On Oct. 15, state education officials released new guidelines aimed at supporting students receiving special education services.
Since the Rhode Island Department of Education undertook the report in 2021, they engaged students, educators, administrators, parents and advocacy organizations, according to the department’s press release. After four years of research, the report was released in recognition of Dyslexia Awareness Month.
“Twenty percent of Rhode Island’s students are classified as differently abled, and they are an integral part of our state’s educational system — not a population apart,” the report reads. About 26,000 students receive special education services across the state, according to the press release
Along with information about the demographics of Rhode Island’s students with disabilities, the report details goals, strategies and actions that will aim to be implemented over the next five years.
These initiatives include enhancing social emotional learning, increasing community partnerships, equipping students with resources to be successful after graduation and strengthening early childhood education, among others.
“This blueprint is another step forward in Rhode Island’s commitment to providing an accessible, high-quality education for all students,” Jessica Hassell, director of special education for Lincoln Public Schools, said in the press release.
The report’s release comes amid federal funding cuts that will impact planned special education and teacher training programs in Rhode Island.
This September, the Trump administration informed RIDE that approximately $617,000 in federal grant funding authorized by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act “had been abruptly canceled,” Victor Morente, a RIDE spokesperson, wrote in an email to The Herald.
This grant was earmarked for teacher training initiatives in science-based reading instruction for students with disabilities, he added. RIDE responded by filing an administrative appeal to the Education Department, which the federal agency denied two weeks later.
“At this time, RIDE continues to work with our legal counsel and state and federal partners to identify a legal remedy,” Morente wrote. The federal government shutdown has also caused the closure of the Department of Education offices, he added.
But “PPSD staffing is not being directly impacted by either (funding cuts or the government shutdown) at this time,” Morente wrote.
Two additional goals listed in the report — supporting professional development for educators and enhancing the quality of instruction for students with disabilities — overlap with the aim of the canceled grant.
The report also does not outline a clear funding structure for the state’s implementation of these goals.
Assistant Professor of Education and Education Policy Christopher Cleveland expressed worries about a general lack of funding for special education services, highlighting a growing gap between available funding and the funding necessary to actually implement proposed programs.
In fiscal year 2023, the Rhode Island legislature allocated $4.5 million to high-cost special education services, but fully implementing those services would have required $12.3 million in funding, according to a report from the state legislature.
Cleveland described the goals outlined in the 2025 report as “ambitious,” and said he had questions about evaluation practices, workforce retention and teacher recruitment.
Cleveland sees two major areas of improvement for the report: identifying which students might benefit from being evaluated for special education services and determining the types of services that may best support those students, he explained.
But writing the report is a step in the right direction, he said.
“It’s salient to see this be produced on the heels of the pandemic, … and I also appreciate that it seems like it’s a process that engages families and a variety of different stakeholders,” Cleveland added. “I think those are all things that help set a foundation for work being more successful.”
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated that the closure of Department of Education offices put a strain on the PPSD's budget, and mischaracterized comments from Morente and Alex Torres-Perez, a PPSD spokesperson. The Herald regrets these errors.
