Deleveling for equity

Miller said since students in special education participate in general education courses based on their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), it is vital for the special education department to be involved in the discussion to delevel courses.

“All special education students are general education students. When we talk about changing and modifying the way that we approach anything through general education, we want to make sure that our students with disabilities are being supported and served the best way so they can continue to access and, in fact, even increase their access to general education,” Miller said. “We want to make sure that [in] any efforts to make changes, we minimize the impact and see it as an opportunity to make gains for our students in terms of access.”

Former Director of Special Education Aida Ramos was one of several representatives from the special education department in the deleveling conversation.

“I was glad to be invited to be part of the conversation and be part of the group, because then the voices of SWD are also there, and the benefits of deleveling and accessibility to other classes and being able to participate more with typical peers is a focus of the conversation too,” Ramos said.

Miller said the deleveling of 9th grade history through WHISP has allowed special education students access to greater curriculum and content, so he looks forward to the idea of more classes becoming heterogeneous.

However, according to Miller, for subject areas like science, world language and math, students need to solidify certain areas of knowledge to progress academically, making deleveling more complicated.

“In science and word language [and] math, there are sequences to the curriculum. So there are certain foundational content skills that you need to work on and shore up to be able to access the next phase because, like a building, the foundation needs to be solid enough to move up to the next thing,” Miller said.

English and African American and Latino Scholars Program (AALSP) teacher Emma Siver said students of color are often negatively impacted by the leveling structure because of systemic inequities.

“There’s a lack of family [outreach] to students of color when it comes to understanding the leveling process and the parent connection there. That can be for various reasons of home circumstances,” Siver said. “Also, if you primarily walk into an honors classroom right now, you’re more likely to see less students of color – that can come from lack of seeing themselves in the space. More often than not, if you don’t have someone that can share or connect with you, you’re less likely to want to initiate or engage in that type of dynamic.”