NEWS

The Year Back

MNPS adapts to support exceptional education students

BY HANNAH HERNER

In the public school world, many seem to refer to the remote 2020-21 school year as the “year at home.” So that would make this one “the year back,” albeit, altered to deal with new variants, more surges and making up for what was lost in the year at home.

As part of a series on education, The Contributor is looking into the consequences of that year at home, especially looking at some of Metro Nashville Public School’s more vulnerable students.

The Exceptional Education encompasses the 7,000 students on an IEP, individualized learning plan. The Contributor sat down with Debra McAdams, executive director for the Department of Exceptional Education at MNPS, with communications director Sean Braisted close on hand, and here’s what we learned about what it looks like for these students to find comfort and achievement in the classroom.

Lots of students are on IEPS — 7,800 to be more precise. This is around nine percent of the student population. MNPS open data shows that the total number of students with disabilities is down to 10,193, including Pre-K and charter school students for the 21-22 school year from 10,943 the previous year.

“It's an individualized program and that's developed with a team of people — the parents, special ed. teacher, general education teacher, related service providers and an administrator,” McAdams says.

Child Find is a federally mandated process that calls on parents and educators to identify if they suspect a child has a disability. During the year at home, that had to adapt.

“When everybody was virtual, it was definitely more difficult, but we were still under federal obligation to determine if somebody suspected a child had a disability. So we would collect data through the virtual environment. Parents fill out questionnaires, teachers fill out questionnaires and we can still collect data that way. So that didn't stop when we were virtual,” McAdams says.

earlier, before this year started.

“We did have some students that we brought back before other students and those were students that were having difficulty accessing virtual instruction, and those are students that maybe have some more significant disabilities. So that group of students did come back for in-person before anyone else did,” McAdams says.“There was still a small period of time where they were virtual, but they were brought back before everybody else.”

Teachers were surprised at just how much students had lost in their year at home, and they’re working to help them get back on track.

in addition to the IEP process. MNPS also introduced more school counselors and advocacy centers at each school, where students can focus on the social and emotional side of things, as well as a new literacy program. Braisted added that pandemic funding allowed students to each have their own learning devices to take home, and their own textbooks.

“We probably are seeing more requests for support teams this year, because students were home for a year, right? So students haven't been in school, so they might need more support. That doesn't necessarily mean they're going to be eligible for an individual educational program under Special Ed,” McAdams says.

accommodations could still work in the virtual setting.

“It was a huge undertaking during that year of COVID, but it allowed the parents to understand what would be happening as far as special education services, it helped our teachers understand and our related service providers. So that was really helpful.” McAdams says. “It's been a lot easier for parents to participate in a virtual IEP meeting, because they don't have to drive, they don't have to leave work, they can get on the computer and we can have meaningful participation for that IEP meeting.”

MNPS (and probably all schools) need more staff. McAdams points out that there’s a national shortage of special education teachers. Paraprofessionals are support staff for students and MNPS will help interested parties study for the required test and pay for the first time they take it. Substitute teachers and paraprofessionals are also a need.