The Great Horde November 15, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Day-to-day school drama, Paraeducators, Parent Support, Survivors.add a comment
I also, on occasion, teach adult Sunday school. Last weekend I taught part 1 of 2 on 2 Chronicles 20. I had no idea at that time how appropriate this lesson would become in the week ahead. My brave band of paras and I bravely stand against a horde of responsibilities and insensitive bureaucrats and administrators who seem bent on crushing us.
Well….maybe not so brave. For the past week, I have not even wanted to go to sleep, because I knew that as soon as I closed my eyes, I would awake to a new day of being crushed. And so it was, as some of my paras were out for all sorts of reasons and I had substitutes who courageously tried to soldier on with me. But by Friday, my back was positively aching from all the extra lifting.
In 2 Chronicles 20, the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, is threatened by not 1, not 2 but 3 separate armies who have joined together against him. He gathered the people and cried out:
“O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. 7 Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? 8 And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, 9 ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’ 10 And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy— 11 behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit. 12 O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
That last verse totally resonated with me and where we are. I was told not to send any letters to parents until they are approved. Therefore I’m giving up on that, although those letters do chronicle past and current problems. No, I will call or talk to parents in person. It’s time for some parent involvement. Trouble is, the school doesn’t really like such involvement. But outside of that, I must not fret, worry and sweat it. I was told that nothing would change unless something bad happens. But it’s my job to ensure that nothing does happen. And we will hold the line. Fortunately, Jehoshaphat was not left dangling and neither are we, for a the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel:
15 And he said, “Listen, all Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
And so it turns out that not a shot was fired from Judah in anger. The invading armies turned on each other and wiped themselves out! It took 3 days for the people of Judah to carry the plunder from the enemy camps.
So tomorrow, I’m going to face the horde and trust that God is with us.
Bricks Without Straw November 9, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Blogging, Day-to-day school drama, Paraeducators, Special Education, moving on.3 comments
I always intended this blog to be mostly informative and supportive for parents and other teachers that do what I do. In the earliest days, it was also a place to vent my spleen mostly about NCLB and the GAA. Those things are still vent worthy and I’m overdue for a vent. But today I’m throwing up yet another lament.
The “Whining”‘ post resonated with many readers, probably because there is an epidemic of this sort of pain running through the field. To be honest, I hated that post, which is why I tried to bury it immediately behind a more informative (and longer) post. But I needed to write it and needed to post it. Just this one needs to be written and posted.
Perhaps I have a “fan” at the central office or in administration who read my post and decided that perhaps I needed to have something to really whine about. Perhaps the Almighty, in His great wisdom is making sure I don’t miss the signs. I’ve been known to be a bit slow on the uptake. Before relating the present woes, indulge me in a story from my past…
I was teaching science at a private boarding school in the early ’90’s, teaching science. I lived at the school, which was handy since I went over a year without a car. The hours were long, as we had duties at night and on some weekends in addition to teaching. And the pay was less than what paras make in public schools. But it was a good place to start out. But during my 3rd year, as I was working on my Master’s I was deciding whether or not I should leave and look for something else. That summer, we had torrential rains which flooded the apartments where I was staying. Natural disaster, right? 4 months later, in a totally different dorm, a pipe broke and the place flooded again. A few months later, lightening struck and destroyed a bunch of my electronics. It, along with deteriorating politics there, was a neon sing to me that read “GET OUT!”
So now, I begin to tally the score for this year. Three years ago, I aksed to move into co-teaching. I was denied. Two years ago, I asked again, even taking and passing the science test to be certified and HQ so I could coteach. Again denied. Last year, I asked to transfer within the district. Denied AGAIN. Apparently I’m meant to stay. Right? As we began the year, one of my best paras was moved off and replaced against both of our wishes. That cost me as well as the students she bonded with. Then I was hit by the numbers while being understaffed, hence the “whining” post.
Today, I learned that there was a reduction in force, a RIF. Our school lost two para positions. Two paras were transferred to a middle school. And they took one of mine to replace one of those that were transferred. They picked one of my best, and put her in with less disabled kids and informed me I would be doing what I was struggling to do before with substantially less help. We are now an accident or an incident waiting to happen.
Now I have to finish letters drafted a few months ago and at least document the peril we now face so whenever whatever happens, does, no one can say they were not warned. Meanwhile, me and my ever-decreasing brave band of paras will hunker down and attempt to hold an ever-expanding line.
Grades for Students with Severe Disabilities October 25, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Alternate Assessment, Curriculum, Ed Policy Discussion, Parents and parenting, Special Ed., Special Education, severe disabilities.add a comment
One of the most common questions I am asked is “How do you grade the students you teach?” I mean, they don’t do any paper and pencil activities, they don’t produce anything and there are no permanent products. At the high school, every other student is producing something in the way of writing or projects or test scores. Oh…TEST SCORES which have become the gold standard in this country! Don’t get me started…
I do progress reports and have some sort of program data on most of my students, except for the very lowest ones, especially since discrete trial lends itself to accumulating data. But it does not translate well into the sort of letter/percentage grade that schools make teachers give high school students. A student may not be doing a single task independently during any trials and in any setting this would be viewed as a total failure. In my classroom, I look at level of support, and usually we have a mixture of trials requiring verbal, gesture, partial physical or full physical prompts. I suppose I could assign a score to each part of the prompting hierarchy and arrive at a more empirical figure. But when it comes to high school academic standards, no figure I could come up with would have any sort of validity. None. So when I do the report card, I take a wild guess according to effort, progress, and where we are in relation to goals. And most parents don’t have a problem with their teachers doing this as long as that grade is an ‘A’ or a ‘B’. As long as their child is making honor roll, they aren’t going to complain.
However I have over the years raised the ire of more than a couple of parents when they come from the middle school. For their entire school career of getting letter/percentage grades, they have been getting mostly 90’s the entire way through. Other teachers I have taught beside did exactly this, giving every student a 95 or 96. This is one of those Horace’s Compromise things, where there is a tacit agreement that “good enough is good enough” and we demand and deliver as little as possible. For other students, it is mostly between student and teacher: You deliver the minimum amount required to meet certain expectations, and you are rewarded accord to meeting the minimal criteria. If you want an ‘A’ you know the minimal performance required to get there. For students with severe disabilities, it is between teacher and parent: “Give my child an ‘A’ and I won’t ask for any justification.” So in a sense, I am severely disrupting that tacit little agreement when a student comes home with a 78 or a ‘C’. Now we have a problem.
The problem that I have is this: does a child who is uncooperative, disruptive, belligerent, violent, and otherwise assaulting themselves or other people legitimately belong on the honor roll? And what if, even in simple discrete trial tasks they are uncooperative? I’m not going to fail anyone on account of their disability, but neither can I justify elevating that into “honor” status. And it’s not like any of my parents are gong to take advantage of their child’s exam exemption to keep them at home!
So here’s, generally, how I arrive at a grade:
A = 90-100 – The student is totally trying and is making progress. It’s a bit relative, and with 9 kids, I have a sample size that allows me to judge who is the best and who is not. I might have given 1 ‘A’ this marking period. By the end of the year, I will have more. It means the student is making real attempts at completing things independently.
B = 80-89 – Most of my students are working in this area, which means that we still have some problems that we’re working on, but we’re still making some progress. I leave room to show improvement, so during the 1st marking period all grades are lower. I’m looking at the data and how much prompting and support is needed.
C = 70-79 – Here, we have many issues that we need to address, and many students will start here, especially if they come from summer break wild and off the chain. I have to work twice as hard to get them into the routine as the ‘B’ group. Freshman typically seem to end up here, as they are well below their classmates. Remember, this is ongoing. A student can totally move up by Christmas and still get their B and make semester honor roll if everything is going like it should be. But if a student is physically capable of pushing a button or pointing to a card and refuses or throws the material, we have some issues to work on. You should not be on the honor roll if you are refusing to do things independently when it is well within your capability. It represents a significant gap between potential and actual achievement. A person can’t give what they don’t have, and I take that into account. But if you’re slacking, do not expect a break. I’m just sayin’.
In our school, there are no ‘D’s and I’ve never given one anyway. Yeah, we ALL need improvement and my kids don’t need to be labeled as “poor”. The ‘C’ smacks over achiever parents hard enough as it is! Failure is not an option here. And it wouldn’t make any difference, anyway. If the kid is on the honor roll for 4 years, they will still stay 3 more. If they fail, they still come back. Conventional “promotion” doesn’t really exist compared to typical peers. However, I have promoted kids to the Moderate class, but that was mostly because they were misplaced in the first place.
In a sense, my grades are a reflection of what we do at school, but it can also be a reflection of what is going on at home, which is probably what alarms so many parents. In a typical, nondisabled classroom, we know that parents have a lot to do with how their kids do in school by providing guidance, structure and motivation. many students will not do any homework, unless a parent insists and prods and cajoles and bribes or whatever it is they have to do. Trust me, I know how much of an ordeal this is! Homework should be something students can do on their own with a minimum of assistance. For my students, it is a bit different, because they don’t have any homework that a student could do at home independently. I suppose I could do what many of the teachers of my two boys do and assign projects that demand parent involvement, like large intricate craft projects. Then I’d have something to grade! But then I suspect I’d get even more grief when I gave a lower grade than expected!
However, parents do have a lot to do with encouraging their children to do things independently, like feeding themselves or playing with toys or pulling up their pants. I see this more with feeding that anything else, as I’ve had occasion to socialize with other parents who have children with disabilities. I’ve irked more than one parent when at one of these events I got on top of them for spoon feeding a child who I knew was capable of feeding himself. Here you demand that we put this as a goal on the
IEP and work on it at school, and you are not doing this at home! Don’t demand a goal on tooth brushing on the IEP if you are not going to do it home.
So I have students who come to me and have no physical reason why they can not perform a given task. It’s not necessarily the student’s fault, but it reflects some ground that we will have to cover that should have been done previously. No honor roll grades, there. But that doesn’t mean that will always be the case, and hopefully we’ll get to the point we should have started.
Assessment for this population isn’t a matter of simply taking a test. You can’t just give them a pencil and paper and say “Here do this worksheet, answer these questions.” NONE of them are even verbal, so a verbal assessment is out. Most have limited mobility and serious motor issues, so manipulative assessment is out. And I’m not going to say a lot about a severely truncated attention span or limited perseverance. That’s not to say we can’t measure progress, but it translates very poorly into a report card A-B-C-F format. So I send home daily notes to parents in their notebooks. They are informed every day not just during quarterly report card periods. I’m more transparent than any other teacher in the building and possibly in the entire county! I have a blog! I have a video channel!
Grading is never a precise science, as there is a bit of an art to it. Most teachers of students with severe disabilities do neither, and just give the kid an ‘A’ whether it is earned or not. And that is fine for them, as long as we all agree that the grades on the report card don’t mean anything unless they open up Harvard to students with IQ’s in the single digits. But I’m trying to communicate at least a little bit with the hideous system that I’m forced to use, and convey some degree of meaning to something that isn’t terribly meaningful in the first place.
As a parent, when we went through school, grades were also used as a motivational tool. Study and work hard, get good grades and get rewards and honors and a good job. None of that motivational stuff applies to this population . Even if they comprehended the difference, quantitatively, between 78% and 98%, or an ‘A’ and a ‘B’ , why would they care? This actually applies almost universally to all students with disabilities. The graduation rate in my high school for students with disabilities is 30%. The employment rate for students with disabilities in my county is about 10%, with most of those being part-time or less. Which means that over 90% of students with disabilities emerge from high school with few quality prospects. Those in the population that I teach are not even at that level, and have a waiting list waiting for them when they leave my program. So in the grandest scheme of things those 1st quarter grades are not terribly relevant.
I want to say one more thing about grades, and this goes to everyone regardless of whether the student has a disability and cuts across grade levels and even that first college midterm. Mainly, that those first marking period grades should be intentionally more stringent than any others. That means that a student (and the parents) should expect the grades to be lower than “typical” for that child. This represents the first period of a new grade level/year with newer and higher expectations. If the student is already exceeding the standards in all areas, what is the use of continuing to go? Many students, when grades are a motivational, will go into “early retirement” if they think they have already got it in their back pocket. It also doesn’t give any indication of relative strengths in weaknesses especially when using marks like our elementary schools i.e. C,S,U,N or 1,2,3 or faces or stars. As teachers, we need to allow for room for growth. So as parents, we need to take a relative view of the marks coming out after the first marking period and not be too judgmental toward the the student or his/her teacher and those marks. It’s merely a guidepost and a relative indicator of where that student is at a given time.
Whining October 25, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Special Ed..9 comments
This is going to sound awfully whiny, and there might be some SID/PID teachers who have more of a reason to complain than I do. But I don’t think any are in my county.
I feel swamped. I think I have always felt swamped in some fashion or form but this year it hit particularly hard with 3 new students and 2 new paras. Nine SID/PID students is simply too many for this level of disability. I’m trying to keep track of 9 diets, 9 medical conditions, 9 bathroom schedules (gotta keep track of when everyone has a BM!) 9 parents, 9 IEPS, 9 academic programs across all subjects and all 4 grade levels. While all my paras have talents in their own way, they are not charged with keeping track of everyone all at the same time. Sure, that’s why I get paid the big bucks, but where is the limit?
I am totally crashing up against it. I forget stuff like jackets, snacks, medications, and a variety of other little niggling things. I used to like talking to parents and related service providers, but I find I have less time and patience for the various nitpicking requests. “Can you brush his teeth?” “Can you make sure her shirt is tucked in?” “Can we make sure he uses his communication device at lunch?” “Can you make sure he stays on the GFCF diet in the school cafeteria?” “Can you make sure he uses his picture schedule?”
If I had a sane class size, these would be just part of the job and everyone would get the special treatment we’re supposed to give him or her. I felt full at 7 students but we were able to do some cool things. This year, it feels more like just survival, and not sustainable. I do have to give credit in that several other teachers and paras have chipped in and helped when they could. My parents have generally been supportive. My paras are generally competent. The thing is, is that I feel like we are past the point where adding more paras will do us any good. Adding another adult helper is simply one more person that I have to keep track of and manage all day long.
Some may hate me saying this, but we are a school/nursing home hybrid. We do what they do in a nursing home plus I have to do what 4-5 other teachers do, albeit on a different and much abbreviated level. The shift to the regular academic curriculum on top of the daily living skills curriculum adds a level of incredulity to a mission that was already seen as bordering on futility.
Most of the real stakeholders know all of this already. I’ve voiced a lot of concerns to those in positions to help and ease our plight, but they are not listening or at least they are not responding. Either they are unwilling or unable to do anything. And since some students were allowed to jump across the zone into my class where another parent was not allowed to go to a different zone to in order to escape my overcrowding. So indicators are pretty much pointing to some sort of willful hostility or ignorance at the county system level.
The core problem is that each of my students have so many pressing needs, some which need to be met in order to maintain their health and their lives! I feel personally responsible for each and every one of them, and don’t have it in me to say “Too bad” and not try my best. I’ve known many teachers who were willing to simply let things slide or simply do the bare minimum or less. This particular position sometimes attracts those characters. But I can’t do that, as I am blessed and cursed with a moral conscience that does not allow it. So every time I fail to meet a given need, or forget something or don’t get to something, it is seen as a demoralizing failure on my part. I don’t think my standards are too high, but with this many kids, the toll has been substantial. In the grand scheme of things, forgetting to send a jacket home or keep up with who had a BM when is comparatively minor, but this sort of thing has been happening more and more this year. I feel like I’m losing my mind. But I’m trying to noodle it out and basically chalk it up to the fact that I am trying to do the best that I can under the present circumstances. I don’t think I’m a perfectionist, but I do have high standards for myself. I expect mistakes and expect to learn from them. Is feeling down about neglecting some of my students perfectionism? I think that is what it is; I feel like all of my students suffer from neglect at least at some point during the day. I can not sit all of them around a table and have them physically within arms reach. When they are being positioned and changed, those not needing positioning are hanging loose. When teaching those who are less disabled, I can barely include those who are more involved because they all need intense instruction!
Horace’s Compromise (or at least the dilemma described therein) has officially arrived in my classroom.
New Project – My Backyard October 14, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Blogging, Linux, moving on.add a comment
In the interest of fairness, I’m unveiling my latest blogging project. Longtime readers know that I occasionally blog about Linux, and sometimes people actually read it.! It’s a small niche project and I enjoy being part of that little niche community. While more eyeballs land on this blog day-in and day-out, blogging for and about enthusiasts is quite an adventure.
Here, I write for and about my life in the world of exceptionalities, professionally and personally. It’s been a total labor of love, and I enjoy it. In the early days, as an anonymous blogger it was a great place to vent my spleen about being a teacher and a parent. Then I came out as “me” and made this accessible to everyone. And several people in the higher echelons were not well pleased with many of my opinions and writings. So I find myself still trying to find a voice of passion that is still acceptable professionally. Not an easy tightrope to walk upon! And this is a source of frustration in my writing here, since it often feels stilted. There’s definitely a pall of oppression that weights things down in my present teaching circumstances.
There are going to be changes, no doubt. I’ll write more on those as we go along, but in the interest of disclosure I’m unveiling a new blog: My Backyard. This is where my interests in science, nature and agriculture can come together and hopefully find expression. Plus, it’s a place where I might be able to post on-topic pictures without running afoul of FERPA or HIPAA or any other privacy/confidentiality laws!
The whole beekeeping bug bit while I was helping Thomas with a school project a month or so ago. He had drawn the topic of “wasps” for a report and we started researching and took a few pictures in the backyard and pit together a little power point. I then extended the research to bees, in general, and…well, the rest is already blogged over there!
This place isn’t going dark, by any means. I still have the GAA to finish! Plus I want to blog my last 10 years “by the numbers.” You’ll know it when you see it. But if things slack off here even more than they already have, you’ll know why!
D.
Getting the GAA Finished October 3, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Alternate Assessment, Curriculum, Special Ed., Special Education, severe disabilities.2 comments
My goal is to finish my entire GAA before Christmas. It’s a lofty goal, but it is totally possible. In order to have any realistic shot at it, though, I need to have all of collection #1 finished before the end of this month. So how am I doing?
I’m over half finished, but I’m being reminded as to why it is a serious mistake to wait on data collection for these things. Murphy likes to set up camp right in the middle of one’s plans. The more urgent, the more likely things will go wrong. In this case, it happens to be the flu. The same thing happened last year with one of my students. He missed more school while I was working on GAA activities than in the previous 2 years combined! And so it is this year as I have a student who has been out a couple of weeks due to the flu. Plus we had a flood day, and who knows what other natural disasters, delays and issues will crop up?
This is why a body has to ruthlessly hack, chop, fight and claw through this process with as much speed and efficiency as practical. Stuff happens, and the longer things are put off, the more stress that will visit later.
I’ve written my basic outline on a planning sheet, and am busy checking off as I go. The lesson plans feed into the GAA tasks and follow the outline I’ve mapped out. Next month, while waiting for the 3 week lag to pass before laying into collection #2, I’ll do some alternative activities that also fit the GAA plan. so in a sense, I’ll have a parallel portfolio of other tasks to use in the future, if necessary.
With my present numbers and the severity of my students, it is difficult to do anything outside of a couple of tasks per day. Every student needs changing, every one needs feeding and most of them need to be positioned/repositioned throughout the day. Plus I have 2 new paras to train and an old para who came back after it took 8 years to get rid of her. So it is a major challenge just to keep the fires out.
So when it comes to nailing down a given GAA task, it is best to plan on doing the same task multiple times. It’s unlikely that all students will be there for a single take, and it is also unlikely that you’ll get a decent or usable collection on the very first trial. so I generally schedule 2-3 tasks over 2-3 days in order to have multiple opportunities to get it. I’m also an opportunist when it comes to grabbing data and using resources. This is another reason to get all over a basic collection. Sometimes, something better comes along and you have a chance to jump on it.
For instance, I was doing some listening/speaking/viewing activities with the Gotalk with a student, when the SLP came in. I quickly got her to work with my GAA students on the required task, and got pictures and data to go along with it. Things just clicked into place. I like to get a variety of people involved, including OT’s, APE teachers, and other therapists. The idea is to incorporate a lot of diversity into the mix so there are several options and pieces of evidence to choose from. It also looks good on the final product, because it illustrates that this isn’t just a one-time deal and reflects superior teaching practices. If you are all stressed about just getting the thing done, you may miss these opportunities because of sheer stress. What the knobs who are pushing for “accountability” fail to see is that no one performs at their best if they are overly stressed. This assessment is not assessing students, it is assessing teachers. So get it it done quickly and then keep improving it as time passes. With increased revisions, it does get better, but you can not revise and improve what you have not already finished! I find that having a time line and calendar helps. It keeps me focused on daily goals and tasks rather than being overwhelmed by this big, huge thing hanging over me. It’s easier to make progress when it isn’t looming so large.
That being said, it is looming large! And having a student absent fir a long period of time does derail my little calendar. At first, I wanted to hold everyone up, so we could all move through together. But I couldn’t wait forever, so I tried to do some of the easier tasks that were most differentiated across participants, which for me is the ELA speaking/listening tasks. Science and social studies seem to lend themselves to more group work, but I’m not waiting anymore. We’re going to go ahead and plant our plants and move on.
And remember as Murphy is fond of saying: As bad as things may seem at the moment, they can always get worse, and they probably will. So you might as well enjoy the moment!
Hopefully, the rest of you teachers are progressing along! Good luck!
National Autism Center Report October 2, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Autism/Asperger's, Behavior Analysis, Ed Policy Discussion, Teachers, Therapy.add a comment
Before I even get into anything about the report itself, I do want to mention that actually getting a copy of the report involves submitting your name, email and state. I looked for any privacy notices regarding this information, but didn’t see any. So before even reading it, I resolved that I was going to mention this hoop that everyone must jump through. I think it is needless and detrimental to the stated primary mission of the organization which is to help professionals and families of individuals with autism. If you’re going to release the report to the public, then release it. If you’re going to harvest information from people who want to see the information, then be explicit about that.
Parent Involvement August 27, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Ed Policy Discussion, IEP, Parent Support, Parents and parenting, Special Education, home schooling, severe disabilities.comments closed
There’s a huge push in Georgia and around the country relating to parent involvement, and right this minute there is one going on in the metro Atlanta area sponsored by WSB-TV and Bethere.org. And there is a lot of research that indicates that parent involvement is one of the key elements of a good education as well as well adjusted kids in general, that you can find at the BeThere website.
In my county, there are a couple of theme schools (elementary and middle) as well as a high school academy that have parental involvement as the central focus. Parents sign an agreement that they will volunteer for a number of hours as well as adhere to a list of rules and guidelines. In exchange, the school promises to deliver a better education and better outcomes based largely on the increased parent involvement.
I agree that parental involvement is a crucial element in education. In fact, I believe parent involvement is more important than the teacher, the principal or the school district in determining academic outcomes. If you could get rid of the entire educational apparatus and replace it with involved parents for every child, there wouldn’t be an educational crisis in this country.
I have a couple of family members who have been home schooling their children, and these kids are absolutely awesome and brilliant. Of course the parents are awesome and brilliant, too, but these kids are as socially adjusted, confident and creative as anyone you would ever meet anywhere else. A well-educated and motivated parent can do things that a school system simply can not do. And with the leaps in technology, the gap between what public schools can offer versus what someone educated at home can get is approaching zero. Throw in some community theater, music, sports and clubs and you’ve got everything pretty much covered. Homeschooling is the ultimate in parent involvement as it involves dedication and commitment far beyond what any of the local theme schools demand, which is why it isn’t for everyone.
We’ve kicked the home school idea around our house. Jane has been to some home school expos and has a number of friends who are homeschooling their kids. And my youngest would do really well with it, but he’ll do well no matter where he goes to school. But my oldest is a big question mark. Right now he’s getting OT and sppech/language services through the school system via his IEP. There’s a good resource on home schooling and special needs found at the Home Schooling Legal Defense Association. I may hit on that more later.
But I do want to speak concerning those of us who are not home schooling and are being asked to be involved. It’s difficult for responsible parents to NOT be involved, so this movement does strike me as a bit bothersome and condescending. We all do know parents who aren’t very involved, but it’s hard to imagine any ad campaign having much of an effect on people who are unable or unwilling to be involved. We do need to face a very real, if unpleasant to educators, fact: the public school system has as a primary function a custodial role; a safe, secure place to keep kids so that parents can go to work or just get a break. We are paid to babysit as much as educate.
There, I said it.
Public schools exist, in large part, because parents don’t want kids running amok all day. A few months off in the summer are about all most parents can stand. They love seeing the bus pull up in the fall! And while many kids won’t admit it, they like having a place to go. they get fed and looked after and if all goes well they might get an education. But in any case, they are in a relatively safe, clean, environmentally-controlled place. Parents can go about their business during the day without having to worry about their kids. And if they do worry, they have a myriad of people to blame and complain to including the school board, the superintendent, the principal and right down to the teacher. There are ample opportunities for parents to raise a fuss and be heard. Plenty of involvement there!
Which brings up another aspect of this parental involvement business. Fact is, schools want parents involved as long as it’s the system calling the shots. As long as parents volunteer to raise money, schools like parents. When parents start wanting a voice in how the money is spent, then there may some problems. In special education, the school system is negatively reinforced for having parents who are not involved. If a parent isn’t present, an IEP can be done in a much shorter amount of time. If a parent is involved and brings an advocate or attorney, then we’re looking at hours. Some parents are in the office a lot, advocating for their child or complaining about something or other. Some are calling their board representative all the time. They are already involved quite a bit! But this is not the sort of involvement the districts involved in the “Be There” campaign are looking for, I suspect.
They are looking for parents to be involved with helping their child comply and succeed with the requirements put forth by the state. They want parents who will help their child (as well as maybe others) with homework, teaching math and literacy and fundraising. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but I am saying that any campaign seeking involvement from parents might want to consider all the ways parents are involved, including those who get involved by suing the school system! I think parent involvement is good when there is good communication and trust between a school and the parents. In such a system, though, a campaign like “Be There” wouldn’t be necessary.
I have a mix in my class. Just by the nature of severe and multiple disabilities, it demands heavy parental involvement. There’s just no getting around it when a student demands total care and supervision 24/7. I totally get that, which is why I try not to make a lot of demands on the parents. They are all doing the best they can. Most have been pretty supportive over the years, and I think I have a decent relationship with all of them. After several years, a body tends to develop a sort of trust relationship as my classroom becomes a second home of a sort. A very CROWDED home, at the moment, but we do the best we can with what we have.
What do you think? Are there some parents who are too involved? Are schools really that interested in a reciprocal partnership with parents?
GAA Tips and Tricks August 20, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Alternate Assessment, Educational Technology, Special Education.comments closed
I just had a local teacher email me asking for some hints on doing a GAA with a student with profound disabilities. Is it possible? Yes it is, and I’ve done it more than once, each time successfully. I could get a potato through the GAA and show progress.
It’s a bit of a charade, but it’s possible to get anyone through the GAA as long as you have an open mind! Even if the student is in a coma, they can do a GAA and show progress. I know it’s stupid, but as long as we’re all willing to wink and carry on and follow the rules, I’m willing to try to keep my outrage to a minimum. Just don’t change the rules.
At this point, you’ll have to look at the academic standards for the student’s grade level from the 2009-2010 blueprint. I just scrolled down to the 7th grade standards and they are not too far off from what I do at the high school. So I’ll give you a basic setup on some possible tasks:
ELA #1 – Reading comprehension: I think every grade has some sort of reading comprehension. At the high school, we have specific areas, like American literature, nonfiction or poetry. Basically, I pick a book or story that has some support with it, or that it will be easy to make things for. During the first collection period, I read the story to the student and have him point to some of the pictures. Take pictures of him pointing, or (better yet) of you holding his hands pointing. You want to keep the baseline very low at this point. Of course, if he can point independently, sure go with that. But for someone who is seriously profound you will be hand-over-hand. Get pictures of this. The second task involves watching a movie to TV show of the story. Same rules apply, where I get pictures of the student watching and perhaps being physically prompted to touch the screen. Keep it all pretty simple and low tech. Remember, this is a baseline and you’ll have to show progress from this point.
ELA #2 – listening, speaking, viewing – I think everyone has this one, too. I have one task that involves a basic scripted conversation: “Hi”, “How are you” I’m fine” and “Goodbye.” This is pretty basic and can be done with a step-by-step single switch or a Gotalk 4+ or similar device. This is the one time where you might try to use audio or video, because the conversation is already scripted and programmed. But I stick to captioned photographs, because I like that medium of data collection and it has always worked for me. The second task could be a different way of giving information or answering questions. I like something like requesting food, because that opens me up to generalization later. We can start at the school cafeteria (or home or hospital) and then expand to ordering at a restaurant during that second collection period thus showing progress and generalization. I’m always thinking of how to increase the level of independence, sophistication or achievement in order to show progress. Actual achievement is the variable that I have the least amount of control and certainty over, so I program progress into it by increasing independence and sophistication using technology. Collection period #1 is very low tech and very simple. Collection period #2 gets very technologically sophisticated and fancy.
Algebra – I usually use modeling addition, but we’re still on QCC standards at the high school, so you’ll have something different. But the basic template is the same. Pick two tasks that demonstrate the same concept and keep it very simple for the first collection period, and use hand-over-hand. During the second collection, you can hook a switch to a laptop and do all sorts of cool things. As long as the student can hit the switch (with or without your help) they can show progress.
Geometry – I’m all about doing stuff with shapes. Again, collection period one involves drawing hand-over-hand and pointing to shapes hand-over-hand. The second collection period involved using a computer and a switch to do some different things more independently. Getting the student to become a switch user is a big key, here.
Social studies – This used to be difficult for me, until they opened up all the standards. Looking at the 7th grade blueprint, you have some nice options. We picked Mexico and did a ton of activities surrounding that place and culture. Collection period #1 involved just looking at books and video, where collection #2 involved doing activities and accessing material using the computer and technology. We actually had so much fun, that we sort of went “around the world” and did a mess of countries and cultures, and talked about food, music and traditions.
Science – I’ve done both biology and physical science tasks and the key is finding sufficient things to support what you’ll do in the second collection period and two separate tasks. Again, one task could involve reading a book or watching a video while the other involved actually doing something with some material. For biology, we planted some seeds, and this was the activity for collection period #1. Collection period 2 involved watering, measuring and perhaps comparing two different plants or similar plants under different conditions. Timing it tricky with live plants as if you start too late, your plants might catch the frost! Start too early, and your administrator might have issues with the dating of the material compared to the rest of your subjects. You’ll have to watch the 3 week window.
A lot of things I’ve said might not make any sense to you right now, but hopefully you’ll get some basic GAA training that will flesh this process out for you. There’s a bunch of niggling rules and details I’m skipping over, but my experience is that planning and designing the tasks is the hardest part. Once that is done, the other stuff fits in and things can be adjusted.
At this point in time, look for whatever it is you think you might want to use for your reading comprehension. See what other grade-level teachers are using. Then, see if you can find an adaptation of it, such as a graphic novel. Also, if there is a movie of it, you’ll have a nice package. For instance, Frankenstein has many adaptations. If you go to the Significant Disability GA DOE Website, and scroll way down, you’ll find a whole unit of activities that uses this story.
Hope this helps!
I
At this point, you’ll have to look at the academic standards for the student’s grade level from the 2009-2010 blueprint. I just scrolled down to the 7th grade standards and they are not too far off from what I do at the high school. So I’ll give you a basic setup on some possible tasks:
ELA #1 – Reading comprehension: I think every grade has some sort of reading comprehension. At the high school, we have specific areas, like American literature, nonfiction or poetry. Basically, I pick a book or story that has some support with it, or that it will be easy to make things for. During the first collection period, I read the story to the student and have him point to some of the pictures. Take pictures of him pointing, or (better yet) of you holding his hands pointing. You want to keep the baseline very low at this point. Of course, if he can point independently, sure go with that. But for someone who is seriously profound you will be hand-over-hand. Get pictures of this. The second task involves watching a movie to TV show of the story. Same rules apply, where I get pictures of the student watching and perhaps being physically prompted to touch the screen. Keep it all pretty simple and low tech. Remember, this is a baseline and you’ll have to show progress from this point.
ELA #2 – listening, speaking, viewing – I think everyone has this one, too. I have one task that involves a basic scripted conversation: “Hi”, “How are you” I’m fine” and “Goodbye.” This is pretty basic and can be done with a step-by-step single switch or a Gotalk 4+ or similar device. This is the one time where you might try to use audio or video, because the conversation is already scripted and programmed. But I stick to captioned photographs, because I like that medium of data collection and it has always worked for me. The second task could be a different way of giving information or answering questions. I like something like requesting food, because that opens me up to generalization later. We can start at the school cafeteria (or home or hospital) and then expand to ordering at a restaurant during that second collection period thus showing progress and generalization. I’m always thinking of how to increase the level of independence, sophistication or achievement in order to show progress. Actual achievement is the variable that I have the least amount of control and certainty over, so I program progress into it by increasing independence and sophistication using technology. Collection period #1 is very low tech and very simple. Collection period #2 gets very technologically sophisticated and fancy.
Algebra – I usually use modeling addition, but we’re still on QCC standards at the high school, so you’ll have something different. But the basic template is the same. Pick two tasks that demonstrate the same concept and keep it very simple for the first collection period, and use hand-over-hand. During the second collection, you can hook a switch to a laptop and do all sorts of cool things. As long as the student can hit the switch (with or without your help) they can show progress.
Geometry – I’m all about doing stuff with shapes. Again, collection period one involves drawing hand-over-hand and pointing to shapes hand-over-hand. The second collection period involved using a computer and a switch to do some different things more independently. Getting the student to become a switch user is a big key, here.
Social studies – This used to be difficult for me, until they opened up all the standards. Looking at the 7th grade blueprint, you have some nice options. We picked Mexico and did a ton of activities surrounding that place and culture. Collection period #1 involved just looking at books and video, where collection #2 involved doing activities and accessing material using the computer and technology. We actually had so much fun, that we sort of went “around the world” and did a mess of countries and cultures, and talked about food, music and traditions.
Science – I’ve done both biology and physical science tasks and the key is finding sufficient things to support what you’ll do in the second collection period and two separate tasks. Again, one task could involve reading a book or watching a video while the other involved actually doing something with some material. For biology, we planted some seeds, and this was the activity for collection period #1. Collection period 2 involved watering, measuring and perhaps comparing two different plants or similar plants under different conditions. Timing it tricky with live plants as if you start too late, your plants might catch the frost! Start too early, and your administrator might have issues with the dating of the material compared to the rest of your subjects. You’ll have to watch the 3 week window.
A lot of things I’ve said might not make any sense to you right now, but hopefully you’ll get some basic GAA training that will flesh this process out for you. There’s a bunch of niggling rules and details I’m skipping over, but my experience is that planning and designing the tasks is the hardest part. Once that is done, the other stuff fits in and things can be adjusted.
At this point in time, look for whatever it is you think you might want to use for your reading comprehension. See what other grade-level teachers are using. Then, see if you can find an adaptation of it, such as a graphic novel. Also, if there is a movie of it, you’ll have a nice package. For instance, Frankenstein has many adaptations. If you go to the Significant Disability GA DOE Website, and scroll way down, you’ll find a whole unit of activities that uses this story.
Hope this helps get you started. I’ll keep blogging as I go, and will add more tips that I stumble upon (as well as vent!). Feel free to toss out any other questions you might have. It’s a lot of work, but is doable. I got my scores from last year with a student who was my lowest EVER (as well as was multiply impaired in many ways) and I got the best scores ever! I just have to remember to not get too worked up about it, emotionally.
Fitting Education to Students’ Needs August 18, 2009
Posted by Daniel Dage in Curriculum, Ed Policy Discussion, Learning Disabilities, Parent Support, Regular Ed, Special Ed., Special Education, severe disabilities.comments closed
This article by Jay Matthews from the Washington Post does a good job of summarizing just exactly why the special education field is so litigious and combative. Even when a parent does all of the right things, follows all of the procedures and attempts to work with the school system to best meet the needs of their children, the school system still finds a way to screw parents and neglect the student. So now everyone has to get a lawyer, which helps drive up the cost of education even higher.
Even though I’m employed by the school system, I do see part of my job as advocating and helping to protect parents from a system that would otherwise trample them to smithereens. Now with a tough economy and declining revenues, school systems are having to set their priorities more rigidly, and we are reminded as to why the IDEA, ADA and the Rehabilitation Act are all needed. It’s needed to protect the rights of those who otherwise would be left behind. In our Soviet-Style education system,
Our educational system is essentially a Soviet-style government-run monopoly that could only be loved by the likes of Lenin and Stalin.
the educational needs of individual students are subverted in order to accommodate the priorities of the larger state community. The national government curriculum that is being developed is not being designed with the needs of my students in mind. If your son or daughter does not fall within the “average” range, it’s not being developed with them in mind either. Basically, the more nationalized, homogenized and standardized the educational system gets, the less tolerant it is toward individual needs and differences.
So while the lawyers go back and forth, Miguel either remains in his public school, and falls further and further behind. Or his family goes destitute in an effort to privately finance the education that he so desperately needs, while the school system continues to tax its citizens for an education that is not meeting the needs of its most needy citizens.
There are things I don’t understand about Miguel’s case. First of all, his mother was able to get an independent evaluation (several of them, actually) and the school system seemed to reject all of them. In light of a recent supreme court ruling, it seems as though the school system is clearly in the wrong because they are refusing to identify Miguel as Learning Disabled, despite clear and overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This case seems to mirror that case identically (Forrest Grove School District v T.A. 2009) or at least up to the stage where Miguel begins attending a private school. I thought the school system had their own team of lawyers? How can they be so ignorant?
Basically, the school system attempts to keep the gate shut by refusing to identify individuals has having learning disabilities at all. This is happening all over the country more and more as Response To Intervention (RTI) begins to be more widely and irresponsibly used to deny and delay services. Second, even after an individual is identified, the school system often drags its feet on actually serving the student. And finally, often when services are provided, it is often executed very poorly by individuals who may or may not be highly qualified. Or in some cases, the conditions under which services are delivered make such services ineffective such as in an area that is overcrowded.
The only thing I can recommend to parents is to push back against the tide that threatens to roll over your children. Institutions can be extremely insensitive until you are willing and able to inflict some substantial pain upon them, usually in the form of monetary damages. While I work for such an institution, my primary concern is for the student and his/her needs, not the needs of collective machinery at the board office or even the administrative office in the building where I work. I believe my fellow teachers who work with the students every day feel the same way. I do feel mostly supported by my peers and the parents of my students. But by administrators and legislators? Not so much. My students fall outside of the margins of the masses and the many and as a result so do I. My needs are foreign and intrusive because my students are regarded as foreign and intrusive. So this year, I am pushing back more. I dislike having to be combative, ornery, whiny and demanding. However, NOT doing so results in nothing happening except an already poor situation deteriorating even further. Somewhere, I have to draw the line and attempt to hold it.
On a more positive note, I have had the opportunity to speak to several classes of regular education teachers and students regarding many of the noises they hear from my students and classroom. It has been extremely positively received. I find myself more and more impressed by the “regular” kids after speaking to them and addressing their concerns and questions. Prior to visiting, there were a lot of complaints from teachers to administrators about the loudness of my group. Hopefully as the year goes on, we can minimize that loudness as the students (both mine and the rest of the school) adjust to a new schedule and new people.
