SwiftVets.com

[.::geo::.]

I was talking with a family friend last night, and her daughter is thinking of voting for Kerry... (OY!) She's a Special Ed teacher in an elementary school here in Wisconsin. From what I could make out.. her main concern is the NCLB Act, and how it pertains to special education. Basically, if you're teaching a class of severely disabled students, and they show very little improvement, is this added in to the general performance of the school, and if so, does this effect the funding to that school?

I hope this makes sense, and I've tried actually reading through the NCLB Act, but it gets a little confusing.

If anyone can tell me anything about this, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

e,

Georgi

[momofthreegirls]

I am a former elementary school teacher, I quit to stay home when our first daughter was born. Disabilities cover a wide variety of problems such as: physical, mental, and behavioral. Physical disabilities such as hearing impairment, visual impairment, or paralysis of some sort should not affect learning, there may have to be some teaching adjustments, but a lot of times there will be extra help in the classroom for this. Learning disabilities can vary in severity, but if the children are mainstreamed and are receiving Special Education services the school will receive Federal funding based on the number of children in their schools receiving these services, it used to be called Capital 1 funding if I remember correctly (it has been 10 years). Behavioral issues range from Attention Deficit Disorder and Hyperactivity to Autism and I am sure there are services and funding available for these. It used to be when you spoke of "severely disabled" it meant that they were affected profoundly in more than one of the above areas and there were schools that were equipped to provide services for these children. A couple of things though: if the government has to know how many children receive these services I am sure that they take that into account as far as testing goes and remember, the teacher's unions are very liberal and supportive of the Democratic Party. They are also very outspoken about it. I remember as a young teacher the pressure that was put on me to join the union. I am sure she is receiving similar pressure regarding this election.

[jimlarsen]

My wife is a teacher in Florida, and member of the union, and a conservitive. I ask here about special ed and NCLB and she's not familiar with the provisions. However, she pointed out that The President's brother JEB is governor of Florida and that Florida has had about every conceivable problem with NCLB. Now I'm sure the two brothers get together sometimes and discuss the federal/state relationship, and I have no doubt that The President is aware of any problems with NCLB and special ed. I do remember that The President said last summer that there were some changes that needed to be made to NCLB next year.
_________________
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[next generation]

My daughter is disabled and receives Special Ed services in our local district. A child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP) specifies whether or not the child will be able to take standardized tests, and if yes, whether or not they will need any testing modifications (eg. longer time limit, questions read aloud, whatever may be appropriate). I can definitely say this is true for New York State, and since Special Education is regulated by Federal law, I assume it is true nationwide.

At this point in time, our daughter is not able to take any standardized tests upon which funding is based. This could change in the future, as a new IEP is written on a yearly basis, reflecting the child's current progress.

A school's enrollment is very clearly broken down for purposes of state funding based on the number of children receiving Special Ed services. It further reflects whether the child receives services at an in-district setting, or in a separate classroom at an outside location. This sort of information is generally available to taxpayers. In our district, it's provided in the annual budget report. Again, I'm speaking with definite knowledge only of how this is handled in NYS.

However, I think it's safe to say that these figures are taken into account when determining school performance for funding under No Child Left Behind. If you have no conclusive answer by tomorrow, I will be happy to check with our local school district, and the NYS Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD).

[momofthreegirls]

I taught my first year in CA so that is probably why I was under a lot of pressure. Anyway it sounds unlikely that any school would be "punished" because of special education issues. There are always bugs that need to be worked out with programs of this magnitude.

[.::geo::.]

Thank you all so much! I'm going to send the link to this thread to my friend, and she can relay this to her daughter!

In my opinion (and her mother's) her daughter IS feeling the pressure of the union.. We don't think her union leaders are telling her the whole story on this issue.

Thank you again for your time! We appreciate it!!

E,

Georgi

[ProudArmyWife]

I'm not up on the specific details of the programs/funding you mentioned. However, I do believe President Bush will completely follow through on ensuring “no child left behind”. My basis for this statement…personal experience.

We live in south Texas and our daughter (Autism/Aspergers “umbrella” diagnosis) is in the public school system here and the opportunities/treatment/therapy offered have been exceptional. She’s been in the Texas system for 3 years and I’ve been told by her Special Ed teachers that the emphasis/availability of their programs traces directly back to the educational reforms that were pushed through under “Governor” Bush.

My sister taught in Wisconsin as a Special Education teacher for 10 years (so your post especially caught my eye). Currently, she's teaching in a private school in Overland Park Kansas. She has a Master’s Degree and advanced certificates in a variety of areas that truthfully I probably don’t appreciate enough. She was initially adamant that we somehow relocate to a “better” area/state to ensure proper intervention. She “investigated” what was available via the private school she’s at and the public school systems both in Kansas and Wisconsin. She, reluctantly came to the conclusion that the program my daughter is under….in far away south Texas was superior…(thus ending her efforts for the moment to get us to try for a closer duty station).

(I will add a disclaimer that since we’ve only lived in one county in Texas, that perhaps things are different in other areas... I'm just thankful that we ended up where my daughter needed to be...she's doing great!)

[Guest]

[ks213]

I will soon be graduating with a degree in Special Ed. as an Intervention Specialist Moderate/Intensive.
The test scores of children with disabilities are counted into the general performance of the school. That is why there is such a push towards special ed. teachers to get their students to pass the proficiency tests. Each school district may ONLY allow 1% of the total student population to be exempt from the proficieny tests. All other students MUST take the tests and pass them, some may qualify for what they call alternative assessment, which must also be passed.
Their scores are counted in with the rest of the school district. If a school district fails all together, they must pass the next year or else their funding will be cut. Teachers are held responsible for this. I was told last week that if my students fail, I will be held accountable. I still don't understand how it is fair to have a 10th grader, who is at the mental level of a 2nd grader, pass the 10th grade proficiency and then I get held accountable for it. That is one thing I will never understand!
As far as funding goes.....each school must fill out an EMIS report. This a report that states how many children the school has with disabilites and what disabilities they have. A child with Autism would receive more funding than a child with a learning disability, for carrying out services within the school. Funding can be taken away for a variety of reasons, but why anyone would want to take funding away from any child's learning environment I don't know.

Hope this helps you out a little! Let me know if you have any more questions and I'll try to help you out!

[next generation]

[deserturtle]

In order to get the bill passed substantially funding for special ed was included in NCLB....Also, the testing results from special ed are not included in the general school population but are included to see that the special ed program is working.
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The door to the room of success swings on the hinges of the opposition.

[next generation]

[MissouriVeteransDaughter]

I had no idea that I have so much in common with several of you! My son has not been formally diagnosed with autism, but does have some autistic tendencies. He is a sweet four-year-old who often is in his own little world. He was falling behind in mastering the skills he should have been able to do at his age. In spite of having a fairly large vocabulary, he still has trouble communicating. This school year I was able to get him into early childhood special education through the Missouri Public Schools. It has been really good for him so far and I'm really grateful that the extra help is there. The program he is in is, I believe, funded both with State and Federal funds, but I'm not sure if they are NCLB funds.
_________________
"Lord...Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman" Ps15:1-3.

[ks213]

Ok guys,
Didn't think I'd get so many responses about this! So I'll try to help out as much as I can.

First of all, I'm in Ohio. So I am not sure if everything I say is different from state to state or the same. I know all of the NCLB stuff is though.

First, the 1% of students that may be exempt from the proficiency testing is 1% of students only on IEP's. Sorry I didn't clarify that earlier. So in the entire school district, if you have 100 students on IEP's, then only 1 student may be exempt from it. All other students must take the proficiency test. NCLB keeps changing things around its hard to keep up! As far as alternate assessment goes, I have a classroom of 9 MH students from K-3 grade, (multi-handicapped), which is now also known as MD (multiple disablities), they keep changing the terminology! Of those 9 students, 3 of them are in the third grade and all have to take the proficiency, but because it is only 3, and I house all students from 3 different school districts, they may all take the alternative assessment.

Second, I was told last Thursday that they are looking to do away with tenure. It is not for sure yet, but that is what I have been told. Now how soon that will be put into effect, or if it even will, I do not know. I do agree with "next generation" that some teachers are not considered "good teachers" and shouldn't be able to keep their job just because they have tenure. A big thing right now is "highly qualified teachers." All teachers must fill out an application and be considered "highly qualified." If they are NOT considered highly qualified, then a letter is sent home to all of those students families saying that their child is in a classroom with a teacher that is Not considered highly qualified. Highly qualified means that the teacher has met all of the required requirments and has the proper degree in the field he or she is teaching. For example, a high school teacher teaching math and science in special ed must have a masters in both of those subject areas or be working on it. Or else they are not considered "highly qualified." But having a masters in each subject you teach is only for grades 7-12.

Third, special ed student's scores are included in with the entire school district scores. I do not know if it is different in any other state, but in Ohio, they are included. And I'm pretty sure its the same in all other states, but dont quote me on that. That is why there is such a great demand on SPED teachers these days and such a demand on providing so many services, because of NCLB. They literally want no child to be left behind and that includes students with special needs.


Fourth, "MissouriVeteransDaughter," I am glad that you got your son into the early childhood special education program! Getting him in early is the best thing to do! Did you know that 1 of the things Edwards said in an interview with Chris Wallace from Fox was that in order to get more money to pay for all of the things Kerry wants to do, Edwards said that Kerry was planning on cutting programs such as early childhood???? Bad idea huh? I wasn't too happy when I heard that especially because most of my expereince is working with children in early childhood. I'm not too sure on the specifics on that though, so you'd have to look into that. But you said that your child hasn't been formally diagnosed. You should get him diagnosed because otherwise he won't be able to get an IEP when he reaches elemtary school. And that is what is going to get your son all of the services that he needs such as tutoring, PT, OT, Speech etc. So I would talk with the school he's attending and see what they say and how they can help. Also, I do not know how your son's severity of Autism would be categorized, but I know that all of the students I work with that have Autism use a program called ABA (applied behavior analysis). It is very effective and is a strict schedule of programming. I have found it to be very effective with my students, most have been on this program since very young and have improved their social, verbal, etc. skills. So that may be an option you may want to look into and consider, if it fits your son's needs. I would check ABA out and see what you think of it. They have ABA tutors all over so you could easily find one for your son if it is something for him.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Hope this helped some of you out. Once again, I am from Ohio and am not sure how things are in the different states, they may be different!