Dec 30, 2024, Harpswell Anchor : School officials respond to ‘ballooning’ special education enrollment
Some local school officials are adjusting their approach to early intervention in student behavioral problems in response to a steady rise in special education enrollment.
Across Maine School Administrative District 75, nearly 25% of students were enrolled in special education services during the 2023-24 school year, up from 21% five years earlier. MSAD 75 covers Harpswell, Topsham, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham.
Maine and the nation have seen a similar rise in special education enrollment, with experts attributing much of the long-term trend to improved identification practices and increased awareness of developmental and learning disabilities.
They also point to a recent spike caused by lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s academic and social development, as well as the impact of increased screen time and digital device use on early childhood behavior and attention.
A 2023 study published by the National Institutes of Health found that excessive screen time — defined as more than two hours per day for young children — was associated with “behavioral and conduct problems, developmental delay, speech disorders, learning disability, autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”
“We’re noticing, at the middle school and the district, that our special education numbers are ballooning as needs are increasing,” Mount Ararat Middle School Principal Megan Hayes Teague told the MSAD 75 school board at its Nov. 14 meeting. “Our culture and climate are negatively affected by maladaptive behaviors, and we want to provide our students what they need in order to be successful.”
Special education enrollment has risen to 34% among sixth graders and 30% among fifth graders within MSAD 75, according to Hayes Teague.
The figure is 27% at Mt. Ararat High School and 25% at the middle school. It ranges from 14% to 30% among the district’s five elementary schools, with Harpswell Community School having the lowest numbers. . . .
“In an MTSS model, it asks us to look at the needs of the whole child, and how deficits in one area may impact outcomes or successes in other areas,” Hayes Teague told the school board. “Every student can learn, just not on the same day or in the same way. That’s kind of the conceptual framework for MTSS.”
The district also has formed a group to study the effects of students’ personal technology usage and recommend policy changes if needed.
What is MTSS?
The MTSS model is an expansion of a previously developed system known as response to intervention, or RTI. Whereas RTI focuses specifically on identifying and supporting students with academic difficulties before referring them to special education, MTSS takes a more holistic approach.
It was developed by combining RTI with another model known as positive behavioral interventions and supports, or PBIS, used by schools to promote positive behavior and improve school climate. PBIS emphasizes teaching and reinforcing appropriate behaviors rather than focusing on punishment for misbehavior.
MTSS takes a data-driven approach that relies on ongoing assessments of student behavior and performance to guide decisions. Like its predecessors, MTSS is a three-tiered system that includes universal support for all students, targeted support for small groups needing extra help, and intensive support for individuals with the greatest needs.
Hayes Teague said one benefit of adopting a unified model across the district is that intervention methods and tools would be more consistent across all grades. Currently, different schools handle behavioral issues in different ways, which can cause problems as students advance.
“Intervention at all five elementary schools looks different, so when students are coming into sixth grade (at the middle school), the supports that they’ve had in the past are different,” she said.
A complex issue
Nationally, special education enrollment has reached an all-time high, according to a June 2024 article by Disability Scoop, a news site focusing on developmental disabilities.
The article quotes a U.S. Department of Education report that found 7.5 million children were served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, also known as IDEA, during the 2022-23 school year, accounting for 15% of all students.
“By comparison, there were just 6.4 million students with disabilities during the 2012–13 year, when 13% of schoolchildren were served under IDEA,” the outlet reported.
According to the same Department of Education report, 21% of all K-12 students in Maine were enrolled in special education programs in 2022-23, compared with 20% in Massachusetts and 18% in Vermont and New Hampshire.
The recent increase in students with special needs “is being felt and experienced by multiple districts across the state,” said Courtney Angelosante, PBIS Initiative coordinator at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Maine at Orono.
“That’s something I respond to on a daily basis,” she said in an interview.
Angelosante said the increase is a complex, multipronged issue that has been exacerbated by the disruption in education and family life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had many kids entering kindergarten who needed and didn’t receive early intervention, or weren’t being socialized with play dates or preschool,” Angelosante said. “And then we have our middle schoolers, who also missed a pretty critical time in terms of building and practicing social skills.”. . .
Angelosante said it is every educator’s job to teach and support students with behavioral issues, but the difficulty for teachers has increased recently along with the quantity and intensity of behavior-related incidents.
“It’s hard to both teach and be putting out fires from children who need a lot more direct instruction in positive behaviors,” she said.
