Where Kids With Special Needs Stand a Good Chance at Passing the State Tests

On a Tuesday afternoon at P.S. 172 in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, Yulizabeth Ramirez, 8, used her hands to determine how to differentiate between the letters b and d. To do this, she gave herself two thumbs up.

“The b has a belly and the d has a tushy,” said Yulizabeth, who, because of a speech and language disability, has an Individualized Education Program, or IEP. She’s in the process of writing a paragraph about a book her teacher read out loud to her class. The question she needed to answer was projected on a screen: “Choose a lesson you learned from this book. Explain how, using evidence from the text.”

Ramirez was learning skills that would come in handy when she takes New York’s Common Core-aligned assessment tests next school year, when she's in the third grade. While most students struggle with these tests, none are struggling more than New York’s special education students.

Last year, only 7 percent of New York City students with disabilities scored “proficient” or better in English and 12 percent in math, and statewide there were at least 190 school districts in which not a single special education student was proficient on the third-grade language arts test.

But at P.S. 172, special education students did much better: Of the 70 grade 3-5 students tested, 60 percent were proficient on the language arts test, and almost all were proficient in math.

“We do believe our students can meet the same standards as everyone else does because they are getting the support they need,” said Erika Gundersen, assistant principal. At her school, 27.6 percent of the students have IEPs, much more than the citywide average of 18 percent.

P.S. 172 prides itself on the personalization of its instruction. The curriculum is constantly being adjusted based on the students’ needs.

“We really try to create that individualized educational experience that’s going to help every kid as they move through the standards,” said Gundersen.

The school is on one side of a sharp divide within the special education community that the Common Core learning standards have brought to the fore. To learn more about the debate, check out this article from Hechinger Report. And to hear what the staff at P.S. 172 did with their kids this spring, click play.