Chapter 1: Introduction

Problem Statement

      In a review of assessment records it was found that many of the Special Education students at CHS during the 2002-2003 school year were experiencing less than a quarter of a year growth per year in their reading skills as assessed by both the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) and by Accelerated Reading’s STAR Reading Assessment. CHS’s Learning Disabled (LD) population averaged reading levels that are more than three years lower than their regular education counterparts. In comparison to their regular education counterparts, these students spent minimal time and focus on reading activities and tended to be resistant to many supplementary reading activities.

Description of the Community

      CHS serves the Kaneohe area of the island of Oahu in the State of Hawaii. Kaneohe is a community of about 50,000 people. The community is a largely middle class suburban population comprised of a mixture of single-family homes, condominiums, and public housing units. There are mostly small businesses, light industries, and truck farms in the area. Most of the student’s parents work in Honolulu, which is fifteen miles away.

Description of the Work Setting

      CHS sits on a 32-acre campus. In the 2004-2005 school year CHS had 110 classrooms, 134 teachers, and a student population of 2,112 in grades nine through twelve. The school’s ethnic makeup had remained stable over the previous three years. The school’s ethnic breakdown was: 37% Hawaiian or part Hawaiian, 25% Asian, 13% Caucasians, 9% Pacific-Islander, 8 % Filipino-American and 4% African-American and 4% other groups ethnic groups. The student population was 51% male and 49% female.

      There were 334 students in the special education program (SPED), which represented sixteen percent of CHS’s student population. The number of SPED students had been in the 16-19 percent range for the previous three years. Fifty-three percent (177) of the students in the SPED program were Learning Disabled (LD). Sixteen percent (53) were Emotionally Impaired (EI), and six percent (20) were Attention-Deficit/Hyper-Active Disorder (ADHD) followed by smaller groupings of other certifications. Sixty-eight percent (227) of the SPED students attended SPED English classes. Twelve percent (41) of the SPED students were in general-education English classes. The remaining 20% were in self-contained classrooms or alternative settings.