Posted on 06/17/2004 5:17:11 PM PDT by mlmr
I have four children in three different schools. In the past week I have talked to a number of teachers and administrators about different issues pertaining to next semester. I have been told three times so far that the school cannot manage A or B anymore becasue Individual Student Goals(or whatever the technical name is) cannot be honored because of the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT. One called it Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND. Tell me, is this a national trend? Those of you with children in public schools, are you hearing that the Bush plan is hurting your child? Or otherss?
You do not appear to understand what it takes to educate this type of child. Hopefully you will never have to find out as you seem to lack the empathy and patience needed.
I am not talking aabout empathy and patience. I am talking about return on the public dollar.
Which is exactly mlmr's point. If there is a central location with people trained to handle this it would have to be cheaper and more effective than spreading it out among the other schools.
I know of only one instance where a child has a nurse in school. It is a child with the "elephant man" disorder and her jaw is so severely distended that she cannot talk and choking is a constant danger. It is probably 10 times the size of an adults'. She is very intellegent and extremely well-behaved (she is the same age as my daughter and has been in some of her classes). She has a nurse with her on the bus, at school, until she is delivered to her mom.
I do not know all the answers either. But we need to ask these hard questions. The theory that all children, despite disability are due every possible measure of education is ridiculous and it is a way to expand the grasp of education.
Does your child have an IEP? We were specifically asked if we wanted her to be tested or if we wanted her exempt.
The IEP team all agreed that she should be tested since she is doing well in school.
When that happens, someone is screwing up something. And besides, don't you think a teacher works with every child one-on-one at least some every day?
I empathize with you are your situation. Your daughter is having some problems but with good educational care she will do well. I do stop the boat at trying to educate, versus basic training for the severely compromised.
I understand they have a right to go to school and learn .. but why are they grouped with kids with no learning disabilities??
I teach a learning disabled class for kids who read below grade level. But I have 3 boys who are fine in math. They go to a regular math class and are successful. They come to me for reading. When they go into history, I go with them to assist the teacher in whatever is needed. It works well at our school--BUT I know that it doesn't everywhere else.
Sure - I went to Catholic school for 8 years ('72 - '81) and we had finals every year and standardized tests.
My kids go to Catholic school now, and they just had finals 2 weeks ago. They also have mid-term exams in January, and take the standardized California Achievement Test (CAT) every other year (grade 2, 4, 6, and 8). The CAT is mandated by the Archdiocese to measure school-wide performance, to deterimine if a school improvement plan is needed (imagine that).
And nobody complains! (Except the kids of course...)
Usually kids with learning disabilities are good at one thing and not good at another.
My daughter has brain damage that affects her speech. She is pulled out of the classroom for speech therapy, occupational therapy (to help with handwriting), and a resource specialist to help with reading and writing.
My daughter is well-behaved. She is great at math and spelling. She follows directions well, so she does well during art or other activities.
Also, it is much better for her to be around kids that speak well. She picks up their speech. They also talk for her and get her involved in activities.
She was in a special ed preschool when she was 3. It was awful for many reasons. They didn't expect much out of her and they said she couldn't do things that she could do (like cutting with scissors). They said she didn't know her colors (she knew all the major ones by 3. She couldn't say them, so you would have to ask her to point to the correct color.)
Hey! My first grade teacher was Sister Mary Edwards (really). Was your Sister Mary Edwards in the IHM order?
Be careful when people tell you about the "extra restrictions" or rules or regulations. There are a lot of people out there, including local govt. types, who are saying that the are restrictions on certain things under NCLB...the thing is...many of those restrictions either do not exist in the act or are misrepresented. I have seen School District admins do this.
Some teachers and admins and advocates out there simply don't want be held accountable. So they will misrepresent the law to parents,public,etc. in hopes that they can get rid of NCLB. And it also give them a chance to blame every problem on NCLB. And most of the time the problem has to do with decisions made by the administration.
In my full time career, I have to deal with govt. policy all the time and as a result, have to deal with folks who will misrepresent policies for their own gain. I just wish that in my part time job, which is (IMO) important work and valued time, folks would not play that game.
Funny, you mentioned idea of standards of learning.
I just had a talk with "my advisor" about the same subject. Recently one of my relatives, who has PH.Ds in Education and School Psych and deals with this stuff full time, floored me with reality. I was excited about claims that students in my district ranked among the best in the country.
She alerted me to the reality that there is no real measurement to prove that. One area's test may not compare with another. She showed me examples of the different State tests...and it was easy to see that when different areas claim to have some of the best educational standards...the idea of best educational standards is relative. It was a harsh reality. I am just glad I got to think about this after the last day of school (which for the second year in a row...I was assigned to a class for the day). I was able to enjoy the last day. When I sub, I usually see a lot of the same students. So the last day is always a fun time because you get to hear all the plans the kids have for summer and what they are looking forward too. I might not get to sit in for teachers next year as much as I did this year (due to scheduling in a field that is as rewarding). So the last day was a big deal.
Hope the kids in VA have a good summer.
This is right out of the local government playbook. When you are asked to make cuts, you do it in a way to hurt your constituents the most so that they will stop trying to cut your budget. EG, county commissioners cut things like 0road maintainence first.
You have to punish your constituents for trying to assert control over what is rightfully yours.
No she was a SSJ. Old as dirt and tough as nails.
You have to punish your constituents for trying to assert control over what is rightfully yours.
Grrrrrrrrrrrr!
Wonder no more.
The answer is:Yes, Yes, and Yes.
I had a Sister Mary for a teacher once.
She taught our religion course in the fourth grade.
Even my homeroom teacher was afraid of her!
She didn't just carry a ruler either. She brought out the big guns....YARDSTICK. I got popped several times.
She also had a dog that stayed in her classroom. No kidding. We all thought he had mange because the poor pooch's hair kept falling out. A friend and I told some girls in class that if he rubbed up agains their legs, they would get big warts. So when the dog walked around the class you would see some of the girls pick up their feet and curl back into the desks. Man, we were really mean in the fourth grade.
My beef is with the requirements on the special education population. The requirements have to be reasonable. In addition, it always irritates me when people on FR want to moan and complain about how much it costs to educate each child, when they don't realize that the cost of some very needy children are spread out among all.
In Title I, Section 1001, we read that its stated purpose is to close "the achievement gap between high- and low-performing children, especially the achievement gaps between minority and nonminority students, and between disadvantaged children and their more advantaged peers...." The NCLBA allows three performance levels to be defined by states (basic, proficient, and advanced), but evaluates the schools based on their proficiency performance level. The NCLBA says that states "shall ensure that all students will meet or exceed the State’s proficient level of academic achievement on the State assessments within the State’s timeline...." (Emphasis added.)
The following quotes, taken directly from Title I, Section 1111, underline the NCLBA’s central theme: "the State plan shall describe a strategy for ensuring that students are taught the same knowledge and skills in such subjects and held to the same expectations as are all children"; "The academic standards required … shall be the same academic standards that the State applies to all schools and children in the State"; "The State shall have such academic standards for all public elementary school and secondary school children … which shall include the same knowledge, skills, and levels of achievement expected of all children." (Emphasis added.)
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