By Valerie C. Williams
Director, Office of Special Education Programs
These are the words that come to mind when I think about preschool and our youngest learners. But the reality is far different for many children and their families: suspensions, expulsions and other forms of exclusionary discipline remove children from their preschool environment and create stressful and isolating experiences.
By Valerie C. Williams
Director, Office of Special Education Programs
In the 2021–22 school year, 84% of public schools reported that the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted students’ behavioral development, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
In schools across our country, for children with and without disabilities, this can look like classroom disruptions, rowdiness, or acting out. Indeed, the pandemic’s impact continues to affect all ages, from our youngest learners to adolescents and has often resulted in disciplinary removals.
By Valerie C. Williams
Director, Office of Special Education Programs
I must confess that being a mother of an African American young man — specifically, a 12-year-old Black boy with a disability — I am gravely concerned with the disparities in discipline practices that children with disabilities, particularly children of color with disabilities, experience. This breaks my heart and simultaneously makes me very angry.
By Valerie C. Williams
Director, Office of Special Education Programs
When my cell phone rings in the middle of the day and I see my son’s school is calling, I immediately have a moment of unease: did Matthew get hurt, is he sick, what happened that warrants this call in the middle of the day? Matthew is a sixth grader with Down syndrome, but I know these feelings are shared by parents of children with and without disabilities alike.
I count myself lucky that with each of these calls I am relieved to hear about situations that, while important enough to call, are typically intended to share information about my son’s day or report on a minor issue. I am thankful that the school staff overcommunicate and keep us informed, as well as share potential solutions if a problem arises. In short, they are proactive, so after a brief chat with school personnel, I resume my day.
By Valerie C. Williams
Director, Office of Special Education Programs
1,591,473
This is the total number of disciplinary removals students with disabilities experienced over the 2019-20 school year. Each removal represents a child’s time away from their typical learning environment: time away from their teachers, their peers, and their friends. For many children with disabilities, particularly those who find comfort in routines, it can be an uprooting and distressing experience. It is hard for a child to learn when they are removed from their class.
By Valerie C. Williams
Director, Office of Special Education Programs
Over seven million children with disabilities and their families rely on the effective, high-quality implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to support a lifetime of success.
Make no mistake about it, IDEA — and the rights and protections it affords — impacts a child’s future, how they view themselves as learners today and leaders tomorrow. In fact, the National Center for Educational Outcomes estimates that 85–90% of children with disabilities can be expected to achieve at grade-level when they are provided with the best instruction, supports, and accommodations. Indeed, the promise of IDEA rests with the full implementation of the law.
By Valerie C. Williams, Director, Office of Special Education Programs
Forty-seven years ago, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) opened the doors for children with disabilities. At the time IDEA was passed in 1975 (originally named the Educational for All Handicapped Children Act, or Public Law 94-142), Congress found that children with disabilities were excluded entirely from the public school system. The passage of IDEA meant that no more children with disabilities could be turned away from school and required that they have available to them “a free appropriate education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs.”