Creating a district-wide approach to educational inclusion

School systems pursuing meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities often struggle to balance staffing challenges with a steadily increasing population of students who have complex needs. 

In order to better understand how schools throughout Arizona are addressing these needs, an interdisciplinary project-based collaborative convened by Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College has been partnering with the Vail School District, southeast of Tucson. Vail district educators have made educational inclusion — which is based on the principle that all students, regardless of their abilities or disabilities should have the opportunity to learn alongside their peers — a core part of their practice.

This approach is of interest to members of MLFTC’s Project OASIS, which stands for Optimizing Access for Students in Schools and aims to create a future educational model that maximizes access to needed supports and evidence-based practices for all children, particularly students with disabilities. Project OASIS is part of MLFTC’s Learning Futures Collaboratives, which are advancing research and solutions to address a range of educational issues.

“Through Project OASIS we are exploring ways to create a future educational model where special education and labeling disabilities are not necessary for all students to have an optimal experience,” said Kathy Hoffman, executive director for innovation and special education initiatives at MLFTC. “We have been exploring different learning inclusion models, and there has been particular interest around how Vail School District has implemented their learning inclusion model.”

A culture shift

Project OASIS members include more than 100 partners and collaborators spanning education, health, parents and business groups. Over the past year, the group has hosted a series of visits with the Vail School District to learn about the district’s approaches and consider its potential wider application. In Arizona, approximately 145,000 children are identified as having a disability and qualify for special education services in the public school system, according to the Arizona Department of Education’s latest statistics from  2022.

Since the early 1990s Vail School District has adopted a strategic staffing approach that supports the inclusion of students with a variety of needs and backgrounds in the general education classrooms. Of the district’s approximately 15,000 students, about 13% qualify for special education services.

“We are one of just a few districts across Arizona that have a governing board policy about the inclusion of students with disabilities into that general education setting,” said Michelle Wood, director of special education at Vail School District. “It is so valued and so important that it has just become part of the culture.”

That culture shift started with the realization that students with significant needs were being serviced in other school districts and that the Vail School District could and should find ways to support all students within the community. The district developed teams of specialized staff, including “inclusion specialists” who could be integrated as part of a team-based teaching structure and coordinated closely with general education teachers. In addition, a peer mentor program has helped to strengthen this unified effort.

Creating a systemic approach to inclusion also involves understanding when and how to personalize needs to benefit all students. The district has onsite life skills classrooms to offer opportunities for students with disabilities to strengthen daily living skills and meet their sensory needs. 

“Our goal is to see all students as general education students,” said Sarah Carruth, a special education transition specialist at Cienega High School in the Vail School District. “Through assumed competence, we take the assumption that every student is capable of being an engaged member of this learning environment, and from there we tailor how to support each of our students, whether that support is a targeted social intervention or support from a paraprofessional.”

Implementation of Inclusive Practices
Creating a comprehensive learning inclusion framework starts with fostering a culture of inclusivity, considering strategic staffing options and engaging closely with the internal school and external community. Some of the approaches taken by Vail School District include:

• Professional development for educators: To equip all teachers and school staff with the skills necessary for inclusive teaching, the district invests in extensive professional development, which includes a week-long new teacher induction program. Teachers receive ongoing professional development in differentiating instruction, managing diverse classrooms and understanding the specific needs of students with disabilities.
• Collaborative planning and teaching models: The district implemented a collaborative approach to bring together special education teachers, inclusion specialists, and general education teachers. This team teaching model ensured that students with special needs received support tailored to their individual needs while being part of the general education classroom.
• Parental engagement and communication: Recognizing parental concerns, the district actively engaged with parents of both general and special education students. This involved open communication, informational sessions and fostering a better understanding of the benefits of inclusive education for students with and without disabilities.
• Resource allocation and infrastructure design: The district strategically allocated resources to support the inclusive model. This included hiring additional staff like inclusion specialists, paraprofessionals and behavior specialists. New school buildings in Vail are built to have classrooms attached to common “pod” spaces that can be used for intervention services and specially designed instruction. 

To track district outcomes and areas for adjustments, Vail School District educators regularly evaluate data from various sources, including academic performance, state testing results and feedback from teachers, parents and students. One marker includes students’ proficiency and growth on Arizona’s Academic Standards Assessment  English Language Arts test. Districtwide, 73%of general education seventh graders are within the “average to high” growth category and 62%t of special education students achieve that same ranking. In some schools, that number is as high as 83%.

Team teaching approaches

In addition to the collaboration with Vail School District, Project OASIS is looking across Arizona for innovative models addressing staffing challenges that include all students.

Strengthening pathways for training and certification of educators and support personnel is just one part of the solution. Schools often report that they’re struggling to recruit and retain special education teachers and specialists, and this is reflected in the 2022 ADE special education cost study, which found a turnover rate of 32% for first-year special education teachers. Increasingly, districts and schools are considering staffing approaches that incorporate interdisciplinary models and team teaching.

Project OASIS members are also collaborating with researchers and educators involved with MLFTC’s Next Education Workforce™  initiative, with its emphasis on strategic staffing approaches involving team-teaching models. This collaboration includes:  

• Working with school teams to develop interdisciplinary models that include special educators on the general education teams
• Providing professional learning on the benefits of inclusion and co-teaching
• Collaborating on research projects with district partners to study team-teaching models and its impact on academic outcomes for students with special needs 

In fact, a study by Next Education Workforce’s research arm found promising results from a survey of Mesa School District special educators during the 2022-23 school year. That survey explored the impact of team-based staffing models on the working conditions of special educators and their job performance. Key findings of the Next Education Workforce survey underscore the effectiveness of teaming as a strategy to integrate and enhance the role of special education teachers, yielding benefits for school leaders, parents, teachers and students alike.

“We look forward to expanding greater understanding of effective approaches that benefit all students, particularly those with disabilities, through evidence-based methodologies,” said Erin Rotheram-Fuller, MLFTC associate professor. “This knowledge is key to addressing the priorities outlined by Project OASIS and critical to advancing positive systemic change.”

About Project OASIS
Project OASIS is dedicated to creating a future educational model that maximizes access to needed supports and evidence-based practices for all children, particularly students with disabilities. The initiative, which involves an interdisciplinary network of over 100 organizations and individuals, has identified funding opportunities for supporters to advance the project as it enters its second year. Learn how you can get involved.
Website: Project OASIS
Contact: Katherine.hoffman@asu.edu

 Image credit: Project OASIS webpage