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Kolbe, Tammy G.

College of Education and Social Services

2005

Ed. D.

Over the course of the past 15 years, the state of Vermont has enacted a series of reforms focused on increasing its education system's capacity to meet the needs of all students. Together, these policies called upon schools to strengthen their general education system to educate students with diverse learning needs. Rather than perpetuate and create additional layers of separate categorical programs that provided specialized instruction and services outside the general education setting, schools were required to develop strategies to promote early identification of students at risk of academic failure and to create comprehensive systems of educational services and supports that would result, to the maximum extent possible, in all students being educated in general education classrooms and held to high standards for educational attainment. Vermont's approach to educational reform holds great promise for improving the educational opportunities of all students. Qualitative case studies with a small sample of Vermont schools have shown that statewide more students have received the supports and services they need for academic success outside of categorical programs such as special education, schools have successfully used a range of strategies to build their capacity, and that the state's policies have been moderately successful in slowing the rate of growth in special education child count and expenditures. This study builds upon past qualitative research and reports the results from a statewide survey with all Vermont schools. Specifically, the study: 1) provides a descriptive profile of the strategies Vermont schools have used to increase their capacity to provide learning opportunities to all students; and, 2) examines the uniformity in schools' response to the state's mandates, placing particular emphasis on the influence specific school-based contextual factors (i.e., district and school demographics and school-based instructional leadership) have had on schools' efforts to increase their capacity. Findings provide policymakers and practitioners with critical information on the strategies schools might use to increase their capacity to improve educational opportunities for all students, particularly those with diverse learning needs. Moreover, the study identifies where schools' capacity is related to systematic differences in school context. In doing so, it points out where state policies may exacerbate long-standing differences among schools in their ability to provide educational opportunities for all students and meet expectations for high levels of student achievement, as well as indicate new directions for policy and practice.