Aren’t there some fine lawyers who would, preferably with pro-bono work, support families who have children with disabilities, all kinds of disabilities, or children who have second language hurdles, or the really really poor children, to sue the charter operators and their rich donors for denying these students a slot in their elite charter schools? […]
Could it End High-Stakes Testing?—The Bizarre Practice of Irrelevant Testing of Students with Severe Disabilities
Could the odd practice of using high-stakes testing to test students with severe disabilities put an end to America’s obsession with high-stakes testing overall? There is nothing that speaks to individual differences more than students like Ethan Rediske. America may have lost Ethan, but his mom, Andrea Rediske, and Orange County Public School board member […]
Florida Teachers Get VAMED Only a Week After the Death of Ethan Rediske
Floridians get to look up their teachers’ test scores now, courtesy of The Florida Times Union (they actually went to court for this), even though it is just a week after the death of Ethan Rediske. Tell me, Times Union Editor Frank Denton, how did his teacher do? If you aren’t one of the many […]
Do Americans Love Their Children?—Yes! Many of them DO!
“Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (New International Version) A while back I was talking with a friend about school problems, and she surprised me by saying “America doesn’t love its children!” I was taken aback. I’d never […]
It’s What President Obama Didn’t Say about Education in the State of the Union Address….
The president, of course, could not speak about all the following disputes in one State of the Union Address. But the problem is he rarely speaks about these issues with the American people. There is little, if any, discussion or debate. The president might be surprised to find not everyone approves of his education policies. […]
Misguided Education Reform
A nice thing that happened to me this past year was the publishing, back in July, of my book, Misguided Education Reform: Debating the Impact on Students, by R & L Books (Rowman & Littlefield). It covers many of the same topics you will find on my blog. I discuss special education which might be […]
Huge Class Sizes and the Increase in Student Mental Health Problems—Connect the Dots!
The New York Times has an article having to do with large class sizes. It’s all about the push to put more kids in classrooms and schools with fewer teachers and specialists. This is happening around the country in every school. It is happening without any thought to the recent tragic events in our public […]
KIPP and the Padded Room
Why does KIPP do padded rooms for kindergarteners and regular ed. students who have run-of-the-mill behavior problems? Calming rooms, in unique and very structured situations, might be justifiable for special education, but not regular ed. The justification for a padded room is that the student needs to be protected from self-injurious behavior or hurting others. […]
Why Education Reformers Worry about Special Education
I heard someone, a parent or teacher, blurt out at an informal education meeting, that education reformers are afraid of special education. I think that person is right. I don’t think many of those currently in charge of redoing public schools understand anything about special ed. students and how they learn. I think they must […]
Good-bye NICHCY! But Why?
For decades the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY) has been a go-to website for families and educators seeking information about how to find support for young students and children and youth with disabilities. My website is a work in progress and when I went to add NICHCY to the section on Special Education, […]