Across DC, public charter schools are reporting increasing enrollment of autistic students, particularly in their Early Childhood classrooms. Many of these students have extensive communication, sensory, motor, and academic needs, and schools are eager for resources to help them successfully meet those needs.
Fortunately, increased advocacy by autistic adults in the last few years has challenged long-held views about best practices, highlighting both personal experiences and ground-breaking research. These new understandings of autism provide roadmaps for creating truly neurodivergent-affirming classrooms and schools.
Against this backdrop, the Co-op has undertaken a series of initiatives to support our schools in successfully educating autistic learners.
Professional Development
To meet the need for administrators, general and special education teachers, and dedicated aides to better understand how to support autistic students, the Co-op launched an on-line course “Understanding Autism” designed to build educator’s knowledge and provide practical strategies for addressing communication, sensory, executive functioning, social, and behavioral needs. This course is offered free to our member schools.
So far, nearly 180 charter school staff have enrolled in this course, including Ben Johnson, Chief Academic Officer at Ingenuity Prep, who wrote “I cannot overstate how grateful I am to you for creating this experience. I have been working aggressively to build my knowledge about autism as we have seen a significant increase in the number of students with autism in our school community and I want to be the best CAO I can possibly be for them.
It has been really difficult to find strong trainings about autism. Many of them either focus on diagnosis or aren’t tied to actual classroom practice. Your series of trainings was by far the best that I’ve found… [and] made a huge difference in equipping me with a set of new mindsets, knowledge, and skills to use to help our kids. I feel so much more knowledgeable and have so many more ideas about how I can better support my students and staff.”
The Co-op has also provided live, on-site PD for member schools on creating inclusive early childhood classrooms, with a particular focus on understanding autistic students’ needs. Classroom observations and feedback for teachers, coaches, and administrators help ensure effective implementation of these inclusive practices.
Learning Lab Development
While the vast majority of students with disabilities, including autistic students, can be effectively served in well-designed general education classrooms, schools need to offer a continuum of settings to address the needs of those students who, even with accommodations and specialized instruction, require a more intensive part- or full-day self-contained environment. Our Demonstration Classroom at DC Bilingual offers educators an opportunity to observe first-hand an effective, evidence-based continuum, including options for sensory-based classrooms.
In the past year and a half, 31 visitors from schools across the city have participated in small group Demo tours at DCB. Our last Learning Lab tour of the 24-25 school year is scheduled for March 27. We welcome school teams to attend!
After experiencing the Learning Labs first-hand, many visiting schools have reached out to the Co-op to assist in creating new or reinvigorating existing self-contained programs. The work begins by helping school leaders develop a vision for their Learning Labs and critically analyze student data to ensure that decisions regarding LRE are made based on objective criteria. Once a model is agreed on, we coach teaching teams and administrators in effective implementation.
Among the schools the Co-op has supported is Latin American Montessori Bilingual (LAMB) PCS. Launching a Learning Lab this year to support LAMB’s highest needs students required blending a modified bilingual Montessori curriculum with evidence-based interventions. Alysha Schuler, Director of Student Support at LAMB, noted that “the Co-op helped us establish a data-driven decision-making protocol to identify students who require this additional support. Throughout the school year, their observations and coaching have been invaluable in guiding our response to student data, allowing us to create truly individualized programming for our Learning Lab students. The impact of this partnership has extended beyond the small group of students in the Learning Lab, influencing the decision-making framework our leadership team applies to all learners.”
Moving Forward
The work of supporting autistic students with complex needs can seem overwhelming without guidance. The Co-op’s support is equipping charter schools to create environments where teachers feel empowered and successful, and where neurodivergent students can thrive.