I've heard some teachers mention trying kids out of special education here at the middle school. I don't understand the concept of "trying kids out" at any level. Let's talk a little about special education.
Special education was created to guarantee that kids with disabilities get the help they need. It's supposed to level the playing field. So, if a kid is in a wheel chair, we make sure he has access to classrooms--unless the chair lift is broken, right high school ; ) -- on all floors. If a student is dyslexic, we use strategies like putting a piece of colored transparency (yep, it's a strategy) over written words. If a student has a specific learning disability in math (it doesn't have to have a name, something just doesn't connect in the synapses) we give that student a calculator.
Basically, I'm talking about fairness. Fair doesn't mean equal (right middle school). Fair means giving all students the chance to have the same opportunity for success.
Let's say that paralyzed student in the wheel chair seems to be getting along pretty well. We had a paraeducator pushing him around from class to class because he is a freshman and doesn't know his way around. But by week three he's mastered it and he usually leaves before the paraeducator gets to the room. He's got it down now, so let's take away his wheel chair.
Not funny, I know. And I'm not really trying to be funny, but I'm exaggerating a point that all special needs students face. Learning disabilities for the most part are invisible. What teachers see is that student that refuses to work in class or skips resource room time.
Did you think that maybe that student didn't do the work because it's too hard? Or maybe the kid skips resource because he's afraid his friends will call him stupid.
If a student is having success (which should NEVER be judged by standardized test scores or by grades), we shouldn't take the wheel chair away. He just may not need the paraeducator. But that's why we have a continuum of services for those students. (Find ours at http://bit.ly/3nNEo8) Maybe the student doesn't need resource time right now, but let's not completely remove them from our rosters. They may need that documentation to be successful in college. And they can get support services in colleges; links to some are below. But getting those services is tough if you no longer have an IEP.
I think we also need to do a better job of creating kids that advocate for themselves better. What are these kids going to do when they go to college? They aren't going to be the first one to the teacher, telling that professor that they have a learning disability that requires a printed copy of the notes (but a dyslexic student might need that).
It just seems like we bury these kids sometimes.
Some special education services sites from colleges:
Graceland: http://bit.ly/J95MQ
Northwest Mo. State: http://bit.ly/fllkL
Kirkwood: http://bit.ly/17a6zX
SWCC (Creston): http://bit.ly/n8euC
Simpson: http://bit.ly/MSTSr
Indian Hills: http://bit.ly/lWhyN
Drake: http://bit.ly/zLZGp
Iowa: http://www.uiowa.edu/~sds/
UNI: http://www.uni.edu/sds/ (One of the best)
Iowa State: http://bit.ly/Vo3xR
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