San Mateo County, CA — The San Mateo County Office of Education launched today the Center for Access and Engagement to further its efforts to create more inclusive education in the County. The Center will support San Mateo County school districts in creating, promoting, and expanding equitable and inclusive practices and breaking down barriers between general education and special education programs and instruction.

Students with disabilities can face significant barriers to school success, leading to lower academic outcomes, higher suspension rates and chronic absenteeism, and reduced graduation rates compared with other student groups. These barriers have grown out of the perpetuation of two separate instructional systems in schools – general education and special education – and the lack of early intervention services to identify and support students who may have disabilities.

“For years, California school districts have been struggling to address lower student outcomes due to bifurcated schools and delayed intervention,” said San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee. “While San Mateo County is not unique in facing these challenges, we are unique in our determination to successfully address them. The Center will help us do that.”

By collaborating across general and special education classrooms, educators can effectively identify students’ needs and deliver an appropriate, high-quality, rigorous, and standards-based curriculum to all students, engaging families as an integral part of their efforts.

The Center’s work is built on California’s Statewide Task Force on Special Education’s 2015 report One System: Reforming Education to Serve ALL Students, which envisions one coherent system where general and special education teachers work together seamlessly to identify and address all students’ academic and social-emotional strengths and needs.

To reach its goal of creating one coherent system serving all students, the Center will provide individualized training, implementation support, inclusive student leadership support, program consultation, and multiple certification series in addition to other services. These services will focus on continuous improvement and complement the work currently being done by the San Mateo County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA), which ensures that local education agencies provide high-quality services for students eligible for special education supports.

Visit the County Office of Education’s website to learn more about the Center and its services.