I opened this month's electronic newsletter from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance, and found an article about inclusion at the top.  The article points out that although 57 percent of students receiving special education services are in a general classroom, only 19 percent of students diagnosed with cognitive disabitilities are in inclusive classrooms.  The author, Nirvi Shah, rightly bemoans the fact that schools are still slow to make inclusion happen, especially for children with more significant disabilities.

The article faults teacher education.  That, I know, is changing.  Still, we have a generation or two of teachers who still believe that special education is a place and not a service.  Special education is something you go to, not something you do with a teacher who offers you support.

We have to remember that inclusion is not multiple choice.  The legal underpinnings of inclusion is the  Equal Protection Clause of the U. S. Constitution, which means that public schools must provide all students a public education in an environment which is "least restrictive."

I recommend taking the time to read the article, if only to understand the experience of families seeking inclusion for their children.  Unfortunately, many of us teaching in special education have little leverage in effecting inclusion practice in our districts.  We have it, or we don't.  Often if we have it we don't have the support and resources we need to do it well, or the kids we work with continue to be marginalized by general education teachers who just don't get it

Time is soon approaching when the test prep will be over and the state high stakes state assessments will be rolled out.  Ready?

I will definitely be spending some time offering suggestions to help you diffuse some of the anxiety of your students.  And some sympathy for those who have to administer an alternative assessment.  Some of them are doozies (We see students from 5 states at my facility.)   Those that don't qualify for the alternate test end up "snatchin' their heads bald."  I've also heard the story of a local school district who tried, early on, to exceed their 3 percent in order to stack the deck in their favor.  They got caught.

So, has No Child Left Behind done it's job?  Are our schools better, or just our student's performance?  And what about all the states that have dumbed down their state tests to increase their success rate?

I know, after working in inner city schools, that the energy that goes into improving test scores, as opposed to real instruction, is significant.  In my second placement, we did not teach science until after the state test.  We were not allowed to teach science until after the state test. I know lots of strategies for improving student scores, and even some good strategies to teach content in ways that support the student's performance on the test.  But get out into some of the suburbs, and you find they don't need preparation.  My younger son never did test prep and received outstandings from 3rd through 8th grades.  Are we really closing the gap?

US News and World Report has an excellent feature on No Child Left Behind.  Margaret Spelling reflects her loyalty to the failed Bush administration, of course.  Randi Weingarten's loyalties are to teachers, especially to teachers in large cities where the AFT tends to dominate.  Their points of view are still important.  Michael Cohen and Andrew Rotherman share some really incisive observations.  What's your point of view?

I believe in inclusion.  Really.  I think it's great for both students in special education and typically developing kids.  My own children benefited from being in an inclusive school, although their more severely disabled classmates (usually autism) left the room for instruction.  Both boys are very empathetic and kind with disabled students, and I am encouraging my older boy to come and work as a residential counselor at my school while he figures out the rest of his life.

I interviewed for a full inclusion job in the large metropolitan district where I was teaching.  The person who was to be my partner took a job at charter school, and my new partner took the job off a list in the district office.  Big mistake.  I doubt seriously she will ever read this, and also doubt that she would ever see herself in this blog.  She should have never left her safe suburban enclave or her safe spot behind the beauticians chair (Yeah, she cut hair.)

We had 33 students.  15 were fourth and fifth grade special education students, one of whom just graduated from a behavioral program contracted by the district (the district didn't let you classify a child as ES because they couldn't provide the student to staff ratios.  They preferred to have a child assault someone so they could move them out of the school or get the county mental health agency pay for an alternate behavioral placement.)  The balance of the children were fourth graders who, believe it or not, were mostly reading at or above grade level.

At first I thought my partner was just inexperienced.  I started to believe she was evil.  One of the special ed kids was a survivor of lead poisoning.  He was pretty heavily medicated and would fall asleep when he arrived in the morning.   Besides cognitive differences, Jeremiah (not his real name) also had behavior problems that his medication helped with.  He was actually a real sweety, and the other special ed kids knew it.  She insisted on screaming at him first thing in the morning "You're not sleeping in my classroom.  Do I have to call your mother?"  I knew if you let him sleep, he woke up pleasant and compliant and had a lovely day.  She, however, succeeded in not only setting him off, but all the special ed kids, who had been together since kindergarten.

Children could not go to the restroom without adult supervision:  they clogged the urinals, peed on the floor, the walls, whatever, and fought.  She refused to help supervise, so I ended up dealing with behaviors that she instigated.

They finally pulled me out with the 15 special educations students after Christmas,  half 5^th grade, half 4^th grade.  By that time they were so mad at my partner, the system, the principal, the dean of students, that it took 6 weeks to start getting them under control.  By the end of the year the curriculum lead teachers were walking into my room and saying things like, "Oh, I didn't realize you had any students in here!"(They were working.)  In the meantime, a lot of people said, "I can't believe you show up for school every day."  In the end, I won that one.  And went on to another job in another school district.

So how about you?  Share your horror story here, or better yet, give the rest of us some encouragement by responding to the link above!

As Valentines Day approaches, many teachers are preparing for the crafts, the party, the excitement of Valentines Day.  For many typically developing children it is their only foray into the exciting adult world of boy-girl relationships.

For many children with learning disabilities, especially those on the autistic spectrum, these sort of relationships are foreign.  It's true that for some children with Autism a relationship with someone of the opposite sex may have no real importance.  Or so says Temple Grandin, who I heard say in a National Public Radio interview  she was perfectly happy with her life the way it was.  But I know that among my boys, they have a real interest in the opposite sex--in fact female staff have to be careful that their seemingly innocent hugs are not in fact "copping a feel."

This last week was a great social success for my class.  We went to McDonalds.  We had been rehearsing all week how to ask for the food of their choice.  They went, they chose, they were appropriate, and even got a complimentary ice cream cone from the manager.  Onward and upward!!  I am now planning an excursion to Taco Bell, plus some educational time before hand on Mexico.

Still, I am scouring the resources I am reviewing this week with the hope of finding a road in to keep expanding the boys' horizons, as they improve their behavior out in the community.