Black History Month
February is a month to celebrate Black history, but not as something to be taken out, looked at, celebrated, and then put away. It is a time to refresh and renew our understanding of Black perspectives and voices as part of our shared history. We continue to work towards an educational system that strives for inclusion and equity. This includes a commitment to uplifting Black voices and supporting Black youth in our community, not just in February, but year-round. This also includes acknowledging the barriers that have contributed to the marginalization of students whose identities exist at the intersection of multiple systems of oppression. Black culture and achievements play a critical role and how we live, learn, work, and play. However, persistent practices, beliefs, and behaviors continue to uphold systems that contribute to disproportionality in schools. To learn more about inequities and biases that exist for students of color in special education, read Research conducted by the National Center for Learning Disabilities—Significant Disproportionality in Special Education: Trends Among Black Students. To learn more about strategies to address disproportionality including self-study tools and system analysis tools and resources, visit OSPI's Self-Study and System Analysis web page.
February is National CTE Month
Career & Technical Education (CTE) programs are nationally celebrated every year in February to increase awareness of the role CTE has in preparing learners for college and career success. CTE programs support local middle and high school programs that provide 21st-century, academic, and technical skills necessary for all students to succeed in future careers and to become lifelong learners. Twelve million high school and college students are enrolled in CTE across the nation where they are prepared for the world of work by introducing them to workplace competencies and academic content accessible to students by providing it in a hands-on context.
Nationally, the high school graduation rate in 2022 for students who completed at least two CTE courses in a single career pathway was 90 percent, which is 15 percentage points higher than the national average (ACTE, 2022). In a 2022 study completed by Georgia State University, Washington state students with disabilities who completed at least three CTE courses were associated with a higher likelihood of high school graduation, college enrollment, and employment in the year after high school than non-CTE students with disabilities (GSU Graduation-College-Employment Study 2022).
The CTE Path to Success Fact Sheet provides more information about how CTE can support families and their learners. Learn more about CTE at OSPI here Career & Technical Education (CTE) | OSPI.
Legislative Update
Questions about the legislature or bills impacting special education? Please contact David.Green@k12.wa.us
Team Member Spotlight: David Green, Special Education Program Supervisor
What are your favorite things about the work you do at OSPI?
Like most of you, I got into public service to help improve our communities, and truly, what better way to do that than to work in public education? While I deeply appreciate the opportunities working at OSPI affords to me to create positive change and the sense of purpose and meaning that positive change provides, my favorite thing about OSPI is the people. I like kind, funny, interesting people, and OSPI special education is full of them. I feel blessed to work with this group of remarkable characters. They are brilliant, dedicated, and easy to work with. We all work a lot, and to have good people to do that work with is immensely important to me.
When you are not working, how do you like to spend your time?
I’ve been playing a lot of golf this past year. While I am not a very good golfer, I have keen ability to forget bad shots and remember good ones. I don’t keep score and openly cheat. I recently finished a round with more golf balls than I started with. This marked a significant improvement in my game.
What is something that keeps you motivated or inspired working in special education?
Since it is that time of year, I’ll highlight how motivating it is to get good education bills through the legislature and into law. We’re all familiar with the idea that every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets, so when our agency and partners are successful in making improvements to the State’s approach to education policy or education funding, it is a big deal, and it is hugely rewarding to be a part of the effort to develop and shepherd good ideas into law.
Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) Meeting
SEAC Virtual Meeting, February 21–22, 2023, 8:30 am to 1:30 pm
The Washington State Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC) will be conducting a virtual meeting February 21 & 22, 2023. It will begin at 8:30 am and end at 1:30 pm on both days. The meeting is open to members of the public who have an interest in Washington special education services. If you would like to attend virtually, the link is here. There is no pre-registration required for the SEAC meeting. The agenda for the meeting will be posted on the SEAC web page two weeks prior to the meeting.
Public Comment is scheduled for 30 minutes, beginning at 11:30 on Tuesday, February 21. The public can only make comment during this designated timeframe. If you would like to email your public comment prior to the meeting, send to speced@k12.wa.us. Please be aware that the SEAC is not required to respond to any comments, and generally does not. If no one is interested in giving public comment, the agenda will move forward to the next item on the agenda.
Captioning will be provided. If you need other accommodations, such as a language interpreter, please email your request to speced@k12.wa.us no later than Friday, February 15, 2023. Please note that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) does not require OSPI to take any action that would fundamentally alter the nature of its programs or services, or impose an undue financial or administrative burden.
SEAC Virtual Community Forum, February 21, 2023, 5:30 to 6:30 pm
The SEAC is partnering with the National Center for Systemic Improvement (NCSI) to engage in a Systemic Equity Review of special education services in Washington state. Parents, guardians, and family members of students with disabilities are invited to join us Tuesday, February 21, 2023, from 5:30–6:30 pm to share your lived experiences related to special education.
In these focus groups, our priority is to hear diverse perspectives, including language, race/ethnicity, gender, and more. Register in advance to join us and add your voice.
OSEP Announces a New Transition Initiative
In the January 2023 Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) newsletter, Director Valerie C. Williams announced the Expect, Engage, and Empower: Successful Transitions for All! Initiative. This initiative aims to improve postsecondary outcomes for special education students and challenges the education and vocational rehabilitation systems to work together to ensure that these students have the knowledge, resources, and support services to make the best choices for their future. All OSEP grantees and any others who may be interested are invited to attend virtual sessions. These sessions are expected to be announced in the coming month.
New Fact Sheet on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from OCR
The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has issued a fact sheet titled: "Fact Sheet: Diversity & Inclusion Activities Under Title VI."
This fact sheet was created to “assist school communities, including students, parents, families, educators, and elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational institutions, in understanding that diversity, equity, and inclusion training and similar activities in most factual circumstances are consistent with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI).”
The fact sheet linked above addresses disparate treatment on the basis of race and clarifies that "activities intended, in whole or in part, to further objectives such as diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion are not generally or categorically prohibited under Title VI [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964]. Congress has found that it is in the best interest of the United States to support public schools 'that are voluntarily seeking to foster meaningful interaction among students of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, beginning at the earliest stage of such students’ education.'"
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