Special Education Today

3 September 2010

Economic Stimulus Funds Fuel Development of Common State Assessments

Filed under: NCLB/ESEA, Race to the Top, U.S. Department of Education — Sarah Willis @ 1:32 pm

One of the most popular criticisms of No Child Left Behind is its emphasis on standardized assessments. In part, the concerns about these tests result from NCLB’s requirement that each state develop its own curriculum and achievement standards and its own test to judge student performance. As a result, there are 50 different standards and 50 different tests, which make it impossible to compare how students are performing across the nation.

Yesterday, in hopes of addressing this criticism, the U.S. Department of Education, as a part of the Race to the Top Program, awarded $330 million to two groups of states, which have each agreed to create a common assessment, based on the Common Core Standards. The Common Core Standards were developed under the leadership of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers over the past two years. CEC’s Policy Insider has detailed the two assessment plans and the Common Core Standards process over the past year.

So far, 36 states have chosen to adopt the Common Core Standards in math and English/language arts. While the move toward common standards and assessments is voluntary – states can choose to participate – the significance is revolutionary for the field of education which has debated national standards and national tests for decades.

The new tests will be ready for field testing in 2013-2014 school year and fully implemented in the 2014-2015 school year. Again, it is important to point out that the federal government is not requiring states to adopt these tests, but based on the widespread acceptance of Common Core Standards, many states are expected to do so. CEC, along with other national disability organizations, commented during the Common Core Standards process and is closely monitoring the work on these new assessments to understand how they will impact students with disabilities.

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2 September 2010

Open Society Institute Mental Health Initiative

Filed under: Uncategorized — EBD Blog @ 8:57 pm

Sometimes folks lose sight of the fact that disability and mental health issues are international in scope. They’re not confined just to one’s own neighborhood, locality, geopolitical area, etc. Fortunately, there are groups that transcend borders (you can probably think of the names of some well-know organizations that function internationally), and there are some in [...]

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i hope i didn’t just jinx it all

Filed under: Reflections, teaching — Sarah @ 7:01 pm

Things have been going well. Suspiciously well.

I'm the only one of the three deaf ed. teachers that has an AWESOME general ed team to work with. The first grade teacher that I work with is so nice and so easy to get along with. She's in her sixties and she's still a fantastic teacher! We plan for and teach Science together and so far it's been super fun.

The mandatory lesson plan format that we need to turn in to the principal every week has changed so that it's actually a working document I can teach from! No more double lesson planning!!

I get to work with an aide this year! Two adults in the room for six children during Language Arts.... it doesn't get much better than that!

I'm on top of my data collection (to chart progress) for the first time in.... oh, ever.

I like each of my kids and there are NO behavior problems that are beyond me!!

So far, it's shaping up to be a great year... go knock on some wood for me!

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Gerls Rock Tour Continues in Arizona

Filed under: Uncategorized — Jim Gerl @ 3:27 pm

My newly named Gerls Rock 2010 Tour for special education continues.

I am attending the Arizona Directors Conference. I have run into some old friends, and I met some readers for the first time.

Also, I was honored to meet the inspirational Jonathan Mooney. A former special ed student, he graduated from Brown University and he has written two books.

Jonathan also has a fresh approach to education featuring the importance of self-concept, of connection over content.

I was pleased to learn that Jonathan was a reader of this blog. He has agreed to a future interview.

More soon.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from U.S. Cellular

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I Accept My Fate!

Filed under: life, teaching — Special Ed. @ 3:29 am

Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula (B.K.A. Captain Archer from Star Trek Enterprise), ran from 1989-1994. This, along with Sliders, Babylon 5 are my favoritest Sci-fi shows ever. Why? It’s because I love the time travel element of this show. Surprisingly I’m not going to talk about time travel today. For this post I want to focus on the last episode.

The show revolves around Dr. Samuel Beckett, a quantum physicist who wants to experience time travel in his own lifetime. Well, he gets his wish as he “leaps” around in time into other people’s bodies correcting history’s mistakes. When he looks in the mirror he sees the face of the person whose body he is inhabiting, while the person inhabits his body in the “waiting room” in the future. So, needless to say, he leaped around for 5 years. During that time he did not see his reflection. That is, until the final episode. He leaps into himself @ some unknown location & finally sees his reflection. He can’t believe it. He’s aged. He’s graying. But, that is not the most important part. The most important part is that he sees his reflection.

Sam believes there’s a higher power “leaping” him around. The person he encounters, Al, tells him there is no higher power leaping him around; that he’s leaping himself around. Al tells Sam that if he could just accept that he’s the one leaping himself around, he could return home. Sam cannot. That would mean, to him, that there is no higher power. Sam does not accept it, so he does not return home. Al also tells him that the leaps are going to get harder. Sam cries, but accepts his fate.

That, my dear reader, is me. Today, I simply closed my eyes & accepted my fate. This is the second time I’m coming into a situation where I have to clean up someone else’s mess. The teacher I’m replacing was on her way out because, well, basically she was lazy & not doing her job. It is my belief that I am going to spend the next couple of years cleaning up & fixing the messes of other teachers. I am not purposely “leaping” myself into these situations. I keep finding myself in situations where I have to keep starting over. I’m tired. I want some type of stability, but fear that will not happen.

I’m tired, but I have closed my eyes & accepted my fate!

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1 September 2010

On the Principal’s Job

Filed under: DC Public Schools, Teacher Sol's Lifestory, Teachers/ Educators — Maria Angala, NBCT @ 11:35 pm

After getting reconnected with my relatives and friends since I started Facebook last January, I found my first cousin (Kuya Lito) on FB last night, my oldest cousin on my father's side, who said that the last time he saw me was when I was a freshman in highschool, LOL. During our childhood, my cousins and I used to frequent our private beach resort back home (Sera Sol, Philippines), building sand castles, swimming, exploring the coral reefs during low tide and resting under the coconut trees on a hammock. Unfortunately, we went our separate ways and lost communication with each other after we graduated from HS, college is indeed life changing. Now after having found each other on FB we are planning on a grand reunion soon, yay!!! I guess it's true what they say, home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to. This one photo our beach resort that I tagged my brothers, sisters and paternal cousins triggered a never ending thread of comments, we so missed each other. Kuya Lito is now a school principal, and I will have my share of stories too as a school administrator (that was before I left home) when we see each other. I know that a principal who serves as an instructional leader is of immense value to any school.

I have been here in DC Public Schools, in the same school, for six years now and have had five principals. The turn over of administrators is just unbelievable!! If it is best for students and teachers, I cannot say that, we need stability. Over the years I have seen that the role of the principal and the nature of school leadership are being redefined as increasing numbers of schools turn to total quality schools, teaming, restructuring, peer coaching, and other paradigm shifts. But I believe that a non-threatening, high achieving school climate is key to a successful school. While some principals are more talented leaders than others, the quality of the teacher-principal relationship greatly influences the overall school climate, which in turn affects the students' success in the classroom.

We have just started the advent of school year, and yet anyone can sense that there is something different in my school...and it's good. I have seen that the less friction and stress between the principal and teachers, the more enjoyable we all find our jobs. We need each other to succeed, and when the principal and teachers can work in harmony students are ultimately the winners. No one gains and ultimately students lose when a poisonous, adversarial relationship exists between principal and teachers.

In my school things are looking good, we are looking forward to a great school year as we welcome our enthusiastic Instructional Coach, Ms. Alethea Felton (she has more positive energy than I do!) and a wonderful Instructional Leader who will help us bring back the pride at Jefferson, Principal Patricia Pride...could her name be a sign that she is the one who is going to give us what this school needs?.

I am a very hopeful person and I am keeping the faith.

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Another list of blogs and sites

Filed under: Uncategorized — Teach Effectively! @ 6:30 am

Over on The Teaching Master, a blogger identified as Dana gave a shout out to Teach Effectively in a post entitled “Top 50 Blogs for Teaching Tips, Ideas and Inspiration.” Teaching can be tough job. Teachers work hard, and sometimes do not get always get [sic] the recognition and pay they deserve. But, at the same [...]

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Did You See The L.A. Times Article (Value-Added Analysis) on Teacher Effectiveness? (Yes, That L.A. Times Article!)

Filed under: In the know!!, life, teaching — Special Ed. @ 3:13 am

I recently came across the L.A. Times article that’s been causing quite a stir. It’s a collaboration (of sorts) with The L.A. Times & L.A.U.S.D. I’m trying to be objective, but it’s really hard when I see teachers on there, that I know are good teachers, being maligned & publicly embarrassed.

This “system” is very, very, very flawed. The scores, which range from Least Effective (the worst) to Most Effective, are wholly based on the CSTs.

What job do you know that is based on ONE test. I understand the CSTs are important, but not important enough to publicly embarrass good teachers the way L.A.US.D. & The L.A. Times is doing.

*** Let me start from the CST categories from the beginning. Firstly, there are 600 points possible. There’s the Far Below Basic (FBB) category (150-258 points), Below Basic (BB) category (259-299), Basic (B) category (300-349), Proficient (P) category (350-401), Advance (A) category (402-600).

*** The numbers above are from a 3rd grade STAR Student Report. The numbers differ from grade to grade.***

Most, if not all Special Education students, fall into the FBB & BB category. So, the Special Education teachers will always score in the Least Effective-Less Effective category. There are many factors that are not taken into consideration. What about students who have made significant progress. One of my students had a major, major leap of +96 points and went from FBB to B in Math. In English/Language Arts, he had a gain of +61 points. That is unheard of.

One of my other students had a +41 point gain (Which is also incredible), but he stayed in the same category of FBB. If I were “graded” according to the article, I would rank in the Least Effective Category even though my student made substantial gains. Not everyone has such phenomenal success like that, but that is not the point that I’m trying to make. The point I’m trying to make is that none of my student’s successes would be taken into account if they stayed in the same category. Great strides like those my students made should be taken into account, as well as many other factors.

There were so many teachers in the Least Effective Category who should not have been. My husband & I were talking about “bad” teachers & “good” teachers & how to tell the difference! That’s a post for tomorrow. See you then!

If you would like to know more, here are some links here, here, here, here, and here.

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31 August 2010

I Had The Naked @ School Dream!

Filed under: life, teaching — Special Ed. @ 4:32 am

I had the Teacher’s equivalent of the naked at school dream. I was there on time, but somehow got lost, so I ended up being late & picking up my class last. I was totally unprepared, didn’t have any of the materials I needed, the Principal was micromanaging me, & worst of all, my students wouldn’t listen to me. Boy was I happy when I woke up!!!

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30 August 2010

10 Special Ed “Back To School” Readiness Questions

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It’s “back to school” time! While many of my clients receive Extended School Year (ESY) services over the summer, I have learned over the years in my special education law practice that, regardless of whether your child receives ESY services, a number of things can occur over a summer that might impact his or her special education needs. Those changes may well call into the question the appropriateness of his or her special education program for the regular school year. Since a child’s IEP is typically developed at the end of the prior school year, it is very important that you review and revisit the question of its appropriateness in the Fall.

Significant changes in a child’s performance, behavior, or diagnosis might necessitate revisions to the IEP, or might even demonstrate the need for one if none presently exists.

Following is a list of 10 questions which you should ask yourself right around the beginning of the new school year. Significant progress or regression might require a change in the program, or at minimum a revision of the annual goals. It is your right as a parent to ask that an IEP Team Meeting be convened, even if it is not time for your child’s Annual Review.

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” it is probably a good time to ask for an IEP Meeting to review your child’s new program and placement:

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1. Have you obtained or received any new evaluations of your child over the summer?

2. Have you obtained or received any new diagnoses of your child over the summer?

3. Did your child make significant progress over the summer?

4. Did your child regress over the summer academically, behaviorally, or functionally?

5. Were there any important changes to your child’s medications over the summer?

6. Is your child about to turn 16? If so, double check the IEP to make sure that his or her IEP includes proper Transition Services and goals.

7. Is your child about to reach the age of majority? If so, has anybody from the public schools discussed the Transfer of Rights with him or her? If you don’t believe your child is capable of making his or her own educational decisions after the Transfer of Rights has occurred, it is time to take the appropriate and necessary legal action to secure legal decision-making authority for him or her.

8. Did the IEP Team which met at the end of the prior school year recommend any testing, reviews, or follow-up in the Fall? If so, it’s time to get that meeting on the books now.

9. Are there any unexpected changes to your child’s program or school that were unknown to you at the prior IEP meeting?

10. Did new concerns, behaviors or issues develop in your child over the summer which were not discussed at the end of the year IEP Meeting?

Backpack with school supplies

Just as you get ready with new clothes and supplies, so too should you be considering whether you are “special education ready” for the new year.

Unfortunately, I have seen so many cases where year after year is lost because matters “slipped through the cracks” or because it took longer than necessary for the IEP Team to get together to review updated information. If you are diligent about considering these issues early into the school year, every year, you are far more likely to have positive results.

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Boardmaker Studio Trial

Filed under: 30-day Trial, Boardmaker Studio, free, mayer-johnson — Patrick Black @ 7:25 pm

For those of you who are on Window's computers and are interested in trying out a free trial of Boardmaker Studio, you can head over to Mayer-Johnson.com and get one. The free trial of Boardmaker Studio is available now for download.

Boardmaker Studio 30-Day free trial

Patrick

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and then I choked down the giggles

Filed under: Kids Say, teaching — Sarah @ 6:46 pm

Today I was working with a student from the general ed first grade class. It was just me and him. He's a struggling student and we were working on a phonemic awareness activity.

"Cat," I said. "What sound do you hear at the beginning of c-c-c-at?"

He thought for a while, then answered: "C !!"

"You're right: "c" is the first letter in the word "cat". Can you think of the sound that the letter "c" makes?"

He thought some more, then said...

"meow?"

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PDK/Gallup Annual Poll Shows Disconnect Between Parents Hopes for Students and Actual Outcomes

Filed under: NCLB/ESEA — Sarah Willis @ 1:52 pm

American parents overwhelmingly -- and more than any other time in history -- want their children to attend college, according to an annual poll jointly conducted by Gallup and Phi Delta Kappa International. The PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools has been conducted since 1969. The 2010 findings are based on telephone interviews conducted in June 2010 with a national sample of 1,008 American adults.

This year, approximately 92% of parents stated they believe their child will attend college. Unfortunately, the reality is that probably only 30% will begin college and even less will graduate. Although the Poll did not distinguish between parents of students with and without disabilities, this overall finding again raises the issue that students with disabilities tend to drop out at twice the rate of students without disabilities. While that figure has dropped slightly over the last 10 years, it remains a significant concern.

Some new trends identified by the Poll are the increasing support for charter schools, and thoughts about teacher performance. When asked, 68% of parents polled stated they favored charter schools and while they believed teachers should be judged to some degree by student achievement, they believe the primary purpose for teacher evaluations should be to help teachers improve and not to fire them. CEC has been working over the last two years to understand how charter schools and pay for performance will impact students with disabilities and the professionals who work on their behalf. To view CEC’s recommendations on these two topics, among others, view our ESEA Recommendations.

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Big Changes to §504: Do They Affect Special Education – Part III

Filed under: 504, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Gerl, Special Education, education, law, special education law — Jim Gerl @ 11:30 am

Image via Wikipedia

In previous posts we have examined why Congress made changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act and §504. Now were ready to discuss some of the changes:

- The definition of major life activities has been expanded to include major bodily functions, sleeping, standing, lifting,bending, reading, concentrating, thinking and communicating.

- Impairments that are episodic or in remission is considered a disability if it would substantially limit a major life activity when active.

- The determination of whether an impairment substantially limits a major life activity must be made without regard to the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures such as medication, medical supplies, ...low vision devices (not including ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses), prosthetics, hearing aids, cochlear implants, ...the use of assertive technology, ... learned behavioral or adaptive neurological modifications... 42 USC §12102(4)(E).

- a relaxed definition of substantial limitation.

These are the big changes. In the next post on this series, we will review how theses changes might affect the education of children with disabilities.

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Why not only positives?

Filed under: Classroom management, Ethics, Increasing responding, Professional development, Reducing responding, Research, Teaching b mod, b mod, behavior problems, classrooms, discipline, disruptive behavior, fundamentals, instruction, pbis, pbs, problems, punishment, reinforcement, schools, teacher education, teacher's thinking, teaching — JohnL @ 7:24 am

Teacher A: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we didn’t have to use any aversive procedures. Punishment is such a drag. Teacher B: Yes! I agree. Positive reinforcement is sooo powerful—shaping, schedules, maintenance, and all that. You can do just about everything with it. Teacher A: Really. I mean, we should make our classes totally positive this year. [...]

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29 August 2010

Nervous Curiosity!

Filed under: teaching — Special Ed. @ 11:00 pm

I am eagerly & nervously looking forward to starting this new job. I go for training on Wednesday & set up my classroom on Thursday & Friday! I curious to see what my new students are like.

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Lunch crunch

Filed under: Classroom Life, teaching — Sarah @ 9:34 am

This past week, all of the teachers had to eat with their classes in the cafeteria to ensure proper behavior. This was difficult for a number of reasons: 1) the unhealthy food the school was serving made me cringe (help us, Jaime Oliver!!), and 2) after spending all morning with the kiddos, I really just need to go sit in a dark and silent room for a while... maybe rock back and forth for comfort.

But there I was, digging into my kiwis and having meaningful conversations with the students.

And we have a very stereotypical lunch lady: she's mean. And not just mean with the kids, she's mean with the staff! We can't grab an extra "spork" without paying five cents. She even made a sign! If you go through the lunch line and you just want some macaroni, she'll charge you for the entire lunch. And no, this isn't district policy, this is HER policy.

But I digress.

Most of the kids at our school buy their lunch from the cafeteria, but a few bring lunch from home. I don't know if times have changed or if this is what is typical in our neighborhood (I suspect most of them are on free/reduced lunch). Do you pack a lunch for your child?

If you do, I came across something you might just love: Leo on the Loose has some fabulous lunch box notes you can print out, fill in, and tuck into your kiddo's bag for a nice little surprise. (Unless your kid is at that eye-rolling stage and all into looking cool in front of their friends. If that's the case, slip them a dollar bill in their lunch for the vending machine. It means the same thing as "I love you" only it won't produce any cringing!)

You can download them here.

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27 August 2010

From a Kid’s Perspective!

Filed under: teaching — Special Ed. @ 9:24 pm

I was reminiscing about my children’s first day of school. Specifically David & Phillise. When I took David to his first day of school, I neglected to tell him that it was a continuous thing. You know, that he had to go back day after day. He was so happy when I picked him up the first day of school. The problem the next day when I informed him that he was going to school.

“But I went yesterday,” he said.

Silly me. I didn’t think to tell him that. I had a similar experience when Phillise started her first day of school. When David started Pre-K, he only attended for 3 hours. That was okay because I wasn’t working then. However, by the time I had Phillise, I’d purchased a house & needed to work. So Phillise was at school all day @ an Early Education Center.

Here’s her story: My daughter is usually a very quiet child but when the teacher tried to get her to go to sleep, she screamed Bloody Murder! The teacher tried to explain to her that she was not going to stay there; that she was only taking a nap. Try explaining that to a 3-year old! Ms. Phillise simply would not hear anything about taking a nap. She fought tooth & nail. The teacher relented & let her stay up until she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

I did not think to tell her that she was going to take a nap since she was going to be there most of the day. Since my children are “odd thinkers” like me, I should have known to tell her that. But, alas I didn’t. This may sound silly to you, but unless you want to go through what I went through, you need to be very specific with information you relay to your small children regarding their school situation. Don’t forget to tell them:

they may have to sleep there, but that you’re not abandoning them,
this is only the first of many steps in their education,
they may not like it,
they’ll make new friends but not everyone will be their friend.

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Gerls Rock Tour Summer 2010 – We Have a Winner!

Filed under: Gerl, Individualized Education Program, Lawyer, Special Education, education, jim gerl tour, law, special education law — Jim Gerl @ 9:11 am

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By now many of you know about my special education law summer 2010 speaking tour. I have been struggling with a name for the tour. A number of you have had some interesting suggestions. Thanks for all the ideas. One reader had a great suggestion: Gerls Rock Tour.

The suggested name encompasses several layers of meaning. One is the Disney based Girlz Rock. I wasn't aware of it, but you can read about it here. In addition it is meant to be a general shout out to those of the female persuasion, as the suggesting reader called them.

I like it. What do you think?

Here is the remaining portion of the tour itinerary:

From August 30 - September 1, 2010, I will be at the Arizona Special Education Directors Institute in Litchfield Park, Arizona. I will do three presentations on the role of the non-attorney advocate in IEP team meetings and due process hearings. You can follow the links to register here.

I will for the sixth straight year be a part of the faculty at the National Association of Hearing Officials Annual Conference from September 26 - 29, 2010 in Music City, Nashville, Tennessee. I will be presenting on the prehearing process and on ruling on objections. The registration link trail begins here.

Disclaimer time (I am still a lawyer): None of the state agencies or private organizations mentioned above in any way endorse this blog or any statements made by me or readers and commenters. For purposes of things said here, I do not represent any organization or person. My statements are my own and only represent my own opinion.

Any way, please find me at these conferences and say hello. I always enjoy talking to those who read this blog.

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Significant changes in a child’s performance, behavior, or diagnosis might necessitate revisions to the IEP, or might even demonstrate the need for one if none presently exists.

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” it is probably a good time to ask for an IEP Meeting to review your child’s new program and placement:

Just as you get ready with new clothes and supplies, so too should you be considering whether you are “special education ready” for the new year.

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29 August 2010

27 August 2010

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