Closing the Achievement Gap in Special Education

Hi,

If you are interested in improving your students’ decoding skills, which usually leads to improved comprehension as well, try multi-sensory decoding. Instead of forcing students to do all the decoding work in their heads, it allows students to see and do decoding on paper. The method can be used with any text, and with any word that is holding the student back. Go to http://www.1stbooks.com/ and read about THE SOUNDS OF WORDS. Contact me if you are interested in more info. I am a spec ed teacher, presently teaching LD, who has helped many students read using the method. [email protected]

Have you looked into what schools like The NEw Community School and Landmark are doing?

As the previous little advertisement indicated, multisensory methods do tend to be effective — in math as well as reading. I would *love* to help make successful math programs more accessible to the outside world (as has at least started to happen with reading).

In addition to effective remediation, I have to bring up the accommodation piece. Schools need to remove the barriers to learning that prevent students from achieving academic success. This means that students with IEPs have the same access to the curriculum that their peers have. The barriers are removed by using tools that encourage independence such as talking spell checkers, books on tape, text-to-speech software such as Kurzweil or WYNN, AlphaSmarts, Danas, Inspiration and Draft:Builder software, etc. Staff and students need to be trained in their use but once trained all students benefit. And the achievement disparity decreases.

Yes, there are good methods that help many students, alot.

However, unless you actually teach the truly LD child for several years using these methods, you won’t understand the issues. Some parents gain the understanding while working diligently with their own child at home, using techniques.

Excuse me I am truly having one of those days where I work my fanny off, 7 days a week at times, to see significant numbers of my students continue to fail resource and applied level high school classes for not doing an iota of their school work.

So, what do I see? I know I worked for ten years in an elementary school, using these good approaches and still most of these LD kids get to high school, functionally literate and some more so, but continue to score below proficiency on the state standards tests. I know what has been done and how they have been taught.

A couple of my success stories are 11th graders who can read anything in sight as well as I do, but you know what, they were NEVER truly LD. Both of these students lived through very painful parent separations in their first-second grades and did not learn to read. Both are bright, both probably have a touch of ADHD (one was diagnosed, the other never looked into this possibility). So, when they were tested in second and third grades respectively, voila, significant discrepancy. But, true LD, no way. I assure you they both read on grade level by or before 5th grade and with grade level fluency.

Are they still in resource? Yes, one’s mother went on to die a few years later and he lives with the father who mistreated his mother whom he does not like much. He needs a friend and advocate at school. The sped. case carrier provides that to an emotionally needy boy. Nothing wrong with giving a little attention and caring. But, are these boys LD?

We have worked aggressively for 8 years to close the gap, it really doesn’t show that it is very much closed as measured by standards tests, even now.

People who speak as though closing the gap is a trivial matter that should be in place by third grade (a parent the other day on a board), really don’t have a clue what real LD looks like. Of course, it is all our fault, isn’t it? We are a convenient target for all the ills of our society and it deflects blame from the elected officials who maybe could DO something.

Just out of curiosity, how many of these kids believe they will ever achieve anything? How many of these kids are trapped in a self-defeating prophecy?
What is their self worth / esteem?
What would these students’ grades be if the work they failed to turn in were not factored in?

Both of the above issues were major contributors to my problems 20 years ago.

I’m a ADHD/LD student who never did any of his work, yet I’m doing well in College. (I’m doing the work.) I’m finding a lot more support form my College Professors than I ever did in High School. It normally shocks them when I inform them of my problems half way through the semester about my previous problems. I want to make sure I’m treated equally with no special favoritism.

I think you might be surprised at just how many students you might be reaching.

I no longer qualify for support, as I’ve adjusted to my problems. My records were either lost or destroyed so I don’t have any labels on my LD.

BTW, I am Caucasian. I just translated my English nickname into Japanese so I would not be another number.

[quote=”Anitya”]Yes, there are good methods that help many students, alot.

So, what do I see? I know I worked for ten years in an elementary school, using these good approaches and still most of these LD kids get to high school, functionally literate and some more so, but continue to score below proficiency on the state standards tests. I know what has been done and how they have been taught.

Yes, I am NOT LD. I went through elementary and high school by the skin of my teeth, doing very little. I am ADHD. I got to college and did well for several reasons that were not present in K-12:

1. I wanted to be there. I chose to attend college.

2. I had a career goal in mind and was deliberately pursuing it.

3. I spent two years post high school working for minimum wage and realized I might never create the life I wanted for myself, hence a good piece of my motivation.

4. Many college teachers focus on fewer more important projects.

Many H.S. students fail over failure to do daily homework, lose a few points per day. Failure to complete other small nitpicking assignments. This sort of thing drives ADHD people off the top. Some of us, esp. fairly intelligent ones (not necessarily myself) CAN do well at learning and the material and demonstrating via tests that we have learned the material. This was me. My son, too, was like this. Aced the tests, scored high enough to become a National Merit Scholar Semi-finalist and was knocked out of running over his grades, which were lowered due to too many incomplete assignments.

High school is mandatory. You cannot really choose a major and pursue something you want. You have to do so many little picky things. I think college can be a friendlier environment for many of “my” kind, providing the ability and the interest are there.

We rarely gain the appreciation for what is free and mandatory that we gain for what we do by choice and invest hard-earned money into. There is no comparison.

Anitya,
What you wrote made me think of how many times I have told parents that if their kids just make it through high school, they will do fine in life. We know they are good kids and have great skills that just aren’t apparent to all in the public school setting.

[quote=”Anitya”]

1. I wanted to be there. I chose to attend college.

I know what you mean. I also wanted to do many things in HS also. I took some personal responsibility for all the good it did. I did not falter in what few College Prep classes I did manage to take wiggle my way into. I did just as well in them as I did in my previous Basic classes. Though I must admit I bombed Algebra due to my own laziness.

2. I had a career goal in mind and was deliberately pursuing it.

In HS I had a career set in mind also. Joining the Air Force, that was my main focuses the entire time in HS and probably one of the reasons I did as well as I did.

3. I spent two years post high school working for minimum wage and realized I might never create the life I wanted for myself, hence a good piece of my motivation.

You did a lot better than I did. I medically washed out of the Air Force and faltered without any goals for 7 years.

4. Many college teachers focus on fewer more important projects.

Yep, many do, and many are horrible. At least you have the option of choosing your teachers. Its best to socialize with peers to find out who is good, and who is not. I had little choice in what teacher I would get for a subject in HS. I would rather pick a hard teacher who will confidently challenge me than pike a teacher that is easy and just gives busy work.

grades, which were lowered due to too many incomplete assignments.

Where the assignments even relevant in showing that he knew the material vs. the test?

I am a slow student in getting the actual work done. I was so slow that I focused on the work vs. the lesson. In my case, the assignments were just a frustration, which I eventually gave up trying to do. A pity no one caught this problem back then. I was to young to even think about articulating the problem.

I was ADHD mentally more the physically. According to the State of Georgia I am now in remission at the age of 33.

We rarely gain the appreciation for what is free and mandatory that we gain for what we do by choice and invest hard-earned money into. There is no comparison.[/quote]