Advisory Panel Public Hearing
Friday, February 15
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More information about the Inclusive Education programs at the Institute on Disabilities.
Background of the Gaskin Settlement
After more than a decade, the class action lawsuit Gaskin, et al v. Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) was settled. The basis of the class action suit was the DPE's failure to ensure a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive (LRE) as guaranteed by the Individual's With Disabilities Education Act or IDEA (www.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/idea2004.html) and by the Oberti Decision.
On June 30, 1994, a civil action filed by the plaintiffs, against the Pennsylvania Department of Education, and was finally settled on September 16, 2005, in what is now called the Gaskin Settlement (PDF).
Goals and objectives of the settlement
The primary goal of the settlement is ensure that Individualized Education Program (IEP) teams consider the general education classroom with supplementary aids and services for all students before considering a more restrictive alternative.
The Settlement includes activities which are designed to increase the opportunities for students with disabilities to receive the necessary support so they can be educated in regular schools and classrooms, alongside students without disabilities.
Under the agreement, school districts must provide (and the Individual Education Plan [IEP] team must consider) a full range of supplementary services in general education classrooms to all students with disabilities, including those with significant disabilities.
Supplementary aids will be provided in a manner that is "sensitive" to avoid stigmatizing the student.
Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Advisory Panel
The Settlement requires the establishment of an LRE Advisory Panel which meets quarterly and consists of 15 members.
Of the 15 members:
- 9 are parents
- 12 selected by the plaintiffs
- 3 selected by the Bureau Director
Dr. Diane N. Bryen, Executive Director of the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, is a member of the panel.
Charge of the Advisory Panel
Purpose:
—Review system-wide progress in the delivery of individualized, specially designed instruction in general education classrooms to students with disabilities in Pennsylvania; and
—Analyze and report periodically on the status of implementation of the settlement agreement.
Examples of some Advisory Panel Responsibilities:
—Review available data to assess the efforts of school districts and other programs in assuring a Free Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment for school children with disabilities. Specific data should include samples of student IEPs to determine whether school district staff understand and are following the policies on LRE monitoring.
—Provide input to Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) for designing a variety of materials for distribution by PDE, which include information for parents about services that children with disabilities can receive in regular education classrooms and how parents can seek assistance in obtaining such services.
Monitoring practices
A system will be in place to collect data from IEP's to track the number of children in special education programs, the percentage of time each child is spending in general education and information on supplementary aids in the classroom will be published annually. The goal is to identify school districts most in need of systemic LRE related changes.
Monitoring of the school districts
After the IEP information is collected, a five-tier system will be established. It will rank schools according to their inclusion practices and how well the school districts are complying with the settlement. School districts that fall into the bottom 250 schools will be required to make the most changes.
Tier I school districts—will include 20 school districts and will receive the most PDE monitoring.
Tier II school districts—"Warning" level, to include bottom 10% of school districts
Tier III school districts—"Alert" level, to include bottom 50% of school districts
Complaint Investigation
PDE will investigate all complaints by a parent or student and each time a violation is identified the PDE will monitor the resolution for the specific complaint and all other students.
On-site Training and Technical Assistance
PDE will provide on-site training and technical assistance to school districts to build capacity in the provision of supplementary aids and services in general education classrooms.
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