District 207 consultant report urges expanding inclusive special-education practices

A consultant from Empower Ed told the District 207 finance committee on May 19 that the district has made measurable gains in inclusive special-education practices but needs further structural and staffing changes to bring more students into general-education classrooms. Kate Small, an Empower Ed consultant who led the district review, said the report lays out a multi-year plan for planning, implementation and refinement.

The review matters because federal law (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) and long-standing research favor teaching students with disabilities alongside general-education peers when appropriate; district officials report the district is still behind state and national averages on that measure. "Creating inclusive schools really is the first step towards creating a society where everyone feels seen, supported, and valued," Small said.

Empower Ed described a year-long service-delivery review that combined document analysis, surveys, focus groups and a site visit. Consultants observed 98 classrooms in September 2024 across the district’s three high schools, Frost Academy and the district transition program; 59 of those were general-education classrooms and 39 were special-education classrooms. The firm compared those observations with district and state data to identify patterns and align findings to evidence-based recommendations.

Key findings included a district-level increase in least-restrictive-environment (LRE) participation and growth in co-teaching: district students…