You Can't Leave A Child Behind If No One Is Moving Forward
It's not real often that I write a post just to highlight someone else's post. In fact it's something I specifically try to avoid unless I have something to add to it.
Anyway's I'll just get right down to it, you need to read this post about the effect that "No Child Left Behind" is having on our schools. I have a lot of relatives that work in schools and I've heard a lot of similar stories, but never anything that bad.
3 comments:
Good post, but some details are wrong. Mainstreaming started long before No Child Left Behind.
Yes, these kids take a lot of teachers' time. They are considered disabled, and under the ADA, they are afforded the same education opportunity as non-disabled kids. Some are very eager to please, just unable to learn at a "normal" rate.
What is the alternative? Special schools for them isn't the answer. It's the "separate but equal" argument. If you put them separate, will they have equal access?
Lots of questions, no answers...
It's true that it was a problem before, but NCLB just poured salt in the wound.
You raise an extremely good question there. I wouldn't support taking these kids out of regular schools if it can be avoided. There do need to be aids to help out with the challenges that special needs students present to regular teachers.
Different states have different rules. My wife is a special ed teacher (I think it's officially "special needs") in middle school.
She has 13 kids and an aide. I think if she had less than 8, she wouldn't have an aide. I think legally, she can have up to 15 kids (don't quote me on these numbers).
Still, it's too much. Each child is at a different grade level of learning for each subject. She has several different lesson plans.
NCLB has made her job easier and harder. She is being told to teach ALL children on grade level. That means less lesson plans. Of course the children can't learn...
NCLB is an outgrowth from Goals 2000. I did some research on it before. It's bad law. It puts much of education in the Federal government's hands and then doesn't fully fund it. I'm waiting for a school district to wise up and decline federal funding and avoid all the rules...
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