There is new Common Core assessment claiming to be “rigorous” for students with severe cognitive disabilities. Do students with severe disabilities need rigor? The assessment is being likened to a “journey” like a beautiful trip. Or, is it a trip to nowhere? It touts accountability, but I see no safety net for students if they […]
Special Education and Vendors–Quality Concerns
Why must school districts rely on outside companies to hire school workers in special education? Isn’t there more room for error when they hire through unregulated companies? This is a practice that appears to have started with No Child Left Behind and should fall by the wayside now that NCLB is defunct–since the Every Student […]
More on Memphis School Cuts and the Broad and Gates Foundations
The Blues City is earning its name when it comes to public schools. Both the Broad and Gates Foundations have seen to it. The other day I posted about cuts to Memphis (Shelby County Schools). I was quickly reminded, rightly so, that these were proposed cuts—like maybe there would be some kind of rollback in […]
Drastic Public School Cuts in Memphis—The New America
Shelby County Schools in Memphis are cutting programs like special education and teachers and staff and other important positions and resources that help a good school function. They need to make $50 million or maybe even $86 million in cuts to public schools. The biggest hit to a single department under academics is in special […]
Should We Ban “Special Education”?
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 […]
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 […]
Does the Every Student Succeeds Act MASK No Child Left Behind?
The ESSA has been difficult for most of us to interpret—although it is clear the U.S. Department of Education will now back out of a lot of school business. Still, in reading how the states will now be almost completely in charge, one wonders how NCLB will change. How many of us have states that […]
“Cross Pollinating” Special and General Education Teachers
Can one teacher effectively teach students with a variety of disability and/or language needs? Or do we need special education teachers? Perhaps a better question is, can computers do the job of both regular and special education teachers? Here is an example of what I am talking about. This ad appeared for a webinar through […]
21 Concerns about Special Education and Competency-Based Education
As most know, Competency-Based Education (CBE) is being pushed into schools for all students, including those who have special needs. Before I go on, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development looked at 15-year-olds and their computer use in 31 nations and regions. They found that reading and math scores on the Program for International […]
Some Good Education News from 2015
Writing about education is interesting, but it can also be depressing. Sometimes it feels like being a hamster on one of those wheels. So as we close out 2015, here is a list of some good news that happened in 2015. If you have something to add, let me know! Happy New Year! These are […]