Special education data shows state, district didn't meet graduation rate target

Morgan Matzen, Sioux Falls Argus Leader
·5 min read

Both South Dakota as a whole and its largest school district, the Sioux Falls School District, didn’t meet the target graduation rate the state set for students receiving special education services in the Class of 2023.

That’s according to data released by the South Dakota Department of Education on May 30 from the 2022-2023 school year. The SDDOE is required to provide this report annually.

The target graduation rate for this year was 68.45%, and the state’s rate was 64.68%, while the district’s was 56.14%. However, both the state and district improved from 2022’s graduation rates, which were at 61% and 48% respectively.

2023 report: Data: South Dakota, Sioux Falls see special education graduation rates decline

Both the district and state didn’t meet the target dropout rate — the percentage of youth with individualized education plans (IEPs) dropping out of high school — of 18.38%. The state overshot it at 27.78%, and the district overshot it, too, at 40.35%.

Here’s how students with disabilities fared on statewide assessments in the 2022-2023 school year:

  • Participation rates for fourth, eighth and eleventh grade students in English language arts and math: met targets of 95% or more in the state and Sioux Falls School District.

  • Proficiency rates on the regular assessments: the district failed all metrics for fourth, eighth and eleventh graders for ELA and math, while the state passed all but eleventh graders in ELA assessments.

  • Proficiency rates on the alternate assessments: the state and district failed all metrics for fourth, eighth and eleventh graders for ELA and math, except for the district’s eighth graders on the math assessment.

  • Gaps in proficiency rates between students with disabilities and all students: the state passed all the metrics for fourth, eighth and eleventh graders for ELA and math, while the district failed half the metrics.

Both the district and state didn’t have a significant discrepancy in the rates of suspensions and expulsions of children with disabilities for greater than 10 days in a school year, but they both had a significant discrepancy by race and ethnicity for this same metric.

2022 report: District, state saw improved graduation rates for students in special education in Class of 2021

Linda Turner, director of the DOE’s division of special education and early learning, said this is because only two school districts in the state reported on this metric, and appropriate policies and procedures have been put in place at that school district.

On the least restrictive environment metrics, here’s how the district and state fared:

  • The state came close to meeting the target of having 76.68% of K-12 students with IEPs inside the regular classroom for a majority — 80% or more — of the day with a score of 76.45%, while the district passed this metric at 81.22%. The state failed, and the district passed, a similar metric for preschool students.

  • The state also came close to meeting the target of having 5.57% of K-12 students with IEPs inside the regular classroom less than 40% of the day with a score at 5.58%. The district also didn’t meet this metric, at 9.32%. The state failed, and the district passed, a similar metric for preschool students.

  • Both the state and district met the target to have less than 1.67% of K-12 students with IEPs in separate schools, residential facilities or homebound/hospital placements, with the state at 1.41% and the district at 0.54%. Both the district and state failed a similar metric for preschool students by a very small margin of less than a quarter of a percent.

Both the district and state also met targets to see 79% of youths who had received special education services enrolled in post-secondary education or training, or employed, within one year of leaving high school, including 12.5% of youths enrolled in higher education and 64.5% of youths competitively employed.

More to student success than ‘pass or fail,’ district explains

The Sioux Falls School District said in a statement, provided by multimedia specialist Tory Stolen on Tuesday, that it works hard each day to provide the best education possible to every student regardless of ability.

The district served nearly 2,000 students from eastern South Dakota in special education programs including neighborhood schools and alternative settings like Avera Behavioral Health, ARISE, Summit Oaks and the Juvenile Detention Center, it explained in the statement.

“The students, and their needs, change weekly and we are proud to say we are still making progress,” the district stated.

2021 report: South Dakota not meeting graduation rates for special education students

The district explained that students with IEPs have plans developed specifically for them to achieve the best possible educational outcomes, with a variety of factors impacting those outcomes. The district uses targeted staff training, prioritization of MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) structures, and other research-based resources to support students.

“These students often have complex social, emotional, physical, and/or health-related challenges that cannot be categorized in a report with simple terms like ‘pass or fail,’” the district said in its statement. “We celebrate with children and families whenever they make gains in their learning.”

State determining where schools can continue to grow

Turner said two weeks ago that although the state didn’t meet some targets, it doesn’t consider this a failure.

“The targets are set with stakeholder input and are required to be rigorous; they must show growth over the baseline data over the period of the state performance plan,” Turner said.

Graduation and dropout rates were significantly impacted by the pandemic, Turner said, but the state is seeing the data rebound and is making gains towards the targets.

To address dropout rates, the DOE provides training and resources for schools to develop transition plans for students, identify appropriate accommodations to help students access curriculum to participate in class to fulfill programs, and offer a wide variety of learning and training opportunities such as CTE programs to increase engagement in school, Turner said.

As for indicators where South Dakota met the rigorous targets that were set, “we still analyze performance to determine where schools in the state can continue to grow,” Turner added.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Data shows state, district didn't meet graduation rate target