General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Obama needs to call Arne Duncan out for his new tactics for special education students. [View all]lumberjack_jeff
(33,224 posts)Particularly at the secondary school level. Self contained classrooms are under-staffed and 90% of that effort is dedicated to managing the behaviors of the highest needs child in the room.
If administrators were accountable for demonstrating progress among each IEP student, the classrooms would be better staffed, and more of the students would be involved in general ed classes.
And students *will* become young adults, the question is how prepared they're going to be. In my professional life at a nonprofit dedicated to the needs of people with disabilities, I often see young adults enter the adult systems ill-equipped yet capable of learning. I see job coaches doing great work finding gainful employment for people and often teaching the individuals things that one would expect to have been learned in school.
I see a wide difference in the effectiveness of the special ed programs between the various school districts in my community, and the quality of the general ed program isn't a useful proxy; the schools with the highest test scores have some of the worst special ed programs.
If that is my child's capacity for learning, yes. But in my experience, the self contained classroom curriculum is designed for the least capable learner in the room. Most of the kids in the class learned how to tell time long ago, but they're content to perseverate about video games while avoiding any particular demands or expectations.