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For the past several years, the Chisago Lakes School District and the St. Croix River Education District (SCRED) have been focusing on increasing positive outcomes for students who receive special education services, and I am excited to report that our data indicate that students in special education are making significant progress!

It is important to remember that students are typically identified as needing special education services because their educational progress is significantly below that of their same-age peers.

It is not always reasonable to expect that students in special education will achieve at grade level. However, we should be setting ambitious goals for our students and working on closing the gap that exists between them their peers.

By now, everyone is aware of the push for increased accountability in education. In the past few years, we have entered a new assessment era that includes high-stakes testing and accountability assessments. School districts are responsible for ensuring that all students make adequate progress, including students with disabilities.

In Minnesota, students are eligible for special education services after they have received an educational evaluation that shows they meet the state criteria in one or more of thirteen disability categories.

Once a student is eligible for special education services, a team that involves educators, parents, and the student meets to develop an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Each IEP is individualized according to the needs of the student and includes annual goals that are measured frequently to determine if the student is making progress. Chisago Lakes School District employs special education teachers in every building who have expertise in working with students with disabilities.

In addition, SCRED provides oversight of special education programs and provides various specialists who come to the district to provide assistance to both teachers and students.

Special education teachers in Chisago Lakes should be commended for their efforts at improving outcomes for students receiving special education services. On an annual basis, the District conducts a file review from each special education teacher’s caseload. We look to see that IEP’s are written appropriately, student needs are identified, ambitious goals are set that relate to student needs, and that data is collected regularly and used by the teacher to help inform their instruction. Each file is rated on a scale of 1 (needs significant improvement) to 4 (excellent). The information collected this school year indicates that the average rating for the district was 3.7! Our special education teachers are doing a fantastic job!

Of equal importance is the fact that our student achievement data indicate that students who are most at-risk for academic problems, have been making substantial progress over the past 10 years. For example, during the 1996-97 school year, the average at-risk second grader read 15 words correct per minute in the Spring of their second grade year. The goal for second grade students is to read 90 words correct per minute in the Spring. Data collected from last school year (2004-05) indicate that the average at-risk second grader was reading 70 words correct per minute. This gain of 55 words per minute is substantial and is in large part due to the hard work of the regular and special education teachers in the district! Our data show that each grade level has shown significant improvements for the most at-risk students!

I would like to again emphasize the positive outcomes that are being made in the area of special education. Our community should be extremely proud of the school district’s commitment to provide quality services to students who need special education services and of the teacher’s diligence to “raise the bar” for these students and have high expectations!

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