I have a situation where my child has capd. My child is mainstreamed in all classes and has a fm in the classrooms. My son does find backround noise distracting but I decided that he would do his classwork in the classroom rather than being removed from the class. He is doing well. My problem is that the teacher thinks it appropriate to measure his ability against his peers on classwork. She feels that his classwork is pretty good, BUT not as good as other students. I feel it is inappropriate to compare a classified student, who has a problem focusing with noise against those that do not. How can this be avoided? It maybe presenting a problem where grading is concerned and teacheropinion and recommendation regarding placement where students get grouped by ability. Ability is measured for both special ed and reg ed students the same way, standardized testing, class grades, and teacher recommendation (where they compare one student against another). Parent input into placement within these reg ed groups is completely discounted.
Re: measuring students against each other
If they grade him differently than the other kids then he earns a modified grade on his report card, that is how they do it at the district I work at. My daughter has CAPD/ADD and wears a hearing aid and FM system. She is mainstreamed in all her classes and is graded just like the other kids. I prefer it this way because if the teacher did modified grading for my daugher the teacher would then have to put on the report that goes in the cumm that she had modified her grades. With modified grades appearing on her report cards and in her cumm she would never get a high school diploma it would just be a certificate of completion.
Re: measuring students against each other
Interesting, I never heard of this. If I were you I would do the same. Do they include your input into placement, ie: for gifted or more advanced classes, or is she always kept out of the top classes because of her capd/add. This is what I think- if your daughter has problems with the add like organizing, she can have a second set of books at home. Obviously other accomodations can be added as well. If noise during class time is the issue, I have not been told of anything that can be done as an accomodation for that. This does not level the playing field, and does keep my child from being included in more difficult classes, that I feel he could succeed in. The problem is they do not want to let him in to find out.
Re: measuring students against each other
pattim wrote:
>
> If they grade him differently than the other kids then he
> earns a modified grade on his report card, that is how they
> do it at the district I work at. My daughter has CAPD/ADD
> and wears a hearing aid and FM system. She is mainstreamed
> in all her classes and is graded just like the other kids. I
> prefer it this way because if the teacher did modified
> grading for my daugher the teacher would then have to put on
> the report that goes in the cumm that she had modified her
> grades. With modified grades appearing on her report cards
> and in her cumm she would never get a high school diploma it
> would just be a certificate of completion.
Which would kill her prospects of getting even a minimum-wage, entry-level job. You have to have a diploma to get any kind of work in this day and age. Students who get certificates of completion are doomed to life on welfare, since they can’t get any further training in any field without a diploma—not even at a voc-tec school. That means students with mental retardation and severe LD have no chance of gainful employment anymore.
Yours truly,
Kathy G.
Re: measuring students against each other
Kathy that is so true. I think giving different certificates rather than diplomas for a few modifications is unfair, and as you pointed out so well, life altering.
Re: measuring students against each other
The school where my daughter attends is a middle school where I used to work at. I am included in her placements and in fact, I make most of them myself because I know all the teachers. I moved her from a lower math class that they had scheduled her in and into a regular ed math class because I knew she was ready and an English class, she is doing really well and the FM FM system really helps her with focusing and leveling the playing field in regards to helping her hear the speech over the background noise.
I have extra textbooks at home complements of the district and I use them with the kids I tutor as well. My daughter really doesn’t have a problem with organization, she decided to make separate notebooks for her classes all by herself. The hearing impairment really causes most of the problems with her speech and language, spelling, syntax, and syllabication but being ADD-Inattentive and dyslexic is not a walk in the park either. I would suggest that you request an FM system to help your son in the classroom. I think it would really make a difference for him in not only attending and focusing but would help develop his auditory memory and improve his auditory processing.
one more thing...is the FM system a "personal fm system
or a sound field system? The sound field FM system sometimes creates more background noise if the students are trying to talk over the teacher. My daughter uses a personal FM system instead so she only gets what the teacher is saying and not all the other classroom noise..
Re: one more thing...is the FM system a "personal fm sy
I know what you are saying. The fm is not the problem, it is when the fm is not in use and there is backround noise, when he is taking a test/quiz/classroom paper work. Thanks for the tip. There are definitely pros and cons to the two different fms. We have done both.
This is a standard practice in schools. The IEP in theory is supposed to provide the student with the accmodationsand modifications yhey need so that the student can compete on a playing ground leveled by their IEP.
You’re asking a hard question. I’m not sure there’s a way around this but I certainly hope you find one.