There is a misconception that charter schools either cannot or do not provide services and accommodations for students in Special Education. Though I’ve received the question for years on tours, a quick google search this week confirmed the confusion I’ve been sensing among parents for a while.

As many classical schools are also charter schools, we tend to get an extra dose of confusion from parents given the challenging curriculum. Parents sometimes assume that a classical curriculum is inaccessible to students with learning disabilities. This is far from true.

As a small aside, let me clarify that this post intends to discuss special education in public, classical schools. Special education services offered by private schools will vary from school to school and depend on a lot of factors. If you’re interested in a private option, it is to your benefit to ask the school’s registrar about special education - their answer may surprise you!

Now, on to the meat of this post. I’d like to answer some of the most common questions I receive about special education and explain the uniquely classical approach that’s encouraging many families with students of varying needs to enroll at classical schools.

Is classical education for every kind of student? 

This is an easy one - yes. I understand where this question comes from. I understand how walking into a classical school can sometimes feel disconcerting, especially if you are used to a classroom environment that is full of personal devices and no dress code. It can be jarring to walk into a classroom at a classical school and find high school students knee-deep in a discussion about The Iliad, or to witness an explicit phonics lesson full of choral responses and student engagement. This is especially true for families whose students have disabilities - learning, physical, or otherwise. 

This is why I make it a point on tours to visit our special education department - busy with students coming and going - and to point out our robust staff passionate about supporting students. Because make no mistake, I have seen what feels like every type of student thrive in a classical environment. I have seen students with traumatic brain injuries start doing long division. I have seen students with deeply rooted anxiety give a speech before a body of their peers.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again - classical education is for any student who desires to desire learning. The best classical schools understand that excellence is not found in teaching just one type of student. Rather, an excellent classical school works to include and instruct every student. At the end of the day, a teacher is only as talented as their ability to work with the students who struggle the most.

How is that possible? 

I haven’t had a chance yet to post about some of the nitty-gritty teaching methods that you’ll find in a classical school. Though, I’m making a mental note now that it needs to happen sooner rather than later! For now, though, I’ll touch on one of the hallmark teaching methods that you’ll find in any classical classroom and is especially helpful in special education: direct (or explicit) instruction.

Direct instruction is a method of teaching that works to develop the tools and knowledgebase of students and empower them to advance to higher degrees of learning. When you watch direct instruction in real-time, you’ll often see purposefully timed feedback with questions strategically placed to guide students toward truth. Another way of thinking of it is that direct instruction clearly emphasizes the core content of a lesson. For example, rather than taking on a whole sentence at once when working on reading comprehension, teachers utilizing direct instruction will start with a single phonogram (like ea, for example), explicitly teach that it makes three sounds, and then provide opportunities for practice. Indirect instruction, by contrast, might start with a whole sentence that uses the ea phonogram differently in three different words, but students (particularly ones that struggle) might miss the overarching rule that will guide them to deeper reading comprehension. In some cases, though, indirect instruction is ideal. A seminar, for example, which starts with a “focus question” that students discuss and work to answer, is a type of lesson where teachers would likely make use of indirect instruction. The key to an excellent classical classroom is a teacher who knows when to use direct or indirect instruction or a combination of both.

The interesting thing is that many special education programs use direct instruction for students with learning disabilities. Progressive schools, though, tend to abandon direct instruction in the general education classroom. The benefit of using direct instruction in both the general education classroom and special education classroom is that students with disabilities get a double dose of instruction that aims to develop their ability to learn well.  

Why integrate special and general education classrooms?

The “double dose” of direct instruction that I mention above only works when special education students spend the majority (or at least a portion) of their day in general education classrooms. But this question brings up assumptions about special education students that are important to address. Why would we assume that students who require more learning interventions do not want to study excellent content?

The curriculum at a classical school is made up of material that has withstood the test of time. Students are learning important, formative lessons in class from content that generations of teachers, students, and societies have deemed the best of the best. All students deserve a chance to engage with it. Now you may, understandably, wonder how a student with 3rd-grade reading ability can engage with Homer. Or how a student with delayed processing can participate in a seminar discussion. 

The answer is not to remove or replace the content, but to get creative in how to help that student access it. For some, this means finding a graphic novel to offer a visual aid. For others, it can mean providing seminar questions ahead of time so that students have a chance to prepare their thoughts. 

Ultimately, there is no distinction between general and special education students when it comes to a classical school’s ultimate metric of success. Classical schools seek to send students into the world having carefully considered the question: what does it mean to live well? The end goal is the same no matter the student. 

Importantly, the process of answering that question begins in the classroom - it begins with content, with studying history, learning about the natural world around us, and hearing the stories of those who came before us.

In a classical school, special education students are not guests in the general classroom, appearing only occasionally. They are known. They belong. They contribute to the classroom culture as much as every other student. 

Why should you send your student with special education needs to a classical school?

Families who have students with special education needs generally have different kinds of questions than other families. The academics and ability to offer student support are important, of course. But I am asked, perhaps more emphatically, about school culture and the classical emphasis on virtue.

In my experience, families who ask these kinds of questions have a high sense of the importance that virtue plays in the ability to lead a happy life. They understand that a school that honors and recognizes moral character over academic achievement is the kind of environment that leads to joyful and independent living. It’s the kind of place where they can trust that their student will be known, valued, and invested in - by both students and staff.

Come and see for yourself.