What’s in a student’s name? What about the name special education? NPR has an article today about how special education language has evolved. So why not drop the term special ed? I think a lot of parents and teachers would rejoice at that. The trouble with getting rid of words or changing them to be […]
Discounting Learning Disabilities in B.C., AU, U.S., and England–and Finding HOPE
Are they ending special education programs where you live? It turns out this is happening around the world. Parents with students who have learning disabilities can’t find assistance, or, like in England, they are mistreated in institutions. But don’t give up. There is hope, as I explain at the end of this post. Parents in […]
The Loss of Special Education Teachers
Where did all the special education teachers go? Special education teachers who study and address the unique differences in students are really a part of the whole learning puzzle—necessary to a student’s future success. But alas, special education teachers are falling by the wayside. Time to update this post. In Washington State they are using […]
Hey CEOs! Get the Lead Out (of Flint)!
What will the business philanthropists concerned about the education progress of our young people do about Flint? For over 30 years, politicians and big business decided public schools were failing and nothing would do other than CEOs of huge corporations and the states take over. They told us they wanted to close the achievement gap […]
ESSA and the Dismantling of Programs for Students with Disabilities and/or Gifted Students
Sign the petition to stop the reauthorization of ESEA. HERE! __________________________________ What are the problems with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and students with disabilities and/or gifted students? First, A Little History Politicians have never wanted to pay for special education. Everything you see today in the way of policy and rhetoric concerning the […]
Response to Intervention: Derailed!
Response to Intervention (RtI) is assessment all children get, starting early, in order to determine if they need special assistance to address learning disabilities. It has been plugged as “research” or “scientifically-based” programming to identify problems in young children so they can avoid special education. Those descriptors were often used, sometimes unjustifiably so, with programs […]
Dyslexia and Teachers in a World with No Special Education
What happens to students with dyslexia and learning disabilities when there are no more special education services? This from a teacher in Mississippi: I am an Inclusion teacher at my son’s high school. Our special ed department lost a certified position and two paraprofessional positions. Students receive services, but we have cut our presence in […]
Repercussions of Losing Part-Time Resource Classes for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
It is interesting that so many titles and posts I write involving school reform have to do with loss. The resource class for students with learning disabilities and sometimes behavioral problems is one more loss when it comes to students and their public schools. Resource classes were designed to help students in elementary, middle and […]
Happy Father’s Day to Dads Who Speak Out: Keep Up the Great Work!
As a teacher, I once arrived at my classroom early in the morning to find a father of one of my students quite upset. I shakily ushered him into the classroom where he proceeded to lecture me about what his son had missed out on in school, up to that point, and what he believed […]
Special Ed. Labels—Why We Still Need Them in the Era of Common Core
Work hard at living the idea that differentness is just fine—not bad. Your child will learn most from your example. Help him to think of problems as things that can be solved if people work at them together. ~Nicholas Hobbs from The Futures of Children (p.288) Years ago a poster circulated that said “Labels are […]