development.
✔ Address and correct the common perception that special education is the default system for all
struggling learners and simultaneously improve core instruction and tiered interventions for all
students.
• Analyze and adjust practices for identification of eligibility for special education to
ensure all students receive appropriate general and special education services.
• Begin a routine and on-going analysis of identification, classification, placement, and exit
trends to better understand, evaluate, and make adjustments to the special education
system.
• Analyze the impact of both special education services and coordination of services with
other departments for subgroups of students receiving services, including English
language learners.
✔ Meet the challenge of disproportionate rates of suspension and out-of-school time, implement
positive behavior interventions and supports district-wide, and standardize disciplinary actions to
better support student success.
• Analyze data on disciplinary actions compared to behavior/incidents to identify areas of
discipline where improved strategies could better support student learning and reduce
out-of-school time.
• Analyze attendance patterns for students who have a change of placement as a result of
disciplinary actions, determine barriers to attendance as well as access to instructional
time, and address barriers to assure student access to instruction and behavioral support.
• Assess the level to which understanding of student behavior, and its antecedents, is
reflective of: a) other student issues which are not addressed (such as student socialemotional well-being or basic needs that are unmet); or b) adult responses to student
behaviors that are governed by a lack of understanding of the student’s perceptions of the
situation; and determine how a school’s culture and practices might be adjusted to better
support teaching, reinforcing, and supporting learning of requisite school and community
behavior that leads to graduation and success beyond*
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