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Autism linked to educated parents

December 14, 2011 By

Autism “is more a surge in diagnosis than disease,” concludes the Los Angeles Times. Statewide, 1.1% of California elementary students have been identified as autistic, but rate is much higher in affluent communities than in rural districts.

. . .  the number of students receiving autism services, including speech, behaviorial and other therapies, has grown fivefold since 2000, driving up special education costs even as school budgets are being slashed.

“Warrior parents” who fight for services get much more help, adds the Times.

For autistic children 3 to 6 — a critical period for treating the disorder — the state Department of Developmental Services last year spent an average of $11,723 per child on whites, compared with $11,063 on Asians, $7,634 on Latinos and $6,593 on blacks.

. . . The divide is even starker when it comes to the most coveted service — a behavioral aide from a private company to accompany a child throughout each school day, at a cost that often reaches $60,000 a year.

In the state’s largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, white elementary school students on the city’s affluent Westside have such aides at more than 10 times the rate of Latinos on the Eastside.

My niece provides after-school therapy for children on the autism spectrum. She plans to earn a doctorate in psychology and specialize in the field.

The Education Commission of the States reviews state efforts (pdf) to help students with autism, notes On Special Education.

Filed Under: Disability, Education, Parenting Tagged With: , , , ,

State policy OKs special ed ‘cheating’

September 16, 2011 By

Some testing modifications for special ed students and English Learners amount to cheating, writes Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, author of Fixing Special Education, on Thoughts on Public Education. “Providing a calculator for a student on a math computation test, having an instructor read a reading test to a student or giving extended time on a test that measures results under time pressure” will not produce valid scores.

Isn’t this, too, a form of  “cheating”? Certainly it cheats students out of knowing what they can and cannot do. Also it cheats schools, taxpayers, and parents from getting a valid measure of student achievement.

California reported higher scores on the state Academic Performance Index this year. But the API now includes scores from a much easier test given to increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities, Freedman writes.

 


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‘Smart, gutsy call’ on special ed funding

September 3, 2011 By

Districts can reduce special education funding without risking the loss of federal funds, the U.S. Department of Education declared this week.

“Smart and gutsy,” writes Rick Hess. Also sensible.

A district which provides special education services more cost-effectively has long been threatened with losing their federal aid unless they keep on spending at the same rate.

At a time when “districts are being asked to make tough choices about services for all other students,” it’s unfair to exempt special-ed funding from scrutiny, Hess argues.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , ,

New Orleans is catching up

August 13, 2011 By

Before Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans public schools were the worst in the state. Now scores for blacks, low-income students and special-ed students are improving more rapidly than scores statewide. The city’s black students have made the greatest gains and  now outperform blacks elsewhere in Louisiana.

That’s a milestone, writes the Times-Picayune. Only four years ago, the city’s students were well behind the state average.  The trend “began after the state takeover of most New Orleans public schools and the seismic shift to mostly independent charter schools.”

Charter students in Washington D.C. are making gains as well.

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Rethinking special ed

June 24, 2011 By

Special education is costing more and more, yet results are disappointing, writes Rick Hess. Nate Levenson, a former superintendent who reduced special-ed spending while improving achievement, has written Something Has Got to Change: Rethinking Special Education.

Levenson suggests:

  • a relentless focus on reading, including clear and rigorous grade-level expectations for reading proficiency, frequent measurement, and early identification of struggling readers with immediate and intensive additional instruction, up to 30 extra minutes per day;
  • rethinking what special ed students are taught in general education classes to avoid overplacement of special ed students in special classes and keep them in front of the best teachers;
  • maximizing class time with content expert teachers.

Special education teachers know how to identify disabilities, but aren’t trained in how to teach math, English or reading, even though that’s their primary duty, Levenson writes.

Also in for some tough medicine is the practice of co-teaching, where a special ed teacher is paired with a general ed teacher in a regular classroom for students with and without disabilities. Levenson writes, “Co-teaching is like dieting. Lots of people want to lose weight and look good in a bathing suit, but actually doing so is hard.”

Miriam Freedman talks about what Massachusetts is doing to speed resolutions of disputes (SPED-X) and cut down on paperwork (Process Lite).

Some states, such as Massachusetts and New York, identify almost twice as many students as disabled as other states, such as Texas and California, notes Fordham’s  Shifting Trends in Special Education.  The poverty rate doesn’t explain it, writes Mike Petrilli. But it does correlate with per-student spending, adjusted for the cost of living. High-spending states have higher rates of special-education identification.

Thirteen percent of the difference in identification is correlated to spending, estimates Harvard Education Professor Marty West. “It could be that better-resourced systems identify more kids because they have the capacity to serve them separately, but even if that were the case there is a lot of variation that it can’t explain (look at Rhode Island and Texas, for example).”

Petrilli wonders whether tighter school budgets will result in smaller special-ed caseloads.

San Francisco school officials want to save money by mainstreaming all special education students, reports the New York Times.  That includes mainstreaming 16 students with severe behavior problems who attend a private, nonprofit school at district expense.

(Sylvia) Hewlett’s son attended six San Francisco schools before his ninth birthday. His mother said he sometimes became so frustrated that he physically attacked his teachers and classmates.

Ms. Hewlett enrolled her son, who is autistic and turns 12 in July, at Erikson four years ago. “Now the boy can write,” she said. “The boy can read. The boy can spell.”

Alternative programs exist for a reason, writes  Ms. Cornelius.  Seriously disabled students get a chance at an education and other students and teachers get a shot at a safe, peaceful classroom.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Obama: 4% more for K-12 education

February 15, 2011 By

The Obama administration is proposing to spend 4 percent more on education, excluding Pell Grants, in fiscal 2012, reports Ed Week. That includes small boosts to Title I grants for disadvantaged students, special education funding and School Improvement (to be renamed School Turnaround) Grants.

And, as part of its proposal for revising the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aka the No Child Left Behind Act), the administration is asking for $300 million for a program called Title I rewards, to help give a pat on the back to schools that are making progress in boosting student achievement.

Race to the Top will be directed at districts, not states. And Obama proposes to create an education R&D institute like the Defense Department’s DARPA.

Counting Pell Grants, which go to low-income college students, K-12 and higher education spending would go up by 22 percent.

It’s about the 2012 election, not the kids, grumps Mike Petrilli.

House Republicans want to cut education spending, reports Politics K-12.

The measure, which would continue federal funding for rest of the fiscal year, takes aim at some programs that were previously considered untouchable, including special education spending and Pell Grants to help low-and-moderate income students pay for college. Overall it would cut $4.9 billion from the U.S. Department of Education’s fiscal year 2010 budget of $63.7 billion.

Curriculum Matters lists the Republicans’ proposed cuts in adolescent literacy, math and science education, teaching U.S. history and more.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The politics of special education

January 11, 2011 By

What’s ahead for special education in 2011? Special education funding is a “passionate cause” for Rep. John Kline, the new chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, notes the National Journal.

Is Kline’s desire to fund special education at the 40 percent level a pie-in-the-sky dream? Should special education be considered as its own animal, or should a debate about special education funding levels be discussed as part of the overall Education Department budget?

Money isn’t the key issue, responds Sandy Kress, who was an education advisor to President George W.  Bush. The performance of students with disabilities improved significantly when No Child Left Behind began holding schools accountable for their success. Many who want to provide more funding for special ed also want to let schools off the hook for the academic performance of disabled students. Once again, there will be no consequences for failing to educate special-ed students.  “This would be a shameful step backwards for disabled students,” Kress argues.

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Special ed spending in tough times

December 1, 2010 By

Special-education spending can’t keep rising without crowding out spending for mainstream students, writes Rick Hess. In a follow-up post, he prints a principal’s point of view:

At our school, we spend about twice the money given to us by the government for special education students. That extra 100% comes directly from the general operating funds. For example, when a child enrolled in our school with a need for a one-on-one adult assistant, I had to cancel the after-school tutoring that served about 60 low-income students who were behind grade level in reading and math.Budgets are simple math. You get X dollars. If you have to spend $30,000 per year on an adult assistant for one child you must cut $30,000 from other programs. I get about $8000 to educate one child for an entire year. So this child is using up his money, and the money allotted for 3.5 additional children. When we have the annual meeting to discuss what support an individual special needs child should have, we are forbidden by law to discuss or take into account the cost of the services being discussed. That is crazy.

The federal mandates and the extra spending don’t guarantee students will learn, Hess adds.

An education consultant who’s also the mother of a special-needs child laments the money spent on meetings to discuss her child’s reading problem.  A voucher for a private school specializing in teaching “students with learning differences” would have been a lot cheaper and more effective, she writes.

Despite pandering to the special-ed lobby, Education Secretary Arne Duncan mentioned reining in special-ed spending in his “New Normal” speech, notes Mike Petrilli on Flypaper.

Oregon, among other states, has managed to trim its special education budget this year (maybe by intervening earlier when kids are struggling to read?). And yet doing so violates federal “maintenance of efforts” requirements. (Yes, Uncle Sam has actually made it illegal for states to handle sped more efficiently and thus lower spending.) So Oregon needs a waiver from the Secretary or else could lose millions in federal dollars; he should grant it, and send along a “thank-you” note to boot.

“Let’s talk bluntly about the laws, policies, and practices that can help educators spend limited resources in a way that’s fair to all our kids,” writes Hess.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , ,

Life’s a carnival

September 29, 2010 By

Bellringers is hosting the Education Buzz, which includes her own post on Picture Day, math humor and bad hares.

It’s a Total Eclipse of the SEN (Special Educational Needs) in Britain, writes Old Andrew. Till now, it’s been impossible to criticize the system.

. . .  if you do not support the most expensive, extravagant, inclusive and emotive ideas about SEN then you are clearly some kind of borderline Nazi who would have had Helen Keller strangled at birth. Competitive compassion is the name of the game and anybody who asks questions like “Is that really a disability?” or “Does that actually help anybody?” must be a sociopath who thinks “A Christmas Carol” should have ended with Scrooge going over to Bob Cratchit’s house and giving Tiny Tim a good kicking.

To his amazement, OFSTED, the education inspectorate, has issued a report on SEN’s flaws.

If you asked OFSTED to investigate the cause of the First World War, they’d blame poor teaching and a failure to monitor outcomes. What is a shock is that OFSTED has correctly identified what is wrong with the system.

OFSTED’s investigation found that half of SEN students aren’t disabled; interventions for students with genuine disabilities are often useless. Teachers fill out paperwork to prove services were provided, not whether the services were effective.

Sound familiar?

Submit here by Saturday, Oct. 9 at 5 pm Central to be part of the next carnival in two weeks.

Sprittibee is hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling.

Filed Under: Blogging, Education Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Can’t fail, won’t learn

September 22, 2010 By

Since the post on special-ed inclusion generated so much debate, here’s Mr. W on trying to teach Algebra B (the second semester of Algebra 1)  to a girl with poor math skills, a pushy parent and an IEP (Individual Education Plan).  He recommended she transfer to lower-level class after learning she’d failed Algebra A the year before, failed Algebra 1 in summer school and scored “far below basic” in general math on the state exam.  She’d earned a D on the first test and was getting 0′s on the daily work.

. . . the parent emailed the dean, counselor, special ed teacher, and principal and said my recommendation was an “easy-out remedy” for me instead of enforcing the IEP.

. . . So now it looks like the parent is going to modify the IEP and potentially make me change my grade scale for one student. At what point will parents realize that these kind of actions hurt the student more than help?

Earlier, Mr. W was forced to pass a student with a 34 percent average, “because the parent didn’t want the student to fail.”

He predicts this student’s IEP will be changed so she can’t fail — and won’t learn. Next year, the IEP will guarantee she “passes” geometry and so on until college. What then? “We are creating a generation of students who think they are ready for the real world and aren’t,” Mr. W writes.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: , , , ,
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