LOYOLA UNNERSITY OF CHICAGO THE STATE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PRACTICES WITHIN OUR ATION'S CHARTER SCHOOLS A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF EDUCATION DEP ARTMENT OF CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION, AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY BY NANCY E. DEARHAMMER CHICAGO, ILLINOIS JANUARY 2002 Copyright by Nancy E. Dearhammer, 2002 All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Robert Kraft, who was a tremendous support in making the web based survey into a viable research tool. Thank you to Dr. Janis Fine and Dr. Lisa Lattuca for their support and guidance as my committee. I would especially like to thank Dr. David Prasse for his guidance, support, his endless Kleenex© box, and for serving as my committee chairperson. Thank you to Mom, my first and best teacher. Thank you to Dawn for saving my sanity and even sparing me a little of her own. Thank you Dad for making me see the value of education - despite the tuition, I know that ignorance is far more costly. Thank you, John, for being my brother and friend. 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................... 111 LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................. vii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................ x CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................. . Overview of Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Special Education and Charter Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Brief History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Significance of Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12 Contribution to Practice.. . .. . .. . .. ... . ... .. . ... ... .. .. . .. . . . .. . . . . . ... 13 Limitations of the Study.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 15 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE. .. ... . .. . .. . . . . .. .. . . .. . .. . .. . .. .. .. . . . . .. 17 The Charter School Movement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19 The Philosophy of Charter Schools .................................. 25 Current States with Charter Legislation. .. . . . . . . .. . . . . ... . . . ... .. .. 26 Who Attends Charter Schools? ....................................... 27 Presence of Children with Disabilities in Charter Schools ........ 29 Performance of Children with Disabilities Attending Charter Schools .......................................................... 30 Legislation: State-by-State Overview and Comparison ............ 35 Ambiguity in the Laws................................................ 39 IDEA ..................................................................... 40 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 40 IDEA and Section 504 Compared ................................. 41-44 Federal Requirement for Special Education within Charter Schools ................................................ 44 Charter School Law vs. Special Education Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Problems for Charter Schools ......................................... 51 Intersection of Federal and State Requirements ..................... 52 Autonomy vs. Mandated Regulations... ...... ..... ................. ~3 Charter Schools Struggle with Special Education.. . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. - Boston Renaissance Charter School.............................. ... - Can School Choice Co-Exist with Special Education? ............ 60 IV III. METHODS ........................................................................ 63 Subjects.................. ......... ... ...... ..... ... .. . .. .. ..... ........ 64 Design.................................... ............ ...... ...... ...... 65 Variables............................................................... 66 Variables of Special Education Programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Variables Pertaining to the Charter School Program............. 74 Variables of Effective Schools Related to Charter chools...... 76 Data Collection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 79 Basis for Choice of Survey Questions.............................. 80 Survey Questions................................................. ...... 80 Respondent Pool... ... .. . ... . .......... . .... . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .... .. 80 Data Analysis........................................................... 81 Summary ................................................................. 82 IV. RESULTS............................................................... ......... 3 Method and Response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Profile of Respondents' Schools................................ ..... 86 Familiarity with Charter Law and Special Education La\\ ...... . Profile of Respondents' Schools........................... ......... 6 Presence of Disabilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. 91 Primary Disabilities .................................................... 9_ Secondary Disabilities ................................................. 9~ Unlabelling Special Education Students ............................ 9 Models for Instructing Special Education Student .............. 9 Parents in the Charter Schools................................ . ... 100 Criteria of Effective Schools as Applied to Charter hool . 101 Extent of Special Education Implementation in Charter Schools ............................................... 108 Special Education and Related Services in Charter hool ..... 113 Respondents' Opinion on Special Education in Charter Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 115 V. DISCUSSION ................................................................... 130 Methodology and Purpose ............................................ 130 Need for the Study .................................................... 131 Findings ................................................................. 132 Responding to the Research Questions ............................. 132 Other Findings ......................................................... 135 Limitations to the Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 139 Technology-Related Limitations ..................................... 139 Research Limitations .................................................. 142 Recommendations for Further Research ............................. 147 Conclusion .............................................................. 149 v APPENDIX A. WEB-BASED SURVEY & IRB APPROVAL.. ....... ... ... .. .... ... .... 151 B. ELECTRONIC MAIL LETTER TO RECIPIENTS & FOLLOW-UP LETTER ............................................. 159 C. LIST OF TERMS AND ACRONYMS. . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 162 REFERENCES..................... ........ ............. ...... ... ............................... 165 VITA............................................................................................ 177 VI LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Overall Parent Rating of Charter School V s. School Child Would Otherwise Attend............................................. 5 2. Racial/Ethnic Percentage of Students in Charter and Public Schools................................................................ 28 3. Students with Disabilities in Charter Schools and All Public Schools By State................................................... ... 31 4. Parental Rating of Child's Overall Performance... ............................... 33 5. IDEA and Section 504 Compared .................................................. 41-44 6. Research Questions and Correlating Survey Questions .......................... 67-69 7. Principal's Familiarity with Special Education Law............................. 86 8. Principal's Familiarity with Charter Law...................................... ... 86 9. States Repre ented in ample....................................................... 88 10. Grade Levels Served...... . ........ ... ... . .. . .. ... .. . .. ... .... ... ... ............... ... 89 11. Number of Choices Selected on Grad Levels erved.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 90 12. Length of Time Charter School Has Been Open................................. 90 13. Students Enrolled Per Charter SchooL.......................................... 91 14. No. of Charter Schools with Ranges of tudents Identified b Primary SPED Label... ............... .......................... .................................... 93 15. No. of Charter Schools with Ranges of Students Identified by Secondary SPED Label.... ........ ......... ... ... .................................................... 96 Vll Table Page 16. Range of Students per School By the Percentage of Time Removed from Regular Classroom for SPED ................................................................. 100 17. Standardized Total Reading Score by National Percentile Rank ................. 102 18. Standardized Total Math core by National Percentile Rank .................... 103 19 . Average Daily Attendance .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 104 20. Principals' Involvement of Parents ................................................... 105 21. Number of Choices Indicated by Respondents on Parent Participation Question .................................................................. 106 22. Extracurricular Program yailable to Students .................................... 107 23. Number of Choices Indicated b Respondents on Extracurricular Activities Question .................................................................................. 107 24. Average Class Size ..................................................................... 108 25. Number of Student \\ith IEp· in Respondents' Charter Schools ............... 109 26. Number of Student £\·aluated for SPED Within Last Year ...................... 109 27. Opinion on Expected PED Compliance for Charter Schools ................... 110 28. Occurrence of PED taff De elopment Activities ............................... 112 29. Related Services Pro\'ided at ample's Charter Schools ......................... 113 30. Number of Related ervices Provided at Sample's Schools ..................... 114 31. Provider of SPED Services in ample's Charter Schools ........................ 115 32. Respondents' Opinion on Ho\ Well SPED Students' Needs Are Met ......... 116 33. Respondents' Opinion on Whether Serving ALL Students Interferes with Goals/Mission ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 117 34. Respondents' Opinion on How Serving SPED Interferes with School's Mission/Goals ........................................................................... 118 Vlll Table Page 35. Respondents' Opinions on Whether Charters Should Serve Severe/Profound Students ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 36. Respondents' Opinion on Whether There is Sufficient Funding Consideration for Charters .............................................................. 123 37. Respondents' Opinion on Whether There is Sufficient Staffing Consideration for Charters ............................................................. 125 38. Respondents' Opinion on Whether There are Sufficient Resources for Charters .............................................................................. 125 39. Respondents' Opinion on Amount of Autonomy They Experience as a Charter School .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 127 40. On Whom Respondents Rely for Support ........................................... 128 IX