The Final Report - Malcolm Shabazz City High School, Madison WI

Decision Item #21:REDUCE/REORGANIZE THE PROGRAM SUPPORT FTE FOR SPECIALEDUCATION (ELIMINATION OF 3.0 PROGRAM SUPPORT TEACHERPOSITIONS) (cont.)Student Impact: The services provided by program support teachers primarily affectstudents indirectly as the support is primarily directed to specialeducation staff to ensure optimal services. Some services, such as childfind and assistive technology are provided more directly to students(either screening or helping match students with appropriatetechnology). Others, such as professional development andcollaborative school reform, are exclusively indirect in the effect theyhave on students. The professional development PST positions werecreated when the centrally coordinated IEP program was developed. Atthat time, all program support teachers were removed from schools, asthe evaluation system was redesigned to ensure consistency inevaluation and PST’s were assigned to serve on evaluation teams.Strategic Priorities: Supports strategic priorities of staff development. (3)Board Priorities: NAEffectiveness:Redundancies orAvailability of theService Elsewhere:The direct impact that these positions have on students and staff is notpossible to quantify. The majority of the activities directed by thesepositions result in implementation by special education teachers orassistants. There are no data available to determine the effectiveness ofstaff development or the role that program support teachers play inensuring compliance with the law.Some functions performed by program support teachers are alsoperformed elsewhere within the organization. For example, while there isone PST dedicated to technology, there are also technology supportstaff in research and evaluation who are available to respond to staffquestions or concerns. The department has two staff dedicated toprofessional development, which is a function shared by all programsupport and by the staff and organizational development department. Inaddition, there are three staff dedicated to collaborative school reform.Service Delivery:Reductions in program support staff (if not taken from targeted supportsuch as professional development, technology, or collaborative schoolreform) would likely increase the caseloads for support requests andevaluations. Assuming all reductions were taken from CCIS, the averagenumber of evaluations per PST would increase from 32 to 35.Other Considerations: The CCIS PST’s have allowed the District to experience a decline overthe past two years in the percentage of students being found eligible forspecial education. The department also reports that the CCIS PST’shave increased compliance with IDEA.Collaborative school project PST’s (2.5) and staff development PST’scould play an important role in supporting schools with redesigningservice delivery and staffing schedules if the student/teacher ratio wereto increase.Virchow, Krause & Co. LLP Page 106March 11, 2002