Educating Every Child: How Parents Can Insure That Students With Special Needs Have Their Needs Met

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Educating Every Child How Parents Can Insure
That Students With Special Needs Have Their Needs
Met

• Pedro A. Noguera Ph.D.
• New York University

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Special Education as a Civil Right

• Access to education for students with
  disabilities has been regarded as a civil right
  by the federal government since the 1960s
• Special Ed law
• Americans With Disabilities Act
• Maintaining the rights of children with
  disabilities requires constant vigilance on the
  part of parents educators and advocates

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I. Why Vigilance is Necessary

• History of marginalizing the disabled
• Resentment because of costs related to serving
  the needs of the disabled
• Maintaining high quality programs is a constant
  challenge due to low expectations
• In many districts there is a tendency to use
  Special Education as a place to put students
  (minority males) they dont know how to serve

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Responding to the Challenges A.Tendency to
marginalize students with disabilities

• Labeling - the self fulfilling prophesy of
  failure
• False Dichotomies
• Our thinking about children with learning
  disabilities is based upon an assumption that
  some students are normal while a small number
  are not.
• Dis-abled vs. abled
• Such thinking overlooks vast number of
  differences in children particularly related to
  intellectual emotional and physical development
• Fails to recognize that disabilities are often
  socially constructed

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B. Resentment Over Costs

• In many districts a disproportionate share of
  general ed funds are allocated to special
  education
• Others may perceive funding for Special Ed as
  coming at the expense of other programs and
  initiatives
• Need for transparency in the budget process
• Parents and educators must be prepared to show
  why meeting the needs of all children is
  important

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C. Maintaining High Expectations and Quality in
Special Ed Programs

• Children in Special Education are often denied
  educational opportunities
• There is still a tendency to unnecessarily
  isolate special ed students
• In many schools Special Education serves as
  another form of tracking that is frequently
  unquestioned
• Too often special ed teachers and aides are not
  properly trained
• Too often differences in physical ability or
  learning are regarded as an indication of
  inferiority

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D. Addressing Disproportionality in Special
Education Distinguishing Between Symptoms and
Causes

• The disproportionate placement of minority
  students in Special Education classes is a
  symptom of larger systemic problems
• Other obstacles to learning
• Ineffective teaching
• Racial bias
• Lack of advocacy for vulnerable students
• In order to address this problem we must examine
  the way failure becomes normalized in many
  schools
• We must be attentive to the lack of commitment to
  equity in other areas as well
• Discipline
• ELL services

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Children are being misdiagnosed

• There is a substantial body of research that
  shows many children are categorized simply
  because the school has not figured out how to
  serve their needs
• Slow readers
• Hyper active children
• English language learners
• Some of the categories are broad and the
  disabilities targeted are difficult to define
• Emotionally disturbed
• Many children identified with speech defects may
  simply not speak standard English as their
  primary language

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II. What Parents Can DoOrganize

• Parents of Special Education students should
  meet plan cultivate allies attend board
  meetings and utilize the media when necessary
• Use district data to monitor patterns and trends
• Call upon the district to evaluate programs and
  interventions regularly
• Ask the tough questions about the placement
  process and integrity of IEPs

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Work to insure no quality control in Special
Education programs

• Many students fall further behind the longer they
  are categorized
• Self fulfilling prophesies
• Very few districts regularly evaluate their
  Special Education programs and services
• Affluent parents who are able to effectively
  advocate for their children generally receive
  superior service than poor less educated parents
• Special Education teachers are often marginalized
  like their students
• Inadequate provisions for professional
  development

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Professional Development

• Call for the District to provide all teachers
  with training on how to work with students with
  learning disabilities
• Provide training on how Special Education
  teachers can work effectively in the classroom
  with other teachers

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III. Why Its So Hard What Were Up Against

• History of perceiving intelligence as an innate
  and rooted in genetic endowments
• Genetic theories of intelligence - Bell Curve
  Jensen Lawrence Summers etc.
• Cultural Theories of intelligence - Ogbu and
  McWhorter
• Based on myth of white success
• Static view of culture
• Limited understanding of schools

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Other obstacles

• Many families are in distress neglected children
  often end up diagnosed as disabled
• In some communities there is hostility toward
  minority students and their families and a lack
  of effective advocates
• Social safety net disappearing - other unmet
  needs have an impact on student learning
• Undiagnosed sight and hearing disorders

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Males of color at risk

• Females out performing males throughout the
  country
• Black and Latino males at greater risk
• More likely to be suspended or expelled
• More likely to drop-out
• More likely to be placed in restrictive
  environments under special education
• More likely to be missing from honors gifted and
  advanced placement
• More likely to be under-represented among school
  personnel (except as custodians security guards
  and disciplinarians)

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IV. Moving Special Ed from the Margin to the
Center Toward a systemic approach

• Cultivate good teaching through ongoing
  site-based professional development in
• Content knowledge
• Pedagogical skill
• Relationship building with students
• Help students to cultivate the attitudes and
  habits that promote success and academic
  achievement
• Confidence and competence
• Self discipline self motivation
• Organizational and study skills
• Build strong relationships between students and
  school through creative use of extra curricular
  activities

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Keys to Success

• Work toward creating a school culture that breaks
  racial stereotypes
• An environment where racial identity and
  achievement are not linked - Where it is cool to
  be smart
• Provide staff with the opportunity to understand
  the external pressures students face and have
  devised ways to counter the pull of the streets
• gangs teen pregnancy pressure to work
• Devise strategies for helping students to plan
  and think concretely about their future
• Students should be empowered to live
  independently
• Teach code switching explicitly and include life
  skills as part of the curriculum
• The codes of power Speech dress demeanor

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Other Changes that Can Support Higher Levels of
Achievement

• Develop early intervention systems - identify
  kids who are falling behind truant or engaging
  in problematic behavior early
• Develop partnerships with community based
  organizations - case management and social work
  immigrant services health and social services
• Raise staff awareness about stereotype threat
  in testing situations
• Hire individuals from diverse backgrounds in
  professional roles
• Mentors role models moral authority bridge
  builders

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Cultivating AgencyInfluencing the choices that
are made by students

• Provide students with skills that lead to
  independence as adults - vocational education
• Provide opportunities for students to become
  involved in community service and leadership
• Utilize community-centered problem-posing
  curriculum
• Channel their energy dont crush it
• Utilize sports music and art to promote
  resilience
• Listen provide students with opportunities to
  have input on what is happening in their schools