Sunday, May 16, 2010

Standardized Testing-A Race to Nowhere



This week, I had a conversation with another educator who was ending a California State Testing week. The dedication of this teacher is commendable; although exhausted and stressed, this educator was hopeful that her students did well. She wanted them to have a chance at the best education possible. When I mentioned to her the best education possible is not based on state testing, she went through the myriad of reasons why testing is a benefit. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, increased the role of the federal government in public education and also expanded the role of standardized testing. These alleged benefits of standardized testing permeate the public educational system causing harm to students, teachers and the future of public education as a whole. Race To Nowhere is an excellent description of the standardized testing movement.

According to the California Department of Education, the purpose of standardized testing is “to measure how well students are learning the knowledge and skills identified in California’s content standards.” In addition, standardized testing results will assist with focusing curricular instruction and organizing teaching methods. The goals of standardized testing seem to be falling short; instead of measuring student knowledge and focusing instruction and methods, the rigor of testing seems to be a silent erosion of our school system. A recent documentary, Race To Nowhere, chronicles the culture of today’s youth in public school. According to the documentary, the epidemic of standardized testing has produced a culture for cheating, disengaging students, stress-related illness, depression, burnout, and of compromised young adults seemingly unprepared and uninspired for the future.

"Only a handful of scholars and practitioners have argued in defense of standardized tests," wrote Lishing Wang and fellow researchers Gulbahar H. Beckette and Lionel Brown. The Educational Research Newsletter analyzed the pros and cons of standard-based assessments. According to the website one of the pros of these assessments are a common core of knowledge. These common standards assist in comparing grades across teachers and schools. Students should be expected to meet common standards that are challenging and are more than just minimum requirements regardless of socioeconomic status, race or disability. The other side argues that by imposing standards on students' minds they are constricting intellectual freedom. These standardized tests oversimplify the core knowledge and do not test higher-order thinking. Cookie cutter standards either dumb down instruction or condemn low-ability students to frequent failure. Students can become disengaged and burned out.

Regardless of the side of the argument, all students, teachers and schools are not created equal and this fact is not taken into account when examining the practice of standardization. The practice of standardized test are to meant to level the playing field when in fact the playing field with struggling learners in school is never level. In other words the interventions that are being used to assist struggling students is not individualized and unsuccessful. According to the California Department of Education website’s data for July of 2008, 13, 237 students took the Math portion of the California Exit Exam and 13, 373 students took the English portion of the exam. 29% of the students passed the Math and 30% passed the English portions of the test for the state. When we superimpose the same standards on every student, teacher and school, we receive results that are disappointing—a race to nowhere.

These disappointing results are rooted in non-profit school communities maintaining for-profit activities, i.e., test scores. Data has become the catch phrase and teacher’s names are associated directly with their student’s scores. Improvement has been demanded on the back of a shocked system, and therefore an increase of assessments and pacing guides has followed. This increase of standardized testing is big business for the private sector. There are four companies that dominate the testing market: Harcourt Educational Measurement, CTB McGraw-Hill, Riverside Publishing (a Houghton Mifflin company), and NCS Pearson- three test publishers and one scoring firm. Press reports value the testing market anywhere from $400 million to $700 million. There is a top-down chain between policy, content, materials, and instruction. Policymakers dictate the content, textbook companies convert the content into materials and schools purchase these materials for consumption by teachers and students. According to a blog entitled, When Pedagogy and Policy Collide, written by Brigitte Knudson, what America is experiencing is called “commodification” of education. In others words education has became a commodity or moneymaker. Knudson goes on to state, “Education – the process of learning – has been co-opted by an alliance of business and government interests, for the dual purposes of maintaining the government’s economic interests and propelling the private sector, all while fostering a climate of continual educational crisis in the country that places blame on a system of its own creation that is intentionally underfunded to perpetuate the cycle.” This marriage of big business, government and non-profit school communities continues to lead to disappointment and a move toward privatization of public education. It’s a lose-lose situation as reformers concentrate on splintered areas of need while big business and government erode the core, destroying the public education system right under our noses.

Race to Nowhere is a call to challenge these current assumptions and mobilize families, educators, and policy makers for how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens,” Race to Nowhere website. This documentary is showing this month in Pasadena, California go to see it. Spread the news to educators, parents, students and your community. Join the Race to Nowhere Facebook Page in your area. This is the link for the Los Angeles page. If a page or community group is not available for your area, start one. Let’s continue to examine the facts regarding our educational system and make it our own again.

Is My Kid Too Proper?-What Happened to Respect?



Is my kid too proper acting? This week my 17 year old was participating in a new slam poetry group; since the group’s practice is during dinner she brought food. According to my daughter, the other members were not eating, so at an appropriate moment my daughter asked the leader’s permission to eat. “I brought my dinner, am I permitted to warm and eat?” she asked. At this moment the teenage group ripped into gut-busting laughter. “Are you serious?” one of them asked. “Did you really say that right now?” another chimed in. My daughter looking and feeling a little dumbfounded wondered what was so funny. She went on to explain it is proper etiquette to ask, no one else was eating and she did not want to be rude. The laughter continued. My daughter was correct in asking could she warm and eat her food in a place she had not been before. That fact that others laughed is a telling sign of respectful behavior in today’s society.

The deterioration of respectful behavior in young adults has been a trend in recent news. In April, the New York Post ran an article about teenage “wilding”. This term originated in 1989 when a jogger in Central Park was attacked by a group of wild frenzied teenagers. According to the New York Post, groups of teenagers assaulted, robbed and terrorized subway riders in Manhattan just last month. This behavior is not respectful or proper.

Remember the days of Miss Manners? Miss Manners was the pen name of Judith Martin. Miss Manners answered questions about proper etiquette and manners in over 200 newspapers worldwide. Doesn’t seem like people care much about Miss Manners now a days. Between the road rage and “wilding” it almost seems like our society craves the “bad behavior”. Shows like “Big Brother” and “ The Real World” capitalize on the lack of manners and proper etiquette of twenty-somethings. These shows are very popular with the teenage crowd. The reality show Ladette to Lady’s premise is to teach proper etiquette to loud, foul-mouthed uncultured women. This reality show displays a transformation from wild child to polished lady. It’s dramatic but the sentiment is in the right place.

It may be popular to wild out but it is not proper or respectful. It is ok to have manners in today’s society. We can go back to teaching our children to respect their elders, speak properly, and carry oneself with dignity. The thug-like attitude that steps on the feet of others is not cool or pleasant. The days of yesteryear are longed for as we enter new and challenging times. Our media, music and entertainment do not support the etiquette of Miss Manners, although we can teach our children proper etiquette so they can turn out to be respectful teenagers. When my children were little I was yelling while driving. I would often call out, “idiot!” Then one day my little girl called it out before I could. That was the end of that word. I had taught her how to yell at others. Modeling good behavior and respect for other people can be the strongest example. All is not lost in the area of good behavior; many young people are lovely and caring individuals. It’s proper to ask to eat at someone else’s home, open the door for others, help elderly people across the street and speak without using filthy language. So, start with the young people in your life. Model good behavior, monitor media examples and call them on bad actions. This can be the start of a new era of good feelings and respect for one another.

Stanley Greenspan: Inspiration for an Educational Revolution



May 3rd 2010

Dr. Stanley Greenspan died this week; he was a great man. His official webpage described him as: “Stanley I. Greenspan, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School and Chairman of the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders. The world’s foremost authority on clinical work with infants and young children with developmental and emotional problems, his work has guided parents, professionals and researchers all over the world.”

Dr. Greenspan taught me new ways to teach struggling students. I first met him six years ago when a parent suggested his training course. When I heard him teach the Developmental Individual-difference Relationship Model (DIR), bells and whistles went off in my head on how to teach non-typical learners. His model examines the student in the areas of home life, biomedical profile, sensory profile, and emotional development. This model gave me the additional inroads to students and knowledge of how and when to offer new areas of support. I used Dr. Greenspan’s work as a framework for teaching. This was the beginning of my educational revolution.

When I call for an educational revolution, I am not proposing that teachers know every aspect of a student’s home life, biomedical profile, sensory profile, and emotional development. What I am stating is that creating a relationship with your students and having some knowledge of their home life is important in building educational success primarily with low achieving and struggling learners. The fact that a student chews on his or her pencil or gets up ten times to throw out a piece of paper provides information about how calm their body is or is not in the educational setting. If a student is not creating ideas independently, he or she could have challenges in emotional development. With the use of this model, test scores and lives will flip in a positive direction.


This is the first line of defense I choose to fight, teaching struggling students how to engage learning to be successful well-rounded citizens. For example, three families contacted me in the last two weeks to ask for help with their children’s education in public school. One was an AP student with auditory processing, another an Asperger’s student with an accommodation (504) plan and lastly, a student who left public school for private school only to find out he was not understood there either. The tools I learned from Dr. Greenspan assisted these struggling learners in ways others tools did not. Regardless of the area of educational reform (privatization, standardized test scores, disempowerment of teachers, or corporate influence) the struggling learner is demanding our attention, and focusing on the struggling learner is necessary to make change.

Monday, March 29, 2010

It's a Wonder I Stayed In Public Education!

When I was a new teacher, I wanted to find the key to unlocking success within my students. My desire was to teach them how to become learners. So, I start breaking down the parameters on how students learn. I wanted to know where my students fell off the beam.

Starting with the psychologist, I asked questions. I wanted to know what could I do in the classroom for the processing deficits of my students. I received blah, blah answers that sounded like the teacher’s voice on Charlie Brown.

I was not satisfied, somewhere, someone was trying to lessen these problem for challenged learners; I wanted to be part of the solution. I still needed to learn more about everything, I found educational areas of innovation and best practice. I turned no idea down I was open to learning.

This upset some of my colleagues. Why? I have no idea. Rocking the boat. Doing too much.
Of course, when I wanted to create, utilize innovation and attend conferences or workshops I had to go to the ADMINISTRATION. The administration makes decisions about taking time off work, what fund a substitute teacher’s pay is allocated and registration fees before attendance or implementation takes place. Like Hollywood, I have to go pitch my idea and plan of action. Well, I’ve had some pitches go well and some let’s just say you be the judge.

I've been told many things throughout the years. Here are a few are actual statements from ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF:
• That's great, we don't have money for that
• That's great, ask Title I to pay for it
• Ok we will pay your sub but not the conference, hotel, material, etc
• Sorry there is no money
• Why are you doing this?

With these kinds of responses it’s a wonder why I continued on. I did continue on and over 90% of my training and expertise in education has come from my own resources. Yes, my own pocket. The school system did not care how much of my own money I spent as long as they were not spending it. Here’s a question for you. How many teachers today are updated on best practices in education?

Not many. If the teacher is waiting for the school to pay, they can keep waiting. Don’t believe me ask your kid’s teacher the last conference, innovative lecture or new software training they have been to. The answer won’t be pretty in public school. How can we be better if we don’t use better tools and paradigms? Learn the learner; know the learner, teach the learners.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

School Kids Can't Read!




“We’re not asking them to read nearly enough,” Ms. Pimentel said, an expert on English and reading standards who is a member of the National Assessment Governing Board that oversees the test that showed little to no growth in the area of reading.

Really? I am wondering how long Ms. Pimentel has been inside of the classroom teaching struggling readers. I have been in the classroom working with struggling learners and readers for 15 years. I don’t agree with Ms. Pimentel.

According to the New York Times, “The nation’s schoolchildren have made little or no progress in reading proficiency in recent years, according to results released Wednesday from the largest nationwide reading test. The scores continue a 17-year trend of sluggish achievement in reading that contrasts with substantial gains in mathematics during roughly the same period.”


As I watch students struggle in high school with decoding, vocabulary, comprehension, spelling and writing, a few things come to mind. Let’s take John, for instance he does not know how to spell words that are not phonic or words that you cannot sound out. Therefore, he is embarrassed about his spelling and does not write. How did he get like this? It’s not just lack of instruction or directions that cause this kind of remediation. I have said before that students need developmental, social emotional and physical support to learn. Where did we fall short for John? Somewhere down the road, John did not get what he needed to continue growing.


We have to get away from this one fix show of education. It is not a one trick pony it is a system. My friend told me the other day that the educational system is not to teach the mass but to offer what is offered. Whoever gets it gets it and whoever doesn’t doesn't. So, according to his logic the ones who did not get it recycle into no man’s land?

I say NO! Our children can learn if given the instruction, environment and developmental pieces necessary. I have done it and so can the next guy. Students will make gains if given what they need to learn.

We can continue to have another 17 year studies that does not tell us any causality or start using common sense to teach the child not he standard. If we do this students will improve because we will give them the needed support to improve.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

"The World is coming to an end in 2012 so why should I work hard?"



“The world is coming to an end in 2012 so why should I work hard?http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/2012/ Well, that was quite a shocking statement to receive early in the morning. One of my female high school students made this statement in response to me inquiring about her plans after high school in June. It was a simple question; I did not expect an Armageddon prediction. At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. Then I took a step back. I often take a step back in the classroom setting as an educator of high school students. The middle class part of me that looks into the face of a “give me more generation” did not want to take a step back. The other part of me that is a patient teacher and caring soul instinctively knew this would be a chance to step closer to my student’s frank feelings and offer comfort when there was doubt. What a statement to make! It was obviously about fear of today, tomorrow and the hereafter.

I asked her to explain her point of view and she weaved a web of indecision and new aged fear as she spoke about the world ending, how much easier life would be as a male, and wanting the easy way out

At times like this, I want to weep. I want to weep for a generation that does not have anyone to talk to about life. I want to weep for young people who live in a culture of fear and the adrenaline rush of fear like it’s a new soft drink on the market. I want to weep for the lack of faith, adventure and fullness of just living life.

Instead of weeping, I smile and say, “It’s hard for all of us to grow up and be responsible”.
“I’m not talking about that”, she retorts.

“Actually you are talking about that”, I say gently.

“Making plans for the future, following through with the plans you make and learning to care for yourself is responsibility”, I said lightly because too much weight would cause her to disregard another you must listen statement.

This sunk in for a minute. I watched it saturate over her like a warm glass of milk easing down her throat.

“Fear of Tomorrow” was not included in today’s lesson plan. Change of game plan- so we discussed how she had the same opportunities as males and yes, in this world sometimes it is harder for women. Instead of squashing her fear, I symbolically held her thoughts as we worked them through one by one. After quite some discussion she implored, “If the world was coming to an end what would you do?”

“I would live my life”, I proclaimed. “I would not live in fear”. Her brown eyes bore through me like she was looking for the truth in my statement. I continued, “ I have lived for awhile now and the world was going to end in 1984, 1999 and then again in 2000. “So, 2012?” I shrugged,” I would live my life and enjoy myself.”

She thought for a minute. “You made it right?” her words filled the silence. I could not take this in at the time. It is rare that a teenager shares this kind of kudo with an adult. I am taken aback; she thinks I made it. She sees me as a success. This harden teenager that threatened to vandalize my car upon our first few meetings. This threat was a simplistic ploy to scare me away from getting to know her. This young women is the same fragile soul that told me, “I feel so bad I just want to live under the covers.” after a tragic shooting that left a friend dead. Hard expressions, frown lines and eyes of bewilderment often searched me for answers along with a “you don’t care”, “I don’t care” attitude of resentment for a life that hasn’t really started.

I see a sense of hope slowly build in her eyes. I knew my eyes lit up as
I said, “The world is your oyster. You can do anything you want. You can dream. You can travel. You can see other things. It is an exciting time of your life.”

Her faces seems like she is reasoning the possibility that she too can do it. Together we develop a plan to start walking toward her goals. To see if working in the field of veterinary services would suit her. With some persuasion, she’s planed to go to the pet store this week to ask for an application. If they are not hiring she is going to ask to volunteer so she can be around animals.

The bell rings and she stops at the door on her way out and looks at me.

“You are cool Ms. Johnson.” I smile. She has second thoughts, “I need a lot of guidance”, she admits. Your friend offered to go with you to the pet store I reminded her. She looked at her friend standing closed by and she asked for help. She asked for help.

I suppose that was the lesson for the day. Just ask for help..

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Living or Learning Problem: Do You Care?



Sometimes our kids have living problems not learning problems in education today. Life at times is so complicated. I grew up in simpler times. The students of today have many challenges to face: death, suicide, sexuality, drugs, alcohol, etc. Some kids have challenges just getting to school.

This week one of my most lethargic students warmed up to my class and me. He was a lump. I have tried to engage him in conversation,... nothing. He would sluggishly give me one-word answers to my questions. I’d ask about his life, nothing. Yes or no answers followed without affect or expression. How many months of school has it been? I was pulling out all my stops because I know through experience and research that a relationship is a starting point and cultivation for learning. I would put on my best face on day after day but each day he was ultra flat therefore, non-engaged. You can’t win them all right? Wrong because somehow, someway, something got to him. This week he was Mr. Delightful! I don’t know what turned it but it turned. He worked harder, made positive comments and became an asset to the classroom. Most likely he was having living problems not a learning problem.

According to Eutopia.com,” New America Media, a nationwide network of over 700 ethnic-media organizations, and the University of California’s Office of the President, conducted a survey of young people in California to better understand what young adults ages 16-22 feel are the primary issues impacting their lives.” http://www.edutopia.org/challenges-young-adults The study spoke with 601 young Californians. Here are the results of the survey as they reported in the study.

CALIFORNIA DREAMERS: A PUBLIC OPINION PORTRAIT
OF THE MOST DIVERSE GENERATION THE NATION HAS KNOWN
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_custom.html?custom_page_id=340
Fig. 1



In the graph young people identified family breakdown as the number one problem followed by violence in the neighborhood and poverty.

In another situation I was walking to the office and an educational assistant was having a disagreement with a middle school girl. I stopped and asked the educational assistant what seemed to be the problem. The assistant quickly let me know the girl refused to work and now was refusing to go to the dean. I volunteered to take her. I asked the young lady what was wrong. She blew me off with a simple nothing which means I’m not telling you, you don’t care. I implored her and then she exploded with a river of mind-blowing information. Her brother had been arrested for attempted murder and he was her caretaker. She had a mother but her brother is the one that cared for her. She knew he was in Long Beach but that’s all she knew and she was freaked out. I told her I’d be freaked out too. Then I said the thing that any of you would of said, “we can find him and you can write him a letter”. She melted with hope as tears filled her eyes. That’s all she needed was hope and help. We cannot have an educational system that is not human. Our souls have to touch the young people souls. We have to care about their lives. Is this our job? Who cares? If a kid needs you, step up. It may be a living problem they need help with not a learning problem.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Alice Highjacked Me: Children Stories with Adult Themes


Alice and Wonderland came out this pass weekend. Is this like another attempt to highjack the old story for a new more racy one? I, for one, felt like someone in charge had smoked dope when I saw the psychedelic colors and way out looks of our new groth-like Alice and crew. The Wallstreet Journal even had a few cents to say about the new Alice. Joe Morgenstern of the Wallstreet Journal wrote in the article, ‘Alice’: Half of a Wonderland, “It's more gothic than Victorian and slightly tinctured with danger..”.

According to the LA Weekly’s, March 5-11th 2010 issue, Karina Longworth wrote an article, Alice in Chains Tim Burton in La-La Land. According to the article Disney formed a partnership with Hot Topic of all people. According to the Wall Street Journal, Disney is trying to capitalize on the “Twilight and New Moon” teenage girl thing. Do these people have any common sense and have they ever been in Hot Topic?! Apparently not!

In my opinion, Disney sold out. The thing about these kinds of movies that highjack young children stories for adult themes is that kids think the movie is for them. I did not see big warnings in the ads for inform parents. According to the article, Should Kids See ‘Alice in Wonderland’ on the Momlogicwebsite,”We're definitely not in Disneyland anymore.”
(http://open.salon.com/blog/momlogic/2010/03/08/should_kids_see_alice_in_wonderland)

Hollywood needs to stop playing around with children books and stories without big warnings on the front end. On the Momlogic website the reviewer wrote regarding her 10 year daughter, “My daughter started fidgeting -- and I grew restless -- as the film droned on in the middle, only to pick up during the climactic final battle.” How uncomfortable. It’s our job to protect our kids from this climate of graphic images and grown up ideas. My three children (now 21, 19 and 16) did not watch anything on television after 8pm when they were growing up. They watched very little to no television growing up. What TV they did watch, I viewed then videotaped them for the weekends. Later, my children expressed how they now appreciated not having television as an option and that it forced them to find other things to do for entertainment and enjoyment.

Today, media is bad enough, young people are constantly bombarded with images they are not prepared to process. According to the National Institute on Media and the Family “..61% of children’s television programs contain violence and only 4% have an anti-violence theme.” Just this week while watching the Oscars a commercial came on for an ABC television series called “V” (http://abc.go.com/watch/v/240273?CID=google_sem_1). Watch at your own risk. During the commercial slashing occurs to a man’s head! My family flinched at the sight of a character looking into a man skull! This is a decision someone in the media made for viewers to watch. It’s not the media’s job to protect our children. I think over the years the media has made that very clear. The job belongs to us, the community. Every citizen is obligated to help our future by keeping over sexed, mature themed and violent material from our children as long as we can. This gives good parenting an opportunity to lay the appropriate foundation so when the time is right our children can make the right decision

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Times Have Changed So Why Haven't We?


SO, it’s has been a week and no one is knocking my door down about the Educational Revolution. That’s ok because I can see from word of mouth that people believe in the Revolution and have not came together or had a voice to articulate exactly what the problem is as they are lead to freedom. This is a little melodramatic but it is very true.

We know that education is suffering in many ways. Education is suffering nationwide. More special need students are being identified all the time. Viable students are dropping out of school according to the America’s Promise Alliance. In April 2008, ABC World News segment ("Failing Grades," April 1) featured a report from America's Promise Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that showed 1.2 million students drop out of high school each year. This is a good jumping off place to start. The information we have is communicating something to us. We have to figure out the whys, hows and an action plan.

Last blog, I discussed how students could get behind and not really be noticed. I also stated a plan of action:
learning how to examine students developmentally, emotionally and physically; learning how to customize interventions to fit the students; and making this fabric part of our educational system. It would be revolutionary to utilize these practices.

The lack of understanding students to their core leads to a lack of vision in education. I’ll say it again, education lacks vision. This does not mean there not great things happening in education, do not get me wrong. There are wonderful programs, teachers and administrators that serve students well. What I’m talking about is the student that is not served well. This kind of student is growing in numbers by leaps and bounds. The student could look like one that ignores the teacher, sleeps in class, or just does not turn in work. The student could also look like the student who tries hard to please yet struggles anyway. The student could look like a reading disability that does not qualify for special education services. The student could look like many things. The disservice in education is that all are not getting what they need. It’s no one fault. They need too much for the current system to handle. That’s why we need a revolution.

Look, times are different and we have to change with the times. Our children are over exposed to stimuli. Input is constantly coming into the senses of people today: videos, ipods, text messages, computer screens, cell phones, etc. This upbeat of sensory heightens the system and the system craves for more. Kids in elementary and middle school are on video games, text messages and even Facebook!

Constantly, I hear kids saying they are bored. One student said it today as an excuse of why he drew an obscene picture! Students are not bored they are unregulated or unable to sit for periods of time without input. Am I over exaggerating? No. With the changing times, lack of real community, family time and bounding our children are being raised by the television and the media. How many moms or dads need a break and they put little Johnny in front of a movie or his favorite show, in which they TiVo'd for him! When the kid starts emulating the characters, speaking in gibberish or lost in fantasy thoughts we think something is wrong with the kid.

This form of thinking something is wrong with the kid permeates throughout education for those that struggle. Unlike mom and dad that start the ball rolling with too much media, teachers get what they get in a student. That student can come with a fertilized foundation for educational growth or with nothing but a blank slate somewhat ready to learn. Regardless, at sometime in the educational journey an educator, administrator and or parent starts to “victimize the victim” when the child is not learning and the interventions are not working.

The lack of understanding students to their core leads to a lack of vision in education. That’s why we need a revolution.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Join the Educational Revolution!


I consider myself an Education Reformer. Through the years I have tried to reform education from the inside out. It has not worked. What makes me so smart, nothing really? I think every teacher wants to assist students with learning to the best of their ability. At least that is my deepest desire, to assist kids that struggled to overcome their challenges. Which in turn, produces more well-rounded, self-sufficient, educated people as citizens for our county. Does this seem far-fetched?

This is my general premise as per my paper, The Multi-Sensory Classroom (Aug. 2004):
“Each child develops sensory/motor preskills at a very young age (e.g., auditory processing, fine and gross motor skills, visual perception, reflexes, tactile processing, sensory modulation). These bottom levels of sensory/motor development are often taken for granted because they are basic and develop automatically in the typically developing child. When we teach a student at school, the child uses these sensory/motor preskills as a foundation for learning. Children in whom these preskills have not fully developed find learning difficult if not impossible; they become our struggling or special-needs children. Without the appropriate developmental foundation, they cannot build the abstract thinking skills we try to teach them in school. “
Therefore, students may struggle in an educational setting and it may not be obviously apparent why the struggle exists.

So here’s my beef. Many students receive the necessary tools to overcome struggles in public education by the support of parents, teachers and interventions. There are a great number of students who do not receive additional support for whatever reason. This fact needs to change very rapidly.

Case in point, let’s examines the test scores for the high school exit exam for California. According to the California Department of Education website’s data for July of 2008, 13, 237 students took the Math portion of the California Exit Exam and 13, 373 students took the English portion of the exam. 29% of the students passed the Math and 30% passed the English portions of the test for the state. That means that 9,423 students failed the Math and 9,420 failed the English! Holy Smoke!

I cannot be the only one screaming in the wildness. Where are you? Please don’t give me the spill about more qualified teachers and incentives. In today’s, New York Times, Week in Review section on page 5 there is an advertisement from the President of America Federation of Teachers. The name of the article which is really an advertisement is called, “ What Matters Most: Words into Action”. In the ad-like article the president, Randi Weingarten explains this problem in education, “ For too long and too often, teacher evaluation –in both design and implementation – has failed to achieve what must be our goal: continuously improving and informing teaching so as to better education all students”. She goes on to give an example from Colorado of the school board and teacher union working together. Then at the end she says that school board members, teachers, union leaders all feel the same way, they want what’s best for the kids. I felt the article was about working relationships in these difficult financial times. Maybe that needs to be the focus for the advertisement that educational higher ups and teacher unions do not need to eat each other alive so they can eventually help kids. Although our students are failing right now and I don’t want any kid to miss several years of learning because people who make a lot of money can’t get along. We are talking about kid’s futures here. Give me a break!

I’m tired of the Infomercial Education. The kind that keeps promising that magic ellixir yet, the product is just so-so. The real conversation needs to be around the individual differences of students or their learning styles and needs. Administrators, school boards, teachers and all school staff members need to be trained in how to recognize a struggling student’s needs: emotionally, developmentally and physically. They also need to know how to build or recognize curriculum for these needs and drive the curriculum based on assessment data, not a hunch or a feeling. I’m not saying that public education can fix it all and is a one-stop shop. But let’s be honest students come to school with all of these issues and as a whole we cannot ignore the numbers. Our students in this state are not making the cut. Our interventions are not making the cut. Identifying student’s needs are not based on each student’s individual differences or assessments yet blanket interventions are thrown on major problems.
So, we need an Educational Revolution…stay tuned how to join the fight.

Monday, February 8, 2010

On Edge-Who Me or You


I get it, even if no one else does! I notice the signs of mistreatment when I see it. That is what’s wrong with our society. No one wants to see anything. We all walk around like uncomfortable feelings do not exist. Many of us have learned to be desensitized to people in pain. Society turns the other cheek but not in a good way. Case in point, in the New York Times Magazine, Michael Sokolove wrote an article about Shani Davis. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/magazine/07Davis-t.html
I’m going be honest. I was not aware of Shani Davis. As my spouse read me excerpts from the article, an overwhelming parallel occurred based on my experience as a special education teacher.

Shani Davis is a world-class Black American gold medalist speed skater from Chicago. He is awesome! He is a Hercules on skates. That is so great what is his story? I asked as the article unfolded. Shani is a product of a single mother. He started skating and competing on ice by age 6. In the upcoming, 2010 Winter Olympics, Shani already holds the world record for the two middle distance events he is favored to win.

This is so impressive so what’s the problem? Well, apparently there is a sense of bad karma or vibes around Shani. Other people in the ice skating community are not comfortable around him. He is an isolated athlete that has a reputation of being on the “Island of Shani”. He chooses not to train with his team, he doesn’t care about money, and he will not allow his name or image on the team webpage according to the article. Oh, and his mother has quite a reputation for flying off the handle and being what seems too be erratic. People avoid her. Also according to the article people walk on eggshells around Shani while “he basks in his competitive comfort zone, sets up according to his needs and to serves what matters most to him-skating fast. “

Believe it or not, this scenario of people acting what seems to be strange looks very familiar. As a special educator, I immediately saw the parallels of advocating special education parents and Shani and his mother. I have seen good people devastated by an educational system that can barely keep up with the current best practices. Parents in shock or grief of processing having a special needs child end up feeling attacked and manipulated in the educational process i.e., meetings, services, placements. By the time the special needs child reaches the 3rd grade, the parents are crazy according to staff members. The staff says things like: they make their kid sick; they don’t want help; I tried to talk to them and they just want outside providers etc. etc. As the special needs educational process takes place it becomes emotionally, physically and spiritually difficult and the parents start to fight back when they feel their child’s needs are not being met. The parents work to protect themselves from the very system that is suppose to be their partner. I can not count how many times, angry parents looked at me crossly from the other side of the meeting table. Almost like they were waiting for the empty words of promise to come out of my mouth. In time, we formed a partnership and healed together but there was something that needed healing.

So when listening to the article about Shani being difficult to be around, I really had to ask, is it Shani that has been on his island or did he have to make an island to survive.

As I witnessed families sanity be questioned, ideas belittled, and dreams diminished by lack of best practices, understanding, compassion or education of staff, I have to wonder is that the case with Shani too. It seems a part of the ice skating community is expressing their discomfort in how this man chooses to live his life. This is my point about this wonderful athlete.
Shani Davis is not the cookie cutter athlete that society is use to seeing smiling brightly on a Wheaties’ box. No one has really tried to understand Shani’ s journey we just want his journey to look like “ours”. Society wants no waves, no pain, and no distress. The discomfort of his isolation has sparked something but it’s the wrong something. Don’t walk on eggshells, just walk. Walk toward the answers that led this man to protect himself by staying to himself. Now, that is something to think about. I bet no one wants to touch this subject. I get it, even if no else does! That’s what’s wrong with our society. No one wants to see anything. We all walk around like discomfort does not exist.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

“UP” was a Downer


Oscar nominations are out! Two times this past year I was dumbfounded by a movie I thought would be entertaining. One of my movie bloopers got several Oscar nominations!

Am I so off the beaten path that I cannot see greatness? Or could it be our society is making adult themed movies in animation form. The movie “UP” was supposed to a delightful ride when I rented it a few weeks ago. What did I have to loose, it was animated, the commercials were so cute and it looked so fun? I knew I was going to have an evening of laughs. Thank God my children are older teens. What was the writer thinking? The movie was emotionally devastating and I hope no one took their children but I know people did.

This animation film had the themes of miscarriage, grief of losing a child, lost dreams, death of a spouse, assault and developers over taking neighborhoods.

What is it with adult themes in animated films? Do the big kids need a new playground? I don’t want to see it and neither do young children. I’m tired of being highjacked after I’m in a movie. This is a manipulative ploy to trick people into the theater to suck more money out the middle class pocketbooks. Writers, animators and advertisers let consumers know on the front end about the adult themes so we can make the decision.

By the nomination of Best Picture, I wonder what Hollywood is saying to young people and parents about the future of animation. Is it for the big kid that wants to work out their childhood issues instead of therapy? Is it now a free for all for Quentin Tarantino types?

Well, I’m not game and many other parents would not be either. I use to trust Hollywood when it came to children’s movies yet, the system has made it very clear by the Best Picture Nominations that bloody war dramas, child abusive, adult themed animation, scary aliens, evil humans and alienated businessman are what makes a good film.

HEY HOLLYWOOD, LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE!
(Pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall)

Monday, February 1, 2010

Cut the Blind? What the Hey?



Is it me? I don't get it! Education needs an enema! Cuts, cuts and more cuts.

Today, I heard about cutting Visually Impaired Services! Visually Impaired or “low vision is a severe reduction in vision that can't be corrected with standard glasses or contact lenses and reduces a person's ability to function at certain or all tasks.” (http://www.answers.com/topic/visually-impaired)

How in the world could anyone think about cutting or reducing a trained professional to work with these students? These services are modifications not actual services someone stated today. Are these people out of their minds?

Blind students need services! These students use glasses, Braille, seeing eye dogs, canes and adaptive computer technology. What could the person been thinking that wanted to cut these priceless services. What degree could they have earned to make it ok to even think about this course of action? What university produces people who do not think but desperately do things that hurt the future of our children, state, and nation?

We’d better wake up and take charge of the yahoos that are running things into the ground in education. The thinkers that want to cut starting with my kids education and social skills for autistic youth need a flush.

PARENTS, GOOD SOLID TEACHERS, ADVOCATES and the COMMUNITY pick up your beds and walk. Open your mouths and complain and let’s make common sense in education. Enough is enough, let’s flush out the waste before it’s too late.

Action Plan

•Look for re-elections and up coming school board meetings.
•Go and see what’s cooking.
•Ask a kid about what’s going on in school and the good stuff too. We need to know what is working.

•Visit a local school.
•Ask for literacy curriculum
•Ask to see computers in the classroom, you might faint at this one
•Ask about vocational track for students
•Report back about what you find and let’s do something before education suffers anymore.