Professor leading effort to bolster special education in South Africa

South Africa is relying upon the expertise of College of Education faculty member David Test to develop and implement an ambitious plan to revamp that nation’s special education system.

Test, a professor of special education, recently returned stateside after traveling to South Africa as part of an envoy to assess how the country educates its special needs students.

“There are many kids (in South Africa) who aren’t included at all, and the ones who are included are mostly in special schools, Test said, “Our task is to see that greater numbers of students are integrated into regular schools and are provided the support they need.”

The effort to address shortcomings in South African special education comes as part of a larger move to overhaul the country’s school system and curb dropout rates. Test is leading an investigative team that includes experts from the University of Kansas, University of Connecticut and U.S. Department of Education.

During a weeklong trip, the team visited schools across South Africa, assessing their educational environments and starting the process to formulate a two-year development plan. According to Test, the central takeaway from the week abroad: the group faces a large and complicated challenge.

A 2013 study found there are more than 240,000 special needs students in the South African school system. A little less than half are in so-called “special schools” with the rest attending mainstream schools, where they are integrated into regular classrooms in varying degrees. Furthermore, a 2015 Human Rights Watch report found more than half a million students with disabilities have been shut out of the educational system all together.

The task of improving South Africa’s special education system is made more challenging by the context in which it operates. The country is still recovering from the lingering effects of apartheid and dealing with infrastructure and resources challenges common to African nations.

“It is, therefore, imperative that the continuing inequities in the special schools sector are eradicated and that the process through which the learner, educator and professional support services populations become representative of the South African population, is accelerated,” noted a white paper by the South African Department of Education.

Test explained that the United States has worked for many years on programs to provide resources to special needs students, and there remains work to be done. Though systemic improvement will require long-term commitment, he added that it is encouraging the issue is on policymakers’ minds.

“Twenty years after going to a fully integrated school system they’re realizing that they’re leaving a group of their citizens behind, and that’s a starting point,” Test said. “It’s not something that’s going to be fixed overnight – but they have some structures in place that could make it possible if they can learn from our mistakes.”

Training teachers and school leaders and piecing together a system of professional development will be a major part of the two-year plan Test and his team will recommend.

“Our focus will be on giving teachers and administrators the skills they need to be able to include more kids with disabilities in the full-service schools,” Test said.

The special education team will assist South Africa in converting the mainstream/special school model into one comprised of inclusive full-service schools.

South Africa will put together a policy indicating how learners will disabilities will be identified, assessed and incorporated into full-service schools in an incremental manner.

Test and his team ultimately hope to work with South Africa on a five-year special education plan that will build on the initial two-year framework.

An internationally recognized scholar in the field of special education, Test is co-director of the National Technical Assistance Center on Transition, which works to improve postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities. He also recently spoke at a White House symposium celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.