In 2018, the Co-op launched its Demonstration Classrooms program, working with partner schools to create high quality classrooms showcasing best practices in supporting students with disabilities. Since their inception, these classrooms have driven growth for students with disabilities while serving as “reimagined professional development” for educators across DC.
It’s no secret that traditional schooling has long failed students with disabilities. Year after year, achievement rates for students with disabilities have remained alarmingly low. In SY 23-24, only 10.3% of students with disabilities in DC scored proficient in ELA, compared to 34% for all students, and only 7.6% were proficient in math, compared to 22.8% for all students1. Meanwhile, teachers report feeling ill-equipped to meet the needs of students with disabilities.2
The Co-op set out to prove that growth for students with disabilities – even those with the most significant needs – is possible, and to provide a model of professional learning that would inspire school leaders and illuminate a path to implementation of effective practices.
With that in mind, the Co-op built Demonstration Classrooms designed to highlight practices across the continuum: Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which ensures that students with disabilities access rigorous, grade level instruction in inclusive classrooms; Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and evidence-based interventions to build students’ foundational skills; and Learning Labs for students requiring more intensive support outside the general education setting.
The results are clear: in each of these classrooms, students with disabilities are growing at rates that far exceed the norm in DC (read our recently released Case Study report).
Among the highlights:
- At Bridges PCS, an intentionally inclusive school that serves a far higher percentage of students with disabilities and English Learners than the city average and houses our UDL Demonstration Classroom, the first classroom to replicate the Demo model saw students grow from 42% proficient or higher in math to 78% proficient or higher – with a phenomenal 57% of students well above proficient.
- At Washington Latin’s Cooper Campus, whose Demo showcases the critical role of evidence-based interventions within a strong Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS), students with disabilities began growing at rates that compared to or exceeded those of their non-disabled peers. At the end of SY 23-24, 54% of students with disabilities scored proficient in MAP Reading, compared to 38% the previous year. These gains in overall proficiency were propelled by strong growth, with the median growth percentile increasing from 27 to 78 for students with disabilities. Similarly, on CAPE, 60% increased their score in ELA, higher than any other group of students.
- At Thurgood Marshall Academy, where 28% of students have IEPs, growth results for students in our Evidence-Based Intervention Demo show that high quality delivery of intensive interventions is helping individual students grow. From Fall to Spring, 64% of students met or exceeded their MAP Math growth targets – a 14 percentage point increase over average expected growth. On average, most students doubled or tripled their expected growth.
- And at DC Bilingual PCS, our Demo “Learning Lab” Classrooms show how students with needs across the continuum can be supported – and can grow – in the Least Restrictive Environment. Eighty-five percent of Learning Lab students met their Reading Growth targets in SY 23-24.
Results like these show what we’ve long believed – that putting the right supports in place and providing training and coaching for teachers accelerates growth for students with disabilities. Through such growth, we can begin to close what have previously been intractable gaps.
These bright spots serve as a call to action to replicate the results across the District. Through our Demonstration Classroom tours, school leaders and educators are experiencing first-hand high quality, effective, joyful instruction in action. After being put on hold during the pandemic, the Demonstration Classrooms opened for tours in SY 23-24, with 137 classroom visitors so far.
These tours have spurred other LEAs to take action. With Co-op support, more LEAs have created or enhanced their Learning Lab structures, received MTSS coaching and support, and received professional development in Universal Design for Learning.
In SY 25-26, the Co-op will again be conducting tours of the Demonstration Classrooms for school teams and community partners. For more information, contact us at info@specialedcoop.org.
- https://schoolreportcard.dc.gov/state/report#measure-100 ↩︎
- National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2019; Kaczorowski, T & Kline, S., 2021
↩︎