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ONLY One: Service Name of product or service: Differentiating Instruction to Improve Access and to Facilitate Meaningful Inclusion Organization: Urban PRIDE Name of individual completing this description guide: Charlotte Spinkston, Executive Director Relevance of this Product or Service. Relevance is defined as the degree to which a product or service addresses current educational problems or issues.
Providing information, training and support to families, and other professionals to support school-based and out-of-school time services to students in the least restrictive environment is highly relevant. Doing to addresses a significant longstanding and current need, particularly with the most underserved families. Boston Public Schools is among the most segregated school district in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts with 41.2% of all of students receiving special education services being placed in so-called substantially separate classrooms. The state average is 16%. (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Special Education Enrollment by Educational Placement/Category, School Year 2010-2011- Data as of October 1, 2010) Boston's segregation rate is unusually high among the state's urban districts. A 2004 study by the University of Massachusetts found that in 33 urban districts, an average of 28 percent of special education students were segregated from the rest of the school for the majority of the time. The national rate, for all districts, is 19 percent. State Department of Education officials have warned the Boston public school system that it is systematically separating many students without documenting why it is necessary to do so, depriving them of academic and social development. The state was to have followed up on its concerns about special education as part of a review of the school system this spring.

R - 1. Describe the important problem or critical issue the product or service is designed to solve.
The following information was cited at a meeting of the Boston School Committee meeting by John Verre, Deputy Superintendant for Special Education in March 2011. Black students are more likely than all other students in special education to be identified as students with emotional impairments, intellectual impairments, or autistic Latino students and ELL students in general are more likely to be identified as having a speech impairment or a language based learning disability Black students are more likely than others to be placed in substantially separate settings White students are most likely to be placed in partial/full inclusion settings ELL students are least likely to be placed in partial/full inclusion settings and those identified with language-based learning disabilities are more likely to be placed in sub-separate settings. Of the 10,938 students with disabilities enrolled in Boston Public Schools: 42% African American (36% total enrollment) 28% ELL (29% total enrollment) 67% Male (52% total enrollment) 80% Free/Reduced Lunch (74% total enrollment 10,938 students with disabilities) Special education students and programs are excessively segregated. Boston, a majority minority city, has one of the highest rates of segregated special education programs in the Commonwealth. The purpose of the training is to demystify the language and share information about common strategies and processes that can be used to support students in the general educational settings so parents feel more confident in asking questions and advocating for services in the least restrictive environment.

R - 2. Describe the extent to which the product or service matches the problem or issue facing the audiences for your product or the recipients of your service.
A majority of families served by Urban PRIDE express a desire to have their children receive services in the least restrictive environment but have no sense of what specialized instruction; accommodations and modifications look like. Many express that they feel inadequate to rebut the assertions of IEP teams that 1

even basic specialized instructional strategies, accommodations, and modifications can be provided in general educational settings because they are not conversant in the use of educational lingo.

R - 3. Describe the extent to which the content of the product or service is applicable to diverse populations within the audiences for your product or the recipients of your service.
The contents of the service developed are directly applicable to the diverse population served by Urban PRIDE. When presented with the option to select a training topic from a broad range of relevant topics; this topic is among the most frequently requested topics by parents, community partners, and school-based parent councils. Urban PRIDE collects data on all of our workshops and conference presentations. When we conduct follow up with families for the national parent network data collection process, 95% of all of those surveyed are families from underrepresented groups. From the aggregated data 95% of families who have participated in Urban PRIDE workshops have reported the information was very useful. 95% report that the workshop provided them with information to make decisions about, and advocate for their childs education. And, 90% of families who have contact with our office staff report that the information they received was very useful.

Quality of this Product or Service. Quality is defined as the degree to which a product or service is consistent with current research or policy. This product or service is Policy-Based Depending upon your response above, respond accordingly, below: For a policy-based product or service: Q - 1. Describe the underlying policy basis for this product or service.
Almost 35 years of research and experience has demonstrated that the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by strengthening the ability of parents to participate fully in the education of their children at school and at home (see section 601(c)(5)(B) of IDEA). Community Parent Resource Centers (CPRC's) are designed and funded to meet the specific training and information needs of parents who experience significant isolation from available sources of information and support in the geographically defined communities served by the centers. These parents include low-income parents, parents of limited English proficient children, and parents with disabilities--.

Q - 2. Describe how the policy is integrated into the product or service.

The policy is integrated into the product by providing information to ensure that parents, Head start program staff, out of school time programs, school staff and others become familiar with the basic principles of IDEA, particularly the principle of Least Restrictive Environment and state special education laws. The product was developed with great care to be clear and concise, and to provide content that is easy to understand and that can be applied across the school, home, and community settings. The product is available in both English and Spanish and we have the capacity to translate information into French and Creole as well. Urban PRIDE will also researching the possibility of publishing materials using iBooks Author as a means to expand accessibility of the materials. This service is compiled from materials from several sources and their origins are appropriately credited.

Q - 3. Describe the steps you took to assure the consistency of your interpretation of this policy with OSEPs interpretation.
Since the passage of the special education law, the law has displayed a strong preference for children with disabilities to be educated alongside their peers without disabilities, to the maximum extent appropriate. It recognizes that, in many cases, supplementary aids and services must be provided to a child with a disability to enable him or her to be educated in the general education classroom. Simply put, the removal of a child 2

with disabilities from the regular education class may occur only if the child cannot be satisfactorily educated in the regular educational environment with the use of supplementary aids and services. And, the extent of nonparticipation must be explained in the IEP. The 2004 Amendments to IDEA further highlight the importance of LRE. The 108th Congress, which reauthorized the Act, included the following findings: Disability is a natural part of the human experience and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate in, or contribute to, society. Improving educational results for children with disabilities is an essential element of our national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic selfsufficiency for individuals with disabilities. Least restrictive environment is one of several vital components in the development of a childs IEP and plays a critical role, influencing where a child spends his or her time at school, how services are provided, and the relationships the child develops within the school and community. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) promotes the delivery of instructional content by highly qualified teachers and increased accountability for students academic achievement, and requires schools to include children with disabilities in their measures of adequate yearly progress. As a result of the 2004 Amendments to IDEA, IDEA is now aligned with the important principles of NCLB in promoting accountability for results, enhancing the role of parents and improving student achievement through instructional approaches that are based on scientific research. Finally, Lipsky and Gartner, (1989) found that There is no compelling body of evidence demonstrating that segregated special education programs have significant benefit for students. Baker, Wang, & Walberg (1994/1995) found that Special needs students in regular classes do better academically and socially than comparable students in non-inclusive settings. Nearly 30 years of research and experience has demonstrated that the education of children with Disabilities can be made more effective byproviding special education and related services and aids and supports in the regular classroom to such students, whenever possible.

Usefulness of the Product or Service. Usefulness is defined as the degree to which a product or service can be readily and successfully used by consumers. U - 1. Describe how easy it is to understand the content of the product or the service rendered and how that understanding can be used to address the identified problem or need.
Urban PRIDE is funded as a Community Parent Resource Center. (CPRC) 90% of all of the families served by the project are low income, (free and reduced lunch or MassHealth eligible) racial, linguistic minorities, and/or immigrant families. We strive to ensure that all of the content we deliver is easy to understand, culturally responsive, and we utilize a broad range of strategies including varying the language, reading levels, and presentation formats to address the diverse needs of families. 98% of all training participants, including families whose first language is not English who have attended Urban PRIDE workshops have reported in evaluations that the information they received was useful and 95% reported the information was relevant to their needs.

U - 2. Describe how likely it is the product or service will be used by the audiences for your product or the recipients of your service to achieve the benefit intended.
Urban PRIDE strives to ensure that underserved families living in the City of Boston have information that is relevant and useful to them and direct support that is available when they need it. Relevance means, in addition to being consistent with the law and the purpose of the program, we offer information and training in a way that meets a felt need for information and support to utilize that information. Useful means that they 3

are able to utilize information from a training, a call, fact sheet or meeting to inform their thinking to make a difference in their childs education. This might be done independently, or in partnership with Urban PRDE staff or Neighborhood Peer Parent Consultants. (NPPC) Services are provided with the intent to demystify the special education service maze and navigate the service system for families. Whether negotiating at the IEP team meeting level, or, at mediation or pursuing a due process hearing. Parent participants in Urban PRIDE workshops report that they use the skills and knowledge acquired to be more persistent in their communications with their childs school, to learn more about how to review their childs current IEP and to advocate for their child.

U - 3. Describe how likely it is the product or service will be used in more than one setting successfully over and over again to achieve the intended benefit.
It is very likely that the service will be used in more than one setting successfully over and over again to achieve the intended benefit in 2 ways: 1. Parents are lifelong advocates for their children and useful, relevant information such as advocacy and communication strategies, and information on the law will be applicable in schools, the workforce, and in the community. 2. Families that receive useful information are likely to share it with others, which also spread the word into more than one setting. Over a quarter of all requests for training received by Urban PRIDE each school year come as a result of a parent or professional telling an after school program, church, parent council, or other family or child serving community entity about the benefit they gained from the information provided during a training.

Format Choose the format in which you are submitting your product and service supporting materials: ___ URL. Write complete Web address here:
Footnotes The Boston Globe NICHY, Building the Legacy Module