High expectations

So, I went to a staff development training last Thursday to learn how, for the umpteenth time, to write IEP's. Besides the fact that no one can figure out the right way to write IEP's, I heard once again that Special Education teachers weren't pushing their students, weren't teaching and had low expectations. You know what? I'm sick and tired of hearing it. I have decided that from this moment on, I am taking offense to being told I had low expectations for my students.

Not only do I have to hear that I had low expectations for my students, I have to listen to my peers agree to it! "You have to admit, that our students were progressing..." NO! I do not have to admit that my students were progressing. My students were progressing. It just took several years to get the right tools in place to assess the SPED students and actually track the data.

Seriously, you want to know what's offensive, forcing students to take classes that they are ill prepared to take. Let's force all students into general education classes when they don't have the skills to be successful. I'm pretty good with numbers and do okay in math, but just because you put me in an aeronautical engineering class doesn't mean I'll get it! I couldn't even pass Trig in high school! Students with learning disabilities have just that, a disability. Does that mean they can't be successful in the general education classes? No it doesn't. As a matter of fact, I have several current students who are doing an outstanding job in their general ed classes. I also have several students who are so far over their heads, that they've begun to shut down and give up.

The thing that everyone seems to forget is that each student is an individual and its not a one size fits all solution to preparing students for after high school. Not all SPED students need resource classes, but some do. If teachers aren't teaching the students, don't have high expectations and aren't moving their students forward then find new teachers! This is my 11th year to teach and 10 years ago, I didn't have a clue what I was doing and it was extremely difficult to have high expectations went you don't know what you're doing, but that's a whole other post. It didn't take long to figure out where my students were and what weaknesses that had and with that information I was able to teach my students skills they needed to be successful in the world. As soon as that happened...BOOM! Teach grade level material, period! Doesn't matter if they can't add, subtract, multiply or divide, they can use a calculator for that; they need to know slope, system of equations, conics, etc... They can use a calculator? Sure they can, unless of course they are taking the accuplacer test to get into college or the asvab test to get in the armed forces.

We aren't preparing students to be successful after high school and everyone is going to have to pay for it.