Do you think that all children should reach the same high standards? If they don’t, is it the teacher’s fault for having low expectations?
“Zero accountofability”
Special needs includes the right
To test on Newton’s laws
Cuz everyone should test in spite —
And simply just because
Diane Ravitch's blog 
As Newton first expounded in his Law Number 3
Every apple does not fall too far from the tree.
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Fred, there are children who are born with profound developmental disabilities, with severe learning disabilities, with physical disabilities (deafness, blindness, cerebral palsy, and so on).
Are you trying to say that the “tree” these particular apples “fell from” is at fault? In other words, that their parents are at fault in some way? Humans don’t work that way.
If this is not what you were trying to imply, then please elucidate what you meant.
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Zorba,
I guess I was a bit flippant there. I didn’t mean to suggest what my words may have implied. Of course, parents are not at fault–unless they did something to impair their children (eg. smoked crack).
I was making a cheap play on the idea of Isaac Newton sitting under a tree one day and being plunked by an apple. My apology.
And I agree with your comment below about sitting certain kids, even less severely disabled than the ones you describe, in front of a test and not only making them take it, but giving them “accommodations.” How cruelly absurd is it to give English Language Learners extra time to complete an English Language Arts test when it is clear that they are struggling and frustrated with it after five minutes. What knowledge do we gain about the kids, their growth and the effectiveness of their teachers by doing so.
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Understood, Fred. I couldn’t believe that you meant it the way it initially came across, and in fact, you did not.
I also agree about the other kids forced to sit for those tests, such as your ELL example.
Plus kids who have severe dyslexia- they may be given “extra time” but in at least some cases, all that’s going to do is frustrate them more and more as they have trouble decoding the questions at all.
Plus kids with severe anxiety disorders in the first place.
Oy! When did the tests themselves and the results of them become more important than the well-being and actual education of the children?
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As a former physics teacher, I feel I must correct a misunderstanding.
The law that deals with falling apples is Newton’s law of gravity, which also governs the orbit of planets, (which might have relevance for Betsy DeVos: what goes around comes comes around.)
Newton’s third law said that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction — something Betsy DeVos is bound to learn from the parents of children with special needs and others if she has not learned already.
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I stand corrected. But let me pass off my ignorance as poetic license–getting 3 to rhyme with tree. There’s no disputin’ you know more about Newton. But we learn herewith that SDP was a physics teacher–a significant reveal.
Seriously, I liked what you added about how Newton’s Laws apply to BDV, who until now has shown no signs of realizing the gravity of her position.
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” Newton vs the Poet”
Poet bows to Newton
Cuz laws there’s no disputin’
But poet rules supreme
On every other theme
Hope that helps.
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It might not be politically correct but, no, all children cannot reach the same “high standard” (whatever that means). No, it’s not the teacher’s fault for having low expectations. In high school, I had a heck of a time with math. My parents would sit me down for marathon sessions of learning algebra, geometry, etc. I mean HOURS at the kitchen table every night. I would up with a 90 on the algebra regents and 83 on the geometry regents. For me, that 83 was a TRIUMPH! Looking back, what it took to get there was a little crazy. And a lot of tears. I was great at languages, though. The point is, we are not all the same. Just imagine if our education system tried to help kids make the most of their skills and talents without blame on students and teachers. What if teachers really were supported in helping kids learn to their ability in a sensible way? What that “ability” is differs in every case. And there are kids out there who have the ability and don’t make the most of it. There are parents who can’t spend hours at the kitchen table helping their kids either because of lack of knowledge or lack of time. There are a lot of factors at play – poverty, mental illness, hunger, student responsibility, maturity and on and on…
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Mamie, when I taught, I had developmentally disabled students, very severely autistic students, very severely emotionally disturbed students (depending upon the various schools I taught in).
Some of my kids were non-verbal, very many could not read, more than a few were not even fully toilet trained.
Some were self-abusive, some aggressive.
How the he!! would these kids fare on any kind of standardized tests today? They had IEP’s, we were expected to implement them, we met about them yearly, or more often if necessary.
And yet, I have some young friends teaching students similar to the ones I taught, and, at least in this state, they are expected to “take” the tests. These include kids with mental ages below one year of age. The “tests” may include them being taught to punch a big button on a computer in response to questions. Assuming they are not quadriplegic.
What good does this do them? They need more self-care skills, feeding skills, mobility skills, behavioral skills, communication skills, survival skills, pre-vocational skills where appropriate. They do not need their and their teachers’ time wasted trying to make them take tests that are totally inappropriate for their lives.
Oh, sorry for the rant. 😦
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Agreed. 😦
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Caitlin Emma @caitlinzemma 10m10 minutes ago
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Tie break! And there you go, #DeVos is confirmed 51-50, as expected. VP Mike Pence makes history as the deciding vote.
Yay! Now the 4400 public employees at the US Department of Education can finally vanquish their foe, the public schools that 90% of US kids attend!
Utterly ridiculous. These people have completely lost the plot. It’s nuts that the federal government has decided to OPPOSE the schools they’re paid to help. Go back to the mission statement, do something, you’re all lost in a thicket of ed reform lingo.
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Perhaps we should just tell students to be wealthy because it doesn’t matter what you know, it matters who you can pay off. Look at our Ed. Secretary.
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Big win in DC for charter and private schools. Big loss for public schools.
Good work, Senators! Nothing like paying a bunch of public employees who are on a mission to eradicate your kid’s school. Once they defeat the parents, teachers and students at Lincoln Elementary down the block will they expect medals?
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Yes, they DO expect a medal … and yes, they are SICK. Psychologists and psychiatrists should be having a field day unpacking the sickness in this country.
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I think what they expect is not a medal, but a metal (gold)
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Betsy DeVosVerified account
@BetsyDeVos
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I appreciate the Senate’s diligence & am honored to serve as @usedgov Secretary. Let’s improve options & outcomes for all US students.
Apparently one may NOT use the word “public” in ed reform anymore. Let’s see if they can possibly exclude public schools anymore completely than they already have.
Attending a public school may actually be a bar to employment in DC. Those resumes go right in the trash- obviously NOT the Best and Brightest!
Absolutely ridiculous.
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President Trump @POTUS 5h5 hours ago
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Senate Dems protest to keep the failed status quo. Betsy DeVos is a reformer, and she is going to be a great Education Sec. for our kids!
Another loudmouth scoring political points attacking public schools. Just remember kids! The President refers to your schools, all of them, as “the failed status quo” – you are well within your rights to send him packing when he shows up looking for a photo op.
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Yeh, Betsy is going to try and “reephorm” the public schools right out of existence, at least as much as she can.
Never mind the ELL’s, the special needs kids, the kids with behavior problems, etc, who won’t be accepted into charter or private schools, or will be bounced right out very soon.
Where are they supposed to go as more and more public schools (those that remain open) have fewer and fewer resources that these kids desperately need?
I guess they will be “warehoused” into the remaining public schools, and the teachers will do their best without the support they and the students really need, with larger and larger class sizes. And then they will be blamed.
But, hey, it’s all good, as long as the for-profit charter and educational companies can make more and more bucks and the religious schools get money to inculcate (or let’s call it what it is in many cases, “brainwash”) more and more kids into their particular religious ideology. (And yes, I know that there are some religious schools that do a great job of education. Particularly the Quakers.)
{{Sigh}}
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