Diplomas for the disabled

Maine educational regulations currently state “beginning with the 2006-2007 school year, diplomas may be awarded only to students who have met the content standards of the system of Maine Learning Results as determined by the local assessment system adopted by the school board. …”

In any high school, one performance level applies to all students, including disabled students, to receive one and only one type of diploma, the Maine Learning Results (MLR) certified diploma. Ironically, this thinking runs counter to Maine’s early Learning Results discussion that rejected high stakes testing and high stakes diplomas. Everyone will agree that an emphasis on high graduation standards is good, but the one-standard-fits-all approach, especially for disabled students, puts the diploma out of reach.

This week the Legislature considers LD 783, An Act to Require That the Pupil Evaluation Team Set Graduation Standards for Special Education Students, that grants authority to the Pupil Evaluation Team (PET) to set alternate standards for the Maine Learning Results certified diploma. In other words, there will be the Maine Learning Results diploma and the special education Maine Learning Results diploma. The concerns with this approach are countless.

?A MLR diploma created by the PET subverts the original legislative intent to establish a truly worthwhile high school diploma by introducing a reduced standards option for disabled children

for the same diploma.

?The identification rate of special education students in Maine is already well beyond the national average. In fact, state reimbursement under EPS attempts to cap identification at 15 percent by using a financial disincentive beyond that percent. The Maine Department of Education and the State Board of Education have convened committees and task forces to study and recommend changes (essentially restrictions) in disability definitions. If the only way that a diploma may be received is through the Individualized Education Plan designed for the disabled student, students and parents will seek identification, especially for marginal disabilities, to gain the diploma.

?The inevitable increased identification will be very costly for the state. If high school identification rises 3 percent or about 1,500 students statewide, the increased support would be on the order of $10 million (special education rate minus regular education rate times 1,500).

?Special education services continue through the year of a student’s 20th birthday. Presumably more identified students will take more time at greater expense to complete the diploma. This cost will not be insignificant.

?With special education students receiving an alternate Maine Learning Results diploma and high achievers meeting the standards of the Maine Learning Results with little difficulty, there will be a layer of students unable to meet the standard, at least initially, who will be disenfranchised. They will recognize that there is no special dispensation for them. Their reaction to second class treatment should be cause for concern.

?An IEP-driven MLR diploma presents significant management problems that will make an already time-consuming process more cumbersome and litigious.

?There are serious questions about how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act will view special education students who do not receive a “regular” diploma.

?In addition, No Child Left Behind emphasizes graduation rates for all students and the Maine Department of Education uses graduation rate as one of its three NCLB statewide evaluation criteria. IEP diplomas that are not “regular” diplomas by federal criteria will probably not qualify for inclusion in NCLB calculations. I guess this means that Maine becomes a failing state.

The solution requires modifications to Chapter 127 that both preserve the promise of the Maine Learning Results diploma and accommodate the needs of the secondary special education student.

First, the community-based high school diploma will be retained, at least in the short term. While the Maine Learning Results only diploma will not be rejected, its basis and form will be approached differently. This change does not result in a differentiated or tiered diploma. Effective 2008, Maine Learning Results certification would be phased in as an endorsement added the “regular” credit-based diploma. This design preserves the intent to bring higher credibility to the high school diploma. Starting in 2008 the percentage of MLR endorsed graduates would be expected to rise to 100 percent over time. Special education students pursuing a “regular” diploma would be excluded from calculation of this percentage. Some disabled students undoubtedly would pursue and receive MLR endorsed diplomas. It is critical to understand that the high local standards required for the current credit-based diploma would remain. There is no attempt to create multiple kinds of diplomas.

Second, the IEP would continue to define the acquisition of credits for the “regular” diploma, and students having satisfactory performance for each credit would graduate, with a diploma, with other students. However, every IEP would be required to address certain Content Standards and Performance Indicators judged to be fundamental by the school department. For instance, English Language Arts Content Standard A states “Students will use the skills and strategies of the reading process to comprehend, evaluate, and appreciate what they have read.” This content standard seems entirely appropriate. While the standards used might vary according to the limitations of the disability, a minimum number would be required by local instructional policy. In addition, for some students the selected MLR standards could be off-level, for instance using a Grade 5-8 Content Standard in place of a Secondary Content Standard.

The Maine Learning Results diploma presents a serious educational and political dilemma for the disabled child that will not be solved by simply transferring diploma-granting authority to the Pupil Evaluation Team. The complexity of the standards, legal requirements of the process, and unintended consequences invite trouble. There are ways to give greater clarity to the meaning of the high school diploma and preserve the promise of high academic standards.

Robert Ervin is superintendent of schools of the Bangor School Department.

The Bangor School Committee endorsed this position at its April 4 meeting.