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by NO TEACHER LEFT BEHIND
Jun 18, 2009
What about the teachers...? Do we get any support? No all of the blame is put on us if students do not perform well on FCAT. Parents are not to blame....I am talking about the ones that don't do s*** for their kids. However we are left to be everything for their child. There are only so many hours in a school day. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
by Dominic F. Sankar
Jun 30, 2009
As a newly minted "No Longer a First Year Teacher", it is now time to turn my attention to all of the reflections I have collected or completed over the past year, and really dissect them. Several key areas, which will be instrumental to next year’s success, require careful scrutiny, and then there are one or two things that just leave me scratch...See MoreAs a newly minted "No Longer a First Year Teacher", it is now time to turn my attention to all of the reflections I have collected or completed over the past year, and really dissect them. Several key areas, which will be instrumental to next year’s success, require careful scrutiny, and then there are one or two things that just leave me scratching my head.
As I prepared to enter my first year, I struggled with the ideology of “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB). Where would I stand? Could I justify actions that led to the promotion of a student I felt did not truly deserve it, or would I teach (and grade) the way I learned? Further complicating the matter was the question of how could I water-down my lessons, and at the same time, identify those higher achieving students?
As discussed on this message board (by Mr. Ed/7th/GA on 6/14/09) in “NCLB is Killing Gifted Ed and impacting gifted students' future”, I agree that it is extremely difficult to cater to one demographic of (low-performing) student, and yet reach or engage students in need of more rigor.
Lesson differentiation can help to engage students with different learning styles, and increases the interaction between such students. However it has been my experience that sometimes these lessons are detrimental to some students, who lose focus and manifest this with poor behavior. I believe that in some cases (and not in all) that this moves beyond a teacher’s ability to differentiate, and into the realm of disengaging a certain level of student.
In agreement and in accordance to Mr. Ed/7th/GA, the focus of NCLB is on the lower performing students. I also agree that the focus of NCLB garners more attention in larger classes when the range of learning levels are more diverse and therefore encompass a greater spectrum, than it does in a smaller class where the range has less diversity. How then does a policy that is geared towards developing students at the tail end of a spectrum, help students that are in the middle or in the higher end, and how does this policy help those students improve?
A central ideology of education is the furthering or expansion of abilities and potentials. When a policy creates an all-encompassing curriculum to elevate a certain demographic of students, it has a trickle effect on other students, teachers and eventually the culture of an educational system. Another aspect of NCLB was identified in comments by Ms. Brown (06/15/2009: NCLB on this same site) who identifies the detrimental and seemingly unfair effects on Special Education. Ms. Brown comments that students in a special education class are being set up for failure, because they are subject to the same assessments as general education students, and whose progress are also measured alongside the general education students. In comments in response to Ms. Brown’s post, Mariana (06/20/2009, Re: NCLB) writes that her students were affected by unfair standards, which assessed special education students based on statewide tests, not on actual progress made.
Once again NCLB proves that it hinders more than it helps. There are compelling arguments and discussions that show that an all-encompassing policy that only caters to the improvement of scores of low-performing general education students, does not work. Not only can it create an unfocused and crippling environment for high-performing students, it also fails to facilitate the improvement of students in the middle of the pack. Furthermore NCLB may be having a less than desired effect on the assessment of students in a special education setting. (Word Count 596)
by Joan Azarva
Jul 17, 2009
After having worked for 13 years as a college Learning Specialist, I resigned in 2006, dismayed by the poor success rate of college students with learning disabilities. By 2006, there were so many students disclosing and requesting services that I could see students only once in two weeks; I couldn't possibly provide the level of support they neede...See MoreAfter having worked for 13 years as a college Learning Specialist, I resigned in 2006, dismayed by the poor success rate of college students with learning disabilities. By 2006, there were so many students disclosing and requesting services that I could see students only once in two weeks; I couldn't possibly provide the level of support they needed to succeed.
Under-staffing at college and university disability offices is the rule, with few exceptions, and usually those are the ones offering specialized programs. As a result, it is common for students with LD to be set up to fail from day one; unfortunately, neither they nor their parents realize that.
Because high school and college are such different systems, and students and parents haven't been schooled in how to navigate college with a disability, students inadvertently make errors that quickly result in a downhill slide. After an unsuccessful first semester, those who entered college with hope for a better future are terribly discouraged. Many of them leave after their first year.
The tragedy of this is threefold:
a. These students leave school thinking they are not "college material", when in fact, that isn't necessarily the case. Had they made different decisions and had proper support, the outcome could have been far brighter.
b. Where do you go after failing college, particularly community college, where the multitude of LD students begins? You go to tech school, if you're so inclined, or you are relegated to a low-paying menial job.
c. Parents, feeling it's their duty to sacrifice and provide their kids with higher education, unknowingly throw their tuition dollars away. In the worst case scenario, the student takes a loan, has a good deal of money to re-pay (with interest), yet has no degree or higher-paying job to show for it. In essence, this student is WORSE off than before!
I know that the outcome can be different because I've sat on both sides of the desk; I raised a son with LD who graduated college successfully, but his success was hardly accidental. It was the result of researching extensively, preparing him for the college system, and assuring he had a strong safety net of support.
For me, watching capable college students fail was unbearable. Feeling ineffectual at my job wasn't much fun either. I realized that it's almost impossible to rescue students once they have fallen into an abyss and their self-esteem is at rock-bottom.
In essence, well-meaning parents think they are doing right by their teens, providing them the opportunity for higher education. What they REALLY are doing is sending their teens off with a tuition check and a backpack, trusting that the colleges will take over from there. NOT TRUE - this isn't Kansas anymore!
Upon my resignation in 2006, I vowed to come up with a PROACTIVE solution --to reach these students while still in high school. It seemed more sensible to teach them how to succeed in advance, rather than risk they'd fail, as approximately 84% of these students do.
I started a free e-list to arm parents with knowledge of the college system, so they can now enter this uncharted territory with eyes wide open. Anyone can subscribe at [link removed].
I also wrote a course for this cohort which I teach locally and online. For each student who fails, not only do we lose a creative mind, we risk adding yet another person to our already over-crowded criminal justice system, a large percentage of which is people with learning differences.
It is my hope that a proactive approach will FINALLY give special education students the fair shot at college success they deserve.
Is there a chatboard about literacy based interventions? I just got a new position - intervention/assessment teacher & will need help.
by NCLB keeps 'em coming!
Sep 9, 2009
AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The district apparently has an INITIATIVE (big idea that never gets launched) to reduce class size. Whenever it looks AS IF we might have under 30, the NCLB kids end up getting their transfers, and ALL OF A SUDDEN, we are up to 39 kids in a room with ONE TEACHER!!!!!! 39 is definitely over my limit according to my contract, but th...See MoreAHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The district apparently has an INITIATIVE (big idea that never gets launched) to reduce class size. Whenever it looks AS IF we might have under 30, the NCLB kids end up getting their transfers, and ALL OF A SUDDEN, we are up to 39 kids in a room with ONE TEACHER!!!!!! 39 is definitely over my limit according to my contract, but that doesn't really matter. In this economy I'm glad I have a job, and I certainly am not going to draw attention by complaining about a large class. However, when does "reduced class size" have an effect on kids who come via NCLB? Who monitors this stuff? Are the parents warned that the classes are massive? What parent would choose a classroom with one teacher and 39 kids? Kids come to my school expecting greatness- great teaching, optimum learning, and a safe place. 39 students is tragic for them, squeezed like sardines into a too-small room, teaching to the "masses" as if they are in college, hoping they are "getting" it because I am alone in the room...I feel guilty for not giving each of them the attention they deserve. At 39, my next student will be seated in the coat closet, on the heater, or in the hallway. BTW-not HS- this is 5th grade.
by Learn It Systems
Oct 27, 2009
Good afternoon, Learn It Systems is please to be working with Texas as an SES provider. We are hiring for after school instructors for our tutoring programs in Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. We offer paid instructor training, our own lesson plans, as well as a competitive pay scale as shown in the attached link. For contact info plea...See MoreGood afternoon, Learn It Systems is please to be working with Texas as an SES provider. We are hiring for after school instructors for our tutoring programs in Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. We offer paid instructor training, our own lesson plans, as well as a competitive pay scale as shown in the attached link. For contact info please open link. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Fort Worth Area Team
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