PCPID Quarterly Meeting: September 26–27, 2011

Education

Core Values

• Students with disabilities are, first and foremost general education students who need high expectations, presumptions of competence, access to the grade level content and meaningful curriculum. All teachers (not just special education teachers) should be prepared to work with diverse learners, including students with intellectual disabilities in order to truly achieve inclusion and successful academic outcomes for students.
• Individuals with intellectual disabilities should have access to educational opportunities, including college, which will enable them to attain employment, housing, and the quality lives they desire.
• We have a responsibility to ensure that current and future generations of children, youth and adults with intellectual disabilities can expect the goals of the ADA—of equal opportunity, full participation; independent living and economic self-sufficiency—can be achieved.

Opportunities

1. Transition from school to adult work
   • Expand investment in transition services
   • Recommendation Paramount to success for people with ID, the educational program must provide an infrastructure that leads to a post-age 21 transition component emphasizing specific career paths, job skills, community employment and post secondary education options
   • Focus on the goal of employment early in the IEP process with emphasis on internships and workplace experiences in the last years in the public school system
   • Implore “transition to work” education in schools
   • Transition from school to adult work activities need to be enhanced with person centered focus
   • Better school to work preparation for students with ID transitioning to adulthood
   • Seriously improve the transition from school to work with better work preparation in school
   • Ensure transition entitlement promotes employment for students with IDD
   • Post-secondary transition raise expectations of students with ID transition plans should not be just a box to check. There should be meaningful goals that provide transferable skills for integrated employment and college attendance
2. Post-secondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities
   • Strengthen implantation of post-secondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities
   • Recommendation PSE programs must be continued and publicized widely
   • Provide more post-secondary education and training (including volunteering) opportunities to meet needs of growing population of individuals with IDD who are aging out of the guaranteed services under IDEA
   • Enhance college prep and secondary ed to college transition programs for all
   • Early education is needed to ensure that opportunities are available equitably for secondary and post secondary school success
   • Expand options for students with ID to attend post secondary education leading to employment
   • Increase post secondary experiences as they improve employment chances
   • Strengthen access and implemented on post-secondary programs as a path to employment for people with ID
   • Parents and families need to “think college” and have high expectations
3. Incentives school districts to expand use of developing technology for students with disabilities
4. Enforce existing federal IDEA laws
   • Enforce existing federal IDEA laws, hold states and local districts accountable
   • Maintain accountability of schools for outcomes of students with IDD
5. Ensure inclusion and meaningful participation of all children in the classroom
   • Require schools to pay attention to inclusive educational settings
   • Recommendation an inclusive educational setting pre-21 that promotes family involvement and community partnerships, while emphasizing on academic program that initiates the development of basic employment skill is vital
   • Ensure individuals with ID are gaining access to general curriculum and not being excluded due to performance standards
   • Focus IDEA discretionary funds systemic improvements to increase inclusive placements for students with ID
   • Needs to be inclusive education with everyone
   • Expect/ensure inclusion and meaningful participation of all children in the classroom by providing supports children need to thrive and learn
   • Less restrictive environment for students with ID is the foundation for community living students with ID must have access to meaningful education classes, liked to see disaggregated LRE data for students with ID
6. Improve skills of teachers
   • Better to teach all students in inclusive classrooms
   • Better training of classroom aids to support not only the student but the teacher
   • Improve skills of teachers to teach ID individuals in their classroom
   • Promote truly inclusive education by training all teachers to teach the range of diversity of the human experience
   • Provides teachers with information on the needs of individuals with ID so that they can provide effective education
   • Education and training of all teachers general and special ed needs to address curriculum revisions for preparation of students for 21st century
   • Train teachers in general school education to address being inclusive of all students and their varying learning styles
   • Require teacher prep programs (general and special ed) to demonstrate they are producing “highly qualified” teachers who know: collaboration, differentiation, positive behavior support, individual student, planning for students with ID
   • Training for all teachers to be able to teach/tutor people with ID
   • People need to have proper supports to have education for all
7. Promote Ameri Corps national service as a means to transition to post-secondary education, employment
8. Reform IDEA a la Sue Swenson
9. An improved workforce
   • Teacher para-professional training support link between general education and special education
   • Use IDEA discretionary funding and state pass through, develop an improved workforce for service provided in general education settings
10. Teach to the genius of people with IDD
    • Create a race to the top type program specifically armed special education services
    • Rethink the educational paradigm; teach to the genius of people with IDD
11. Better coordination between educational institutions and government agencies
    • Have state education superintendents and HHS agency meet each other
    • Better coordination between educational institutions and government agencies and support systems to make possible needed education and training opportunities
    • Achieving educational outcomes for students with ID involves multiple funding streams, need to ensure that Medicaid supports services to students in schools that transcend to employment adult life are supported
12. In the conversation of education ensure that leaders of diverse the underserved communities are at the table
13. Adult education to improve employment opportunities
    • Engage providers of continuing learning to think of the PWIDD community in course offerings
    • Help states and localities to provide adult education to improve employment opportunities for adults with DD
14. Stop weakening of special education maintenance of effort
    • Ensure maintenance of efforts at state level don’t expire
    • Stop weakening of special education maintenance of effort requests
15. Incentivize teachers and parents to include service learning experiences to IEP’s
16. Better education of public- families and their school age children about people with intellectual disabilities

Risks

1. Decrease employability equals decrease income, decrease independence, decrease self- actualization
2. Lower education levels that result from decreased opportunities will increase dependence on income support programs
3. Civil rights violated without EI-ECSE there would be an increase in severity of disability
4. Decreased preparation less prepared for workforce and alternative options
   • Less training for employment opportunities
   • Students with IDD would have decreased access to inclusive education leading to decreased preparation less prepared for workforce and alternative options
   • Halt to progress in availability of more PSE programs—which are vital to the prospects of employment and long term redirection of need for government support services
   • Lack of support for transition students with IDD leave school not prepared for employment in need of costlier programs
   • Loss of transition services loss of skills students with IDD stigmatized and excluded
   • Lack of employment preparation, lack of jobs
   • Innovative programs will not exist- post secondary service, internships as examples
   • Transition from schools will be less painful and chances for employment will be reduced
   • Loss of good, appropriate education leads to dead and adult life
   • Limiting funding will lead to a decrease in effective educational programs across all age groups, including PSE
   • Even fewer students will graduate and be prepared for adult life
   • Without supports dropout rate will increase
5. Less diversified workforce
6. Lack of education or limiting “opportunities” will limit job possibilities
   • People won’t be productive members of society
   • Lack of education or limiting “opportunities” will limit job possibilities
7. Students will suffer abuse and neglect
   • Continued segregated experiences, low access to equality education opportunities
   • The valued progress integration in the classroom will be reversed, class size increased
   • Training of educators will decrease students will not receive effective inclusionary education
   • Students will be isolated and segregated in schools
8. Sub-par teaching leading to lower outcomes, less employment and greater reliance on high cost social services
   • It will lead to creation of a class of untrained and undereducated Americans. The existence of such a class will denigrate American value of independence and self- sufficiency
   • Limiting anyone to education possibilities contributes to the status of the US as being a lower rambling country in the global picture
   • Less exposure to inclusive settings
   • Back to 1944 institutions mind set prior to IDEA-segregation
   • Continued disrespect in the upcoming generations for people with ID
   • People with ID getting sub- standard education keeps them “in the shadows”
   • People’s dream won’t be able to be reached
   • Teacher preparations would loss incentives (money) for improved and creative programs for serving individual with ID
   • Loss of experienced gained over time of how we can assist children and youth reach potentia
   • Decreased access to new technology and personal to support students with IDD
   • Budget cuts, monies allocated for teaching will be a very limited thus leading to ineffective academic programs, speech and language interventions and job training
   • Does not allow people with ID to be fully participating members of the society
   • Much less enthusiasm of local school districts to use innovative educational practices
   • Loss of full participation in civic and social life.