Schools and curriculums

[monkey68]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for this, but I figured I would ask. My mom is a special ed teacher, works in a special ed high school. Most of the kids in the school are there because of emotional problems, violence, etc. These are the kids in and out of jail, in gangs, things like that.

But, they just moved her to the other floor of the school, where the kids have milder behavior issues, as well as learning issues. (I'm not sure what the correct term is now, and don't want to offend anyone, but they are kids with low IQ's, and their disabilities are severe enough that they can't be mainstreamed). However, some of the kids are very low functioning, and don't belong in this school as they don't have the resources for these kids. So what the school did was put all of them into the same class, but insist that they get taught the same curriculum as the other kids.

The parents of these kids just don't care much about them at all. I worked there for a year, and on parent-teacher night, you sit there by yourself. A lot of the kids are in foster care or group homes. There really isn't anyone you can talk to about moving these kids, and I don't think a teacher has a right to do that anyway. But, my mother was telling me about an exchange she had with one of her students today.

Mom: What day of the week is it?
Student: Sunday
M: Really? And what day is tomorrow?
S: Saturday
M: And how many days in a week are there?
S: 2

It's not an uncommon exchange, when I worked there, I had a student count 12 fingers on his hands. But, a kid who doesn't know how many days a week there are, my mother is supposed to teach them about variables and other pre-algebra topics. When my mom asked if she could review basics first, they told her no. It seems to me that it's just making the kids feel worse. They can't get these topics, so it makes them feel low.

My mom basically decided she's going to ignore the administration and teach these kids the calendar for now, the months of the year, days of the week, things like that. She would get frustrated herself trying to teach pre-algebra to these kids, and the kids would get frustrated. Even now, she helps them out with exams, because the kids don't know how to read either, so how can they take an exam? Some of them can barely write their names.

Anyway, my mom is telling me all this, and it's just ridiculous. It's a public school, so they have to follow the curriculum set forth by the department of education, but it's doing a disservice to everybody. Teachers get upset, students get upset. The school does not have the capabilities set up to deal with the low functioning kids, there are other schools in the district that do have the tools needed for them, but our hands are basically tied because the school can't transfer them, and the parents don't care enough to do it. So can someone please tell me the logic in insisting that everyone gets the same curriculum? My mom can get a letter put in her file, sure, but she's a senior teacher with tenure, she's not going anywhere so the letter won't matter much.

 

[bookwormde]

Not entirely possible to tell from a brief description but if these children are classified a needing and IEP under IDEA, each has an IEP team responsible for developing an “individualized” plan. If the parents do not attend then it is still the responsibility of the team to accomplish this (in many cases an advocate is appointed in place of the parents). As both the special and regular education teacher she is mandated to be a member of this team. If the child’s need for an appropriate education is not being met it is the province and responsibility for any member of the IEP team to call for a meeting and for the team to mandate changes in the IEP to create the supports and curriculum for an appropriate education. Clearly these children do not have an individualized plan as required under IDEA and in such if they are covered by IDEA the school is in serious violation of IDEA.

Of course it takes a committed and brave school employee to call a meeting because a child is not getting an appropriate education but that is how the system is supposed to work.

bookwormde

 

[monkey68]

These kids do have IEP's, I don't know the details of how it all works because I only subbed for a year. But don't you need the parents to agree to the changes? Even if the teachers all agree to it?

The other thing probably has to do with money. The principal wants to keep kids in because the more kids, the more money. When my mom tells me about the stuff going on at her school, I'm so glad I decided against teaching. Just not for me at all.

 

[bookwormde]

Typically the decisions are made by consensus with the parents signing off. If the parents disagree with the consensus there are procedural rights to have the teams decisions reviewed. If the parents are uninvolved then an independent advocate is assigned (typically by a non-school governmental agency) to act in place of the parents. It would be very unusual for a parent presented with a child’s educational evaluation showing that he most basic skills have not been mastered to not accept a team recommendations that a curriculum including algebra is not appropriate for the child and that the basic skill should be taught first.

bookwormde

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I'm a special ed teacher too, although at my level (PreK) we don't really have to deal with that kind of nonsense.

It sounds like she needs to organize the parents to push for change.

In the meantime, Iknow this isn't the long term answer, but could she use some of the techniques that I sometimes used when I taught older kids and had one student much lower than the rest, which is scaffolding the skills and having the kids do the parts that they could.

So, for example, put something on the board with an algebra problem, and then work through it while asking "sub-questions" as she goes on -- e.g. "Here's our problem: solve for 3x + 2x when x = 5. OK, in this case 3x means that we have 3 5's -- let's draw that on the board -- Johnny, can you come up and write the number 5 for us 3 times? Great, now TaMikka, can you come and draw 5 objects for me under the first 5, Chris can you come up and double check that -- is that really 5, how do you know? etc . . . Similarly, days of the week can be taught while filling out a homework planner etc . . .

It's ridiculous, but it's better than letting them leave without developing their skills.

 

[blondietink]

As a mom of 2 special ed kids with low IQ's I know a lot of the confusion about curriculum has come from No Child Left Behind, which actually means No Child Gets Ahead. I believe that by law, the curriculum concepts for that grade level needs to be followed. So, for example if in biology they are learning about the different functions of the human body, then for the special ed students with low IQ's, they could be learning about their own body parts. In History if they are learning about different countries in Europe, they could study different foods of Europe and do some cooking lessons (life skills)to try the different foods. Within the cooking lessons, you can get your math concept in also. Whoever is resoponsible for creating the IEP, usually teacher, should be inputing the modifications to the curriculum in order for the student to learn something. Most parents who don't care just sign the papers without questioning.

I also firmly believe that none of the kids in your description should be segregated in a school just for them. Actually I believe that is against the law unless it is a special act school. Almost any student can be mainstreamed if the IEP gives the supports necessary to do it. We even have a student with a full-time nurse with them all day to do GI feedings, etc.. How are they going to learn proper behavior when all they have as role models are people just like themselves and this includes the emotionally challenged. Maybe I am all wet, but I think my kids are better for being around "regular" kids all day and the student body just loves them to death.

Good luck to your mom. I know it can be frustrating.

 

[mechurchlady]

I am going to be 51 this month. I took remedial reading in the 8th grade despite not needing it. I still do not know about the English language like dropped participles and it was not until high school spanish classes that I even knew what a gerund was. They never diagnose my SID or ADD and it was not until 9th or 10th grade that I got my first glasses despite years of vision problems.

Thus said I think it is not all in being disabled or a slow learner but kids falling through the cracks. It is parents who don't care or don't what to watch for in kids. It is the schools that are parking lots for kids. I was a smart kid with an IQ over 100, maybe 125 yet I got to take remedial reading in 8th grade. In some places like my town the cracks are very large and many kids fall through those cracks.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I'm currently getting a master's in sped and teach 7th grade sped half days. It's a difficult line to walk. We have an entire group in my mentor teacher's reading class that qualify for the alternate state assessment. They are learning the same concepts you just described. We have a new student this year who will never be able to live on his own. There is very little we can do with this student academically, but the social benefits of school are there. It is difficult however, because he has some incredibly disruptive behaviors. It's very hard to teach when he is in the room- and I'm the sped teacher! We try to include our kids as much as possible with para support, but the 7th grade curriculum is definitely beyond them. Thankfully we don't have the same administrative issues it sounds like your mother has. The paras are great about working with us and the general ed teachers to modify the instruction so that they are working on their level. It's a hard line to walk.

 

[BeckyScott]

Maybe I have this wrong, so please tell me...

But. Okay, on Justin's IEP, there is a page for if the child takes the regular state assessments or not. So I'm guessing some children with IEP's do not take those assessments. He does, but that page is there so I guess that's an option.

Now, if a child is so far behind, like the OP is writing about, there really isn't a point to that child taking those assessments. Because they aren't going to do well. And funding is based off of the results of the assessments. So having those kids take the state tests should, in fact, skew the results and make the school look bad and affect their funding in a negative way.

(Okay, I'm a firm believer in SpEd kids taking those assessments whenever possible, because it does make the school accountable for the SpEd programs. But some children, who are more severe, it seems silly to do those tests, even with accommodations)

It seems like the main reason a school would want to have those kids with regular curriculum is to prepare them for all those tests. I think that thanks to NCLB and others, that schools are now teaching to the test. Maybe they shouldn't and maybe they'll say they don't, but I think they do. So is the school in question thinking that they must teach grade-level curriculum so that these kids can take the state tests? Is that their reasoning?

If the kids in question have it in their IEP that they don't take the state tests, I don't see that it matters whether or not they are being taught grade-level curriculum. The only way the school is going to be "caught" is if those kids are taking (and bombing) the state tests, which would happen either with regular curriculum that they don't understand, or with special curriculum that isn't the same grade level as the test. If they're not taking the tests, it doesn't matter. If they are taking the tests, they should be shooting back very bad results that would be a heads-up to the state that something isn't right.

Or am I missing something here? I'm not very well-versed in the state testing part of IEPs.

 

[bookwormde]

My state and others do require all students to take the states version of the NCLB test. There are of course accommodations and the IEP and the team can override the effects of the results but everyone takes the test.

bookwormde

 

[monkey68]

I don't think they take state tests, but I don't know the details. I know they take assessments, but that's more for the school, and only for the higher functioning kids who might be able to go into a mainstream school. For the really low functioning kids, it doesn't make sense. The tests require reading, and comprehending. These kids can't do that. If they can read, they can't comprehend what they're reading. And if its a question that requires a lot of thought, they don't have the ability to remember what the first part of the problem says (such as a word problem).

The school actually gets good ratings, but I think because it's a special ed district, they have different standards. I understand wanting kids to be on grade level, but with some kids, it's just not going to happen. They're in high school, so their reading and writing skills probably won't get much better. Same for basic math skills. So I just don't understand why they force them to do grade level work, when mentally and even emotionally, they're not there. They're in high school, and still love shows like Dora the Explorer. Not a show most high school kids will watch.

 

[blondietink]

About the only modifications allowed on the state assessments under NCLB are extra time allotted and reading questions aloud, except on the reading portion of the exam. So, there is no modifications of the questions allowed, no giving a choice of 2 answers instead of 4, no you only have to answwer ten out of the 20 questions given, etc.. There is no way to "dumb it down" so to speak. that is why there is the alternative assessment available for students whose IQ's and or learning disabilities are so severe that they cannot take the test and hope to score a passing grade on it.

 

[bookwormde]

Yes the question are the same, but allowable are whatever accommodations are appropriate for the disability, some additional ones include a scribe (not for the writing portion), taking the test in an individuals or small group setting, breaking the test up into smaller sections, assistance with EF issues and so forth. These have all “survived” the auditing process, since they only provide supports, which allow the child to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the curriculum be tested.

bookwormde

 

[Talking Hands]

Yes the question are the same, but allowable are whatever accommodations are appropriate for the disability, some additional ones include a scribe (not for the writing portion), taking the test in an individuals or small group setting, breaking the test up into smaller sections, assistance with EF issues and so forth. These have all “survived” the auditing process, since they only provide supports, which allow the child to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the curriculum be tested.
bookwormde

We had a student who used a scribe for the writing portion. He basically cannot write on his own so he was tested in a separate room and a scribe wrote down exactly what he said. This young man is now at Harvard on a full scholarship.