Yearning to Educate

Not only am I a broad-brush-attack, isolated-incident, malcontent parent who can-never-be-appeased, I also have a desire to educate. Just ask the hundreds-close-to-low thousands of families that I have had contact with over the last 32 years.

I believe that the world of Special Education is the cornerstone of "public education". For those who have never been responsible for a disabled person, this concept may seem bass-ackwards.


I submit that professional teachers of the disabled can teach rings around professional teachers of the regular.

Concepts such as backward chaining, daily living skills, functional causation and understanding that pragmatic discourse is generally not beneficial in educating those who learn differently.


For those who care - pragmatics is regarded as one of the most challenging aspects for language learners to grasp, and can only truly be learned with experience.

"....Another perspective is that pragmatics deals with the ways we reach our goal in communication. Suppose, a person wanted to ask someone else to stop smoking. This can be achieved by using several utterances. The person could simply say, 'Stop smoking, please!' which is direct and with clear semantic meaning; alternatively, the person could say, 'Whew, this room could use an air purifier' which implies a similar meaning but is indirect and therefore requires pragmatic inference to derive the intended meaning."


Low expectations is the bane of all education. ALL education.


At Kingswood Elementary, in 1990-91, when my 3rd grade deaf/blind child was being quizzed on Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, I objected to the appropriateness of the content. How the hell does he know, or will ever care, who they were. Why not teach him who the Principal is, or people he can "relate" to?

Another classic example of arrogance with ignorance was when he was in a music class at Colson Elementary. He was given a "music class" test that consisted of 3 or 4 pages of questions in which he had to answer questions related to music cadences that were played by the teacher. It was a "simple test" - he had to circle "yes" or "no".

As my son had a lot of experience in recognizing "patterns", he had drawn circles around the "yes - yes" and "no - no".

The fact that he could not hear the chimes and bells played by the teacher that represented one count, two count or three count cadences was lost to the "professional educators". The teacher, in his heartfelt pity, wrote "good try" on my son's "F" paper.

That was around 1994-95- not sure which. My concerns fell on deaf ears.

JusT Like i UsEd TO comPlaiN aBout HOW my SoN waS tAugHt His SpelLING WOrds IN all CapitaL LetterS.


Yes, it is true, one of my son's teachers taught him his spelling words in all-capital-letters. She had been doing it for x amount of years, and I (you know, the ignorant, non-professional educator, simply-stupid-parent) was not going to change her practice. Despite my year-long, multi-faceted approach to trying to fix this problem, I did not prevail. I even tried to use the fact that no spelling word book in Hillsborough County presented spelling words in capital letters. Instead of dealing in best practices, I was dealing with power and control. In fact, it was when I learned the "secret" that "when the teacher's door is closed, it is "her/his" realm."

Convenient for the administration to allow ignorance to prevail.

1 more comment on Money vs. Education

There are so many aspects about SpEd that don't meet the trained eye. One aspect about the previous story of the kid getting "voted out of the class" is that the article states the kid was being evaluated for autism ---- since February.



For those who are buying into the reality that our public school system is more about the "'business' of education" rather than the "business of 'education', I will follow my previous post's comments by examining the following concept. Delay, delay, delay also saves money.

For those who must deal with the seedy side of special education, it may be easier to realize how the student's are more about "business decisions" than "education decisions", yet this same decision making strategy is used with regular education kids.

The following analogy contained in the linked article may make it more clear. One must understand that under IDEA, parent's have a "right" to request an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE). My understanding of the rules, despite what I have heard in IEP meetings, is that the parent does not have to provide a reason for the request (read the procedural safeguards), the parents only have to state that they disagree with the District's evaluation and they (parents) are requesting an IEE at public expense.

Upon this request, my understanding of the rules is that the District has two options - provide the IEE or go to Due Process. No threats that if the IEE says the same thing, the parents have to pay. No promises of delays until next year at which time the IEP team can look at the situation again, and none of the parsing and bullshit that usually comes when a parent tries to exercise their "rights".

I have several anecdotal stories of the abuse towards IEE evaluators. One story is about how an independent evaluator re-wrote a complete evaluation, after the first one was presented in an IEP meeting. There is a lot of power behind some district's ignorance and arrogance.


The Blame Game!
Are School Problems the Kids' Fault?
by
Pamela Darr Wright, M.A., M.S.W.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker




Independent Educational Evaluations

Parents ask: "Why can’t I tell the school that I want an independent educational evaluation done on my child? Money is short. Private testing is expensive. Aren’t we are entitled to this?"

Before we answer your question, let’s change the facts.

If you belong to a managed care health plan, you have a primary care doctor. This person entered into a contractual agreement with your insurance company, and agreed to abide by certain rules. The most important rule is that this doctor agreed to hold medical costs down by managing care.How does this work?

In managed care,your primary care doctor acts as a "gatekeeper," regulating (limiting) your access to medical treatment. If you go to a specialist without an appropriate referral by your primary care doctor, your insurance company does not have to pay for your treatment. If your doctor is successful in holding costs down, the insurance company will reward him or her with financial bonuses. If your doctor isn't willing to play by these rules, the insurance company will probably cancel his contract. He will lose you and many other patients – and his livelihood.

Now, let’s assume that you have a sick child. You take your child to your primary care doctor who is associated with the managed care company. Although the doctor makes a diagnosis and prescribes treatment, your child gets sicker. You ask for a referral to a specialist. After discussion and disagreement, the doctor refers your child to a specialist – who is also a member of the managed care plan.

This specialist signed a contract with the managed care entity in which he is forbidden to fully inform you about the treatment options for your child - this is called a "gag order." If you learn about these treatments, you will want them for your child. The best solution from the insurance companies perspective is to keep you ignorant about these treatment options. because your HMO or managed care group does not want to pay for them.

Do you want your sick child treated by doctors who are not permitted to inform you about certain (expensive) treatment options? Of course not! Your child’s health is at stake.

Now, let’s return to your question about independent evaluations. Earlier in this article, you learned that most school psychologists officially consider only child or family factors when they assess children’s learning and behavior problems. Aren’t things different with independent evaluators?

The relationship between independent evaluators and school districts is often similar to the relationship between managed care specialists and insurance companies. In many jurisdictions, people who are on the approved list of independent evaluators have agreed to abide by certain rules. When they perform evaluations on children, they are paid by the school district.

As a parent, you have to ask yourself this question: If my evaluator is paid by the school district, how independent can he or she be?

In our practice, we see cases in which an independent educational evaluator recommends that a child receive more or different special education serves than the district wants to provide. After making pro-child recommendations, these diagnosticians were dropped from the school district’s approved list of evaluators.

Tee Are You Ess Tee

The response by Suzie Creamcheese on my previous post contains the word "trust" in this context:

"......We work so darn hard with the kids, try to make parents trust us and another teacher and her administrator cut us off at the knees!!! ".

I have written about the word "trust" and have used it as a Blog post label. Back in the day, when I had frequent contact with school personnel in many different settings across the HCPS District and other districts, I used to speak of the importance of "trust" as needed for a successful individualized education plan.

Perhaps this space can be used as a teachable moment. Suzie's first comment was that she "did not believe" the story. For parents such as me and hundreds I have been in contact with over the last twelve years, these stories are very real.

I have written many times using the words "arrogance with ignorance" when describing wrong-minded educators.

I write with frequent sarcasm and bash the public school system as a cathartic effort. For those who would like more insight and may want to share this insight with others, I will provide a relevant link that better frames the issue than I can. One should read the whole article, but I will highlight a few of the many important concepts.


Please note that while the following report is based on the role of school psychologist, to understand the significance of this issue, one can substitute any of the myriad of related service personnel, (OT, PT, Assistive Technology, etc) and "gatekeepers" that have a supervisory or directorship position.

From: "The Blame Game!
Are School Problems the Kids' Fault?
by
Pamela Darr Wright, M.A., M.S.W.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

"...."Parents of special ed kids often say that they are intimidated, patronized and made to feel guilty and inadequate by staff at their children’s school. These parents feel helpless, frustrated, and defensive."


"....The primary role of the school psychologist is to evaluate children to determine the reasons for learning and behavior problems. According to Dr. Alessi, when a child has trouble learning or behaving in school, the source of the child's problem can usually be traced to one or more of five causes.

First, the child may be misplaced in the curriculum, or the curriculum may include faulty teaching routines.

Second, the teacher may not be implementing effective teaching and/or behavioral management practices.

Third, the principal and/or other school administrators may not be implementing effective school management practices.

Fourth, the parents may not be providing the home-based support necessary for effective learning.

Fifth, the child may have physical and/or psychological problems that contribute to learning problems.

School psychologists from different areas of the country were interviewed and asked to complete an informal survey. The school psychologists were asked if they agreed that the five factors listed above play a "primary role in a given school learning or behavior problem." (Page 148) The school psychologists agreed that these factors, alone or together, played a significant role in children’s learning problems.

The school psychologists were surveyed about the number of children they evaluated during the past year for learning problems. The average number was about 120 cases (or kids). These numbers were rounded to 100 cases for each of the 50 psychologists for a total of 5,000 cases.

Alessi asked these psychologists how many reports they wrote in which they concluded that the child’s learning problem was mainly due to curriculum factors. "The answer was usually none. All cases out of the 5,000 examined confirmed that their schools somehow had been fortunate enough to have adopted only the most effective basal curricula." (Page 148)

Next, he asked how many reports concluded that the referring problem was due primarily to inappropriate teaching practices. "The answer also was none. All cases out of the 5,000 examined proved that their districts had been fortunate enough to have hired only the most skilled, dedicated, and best prepared teachers in the land." (Page 149)

Then, he asked the psychologists how many of their reports found that the problem was due mainly to faulty school administrative factors. "The answer again was none. All cases out of 5,000 examined demonstrated that their districts had hired and retained only the nation’s very best and brightest school administrators." (Page 149)

When asked how many reports concluded that parent and home factors were primarily responsible, the answer ranged from 500 to 1,000 (10% to 20%). These positive findings indicated that we were finally getting close to the source of educational problems in schools. Some children just don't have parents who are smart, competent, or properly motivated to help their children do well in school.

Finally, I asked how many reports concluded that child factors were primarily responsible for the referred problem. The answer was 100%. These 5,000 positive findings uncovered the true weak link in the educational process in these districts: the children themselves.


If only these districts had better functioning children with a few more supportive parents, there would be no educational difficulties. (Page 149) "


--
"...Alessi expressed serious concerns about his findings. If school psychologists define children’s learning problems as existing solely within the child, "it is equally unclear how school psychologists can help resolve this kind of problem. School psychologists seem to define school problems in ways that cannot be resolved."

When Dr. Alessi shared these findings with the school psychologists, many protested that "all five factors are indeed responsible for school problems in the cases they studied, but that informal school policy (or ‘school culture’) dictates that conclusions be limited to child and family factors. "

----

And for those who are interested in the business aspect of education:

"..."Ethical Burdens" on Psychologists

Dr. Alessi discussed the "ethical burdens" on school psychologists:

As this body of research grows, school psychologists will increasingly face the burden of deciding whether they work for the schools or for the children, in cases where the interests clash. (Page 150) 'We end with a discussion of the ethical burdens on school psychologists to be forthright and honest when reporting their findings.'

-----

He posed some questions: (Page 150)

Are we really helping children by concluding that children alone are responsible for their educational problems?

Are we helping the school system at the expense of the children?

How do we balance the rights of those who pay for our services against those who receive our services, when interests clash?

Is the role of the school psychologist to label children to help schools avoid improving faulty educational practices, or to help schools improve faulty educational practices to avoid labeling children?"


----
"...Implications

As the parents of a child with special educational needs, what does this study tell you?

If you believe the staff at your child’s school are not willing to look at what they need to do differently to help your child learn, you may be right.

If you believe that you and/or your child are being blamed for your child’s learning problems, you may be right.

And if you believe that school factors (i.e., an inappropriate curriculum, faulty teaching, ineffective school administration and management practices) are contributing to your child’s problems, you may be right."

-------

Suzie, I must also tell you that there are more people than you realize, right here in HCPS, that "cut your knees". I have spoken about this in many different venues for many years, and I usually say it this way: "A lot of good, hard work done by many is undone by a few".

But, I am just a malcontent, isolated incident of a parent attacking with a broad brush who is not an educational expert - so I have been told.

Professional Ugly Duckling Identifiers

We all know the story. A little animal faces adversity from it's peers. The little animal is shunned, mocked and ridiculed. Then one day, the little animal figures out that it can identify with others and suddenly the adversity disappears. At least in the story.


Thanks to the Gradebook, we have the link to this story: Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate, 5


... "After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex — who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism — out of the class."

...."Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident took place"


....."Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully."

....."Children diagnosed with Asperger's often exhibit social isolation and eccentric behavior."

...."Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said."

******************

I guess Alex Barton is what some school administrators refer to as the one's who ruin the "public school salad":


.....It is to be hoped that Principal Annette Grasty of Lakewood Elementary School in Sunnyvale, California is wilting with remorse for this thoroughly rotten analogy. Surely she did not intend to be insulting or hurtful.Her comments came about in reference to the penalty that schools face under the No Child Left Behind Act if they fail to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in standardized testing conducted each spring. If even one subgroup of students (such as special education) does not meet the AYP goal, the entire school is labeled low-performing. Like many educators, Principal Grasty believes it is unfair to flunk an entire school for the low performance of a single subgroup.As reported in the San Jose Mercury News [Download wilted and rotten.doc] , she thinks education should follow a business model: "If I were running a business, I'd try to control the product coming in," she said. For instance, she said, a chef wouldn't prepare a gourmet salad with wilted lettuce or rotten tomatoes. In a public school, she said, "I can't control who walks in that door. I take kids with learning disabilities, I take everyone. They come in at different levels and with different ways of learning."

....


Once again the arrogance and ignorance of a professional educator leads by example. Spare me the "isolated incident" rationalization... this is 2008 and I have heard that excuse since 1990.

Moron Lack Of Support

I posted this on my other blog.

Again, thanks to The Gradebook, they have this post: SCHOOLS NEED SHRINKS: Students, especially those with special needs, should not have to do without psychological services as the Miami-Dade district has proposed in its budget cuts, two Nova Southeastern U. psychology profs write in an op-ed piece for the Miami Herald.

Lest we forget, public education is a business, so to speak.

To illustrate how educational decisions are based on economics, the authors of the article present these reasons:

"In addition to posing the risk of making children less safe and less likely to succeed academically, cutting significant numbers of school psychologists makes little economic sense. School psychologists generate federal funds that flow directly to the district, and they save the district a great deal of money. Since school psychologists are eligible providers under Florida's Medicaid Certified School Match Program, evaluation and treatment services they provide to Medicaid-eligible students draw down federal Medicaid funds for the district.

In addition, each child who is evaluated by a school psychologist and deemed eligible for special-education services generates additional federal and state funds for the district and the school in which that student is enrolled. School psychological evaluations demonstrably reduce disproportionality in federally mandated programs, making it less likely that the district will be vulnerable to liability in lawsuits claiming discrimination. Also, when school psychologists are members of teams that evaluate the eligibility of students for special-education services, parents are less likely to initiate expensive and time-consuming due process hearings because of dissatisfaction with the school's decisions."

************

What these reporters may not know is that school districts have many advanced strategies to protect their "liability in lawsuits". Slick tricks in documentation and parsing legal interpretations go far in limiting "liability". An unsuspecting public and ignorance by design boisters this defense also.

So, maybe it is more about money than education. I wonder how many school systems have figured out how to obtain these special education "additonal federal and state funds" while at the same time minimizing how they are spent on special education.

Afterall, how does one know where the money goes?

Hearts vs. Spades - What a Real Parent Is

In the card game of Hearts, one gets to manipulate their environment by giving away three cards. As one gains experience, the choice of what cards to give away will be based on a reasoned chance of what one will receive in the exchange. Then you are on your own.

In the card game of Spades, you get what you are dealt. But you have a partner that you must cooperate with to maximize your chance of success. Sometimes a disabled hand actually turns into a chance to gain more points by going nil.

Parents of disabled children face challenges that are far and above what normal children bring. Most normal children eventually become independent, despite what the parent or the school system does. Disabled children usually never do. The parent's awareness of this starts at day one, not at graduation. The parent's awareness of this starts at day one, not until an evaluation is finally done. The parent's awareness of this starts at day one, not waiting for grades to fail before supports and related services may be considered in an IEP meeting next year.


If you want to get an insight into how a mother and a son have made the best of the hand that was dealt them, PLEASE make sure you tune in to Showtime on Sunday evening, May 4th 10pm ET to hear the story of Karen Clay and her son Michael Phillips. If you don't have Showtime, get it or wait and download the video on ITunes

After you watch it, ask yourself if you have what it takes to be a real parent and educator.

The Passion of Truth

I suppose each of us have a passion about something in our life. Some more than others. Some stronger than others. Some may have passions that lie dormant because they are not triggered.

When it comes to issues within the public school education system, blogs are full of passioned commenter's.

Yesterday I created this post.

I received this comment on the situation of public schools. It was better than how I could have framed it. I have permission to present it. As I have frequently made the same challenge when I write about my perception of the school system, she ends with the same: "prove her wrong".

For those who do not know, Bambi Lockman is the Chief Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services, Florida Department of Education.

************


If I may, a personal comment:
I have had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Mr. Sammons on several occasions. One in particular comes to mind - late one evening after CAFE, Keith, Mr. Sammons and I stood before Bambi Lockman describing the plight of education for our children. Bambi stood patiently as we told the stories she already knows so well. I find myself curious at times as to how someone in her position can be immune to these stories. Sammons was compelling, and statements between us, Keith, Bill and myself, confirmed the systemic nature of these problems. No one has stuck their head in the sand. Bambi had heard it all before.


Ignorance was not an excuse.


Deniability on Bambi's part was not permitted. We pressed for answers. Some say the Holocaust happened because no one spoke out soon enough. If you meet enough families, you realize the comparison is carefully stated and applicable in reverent terms. And yet, racial segregation did end because many spoke out. There is no other population who have endured the forced submission, isolation, voracity, neglect, restraint, retaliation, dumbing down, bullying, verbal and physical abuse, as well as educational apathy that our children have endured. So how does this happen? Is it because our children themselves have no voice? Because believe me, families ARE speaking out - volumes. Administrators, teachers, and yes, indeed the Bureau Chief herself had intimate knowledge of this, and many other crisis situations. And yet, they walk away, just like Bambi did that night.


So once again, families are forced into the only means of educational enforcement our system grants - the courts. Eventually, this too will pass for this family. Drew will find his way, although certainly damaged from the lack of education. The Sammons family will be known as those "parents who sue" the school district and believe me a part of them will never be the same.. There will be a red flag in that cum file, a few more administrators in that next IEP. This will be used, not to grant positive educational change, but rather incite fear in teachers by manipulative school district attorneys that they need to "fear" parents or somehow they will be held personally liable. Somewhere, somewhere, the educators forgot about educating. Or maybe it was never seen that way to begin with. Maybe our children were the charity cases, the, "we love your child", we owe it to these poor disabled children to love them and care for them, but we can't really expect them to learn. I would say there is more to that at the heart of this than anything else. The deplorable stench of low expectations. And somehow, a few self-advocates, and a few real teachers, and most of all, a few pesky parents kept raising their ugly heads in protest. So why hasn't this been enough - these outcries, these lawsuits?
Those very school district attorneys are on the taxpayer clock (go back and compare the figures), while our families mortgage their homes, sacrifice their relationships, forgo their marriages, just to provide opportunity for those we hold most dear - our children. Our attorneys pay a cost too, in income, and survivability, So anyone out there, tell me I am wrong, tell me this is not a Holocaust of lives. Tell me where the march on Selma is for our children.
Tell me why hasn't this been enough and when is it going to end?
May God Bless and Keep the Sammons family.
Nikole

The Cost of Cutting Costs

Published: Thursday, May 1, 2008

Polk Schools Must Pay Family $720,000
Administrative judge says district failed to adequately educate autistic student.
By John Chambliss
THE LEDGER

**********
I know this man. His story is not an isolated incident.

But there are few parents who have all it takes to deal with the system.

This is what the judge said:

"In a 20-page ruling, Judge William F. Quattlebaum in Tallahassee sided with the Lakeland family, saying Polk's failure to provide a proper education for Drew Sammons was not the "accidental result of inadequate educational planning."

"It is clear (the district) was either unable or unwilling to provide the appropriate services to which (Sammons) was entitled," Quattlebaum wrote."

******************************

"It's been an expensive fight for both sides. If the ruling stands, the district could end up spending $1.8 million, including $300,000 that Quattlebaum ordered the district to pay the Sammons for their legal bills.

The district's legal fees have reached $786,782."

*************
,,,,,, I guess it's ok for the District to spend the $786,782 on legal defense, but not in the classroom. But then again, very few parents win, so look how much money is saved on the rest of the kids whose parents can't even spell IEP.

I understand when school systems don't have the resources and ability to provide an adequate education, but that never seems to stop them from touting their image.