Shovel the Ramp First

Apr 19

Prioritizing Diverse Learners in School Stimulus Spending

It would be hard to miss the many ideas about how to spend the massive amount of money newly available to states, districts, and schools thanks to three rounds of stimulus funding. The most recent package included 130 billion dollars for K-12 education. While 10% of these monies will be retained by state departments of education, the remaining 90% is allocated to districts and directly to schools, an amount incomparable to any prior federal investment.

There is a comic I visit often, and I think it has particular application in our current situation. It depicts an adult, shoveling the snow off of the stairs. A young boy in a wheelchair asks the man if he might shovel the ramp first. After the adult replies with a request for him to wait, he responds, “But if you shovel the ramp, we can all get in.”

As we dive headlong into purposing these dollars, I would love to elevate some ideas that may help us to focus on the ramp rather than the stairs. As a former special education teacher, I could share numerous occasions where my students and I were seemingly afterthoughts in the budget conversation. From the location of my classroom to the limited resources I had access to, technology leftovers and unfilled staff positions - needs specific to diverse learners often didn’t make the cut.

This is a unique opportunity to change that narrative. We have seen that students with disabilities and multilingual learners have been disproportionately impacted by the global pandemic. Further, we know that what is necessary for diverse learners is often beneficial for all. We can return to a new system, one that serves diverse learners better than it did before. Here are some recommendations for how we proceed from here.

First, Get Set

“Too often leaders jump immediately to actions without fully examining or otherwise appreciating what is happening for students and adults. As a result, sometimes there is an investment of considerable time, funding, and other resources in particular activities before we realize that what we have set out to do won’t actually get us where we want to go.” University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership reminds us that we must begin with the end in mind. Identify goals specific to diverse learners. The urgency of the current situation and the swiftness of funds rolling in may tempt us to purchase before we understand our why. There are so many things we could do and buy, but we need to focus our aim. So first, get set with diverse learner specific goals; then align our investments. Goals that prioritize diverse learners may include:

develop your RTI-Behavior system to support varied needs of students as they return to school
implement specific reading intervention program with high fidelity by intensively-training teachers
integrating content-specific language objectives and supports into all core instruction

Gather RESOURCES: Evidence-Based, Outcome-Aligned

Next, determine what resources you need to support these goals by assessing what you already have. Purchasing another intervention curriculum when you have one that has not been implemented with fidelity isn’t going to solve any problems. When you know what you have, you can form your wishlist more strategically. A diverse learner focused list may include: high quality intervention curriculum, revised core and intervention scope and sequence, progress monitoring probes or programs, assistive technology, additional psychological evaluation materials, access to translation services, and diverse book sets.

Target TRAINING: Diverse Learner Focused Training

All students will need some level of intervention in readapting to the school environment in the coming year; training opportunities should reflect this. Staff should have opportunities to learn, practice, and apply principles of trauma-informed environments, universally designed instruction, and high-fidelity interventions. The training protocol should align with our resource selection -- teachers need access to regular support to implement curriculum and technologies with greatest impact. We can move beyond “sit-and-get” PD experiences, accessing asynchronous courses, teacher-to-teacher support, collaborative learning communities, and targeted coaching.

Build TEAM: Maximize Time & Expertise

Finally, we must find ways to build our student support team. Determine what staff resources you already have in place. Where is staff time leveraged well and how can we increase these practices? Where is staff expertise present and where can we amplify it? We can think outside our typical box in service of diverse learners. Some needs may include: a school schedule that supports intervention and co-planning, a rapid response team for responding to evaluation needs, behavior support specialists, increased related services to meet compensatory needs, virtual service providers, intervention specialists, in-school and afterschool tutors, translators, and family engagement staff.

We have a significant opportunity to focus our spending on shoveling (and building) ramps rather than stairs. We can address urgent challenges for diverse learners and in doing so, all learners will benefit. How are you allocating your dollars so that all learners may access the instruction and support they need?

Ways the DLC can support you in prioritizing diverse learners:

Provide thought partnership in determining your priorities or feedback on your drafted budget as it relates to diverse learners.
Facilitate the RTI Impact Network for collaborative support, resources, and training throughout the year.
Provide training, coaching, and resource development that supports your school or district’s diverse learner goals.