When The Uneducated Are In Charge

The AP realized the more students she put in main stream classes, the better she would look.  Team teaching classes seemed to be the best way to dump educate these children.  A problem with this was not enough special education teachers were available to team teach.

The AP was not one to stress about such a major minor thing.  She assigned anyone free to these classes.  So now a mainstream teacher with no experience dealing with learning disabled and emotionally handicapped children was working with a teacher straight out of college with no special education degree or experience.

As luck would have it a boy with many issues was in one of these classes.  His mom was well aware of the problems her son faced and wrote long letters explaining his disability and promising to be available whenever she was needed.  This letters went to the main stream teacher as there was no special education teacher on record at the time and then the extra teacher assigned was not even certified in special education.

After two days the young man said some very inappropriate things to the young teacher in the room.  She freaked out.  She spoke to the AP who immediately removed the boy and put him in another class.  From what I understand, he was moved around many times.

The AP whose job it is to help students like this boy failed miserably at her job.  The boy was lost in the system.  Eventually a special education teacher was assigned to the class and the remaining students got the help they needed and were entitled to.  The AP looked good as many of the students were not in self contained classes any longer.  But, I wonder how many got lost along the way?  How many never received the help they deserved?

Phony Education

The woman stood at the cash register and called us over to her empty line.  She rang up $2.13, the price of my diet Coke, tax included,  My husband handed her a ten-dollar bill while I tried to fish out the change.  I handed her $.15 but quickly realized she  didn't understand what to do with the coins which were in addition to the amount on her screen and I took them back and she proceeded to count my change.  She got the bills okay but the coins flustered her.  She could not count $.87 without help from us.  It was painful to watch.

We walked away feeling sorry for the woman.  It was obvious she was severely mentally disabled and was doing her best.  She probably has a great personality and walked into the job interview proudly waving her high school diploma, a diploma she got because high schools graduate everyone nowadays.

A Principal once told me giving these diplomas was helping kids but I see it as only hurting them.  This woman has been sent into the world to fail at a her job.  She is not even able to make change and will not even properly be able to shop.  Many years ago I had a special education student who was afraid to take a bus because she couldn't count the quarters she needed to pay her fair.  The schools were different then.  As her math teacher, I was able to work with her on money skills.  Another teacher took a group of students like her to a nursing home where they learned skills they needed to survive.  She didn't get a diploma but she did get to graduate.  I don't know what happened to her but I know she is not standing behind a cash register being abused by people who don't understand her disability.

I watched a special education supervisor do credit recovery problems for her student.  I know of one (there are many more) who only lets teachers who give out answers proctor exams.  Learning disabilities are a real thing.  Covering them up helps no one.

Overcoming A Disability

The boy was a special education student in high school, a little higher functioning than most, he spent his years in main stream classes team taught by a special education teacher and a main stream teacher. XZ (The special education teacher recognized his ability but her hands were tied by the main stream teacher)  The boy seemed to be off in space but always had the correct answer when the teacher questioned him.

The boy was unique in in this class of low functioning students.  He had a brain that worked well and worked constantly and he liked to solve problems in unconventional ways.  The methods, while correct, were not the ones in the solution manual and the main stream teacher was often confounded.  She couldn't follow his logic and disrespected him and his ingenious methods.  The main stream teacher did not like him because she was intimidated by his creativity.

Low and behold this main stream teacher went on to become chairman of the special education department. She no longer taught inclusion classes because she feared encountering students like this boy again and, as supervisor, she did not have to do this.

The boy, the one the special education supervisor did not like graduated high school and went on to college. He took classes  calculus and physics and Shakespeare and Chinese.  He studied with professors who liked creative thinkers.  He did well.  He is now studying engineering in a very prestigious university and will one day shine in his chose career.

This boy managed to overcome his inferior teacher, the one who never thought he would succeed,  the one who now leads the department whose goal it was to help him succeed.

This Just In

In order to boost its school's college ready index a local high school has decided to give many of its special education classes AP status.  Since the students must take English and History, it costs nothing to add this designation.  When the chairperson was called on the insanity of placing students with borderline IQs in advanced classes, the AP responded "We help the students out on all exams anyway so the only difference now will be my teachers will have to know more advanced questions.  If the teachers want to keep their jobs they will see to it the kids pass."  The AP went on to talk about the outstanding work that will be done in the department.  Kids who could barely read, write and do arithmetic a year ago would now be taking and passing college level classes.

On the side the AP was overheard talking to the principal about the vacation that would be taken with the huge bonus because of these scores.  Once the colleges realized how low functioning these kids really were, the AP would have a margarita in hand and a nice tan.

Special Educators With Self Serving Interests

 



As I waited to start my class, I saw Bill approach his teacher with a question about what she had put on the board.  It was a remedial class, the topic was dividing decimals and the question was 4/.08.

Bill was concerned.  He repeatedly told his teacher he had never seen an example like that, a big number being divided into a small one.  He said he was never taught that and did not even think it was possible.  He was obviously concerned about learning and upset about this question.  The teacher did not have time to discuss it at the moment and told him they would get back to it next class.

I had a sick reaction to the whole thing.  Bill is severely learning disabled.  He does not belong in an academic environment.  His speech, his handwriting and his mannerisms give him away.  Some high school special education guidance counselor, or special education supervisor must have thought college was a good idea for him.  Having him enrolled in college makes them and their statistics look good.  A frustrated young man is not their problem.  The blows to his self esteem will not hurt them.  The money his parents spend is not hurting their wallets.

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of students currently in special education classes that can go on to an academic college and have wonderful careers, but many cannot.  No college can help a student with an IQ of 70.  The adults in charge of special educating these students should be ashamed of themselves.  They care nothing for the students entrusted to them.

Special Education Audit Needed



How about an audit of a special education department to find out:

1.  How failing grades on Friday miraculously become passing grades on Monday.
2.  How students with 70 IQs manage to get regents diplomas
3.  What really goes on behind closed doors while regents exams are being proctored.
4.  To determine how a student who can't seem to handle 5 classes suddenly manages to pass all of them plus 5 credit recovery classes all at the same time.
5.  How those online assignments actually get completed.
6.  How AYP is mysteriously met after not being met for so many years.
7.  Why a person with little teaching experience and no special education experience is in charge.

Now, I am not saying any of this actually happened, but if it did, wouldn't an audit be in order?

Without Scruples



My poor little special education girl, the girl who came to class every day, went to the learning center for extra help and did homework got her usual grade on the final--a 16.

This girl is a delight.  She participates (although her answers are from outer space), she is friendly and always smiling.  I hope both she and her parents saw her failure coming so the grade will not be a surprise.

The real educationally challenged people are the ones that told this kid, and ones like her to go to college.  I don't know what high school she went to, but, I bet it was one with a supervisor who had to make AYP and got kids like this through by giving them answers. And then made themselves look better by sending these young people off to college, knowing full well that they will never succeed.  They must know that what is in store for the child with the 70 IQ is heartbreak and disappointment.  They've all gone through college and know what is expected to succeed.  I've known administrators who have done this.  These people make me sick.

Concern For The Child

The girl was not doing well in her self contained special education class.  The supervisor decided to change the child's IEP and put her in an ICT class.  "After all", the supervisor was overheard saying, "if we have to have her here we might as well get more money for her.  She can't pass any class so what difference does it make."

Trying Doesn't Cut It For This Girl

What do you say to a student who sits in a remedial college class night after night, moaning that the work is too hard.

The girl tries but can't do more than copy the material from the board.  She is allowed to use a calculator but I have to remind her constantly to use it.

She sends me e-mails all the time about the class, letting me know she cares but she can't write a coherent sentence and I very often can't even understand what she is writing about.

She reminds me of the non-diploma bound special education kids I knew at Packemin.  Her IQ can't be much higher.  I wonder why she is sitting in a college class, wasting money and her time, frustrating the hell out of her.

The high school she went to probably encouraged her to attend college.  They probably got points added on to their evaluations because she has gone on to higher education.  Instead of points, they should be fined and punished for letting this girl believe she can have a future that involves academics.

Teach What Helps

Peter was a former special education student of mine with an IQ of 75.  In spite of his limited intellect, he learned how to cover up his disability.  He was a personable young man and easily got a job in a nearby fast food restaurant.  He worked hard and was promoted to manager, a job he did exceedingly well most of the time.  I say most of the time because he had a big problem when the computer that ran the register went out.  He couldn't make change and needed someone to help him out.

I remembered Peter today when a friend told me the story of a cashier who didn't know what to do with the dime he was handed when the change due was $9.90.  I told this friend the story and he was glad.  He never thought of people being too limited to even make change.  I then told him about a girl I taught several years earlier who would not ride the bus by herself because she could not count out the four quarters she needed for her fare.  No one would have guessed this about her.  She looked like you and me.

Things are different today.  These two students would probably be in an ICT class because some administrator or guidance counselor with an IQ slightly above that of those two kids decided it was right for them.  They would not be able to pass.  If by cheating some miracle they did pass, what good would it do them?  College should never be in their future.

I don't know what happened to the young woman but Peter's life has been a success.  He got a job sweeping floors at a major company.  The guys liked him and taught him to drive the truck, a job that paid a lot more money.  He married a registered nurse and became the father of two wonderful children.  He didn't waste time or money pursuing a college education, something he never could have completed.

Interesting Sign

I bet they got some donations, too.  These kids were a lot luckier than  fall 2011 students who need the extra help but won't get it anymore.  Some not so brilliant administrator decided that ICT classes (classes with a main stream and a special education teacher) are the way to go.  Putting 34 low functioning kids in a room, with close to half needing special help and only one extra teacher, is a sure way to doom these kids to failure. 

To Help ISS Students Succeed (Not)

Just a thought to help ISS student succeed (not) on state exams:

Make sure the proctors, especially the ones that have to read the questions out loud speak English with very thick accents. Make sure they have they have never taught ISS students and have no compassion for these kids.

Do all this and failure can almost be guaranteed.

Unless You've Been There

Crissy looked like every other teenage girl in the school. She dressed in stylish clothes. She carried the "in" book bag of the day. She always arrived on time to class and she never had to be told to open her notebook and get to work. She handed in homework daily.

I don't know the label Crissy was given but Crissy was educationally disabled, severely disabled. She was so limited she could not ride a public bus because she could not count out the change needed for the ride ($1.00 at that time.) She didn't speak much around strangers, not because she was shy, but because she did not want them to know how limited she was. It was only when she started working with young students who were severely disabled both physically and mentally, did she start to appreciate her own place on earth. She also worked in an old age home and brought joy to the seniors living there. In spite of this, Crissy never got over the feeling that she had the word "retard" emblazoned on her forehead for everyone to read. I don't know what happened to Crissy after graduation. I am hoping she ended up working with a population that needed her.

Peter was in Crissy's class. He was a warm, outgoing young man. He exuded confidence. He played the trumpet and performed in every school concert. Peter too, was educationally disabled. Peter learned early on how to cover up his disability. He learned how to hesitate and change the subject when the topic was too much for him to handle. Anyone who met Peter in a non academic environment was impressed with this friendly young man. While in high school, he started working at a local fast food restaurant and quickly rose to manager. Unfortunately, when the computer had a problem, he could not make change and had to get someone else to take over for him. Peter eventually got his diploma, got a job at UPS sweeping floors. The guys loved him, taught him to drive a truck and he moved ahead. He is married to a registered nurse and doing well.

Okay, what I am trying to point out here is that kids in special education have special needs. They may look and act like other students but they learn differently and quite a few do not have the same capacity to master the same material. (Before anyone jumps on me, I am not saying all kids in ISS classes are like Crissy and Peter.) And, even if by some miracle they can learn it enough to pass a test, what good will it do them? They can't go on to college, they can't become teachers and lawyers and doctors. They need to learn the skills they will need to function as happy, productive adults.

Dumping kids like Crissy and Peter in mainstream classes would have been disastrous for them. Not only would they have not been educated, they would have been totally demoralized and turned off to school. I'm guessing that neither one of them would have made it to graduation.

After teaching kids like Crissy and Peter, I learned to be more tolerant of others around me. I don't get angry when the cashier in Dunkin Donuts counts my change wrong or when it takes the supermarket checker 5 minutes to figure out how to fix the amount I've been over rung by. Unless you've gotten to know Crissys and Peters, you don't understand the problems these people live with. Administrators and guidance counselors are making decisions about their educations without knowing anything about them and it is not right. Educational policies have to be set by people schooled and experienced in the subject.

More On ISS

For some great thoughts on ISS students go over to Under Assault. She says everything I've been saying much better than I ever will.

Blog Accomplishment

I'm not sure if this blog had anything to do with it, but, the ISS supervisor just sent out an e-mail explaining IEPs, especially the confidentiality portion which was missing with the IEPs.

It feels good to know that my bitching may actually be helping our students.

BTW, the boy I was confused about here still has his resource room and special test accommodations. Maybe asking for confirmation in writing did something to help him or maybe no one got around to changing him yet. Only time will tell.

Let's Push Out The Push Ins

I haven't published on the new blog yet. I'm still going to write here. If I haven't responded to you yet, I might have missed the post or you didn't include your e-mail. Give me 48 hours and then just write again. The responses have been overwhelming. I had no idea so many people read this blog. That one will just be saved for the down and dirty stuff.

I don't care who reads this post. Rush-in teachers are being used all over the city and our children are being hurt. The policy has to be advertised and stopped.

To save something, I'm not sure what, except for space, many resource room kids only see their resource room teacher in their history or English class. These teachers are "push ins". Their mission, whether they chose to accept it or not, was to work with these students in the mainstream environment. Now they might be doing better in this history or English class but they are not being serviced in math or reading or anything else that matters.

Personally, I can't imagine this type of system working in my classroom. I don't think I would like an extra voice talking while I am talking (the kids do enough of that without assistance.) If the students spent the period working individually, or in groups, an extra body in the room would be great. My feeling is that they come to school to be taught. I am paid "big bucks" to teach. I want to earn my check. Having them work individually all period is not something I am being paid to do.