For students with disabilities — roughly a quarter million in New Jersey and 7 million nationwide — AND their parents and teachers, the COVID-19 pandemic has been scary. Because such a circumstance is unprecedented in our lifetimes, much of what we know is what we are able to do and learn along the way as we respond.
First, students, teachers and their schools were abruptly separated.
With the news of school closures, stay at home orders, and special education services delivered virtually, then came worry about the effective continuation of student’s learning and specialized therapeutic services.
At the same time parents have been struggling to balance work (or lack of it), childcare, in-home schooling, and self-care — all while keeping their worries under control.
We’ve spoken to parents and educators who have described the challenge as the most specific and difficult they’ve faced in their lives or careers.
New Questions Every Day
Despite the fact that schools were required to submit contingency plans at the outset of the COVID-19 outbreak — and these plans are proving valuable — many schools and individual teachers are by necessity retooling curricula and teaching strategies for virtual instruction, improvising on the fly as they learn what works.
Such a sudden shift in teaching processes and circumstances raises novel challenges in the moments we are charged with responding to them.
- Does a student who uses assistive technology devices to communicate have a way to participate in a virtual meeting on Zoom or Microsoft Teams?
- For students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relying heavily on social skills learning, how do we prevent regression without ways to practice in person?
- How does a visually impaired student who uses a screen reader to have text read aloud, or one who reads braille, participate remotely?
- Can a student using American Sign Language read their teacher or interpreter in that tiny little Zoom window?
- How do behavior therapists deliver intensive supports for students who need it?
- How do nurses and feeding therapists deliver services virtually when they cannot be physically present?
In order to remotely deliver the individualized special education services students received in the school building, students, their families and educators are being asked to collaborate in ways they never have before. Adopting new practices and stepping into unfamiliar and shifting roles, together they’ve had to be creative, crafting unique and similarly individualized solutions for their students.
Some help has come from state and federal government agencies, like the temporary relaxation of rules in New Jersey that previously prevented some related therapies and services from being delivered virtually. The New Jersey Department of Education has also provided guidance for schools and parents, setting the bar early on ensuring students’ rights to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) “as appropriate and reasonable for each student’s circumstances.” The US Department of Education also issued early guidance regarding the provision of a FAPE to students with disabilities during school closures caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, stating:
“If an LEA continues to provide educational opportunities to the general student population during a school closure, the school must ensure that students with disabilities also have equal access to the same opportunities, including the provision of FAPE. (34 CFR §§ 104.4, 104.33 (Section 504) and 28 CFR § 35.130 (Title II of the ADA)). SEAs, LEAs, and schools must ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, each student with a disability can be provided the special education and related services identified in the student’s IEP developed under IDEA, or a plan developed under Section 504. (34 CFR §§ 300.101 and 300.201 (IDEA), and 34 CFR § 104.33 (Section 504)).”
At the same time, we saw some New Jersey schools attempting to force students with disabilities and/or their parents to sign waivers promising not to sue the district before giving them access to special education services. In at least some cases, districts tried to require parents to agree not to be present for, listen in on, or record virtual educational sessions. These efforts inappropriately sought to reduce the legal jeopardy of districts and deny parents their fundamental rights to disagree with district program determinations and to play an active role in decision-making and assessing the sufficiency of services at a time when that role is most critical. The NJ Department of Education issued guidance on April 30, 2020 to throttle these district’s efforts. (See From the Capitol: Parental Waivers for the Delivery of Remote or Virtual Special Education and Related Services During COVID-19)
After more than six weeks of this radical educational reality, many parents and teachers are reporting positive results, crediting their collaborations for their successes.
Students, parents and teachers alike are also finding that virtual connections are creating an ironic intimacy and improved connections for all involved. They say learning at home is bringing them closer, with families and teachers meeting more often; students, too, are enjoying introducing brothers and sisters, showing off favorite toys, their rooms and lives to their teachers and classmates.
Look Forward to More Looming Questions
Experts agree that virtual special education services are encumbered with distinct compromises that can only be resolved by returning to in-school instruction as soon as possible.
At its heart and to its core, special education is accountable. We will inevitably ask how effective we were providing remote special education services during the COVID-19 response. But who will decide what’s “reasonable” and “appropriate?” What will we do with that information, and how will parents, teachers, districts and regulators respond?
- On a more local level teachers and families are already asking what’s next?
- When will students be allowed back into school buildings?
- Will the teachers and students be safe?
- Will masks be required?
- How will we do social distancing?
- How do we manage hallways?
- How will we set up our classrooms?
- Will we still be using virtual instruction?
- Will the cafeteria be closed?
- How many students will be allowed on busses?
We know education in school buildings will certainly be different.
And… will we have effective guidance?
