Education Week - April 25, 2018 - 17

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
Federal Special Ed. Chief
Aims to Foster Partnership
The selection of Johnny Collett, confimed in December to oversee special education for
the U.S. Department of Education, was a rare point of agreement between the Trump
administration and the disability-advocacy community.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was tripped up on disability-policy questions
during her confirmation hearing last year, and her staunch support of school choice
options has left some advocates worried that parents may not understand that choosing
private schools means losing the rights guaranteed under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act.
But Collett's special education bona fides were not in question: A former special education
teacher, he has served as a special education director for Kentucky and was the director of
special education outcomes for the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Four months into his tenure, Collett, the assistant secretary for the office of special
education and rehabilitative sevices, is trying to position the department as a supportive
partner to states.
In an interview with Education Week, Collett discussed a wide range of issues involving
special education responsibilities, including the Education Department's oversight of the
Every Student Succeeds Act; discipline and discrimination; school choice and students with
disabilities; and the department's leadership role.
He talked about the complex interplay special educators face between complying with
federal law, supporting high expectations for all children, and recognizing each student's
individual educational needs.
Collett's comments have been edited for space and clarity.

ESSA
The passage of the Every Student Succeeds
Act created several changes that affect
students with disabilities. One change is that
the No Child Left Behind Act placed no limit
on how many students could be given what
regulations call "alternate assessments based
on alternate achievement standards," which
are meant for students with severe cognitive
disabilities. But ESSA says that no more
than 1 percent of all students in a state can be
given that assessment. Advocates fought for
that change because they felt it would force
states to maintain high academic standards
for students, though several states are
requesting waivers to that rule.
I was personally very supportive of that. ...
There is an allowability for a waiver to the cap
within ESSA. As states take ... advantage of

that, we're working closely with [the office of
elementary and secondary education] in the
review of those and making sure that they
comply with the requirements of the law.
I hope that folks can see we're demonstrating a real commitment to work collaboratively
and individually with states, and to make sure
that those lines of communications are clear
and open.
ESSA also requires that states describe
in their federally mandated plans how
they intend to reduce bullying, suspension,
and expulsion, and the use of disciplinary
practices such as restraint and seclusion for
special education students.
Certainly, ESSA gives us another great opportunity to support states and work that they,
with their stakeholders, have envisioned. That's
an important point that I always think about

Susan Walsh/AP

By Christina A. Samuels

Johnny Collett, who heads up special education issues for the U.S. Department of Education, has
deep experience in the field, including as director of special education for the state of Kentucky.

with ESSA plans. I mean these are state plans,
right?
So we believe very strongly, as you know, that
states and those who are closest to the child
know best how to implement programs within
constructs of the law. But to the extent that
states ask for or need support around issues related to these particular matters ... that's what
we've been doing. That's what we've invested in,
certainly in the past. It's work we're committed
to moving forward.

DISCIPLINE
The Trump administration is weighing
whether to revoke Obama-era guidance to
schools that they may be in violation of federal
civil rights laws if they enforce intentionally
discriminatory rules or if their policies lead to
disproportionately higher rates of discipline
for students in one racial group, even if those
policies were written without discriminatory
intent. The Government Accountability
Office released a report last year noting that
students with disabilities, as well as black
students and boys, were disciplined at higher
rates than their peers.

This is obviously of incredible importance
to the secretary. Her commitment is to do everything we can and everything that's appropriate for us to do to support states to make
sure that kids are in learning environments
that are safe, and productive, and positive for
them. So that includes kids with disabilities.
Certainly, this is a major priority for her, and
the work that we're leading here in the office
of special education and rehabilitative services,
because I think it enables us to say what's true,
that the focus is on each child.... It's something
that the secretary's committed to, and we're
committed to. OSERS is deeply a part of those
conversations to ensure that the needs of kids
with disabilities are at the forefront.

SCHOOL CHOICE
DeVos entered her position as a supporter of
school choice options for students, including
charter schools and vouchers that would allow
students to attend private schools. Children
and youths in private school do not receive
individual protections under the IDEA. In a
November report, the GAO said that federal
PAGE 18 >

Ed. Dept. Policing ESSA Assessment Rule on Special Education
By Christina A. Samuels
The U.S. Department of Education has
started informing a small group of states that
they will have to make changes to the way they
test students with severe cognitive disabilities,
because of accountability changes brought
about by the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Federal law permits students with the most
severe cognitive disabilities to take an alternate
assessment aligned to alternate achievement
standards. Under the No Child Left Behind Act,
the predecessor to the Every Student Succeeds
Act, that assessment could be in the form of a
portfolio, or collection of student work. But ESSA
states that student assessments for accountability can only "be partially delivered in the form
of portfolios, projects, or extended performance
tasks," meaning that states relying solely on

portfolios have to make a change.
Officials at the U.S. Department of Education said that only a few state education agencies are expected to be affected by the requirement, and that so far, Georgia and Puerto
Rico have been notified that they will have to
change their testing procedures.
Allison Timberlake, Georgia's deputy superintendent for assessment and accountability,
said the state is reviewing the law and regulations but doesn't anticipate a problem. The
state is developing a new alternate assessment
that will require students to perform standardized tasks, rather than relying solely on teachers collecting evidence of student performance.
"As we develop the new alternate assessment, we will review it to ensure it meets all
federal requirements," Timberlake said.
The issue was raised through a separate as-

sessment peer-review process handled by the
Education Department's office of elementary
and secondary education. That office uses
peer review to ensure that each state's assessments meet the law's requirements. A state
that does not meet ESSA's rules must submit
a plan and a timeline it will follow to bring its
tests into compliance.

Portfolio Assessments on Decline
Portfolio assessments were more popular
when the NCLB law first passed, said Sheryl
Lazarus, the co-director of a federally financed
center that helps states craft inclusive practices for students with significant disabilities.
But "there always has been a concern about
measurement issues and how accurate [the
portfolio] really is," she said.

Facing those concerns about accurate measurement and rigor, most states switched to
standardized tests for students with severe cognitive disabilities. Many chose tests produced
by the National Center and State Collaborative
(now called the Multi-State Alternate Assessment) and Dynamic Learning Maps. Those two
organizations received federal funds to create
alternate assessments aligned to the Common
Core State Standards.
ESSA has also made a change in how many
students can be given such tests. The NCLB
law stated that no more than 1 percent of tested
students could be counted as proficient using an
alternate assessment. It placed no cap on the
percentage of students who could take such tests.
In contrast, ESSA states that no more than
1 percent of a state's students can be given an
alternate assessment.

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Education Week - April 25, 2018

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