Knox County Schools notes academic improvement among students with disabilities

KCS Assistant Superintendent of Student Success Dr. Andrew Brown gives an update on special education programming at Monday’s school board work session meeting. (Screenshot)

Students with disabilities have demonstrated notable improvements in English Language Arts (ELA) and math amid ongoing efforts to strengthen special education programming in Knox County Schools (KCS), Assistant Superintendent of Student Success Dr. Andrew Brown told school board members at Monday’s school board work session meeting.

According to Brown, ELA and math proficiency has increased by 1.4 percent and 3.5 percent respectively among students with disabilities from 2022 to 2024. He said the improvements were partly the result of the district’s 2019-2024 special education strategic plan, which increased professional development supports for teachers working with special populations and placed more students with disabilities in general education classrooms.

Brown noted that the district has also moved 79.29 percent of students with disabilities to less “restrictive” learning environments as of 2024, surpassing the state goal of 77.2 percent.

“We've had special trainings for our teaching assistants that's been focused on supporting students in the general ed setting,” he said in his update to the board.

“When [students] are exposed to high quality instruction materials and they're in tier-one instruction, they're going to get the material, they're going to understand it better, and they're going to perform better,” he later added. “So obviously inclusion is something that we all want, and we are doing our best in striving to get kids included more often and spend more of their day in the general ed setting.”

Moving forward, he said, the district is formulating a new strategic plan that will further improve supports to keep special ed students in their zoned schools and build on the progress made thus far. He added that the district plans to place at least 80 percent of students with disabilities in general ed settings this year, among other goals.

“We've met and exceeded our goals for [general ed], but that's not good enough. We want to continue to do that,” he told the board. “And then [district leaders] want to improve special education supports to keep students in their own schools.”

Brown said the district also recently gathered more feedback from parents and other key stakeholders to guide the creation of a new strategic plan for 2025-2030.

He said the district will increase engagement and communication with parents and stakeholders as district leaders finalize the plan, which will likely be unveiled this spring. For more information on the district’s special ed programming and strategic planning, visit www.knoxschools.org/strategicplan.