tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7336322613911043202024-03-23T03:16:26.627-07:00Kids FirstDr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.comBlogger510125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-27087228011012629722024-03-19T06:57:00.000-07:002024-03-19T06:57:10.468-07:00Let's Make it easier<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Let’s make it easier</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There is a considerable shortage of teachers all across the country. In Maryland, the larger counties are scheduled to end the school year with still well over 200 vacancies. Baltimore County is taking the approach of just eliminating those positions. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Both the State Department of Education and the State Legislature are taking a different approach. Right now, in order to get a license as a teacher, an individual must pass an exam called the Praxis I, which is a national exam to measure basic skills in reading, writing and math. The Educational Testing Service has established cut off points for passing. Many teacher candidates, especially candidates for elementary teachers, fail the math test. On the one hand, you would think that a college graduate should be proficient in basic academic skills, yet failing parts of the test once or even twice is not out of the ordinary.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Under proposed new guidelines these tests would be gone. Instead, school districts would develop their own onboarding requirements which the MSDE would need to approve. Will that get more folks interested in becoming teachers? We don’t know. But the corresponding question is do we want people who can’t pass a test of basic academic skills teaching our kids basic academic skills? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The teacher shortage is serious. There is no disputing that fact at all. What does appear to be in question is just what is the best way to address the shortage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Maryland Blueprint for Education will raise starting salaries to 60K within a few years. Will better salaries attract more teachers? What happens when people discover that in order to afford the higher salaries, school districts are doing away with the customary year 2 and year 3 longevity increase steps? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Teaching is a hard job. And teaching is one of the most important jobs in our society. Maybe we should work at giving teachers the professional respect they deserve. Let THEM decide when their students are ready to move on in the content rather than the pacing guide. Let THEM come up with creative ways to deliver the content instead of cookie cutter lesson plans. And most importantly, let THEM develop relationships with their kids rather than keeping them long distance. In the old days, that is what attracted teachers. It was hard, but there wasn’t a shortage. Will making it easier work? <o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-90134015117678470742024-03-12T08:00:00.000-07:002024-03-12T08:00:07.218-07:00Are you happy yet?<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Are You Happy Yet?</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Really, right now, are you happy? </span><span style="font-size: 18.666666px;">Well maybe not happy, maybe just ok, just fine. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We seem to have entered into a period of preoccupation with being happy.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We worry that our kids are not happy.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And if they are not happy somehow it is within the power and responsibility of someone else to make them happy.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Along the way we have lost the notion that each of us is in charge of our own happiness.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And while we are there, “happy” is not a permanent state.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is mostly an elusive moment.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Most recent research has shown that emotions are highly reactive to the attention that is paid to them. Yet we have apps on our phone to check in on our happiness, there are articles online of how to check on your happiness, we worry children to find out if they are happy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">All this attention to happiness seems to forget that what we want our children to be in resiient. Remember the old Timex watch commercials. “Takes a beating and keeps on ticking.” That’s what we want for our kids. Because in truth, into each life a lot of rain will fall.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Evidence shows that the more people value happiness and the more they chase it, the less happy they tend to be. Asking students to continually reflect on their feelings belies the fact that how they feel right now may not be anything like what they will feel in an hour or maybe even 15 minutes. Asking kids how they feel tends to amplify the negative feelings and ignore that these feelings may well be fleeting. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">In the past, when a child was complaining about what had gone wrong and her life in general, we would often encourage the child to manage, life will get better. Today we rush the child off to be evaluated for meds or therapy. We are in a period where it is hard to find someone who is not in counseling or therapy because they are not “happy” with their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Psychologists have noted there are people who adopt an “action orientation”, they are able to focus on the task at hand without getting distracted by their emotional state. On the other hand, those folks who have a “state orientation” can get so far down the rabbit hole of how they feel, that the task at hand doesn’t get done.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">How successful in life will our kids be if their own feelings are always front and center? How will they manage to complete a day’s work if they are consumed with how they are feeling in the moment? Teaching kids to overvalue their own emotions sets them up for failure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So, are you happy yet? Truthfully, that’s not my job. Suck it up buttercup.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-31058650912447121762024-03-05T08:01:00.000-08:002024-03-05T08:01:16.452-08:00Take a message, I'll get back to you<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Take a message, I’ll get back to you</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Cell phones are taking over. A chemistry teacher in California complained that kids were watching Netfix on their phones during class. A teacher in Maryland says that students are using gambling apps during the school day AND placing bets.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In almost every classroom, students are sending Snapchat messages, listening to music and <u>shopping online. </u> Many parents are not aware of the almost addictive like behavior kids have with their phones. Maybe that’s because parents are behaving the same way. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Most schools have rules regarding cell phone use. The problem is that those rules are only sporadically enforced. It’s too much trouble. Teachers don't want to get into the fight, especially since they don't feel supported by admin. Some teachers out and out admit that when a student is using her cell phone, she isn’t causing any behavior issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Governors and state legislators are getting into the act. The Governor of Utah is urging all school districts to ban cell phones in school. Last year, the Florida legislature passed a law that requires school districts to ban student cell phone use during class time and to block social media access on district WiFi. Some districts like Orange County are banning phones altogether during the school day.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Nationally 77% of school districts prohibit cell phones for non-academic use.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But sort of like the speed limit on roads, enforcement and adherence are slim.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One teacher in Maryland bought a 36-slot cell phone caddy for students to store their phones. But few students comply and some say they don’t have their phones, even if they do. So he has given up and figures as long as they are quiet…<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Students and parents push back saying they need to be in contact with their kids. Kids need to be able to call parents. REALLY- How did kids and families stay in touch before cell phones? Amazingly, folks managed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Students will tell you enforcement varies from teacher to teacher. Teachers will tell you that enforcing the cell phone ban should be an administrators’ responsibility. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Often students are calling their parents to complain about a teacher, but that's a story for another day.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The best working systems are those that require students to check their phones at the door with the assumption that every kid has a phone.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That system seems to work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Next up to distract, are air pods under hoodies and hair and smartwatches. Students might need an administrative assistant to take their calls so they can have time to learn.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-28419510509682219452024-02-27T07:48:00.000-08:002024-02-27T07:48:27.410-08:00There are secrets out there<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">There are secrets out there</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">You might have heard of teachers sneaking a smoke outside. Or perhaps, taking a sick day because there is an early concert that they don’t want to miss. But have you heard of teachers hiding books so students CAN read them? That is what’s happening in multiple classrooms in multiple states where school districts are banning books with certain subjects. It’s even happening in bright blue Maryland.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Here is how it works. School districts are banning books written by Black authors, written about the struggle for equality, advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, books about the LBGTQ community and books written either by or sympathetic to that community. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The school districts doing banning reading materials are mostly very predominately White. Which makes it all the more important for marginalized communities to be able to access books that speak to their personal experiences. It is also true that while the suicide rate is rising among all teens, it is rising much more quickly among African-American and LBGTQ kids. These youngsters feel like the “other”. They do not fit in. Who would care if they were gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Books speak to those struggles and show kids that there is a way forward and that they are not alone. A number of teachers in communities that have banned books are establishing underground secret libraries where students can borrow books on the banned book list. Yep, does remind you of another underground adventure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Of course, anything that is banned by adults automatically becomes interesting to any teen. The good news about that is it is wonderful if students from the majority community read some of these banned books too because then they, too, might gain an understanding of the marginalized communities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Teachers with these secret libraries are building them from the books that have been removed from classrooms as well as purchasing them with their own funds and contributions from others. Secret library books are not displayed on shelves with their covers facing out to attract readers. They are instead packed away in boxes at the back of classrooms or in closets. Student volunteers sort and organize the selections and run the sign-out process.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps the book banning has had an unintended consequence. More kids want to read the banned books, in both the majority and minority communities. After all, who doesn’t want to read what you aren’t allowed to read.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-36257766401663569022024-02-20T08:27:00.000-08:002024-02-20T08:27:25.378-08:00Nope, you can't get that help<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Nope, you can’t get that help.</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Kids across our country are experiencing significant mental health issues. Some experts say this is part of the fall out of the pandemic and the years students spent out of school supposedly learning online. States are responding differently when kids ask for help.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In some states, that help cannot be delivered without the approval of parents. Research indicates that requiring parental permission can be a significant barrier to children getting help. But there are differing perspectives on mental health treatment. Some cultures just don’t approve of it especially for kids. The attitude is she will grow out of it or “I don’t want some counselor brain-washing my child with ideas I don’t approve of”. Access to therapy is particularly critical for children who identify as LGBTQ. These kids are significantly more likely to attempt suicide and also more likely to have family who do not approve of their feelings. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">States are responding quite differently. States like Colorado, California and Maryland have lowered the age of consent for treatment to 12. In New York teens can self-consent to treatment at age 16 and physicians can authorize that treatment for younger children if they believe it is necessary. But there are caveats. The consent laws are only for outpatient and do not extend to prescription medications. Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and North Carolina have the worst records for providing access to mental health care for kids. Everyone agrees that mental health treatment for children is much more effective if parents are in partnership with the treatment. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are also differences by race. Data show that 14% of white children have had therapy at one time. But those percentages drop dramatically for black children to 9% and 8% for Hispanic kids and only 3% for Asian children. Distrust of therapists who are of a different race and/or bad experiences with psychotropic drugs are offered as the major reasons for failure to access therapy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As a society we have identified a serious problem for our children. As states we have taken two entirely different approaches. Some states have expanded access to counseling by allowing kids to self-refer. Other states have further limited access by requiring parental permission not just for counseling outside of school but even for seeing a school counselor for any issue at all, including academic counseling. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We all admit kids need the help. Some states are trying to facilitate that help. While other states are acknowledging kids may need help, but there are going to be some tall border walls going up.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-67721960881322329392024-02-13T06:21:00.000-08:002024-02-13T06:21:54.951-08:00You are out of here<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">You are out of here!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What to do with a kid who is <i>really</i> getting on your nerves? Not just today but most days. Maybe he could go home, that would be nice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are thousands of children in our schools who are doing just that. The process is called “informal removal” and if the child has a diagnosed disability it is illegal. But like a lot of things that are illegal, a school district needs to be caught and that isn’t happening very much.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Here is how the scenario plays out. A parent gets a call from the school. “Mark is having a bad day, rather than have him get into trouble would you mind coming to pick him up?” Most parents comply rather than have the child get into more trouble or perhaps even being suspended.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are school districts that unilaterally place students on shortened school days. Diane Smith, a lawyer with the National Disability Rights Network, has stated that “the reality is that there are children in this country who are still considered of insufficient quality to go to school”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The National Disability Rights Network, a nonprofit established by Congress more than four decades ago, found that informal removals are occurring thousands of times per year as “off the book suspensions”. There are even students who are involuntarily transferred to programs that do not exist.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Children are placed in situations where they are required to “earn back” school time that they have a legal right to have.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Educators respond that this practice is their only recourse given the requirements of the Education of All Children with Disabilities Act (IDEA). That legislation requires two very important elements related to informal removals. First, a child may not be disciplined for exhibiting behaviors that are characteristic of the disability. This process is called the Manifestation Meeting where the school’s team and the child’s family make this determination. And, secondly, if the team finds that the behavior is a manifestation of the child’s disability, then the school needs to come up with an individual education plan that mitigates against manifestation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is up for changes. Lawmakers have STRONGLY encouraged that informal removals be prohibited. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Schools and principals are also under pressure to reduce the number of suspensions for children with disabilities. The answer to that issue is to use informal removals.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Since COVID the practice has increased. Families are now fighting back. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There is nothing informal about removing a child from school and parents are going to prove that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-13301233809960594172024-02-06T07:05:00.000-08:002024-02-06T07:05:21.820-08:00Lots of B's in the package<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Lots of B’s in the package</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Maryland’s Blueprint for Education has lots of B’s in it. That’s billions of dollars. Ten billions of dollars to be exact. This is state money and it will be matched by local contributions. That means that taxpayers need to be prepared for their pockets to be picked for both state and local taxes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Just what will Marylanders get for that significant investment. Like all budget buster bills there is good news and not so good news.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">First the good news. Maryland is on track to offer free funded preschool for all children. The services will be provided through a combination of public school programs and local school system contracts with private preschools. Local districts are struggling with this provision because they don’t have the space or the staff. Partnering with private providers is going slowly. Giving preschool opportunities to all children will not only be great for the kids but will truly help the children of lower income families who cannot presently afford the cost. With a free program, more parents of lower income families will be available to work outside the home and increase family resources.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Blueprint is also designed to increase starting teacher salaries to $60,000 within the next few years. Teachers in Maryland are already among the most highly paid nationally. Increasing starting salaries will further strap the resources of local districts without doing anything to increase the talents of the teacher corp. Surveys show that salary isn’t the issue keeping young people from becoming teachers. But that is a topic for another day. In most districts, these increases in starting salaries are not moving up the food chain, so there is the real possibility that any teachers attracted by the starting salary will not stay when they realize the increase has not moved up the salary ladder.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The legislators that created this plan were concerned that it would not be implemented judiciously. So, in their wisdom, they created the Accountability Implementation Board (AIB). This Board functions over the State Board of Education in all matters pertaining to the Blueprint. But we are all assured this new Board is not an increase in bureaucracy. On July 1, Maryland will have a new State Superintendent of Schools. This person will answer to the State School Board which in turn will answer to the AIB in all matters pertaining to the Blueprint. And, of course, the AIB will also have its own collection of support staff and expenses.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are lots of B’s in this plan. It has barely been implemented and already there are people saying it’s not enough money. School districts are saying the same thing. They don’t have enough money- could be more B’s are coming to pick a pocket near you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-64168163569637651202024-01-30T06:48:00.000-08:002024-01-30T06:48:19.927-08:00Coming to a school near you<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Coming to a school near you…</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The law requires that all children in Maryland under the age of 18 attend school. That age was recently increased from sixteen. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Who are the children in your child’s school? The Juvenile Courts of Maryland regularly release students to attend public school with hours of community service as a consequence of a variety of bad behaviors. These behaviors range from something like shoplifting all the way up to what would be felonies in the adult system. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Those felonies include the use of a weapon in the commission of a crime, murder and sexual offenses such a rape.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">School systems are not notifying families of the other students because that would be an obvious violation of the juvenile’s privacy. However, if that person were a couple of years older, he or she would be listed on a sex offenders list to which the community would have access.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Let’s take the case of a teenager who cornered a girl student in the stairwell of a public middle school. The girl, who was in a special education class, was pushed up against the wall and the boy touched her inappropriately under her sweater and rubbed his pelvis against her. The girl was not even sure what was happening. The consequence of that behavior was that after a 2-day suspension, the boy was transferred to another county middle school. End of story. None of the famiies at the receiving school were aware of the disciplinary situation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In a Baltimore City high school there is a boy who has been convicted of second- degree rape of a 3-year old cousin. He is currently in the 9<sup>th</sup> grade at the school. As part of the disposition of the case, the juvenile magistrate said that he could not be around any child younger than 15 unless there was close supervision. In a ninth grade there are lots of kids that are not yet 15. It is next to impossible for any student in a large comprehensive high school to have constant supervision unless there is a dedicated aide. Neither boy in these two examples has a dedicated aide.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Both school districts have refused to discuss the particular cases because they are protecting the privacy of the juvenile offenders. In each instance, the districts have offered the legal and constitutional right of the boys to a public education. That is totally true. What they do not say is that there are non-public state approved schools that have closer supervision and programs to deal with students who have been sexually aggressive. Of course, that would mean the school district had to pay that tuition. But they do that for lots of students for different reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Who are the kids in your child’s school? Do parents have a right to know?<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-77268196010091468582024-01-23T08:17:00.000-08:002024-01-23T08:17:22.987-08:00Yep, Yep, We all know that.<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Yep, Yep, We know all about that</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Really old news. Kids (and adults) are spending too much time on their screens and social media. But, well, you know how folks are about their technology.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Now the dangers of social media are attracting the attention of the U.S. Surgeon General. Remember this was the office that long ago warned us about the dangers of nicotine and smoking. Last year this same office took a stand on the dangers of social media for developing brains. Important stuff when even young elementary kids are carting around smartphones.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Federal and state legislatures have also weighed in to regulate the use of social media. Lots of political districts and school districts have taken to the courts to sue major social media platforms like Facebook. These groups are accusing the social media platforms of being unsafe for a child’s mental health.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are lots of opinions floating around. Now there is also some empirical data to add to the discussion. A longitudinal and empirical research analysis found that more frequent use of smartphones and social media is associated with higher rates of mental distress, self-harming behaviors and suicide among teenagers. Children's brains are slower to develop. Kids do not realize the long term impact of these behaviors, not only on their mental health but also on their digital reputations. They are bullied into sending sexually explicit images of themselves to peers without realizing how long this digital image is going to be around and/or shared with others. A youngster’s brain is not fully developed. They lack the capacity to make judgements based on long term harm. Too often families and schools just throw up their proverbial hands and say, “there isn’t anything we can do, the phones are everywhere”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That’s the easy way out. It’s too late to ban the phone after the damage has been done.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Authors of the study strongly recommend that the damage from too much social media needs to be controlled. They recommend students and families engage in nonjudgmental and developmentally appropriate discussions and problem-solving around ways to limit social media. But what can schools and families do when these logical, mature approaches don’t deliver? That may be the time to remind kids who pays the cell phone bill and who is in charge. In the old days, the advice was, “if your friend jumped off the bridge, would you do that too?”. If your kid answers yes or maybe to this question when the bridge is cell phone usage, maybe it’s time to be the grown up in the room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-56374568389584934742024-01-16T11:36:00.000-08:002024-01-16T11:36:02.957-08:00Do Something!<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Do Something!</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Yesterday we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. Many people had the day off. It is doubtful that they used the day off from work to do anything that honored the work of Dr. King. Baltimore City even cancelled the parade in his honor and that of the community because of some snow flurries.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Of the many Dr. King quotations, one of my most favorite is:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> “If you can’t fly then run,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> If you can’t run then walk,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> If you can’t walk then crawl<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> But whatever you do<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Keep moving”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sadly the vast majority of us sit on the sideline with the expectation that “someone else” will do the deed. Unfortunately, “someone else” is expecting another “someone else” so very little gets done or what gets done is done by the folks on either extreme.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Almost fifty years ago, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (EHA, 1975)was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Ford. At the signing, President Ford who signed under pressure, made the statement that he doubted its provisions could ever be fulfilled.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">For the most part he was wrong. By far, the vast majority of children with disabilities are being provided a free public education, but is that education appropriate to meet the needs of the individual child-the answer is – sometimes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">EHA was replaced by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which embodied all of the provisions of EHA and added a few extras. In many ways, IDEA made children with disabilities as special class. But the public is very skilled at “work arounds”. Class size was restricted so that children with learning challenges could get more attention. Today, the vast majority of children with disabilities are taught in co-taught classes meaning there is a special education trained teacher and a general ed teacher. But the class size is in the mid-20’s. IDEA requires that each child have an IEP- an individual learning program. These plans specify the extent of related services the child will receive. School districts regularly disregard the amount of service by saying they can’t find occupational or speech therapists or other providers. No one enforces the IEP, unless the parents do. When the parents try to enforce the IEP, school districts have highly paid trained attorneys to protect the interests of the school system, not the child’s. If parents prevail at a due process hearing they get reimbursed for attorney’s fees, but only if they can afford the upfront cost of the long fight <u>and</u> if they prevail. All of the decisions are supposed to be made by a child’s IEP team consisting of the school system staff and the child’s parents but some school districts hold preliminary meetings to make sure all of the school staff know the party line and stick together.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Today school systems do not have the programming options they had 40 years ago. Self-contained classes ensured that families knew each other and could compare note and/or have belong to parent organizations. In numbers there is strength. We are returning to many of the ploys of old. Conservative pundits are blaming the budget shortages on providing special ed services for kids as prescribed by law. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The days of flying to meet the needs of children with disabilities are over. It’s not even clear if advocates for children with disabilities are even moving anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-6097575385944777552024-01-09T06:59:00.000-08:002024-01-09T06:59:29.173-08:00Algebra 2 vs social studies 1<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Algebra 2 vs. Social Studies 1</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Our students are learning lots of algebra which only a fraction of them will ever use and next to nothing about history and civics which as a citizen in a democracy they should be using every day.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A recent Economist/YouGov poll found that one in five 18-29 year olds believe the Holocaust is a myth. Another 30% said they are not sure! Nearly 20% of Americans think the moon landing was faked. Half of Americans cannot name the three branches of government, yet we are reluctant to let immigrants gain citizenship through rigorous testing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Most of this historical ignorance is among the young people. So the question remains, where are we failing kids in our provision of an education?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Our young people are great consumers of social media. They grab onto issues they really don’t understand and we, as educators, are not doing our job to help them. The University of California-Berkeley recently conducted a pole. Most students (86%) supported the popular media chant, “from the river, to the sea, Palestine will be free”. But nearly half (47%) couldn’t name the river or the sea! Maybe it’s the Mississippi River or the Mediterranean Sea. Ten percent of these same COLLEGE students named Yassir Arafat as the first prime minister of Israel. When the professor conducting the survey explained to students exactly what river and sea were in the chant, over half changed their views.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Only about 1/4<sup>th</sup> of young adults subscribe to a print newspaper. The rest get their news online or by watching TV with its 30 second reports. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We are still teaching US history in one year, even though the history or our country increases every year. Our kids know more about the Pilgrims and the first thanksgiving than they do about the Gulf War. We do not teach civics so young adults all get to vote but are hardly informed citizens and many are not voting at all. We live in a capitalistic economy but don’t teach economics. Many people think employers can increase employee salaries without increasing costs passed on to the consumer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Educators need to grab back the curriculum from the politicians. We need to decide what young adults need to know to be contributing citizens in a democracy. That should be our basic curriculum plus reading and basic math skills. That’s the cake, we can add the icing after that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-31120842623195378482023-12-12T08:51:00.000-08:002023-12-12T08:51:14.237-08:00We reduced the number of suspensions!<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">We reduced the number of suspensions</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The word came down from on high. Principals you are suspending too many students. That needs to stop. The number of suspensions needs to come way down. Yes sir, the principals said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But what to do with these misbehaving kids. Surely you don’t expect us to modify instruction or provide different incentives. Absolutely not.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The kids need to go and here’s the plan. Dial 911. Call the police, tell them you need an emergency transport to the local psychiatric hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One of the schools in Wicomico County, Maryland follows this scenario on average about three times a week. Children as young as 5 are handcuffed and taken to a psychiatric unit where their parents are called to come pick them up. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Black students and students with disabilities are much more likely to be removed in this manner. As the number of suspensions and expulsions declined, the number of mandated trips to the ER for a psych evaluation ticked up.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Last year this happened to about one for every 100 students in Wicomico County. Children were handcuffed and taken to the emergency room. At least 40% of these children were twelve or younger. More than half of these kids were black even though only a little more than a third or the Wicomico population of students is African-American. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Advocates and parents say the issue is two-fold. First and foremost the culture is one of punishment rather than repair. Secondly, there is a lack of trained staff to address the issues in a manner that would help rather than harm the children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">These children are terrorized by the experience of being handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car without the support of a parent. By the time the parents can reach their children, the damage has been done.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There aren’t handcuffs small enough for some of these kids, so their hands are tied together. Parents report that children’s hands are chaffed from the handcuffs and children are confused and terrorized. Wicomico County uses these emergency petitions more often per capita than almost every other Maryland district for which data are available. It is against the law to use these tactics on children whose behaviors are a manifestation of the disability. But that hasn’t stopped Wicomico County from using these emergency petitions repeatedly on children with autism. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">School officials, of course, deny the use of these tactics for disciplinary reasons. They could not respond to why their use far exceeded all other districts. But, hey, the suspensions are way down and ain’t that grand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-28693999610343626242023-12-05T06:38:00.000-08:002023-12-05T06:38:13.890-08:00Mastery vs. Points Scored<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Mastery versus Points Scored</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Leaders of the Dublin Wisconsin Unified School District had this great idea. They wanted to replace counting points to determine a student’s grade with student mastery of the material. Such a strange idea? Lots of parents thought so.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">At Board meetings, parents complained their kids were being guinea pigs for what they saw as an unproven approach. Grades they insisted were a reward for rigor, hard work and participation in the classroom. Under the new system, if a student showed he/she understood the material it would even be ok to skip homework once in a while.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Instead of giving letter grades (A-F) to show achievement, the standards-based system starts with a list of proficiencies to be achieved. Students then receive a number from 1 (below standard) to 4 (exceeded standard) for each proficiency.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">New Hampshire, Maine, Wisconsin are all on board. Connecticut, New Mexico and Oregon have recently adopted the system.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Teachers see the system as a way to emphasize learning over effort. It is also a way to “recognize the individual journey of every student. It acknowledges that we all learn differently at our own pace and in various ways.” Fascinating conclusion but why did it take so long to figure out.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Maybe because there is a strong majority of teachers who will tell you that teaching to the test is what it’s all about and if something isn’t graded students won’t do it. One teacher remarked that “many students want to do as little as humanly possible, they want to skate by”. Might that not also true of some adults. So why damn the entire system. The same teacher believed that homework was an important adult life skill, teaching kids to meet a deadline. From whence came the hubris that educators really can differentiate between an 88 and a 91?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some students see the new program as an approach for kids who were getting bad grades under the old system. Students also said that they believed under the old system, teachers preferred kids who got good grades. When students were polled the vast majority of them preferred the standards based new system. Many people complained that the roll-out of the new program was poorly done, highlighting small points that attracted a lot of negative attention.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Still, a small but vocal group of about 35 parents, convinced the Board to do away with the standards-based system. Shows to go, scoring points does still matter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-68852332486408719022023-11-28T07:31:00.000-08:002023-11-28T07:31:58.570-08:00When is a handicap a disability?<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">When is a handicap a disability?</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In 1975, the Education of All Handicapped Children (EHA) was signed into law. The world for kids with handicaps changed on that day. No longer could schools exclude any child because the child had a handicap that the school chose not to serve. All children regardless of disability had the right to a free and appropriate public education.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">You will notice that in the above paragraph the word “handicap” was used repeatedly to refer to a child who was not typical. That, too, changed in 1990 when the name of the EHA was changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). Benefits to children with disabilities were improved and so was the language referring to these children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But the underlying question is, other than vocabulary what else changes when a person with a handicap is now called a person with a disability.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Well, the answer is, it depends. A handicap does not need to be a disability. A person with a disability is also a person with many other <i>abilities. </i>We can concentrate on the disabilities or we can choose to extol what our abilities are.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Viktor Frankl is a Holocaust survivor. He has written multiple books but the one that is probably read most often is <u>Man’s Search for Meaning.</u> He says we can discover the meaning of life in three different ways. We can create a work or do a particular deed. We experience something or some one person. And finally, by the attitude we take toward unspeakable suffering. Surely this was a man who has endured “unspeakable suffering”. Yet, he says that even though almost everything can be taken from a person, what cannot be taken is the attitude toward that suffering we each choose to take.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So while a handicap may definitely cause difficulty and suffering, each individual may chose to make that suffering a disability while recognizing the abilities that are also within that person.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A person on the Autism spectrum has the ability to pay very close attention to details, a great skill if you wish to be a programmer. A person with cognitive limitations may have a great ability to see through the pomp and circumstance of life and see the true person.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Each of us has many disabilities. Each of us also has many abilities. It is when we attend to the abilities that our disabilities are less likely to become handicaps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-75235425361622354192023-11-14T07:00:00.000-08:002023-11-14T07:00:45.075-08:00what are you writing about<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">What are you writing about?</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Do we really need to write? Write cursive that is. In a time when most writing is done on some digital device rather than with a pen or pencil, is teaching cursive still relevant or should we just concentrate on keyboarding skills. Lots of administrators think the latter. Yet regardless of that attitude, cursive seems to be making a comeback, particularly in the nation’s largest public school systems. As of 2016, 14 states require cursive as part of their curricula.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Teachers have different reasons for wanting to teach cursive as opposed to manuscript (printing). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Cursive involves a portion of the brain that manuscript does not. Many teachers believe that at age 7 or 8 when most cursive instruction begins, the activation of this portion of the brain gives students another pathway to learn the alphabet. Some also believe it will improve manuscript.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is also thought that teaching a second method for written communication reinforces the learning of the first method and helps students have a better understanding of the alphabet.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There is also the belief that cursive makes adults more comfortable with signing legal documents. This notion is a bit anachronistic. While many documents want a written signature, the fact is that even an “x” is perfectly legal for a signature. Additionally, the feeling that using cursive makes people ultimately more comfortable writing checks is also not borne out in today’s world. Banks would prefer that people not use a paper check since they are more easily modified in the interest of fraud. More and more people are sending money electronically, not just to pay bills but to transfer money between private parties. Many people do not even use paper checks with their checking accounts.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps, the biggest claim for cursive is its benefit for people with dyslexia. While manuscript letters often look exactly alike except for the orientation of the letter (here’s looking at you “b” and “d”), with cursive, the letters “hold hands” so reversals are more difficult and the letters themselves look different.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There is also the argument that if we want today’s students to be able to read letters written by their elders, they will need to be able to read cursive. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">As school budgets tighten, as demands are made that schools need to do more during the day perhaps it is time to drop cursive. Some people who were taught cursive have ceased to use it. A child's school time is finite. There are more useful skills, navigating social media and the internet leap to mind, than teaching a skill whose time has come and probably gone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As we move further into the digital world, perhaps cursive will take its rightful place alongside of the manual typewriter. That used to be state-of-the art too.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-76041149711954237262023-11-07T08:54:00.002-08:002023-11-07T08:54:53.911-08:00Folks are coming out of the woodwork?<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Folks are coming out of the woodwork!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">New research is indicating that the number of adults with autism is growing by leaps and bounds. Since 2011, the number of people over 18 diagnosed with autism has more than doubled. Currently, there are over 403,000 adult Medicaid beneficiaries with the diagnosis. The increase in adults between the ages of 25-34 has jumped 195%! Curiously the incidence of people with intellectual disability has declined from 62% to 46%.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There has also been a steep increase in the diagnosis of children. At this time, it is approaching 1 in 36.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The question then becomes, why?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There is an old saying, “seek and thy shall find”. It may be that we are seeking. There have been multiple theories advanced about why the increase in children diagnosed with autism. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Various vaccines have been called into question as the cause of the increase. None of those theories has been supported by research.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">There have been studies that blame older sperm as the cause. While it was interesting to hear that older sperm rather than older eggs were the cause, the theory too has not been supported by independent research. Other studies have blamed genetics and/or drug use. All of these theories have also been debunked.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">One of the interesting phenomena is that as the number of people on the spectrum has increased the identification of other disability groups has decreased leading one to believe that there may not actually be in increase in people on the spectrum. But rather a refinement of how we are identifying the various disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Regardless of the why, there is a critical need to improve services to these individuals. If it is true that some of these people were previously identified with a different disability, the treatment for autism is very different from those other disabilities and services will need to be created to meet those needs. Adult individuals who have not received assistance in life skills adaptation are going to need that remedial instruction as adults.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The literature is full of “look back” studies in which it is determined that many famous people were on the spectrum from Thomas Jefferson to Albert Einstein and have been identified as possibly on the spectrum.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So the truth might be that these folks were living in the woodwork all along we just got around to figuring where they were hiding.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-9611526627908033562023-10-31T07:30:00.001-07:002023-10-31T07:30:13.720-07:00So what's the minimum?<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">So, What’s the Minimum</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Right now, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. That’s pretty low and it’s hard to believe that anyone could live on that amount of money. But some folks get are paid even less.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Under a law dating back to the 1930’s, employers can receive a special certificate and pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. This is the 14(c) certificate.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We regularly read about workers not being able to live on the $15/hour wage that many states have adopted for typical workers.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Disability advocates have strongly argued that this provision of the law is preventing people with disabilities from gaining any independence. The provision is called the 14( c) provision.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Labor Department has now determined that it is going to open a review of the law. It is asking stake holders to come forth and talk about their experiences with the program and what changes are needed to expand equal opportunity experiences for people with disabilities.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The review comes after expressed concerns from the Government Accountablilty Office, the National Council on Disabilities, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and the Labor Department’s Advisory Committee on Increasing Competitive Integrative Employment. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In May, dozen disability organizations called on the Labor Department to issue a moratorium on the issuance of new certificates that allow employers access to this below minimum wage option. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sixteen states have passed legislation banning the practice. The president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities and the time has come to move away from this program. She said it has created subminimum and segregated employment situations. Many years ago, sheltered workshops provided daytime employment for people with disabilities. Wages were based on the number of pieces a worker could produce in an hour. These workshops were disallowed and have ceased to exist. But the continuation of 14( c) certificates, allowing employers to pay less than $7.25 an hour to a person with a disability, is the same situation just dressed differently.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-24264710902264869202023-10-03T05:37:00.003-07:002023-10-03T05:37:38.092-07:00Everything Old is new again<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Everything old is new again</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Many years ago children with less than typical intelligence were called retarded. It was decided that was unkind so now those individuals are called intellectually disabled.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What else has changed besides a better vocabulary? Sadly not so much.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Years ago students with limited intelligence were classified as “trainable”. They attended school and were taught to handle daily living skills and to do repetitive job tasks. Their teachers were often acknowledged by administrators as being the weakest teachers. I was told by an assistant superintendent of a local school system that they “assigned the teachers who couldn’t teach to the students who couldn’t learn. No harm no foul”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Today these youngsters still get the weakest teachers, because the unions do everything they can to keep these people from being terminated. What else is the district to do with them. If you go into one of the classes for the intellectually disabled you are most likely to attend a “movie day” when students are watching a movie. On another day you might see the students coloring very primary looking worksheets. Or perhaps doing some simple craft. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Years ago, when these students aged out of school they attended “sheltered workshops” where they were paid pennies for piece work. The tasks were repetitive such as stuffing plastic flatware into bags for restaurants or packaging marketing materials for give-a-ways. But those facilities were outlawed as being exploitive and they were. But they did provide a social setting and a sense of work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Today, federal funds are provided for agencies to offer work training and daily activities. Sometimes the adults work in cohorts at airports or other large facilities as cleanup crews with a non-disabled supervisor. At these jobs they earn minimum wage. Problem is there are not enough federal funds to provide service to all of the individuals who need the help. So those people without the federal funding support get to stay at home.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Years ago, transition services were almost nonexistent. Transition services are supposed to assist the individual in making the transition from school to work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Today every school has transition service. But the service is so poorly staff it is like dragging one chicken leg through several gallons of water and calling it chicken soup. It is not unusual for one transition specialist to be responsible for over 100 students! Hardly sufficient staff to help anyone.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Everything new might not be as good as everything old. Sometimes the good old days really were.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-31858778063224240012023-09-26T07:07:00.000-07:002023-09-26T07:07:00.176-07:00When is due process not due process?<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">When is due process not due process?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Federal and state law guarantees families the right to due process in seeking an appropriate education for their children. The laws are really very clear. There is even a stipulation in the law that the parents’ legal fees will be reimbursed by the school district if they win at the hearing. Sounds good right? But some school districts have figured out a way to deny due process while seeming to be cooperative.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This is how it all works. Parents can go to mediation. That is a process where both sides present their position to an independent mediator. It is supposed to be a less expensive way and a less litigious way for issues to be settled. However, families need to hire an attorney for the process and if they win, they do NOT get reimbursed so they are out that money. If the parents don’t get what they want for their child, they go to a formal due process hearing that will cost them more money. They can’t count on winning and getting their legal fees back. Since Maryland law changed a number of years ago, the party proposing the placement has the burden of proof. In over 98% of the cases, the party proposing the placement is the parent. So even though the law says that the school district MUST provide a free and appropriate education for a child with special needs, the burden to prove that is on the parents NOT the Maryland school district. There was a bill in last year’s legislature to return the burden of proof to the school district but it failed to get out of committee.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">School districts have attorneys on retainer. These people are experienced at delaying tactics that cost the families money. Very often money they can barely afford. Once the hearing date is set, the school district attorney tells the hearing officer and the family how many days the school district expects for presenting their side of the case. The school district attorneys add multiple witnesses and days to the hearing. Often saying that their side will need 6-7 days to present. Families then need to pay their attorney for those days plus days for the families’ case. At $400/ hour or more, few families can afford this cost. Additionally, the hearing officers are trained by the state so they tend to lean that way. In fact, <u>before</u> the burden of proof was switched to the family, parents won 97% of the cases. Now with the change to the burden of proof being on the party proposing the change, families only win about 8% of the cases.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Due process isn’t due process if this isn’t a fair fight. Taxpayers don’t win either because that highly paid school district attorney not only has a retainer but he/she also gets an additional hourly fee for that extended hearing. And since these are attack attorneys, they get paid top hourly dollars in addition to the retainer they have already received.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The system has been corrupted. Taxpayers are spending huge sums for legal fees; parents can’t afford to fight the district. Then there is the child- oh right-wasn’t the child the one due process was set up to protect?<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-27781901858229692182023-09-19T06:50:00.002-07:002023-09-19T06:50:43.685-07:00Some parents aren't doing enough <p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Some parents are not doing enough?</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Have you ever noticed that there are some parents who never show up to volunteer? Maybe do not even attend conferences or respond to email in a timely fashion?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Did you know that over 1/4<sup>th</sup> of all families in our country are led by a single parent?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And yes, there is a connection between the two. The majority of households led by a single parent are led by a woman. The average salary in the US for a woman between the ages of 35-57 is about $57,000. The average single parent has two children. The majority of single women households are either the only income producing parent or are struggling to get child support paid on time or at all.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Single parents have at least two full time jobs, if they are fortunate. The first job is the one that is fixing dinner, buying clothes, packing lunches, arranging day care or after school care, balancing the family budget and making arrangements for child care when a child is sick. The second job is the one that is bringing in that $57,000. When a single parent gets home from work, the first job starts. There are notes and notices from school, dinner to fix, homework to get done, baths and getting ready for bed. When mom finally collapses (and single parents with custody are overwhelmingly moms), is it any wonder that emails from school and/or volunteer opportunities get overlooked. Evening meetings represent a new round of child care challenges. You can forget about “me” time or heaven forbid, adult social time.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What does this mean to the children we face in the classroom every day. Yearbooks, class trips, may not be covered by very limited disposable income. Fashionable logoed clothes might be out too. These kinds of situations can create behavior problems for kids. No one likes to be the low person on the totem pole. Kids don’t like to feel that their parents can’t provide for them. They are torn between protecting their parents and wanting to be like the other kids. Teachers often blame kids when parents are unresponsive. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Education is a critical service for a child’s future success. Education works best when parent(s) and teachers are linked in tandem to help pull the sleigh. Those of us in education need to figure out a way for single parents to be full participants in their child’s education.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The reason some parents are doing enough is that they are already doing too much.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-82548715157661655082023-09-12T06:49:00.001-07:002023-09-12T06:49:28.627-07:00AI might write a very nice IEP<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">AI Could write that IEP</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">How do you expect teachers to teach with all the paperwork that is now required for special education? One of the biggest time eaters is writing that IEP (Individual Education Plan). Now AI is to the rescue.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Some educators are pondering the use of ChatGPT or BARD to lift the burden.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In order for the rescue to work, the algorithms need to be flexible enough to account for all the individual differences in children.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are multiple factors of good news and bad news. There is no question that the idea of minimizing paperwork would be hugely appealing to teachers who could then spend more time actually teaching. But these forms include very personal and sensitive information. Using the platform that could be accessed by the public is risky and possibly even illegal.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">IEP’s delineate the individual goals for each child. But the possible repertoire of goals is limited to the knowledge base of the teacher or school district supplied resources. AI has the potential of providing a huge repository of existing IEP language. Will these goals meet the legal standard of substantially addressing the unique individual needs of a particular student, or can only a human do that?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Could AI assist in other ways? Could AI, for example, provide voice assistants to narrate text for visually impaired students. Or perhaps, translate text from English to a student’s original language? What about using AI for children with dysgraphia? Could AI help in writing papers? Students would still need to be taught how to use the tool. The other question is will using the tool teach the child how to improve his/her writing or just provide a work-around that is a crutch. Then again if your leg is broken, what’s so bad about using a crutch.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The road ahead is forked. Educators can do what they are best known for doing and that is to put their head in the underground and just try to avoid the issue. Or they can acknowledge that these platforms exist and perhaps if controlled or understood could actually make like not just easier but maybe even better for the student’s IEP. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Of course, the final question to ask is: If a teacher does not have the capacity to create a high-quality IEP that is unique to the child’s needs, does it really matter if AI creates one but the teacher can’t deliver it?<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-44176892099811723812023-09-05T07:21:00.002-07:002023-09-05T07:21:49.074-07:00Because it's mandated<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Because it’s mandated</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In Maryland, people whose jobs put them in positions of responsibility for children are required by law to report ANY suspicion of child harm to the local child protective services. That means ANY thing a child might say or do that suggests a child is in danger. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">A person who "violates this section of the code is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a </span><span style="color: #040c28; font-size: 14pt;">fine not exceeding $10,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 3 years or both</span><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">. (c) This section applies only to a failure to report child abuse or neglect that occurs during the time the child is a minor."</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> If the individual has a license to practice his/her profession that license can be lost. Child protective services bear the responsibility to investigate the seriousness of the event.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Pretty extreme don’t you think? Well not exactly. Children who are abused have life-long impacts both mentally and physically. Depression, suicidal ideation and anxiety become lifetime challenges. Establishing relationships with partners is very difficult, especially if the partner does not fully understand the comprehensive damage of abuse. Addiction to drugs and alcohol are also common to help deaden the flashbacks. IBS, acid-reflux, even esophageal cancer can be physical manifestations of abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What if I am just a "bystander", a neighbor or someone in a store. The law does not require you to report. If you care about the protection of children, your conscience should demand that you do.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">The beginning of help for these children is to be believed. That means sometimes professionals have to recognize the unthinkable- some parents harm their children. That is why regardless of how outlandish the report from the child may seem to the caregiver, the child must be believed enough to allow for follow-up investigation and examination by a physician.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Johns Hopkins hospital has established the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse as part of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are 24 child advocacy centers in Maryland. In these centers, social workers, law enforcement, doctors, prosecutors and child advocates work together to support kids who have been abused. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But hey, isn’t this overkill? Let’s get real, do we report parents when kids say they have been spanked- yep you better had. Because you are only the reporter NOT the investigator. And the very first step to eliminating child abuse is to BELIEVE the child. The rest will sort itself out after a full investigation. And YES- there are real consequences to both YOU and the child if you don’t fulfill what you are required by law to do<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-43571657754973091782023-08-29T08:19:00.000-07:002023-08-29T08:19:01.331-07:00Educators need to Woke up<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Woke Up Educators!</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland sued to have curriculum related to LBGQT issues removed from the curriculum, including materials in literature and current affairs. A judge said parents did not have the right to regulate curriculum.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In Arkansas, the Governor said her job was to protect the children from the “radical left woke mob”. The Arkansas State Board of Education said schools may choose to offer the AP Course on African-American history but the children who take it will not earn credits toward graduation. Never mind that many of the historical events in the course took place in Arkansas. And the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, along with 200 other colleges and universities do accept the credit.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In Florida, the Governor has proclaimed Florida is where “woke goes to die”. He declared that the AP course on African-American history would violate state law; therefore, it could not be taught in Florida. The AP Board said that the changes Florida wanted would diminish the validity of the course; therefore, it would not be offered in Florida.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The mission of many politicians besides garnering media attention is to stop “wokeness” in our public schools.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">To do this one must first assume that “wokeness” whatever that is, exists in public schools. Indicators of “wokeness” include hiring an individual, particularly an individual of color, to lead an office of diversity, equity and inclusion. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">School libraries have gotten into the business of banning books that discuss issues of race, racism, antisemitism, or issues relating to gender difference or LBTGQ.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We have become afraid to allow our students to be uncomfortable with the past and the present. The Governor of Florida has specifically said he does not want children learning about slavery to feel uncomfortable with something that has happened in the past. Education SHOULD make us feel uncomfortable about a lot of things. Education should open our minds to new ideas and challenges. The books that are being banned want to open children’s minds to new ideas and to teach them to think and rethink where they stand on issues. Is that not the point of a public funded education system?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Woke up educators, we have miles to go before we sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-9732772102091466572023-08-22T07:19:00.001-07:002023-08-22T07:19:45.835-07:00No person with a disability left standing<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">No person with a disability left Standing</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There is a legal principle called “standing” which essentially means an individual can’t sue about something unless he or she was harmed by whatever that something is.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Advocacy groups have, for a long time, used people as “testers” to see if such laws as public accommodations for race and/or disability were being upheld.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This fall the issue now will be raised to the level of the Supreme Court.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">A Florida resident who uses a cane and/or wheelchair and has a significant visual impairment sued Coast Village Inn and Cottages because their website failed to offer sufficient information on accommodations for the disabled as required under Americans With Disability Act (ADA). Her suit was dismissed by the lower court because she was not injured; and therefore, did not have standing to sue since she did not plan to visit the Inn. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The suit was overturned on appeal. The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit found that her “feelings of frustration and humiliation and second-class citizenry” were “downstream consequences” and “adverse effects of the informational injury she experienced”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Now the Supreme Court will get to decide whether a person with disabilities has standing to sue under ADA if they have no intention of visiting the business in question. What does not seem to be addressed is how can a person with a disability make an informed decision if he/she can’t test out the access <i>before</i> trying to access the business in question.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">This issue has gained increasing attention because over 600 lawsuits have been filed nationwide by these so-called testers. Obviously, business groups are angry. But so are advocacy groups for the disabled. The groups representing both sides of the issue have filed amicus briefs, over 18 and counting for advocacy groups for the disabled.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“Despite the ADA’s promise to create equal access, insufficient oversight and enforcement means that businesses frequently ignore the civil rights of disabled people, making their lives extremely difficult and undermining the rights guaranteed by the law” said the senior director of legal advocacy and general counsel for The ARC. “ADA testers are essential to ensuring the rights of people with disabilities are enforced and protected and that the full promise of ADA is realized”.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One of the attorneys filing an amicus brief explained that if a person with a disability discovers noncompliance when trying to use a business, it is too late to file a lawsuit. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">An unexpected twist occurred when the Florida woman asked the high court to drop her case because her attorney had been disciplined in Maryland. The Supreme Court declined to drop the case but said it would consider the request in oral arguments which are scheduled for October 4.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The commitment to full access for those with disabilities needs to left standing at our highest court.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-733632261391104320.post-58607922056596225642023-08-15T07:10:00.000-07:002023-08-15T07:10:23.378-07:00Even the wealthy are suffering<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">Even the wealthy are suffering</span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Fairfax County Virginia is one of the wealthiest school districts in the country. Parents have filed a lawsuit against the County for failing to deliver services to children with special education needs. Last week a judge ruled in favor of the school district. A lawyer for the parents said it is their intent to appeal this decision AND file a civil rights complaint with the state attorney general.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The families are saying that in addition to failing to provide special education services, the County has also repeatedly violated the civil rights of the children under the Virginia Human Rights Act.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Parents are not the only ones with concerns about the delivery of special education services in Virginia. The U.S. Office of Education has launched multiple investigations. In late June the federal ranking for Virginia regarding the compliance with IDEA fell from “meets requirements” to “needs assistance”. A state that spends more than one year in “needs assistance” will receive intensive intervention from the U.S. Office of Education.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One of the continuing family concerns is the state’s due process hearings which are in place to settle disagreements between families and the school district. Following a freedom of information request regarding the frequency of families prevailing in such procedures, the plaintiffs learned that between 2010 and July 2021 there were 395 appeals in Northern Virginia. Out of those 395 cases, the family prevailed in only 3. The data show that over the whole state of Virginia, out of 847 cases, families won in only 13, a percentage of 1.5 successful challenges.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">By comparison, in California parents won 35% of the cases and in neighboring Maryland, parents won 15% of cases. (This number is down dramatically since Maryland now requires the party requesting the change in placement to have the burden of proof.) The Virginia lawsuit contends that the State has a carefully curated slate of hearing officers who almost always side with the parents. In Maryland the hearing officers are trained by the State Department of Education so their views are aligned with the State Department’s views. In Virginia 2/3rds of the hearing officers have never ruled in the parents’ favor. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Many times, school districts will insist that the failure to deliver services is due to lack of funds. That is not the case in Virginia. In Virginia the issue is lack of will not lack of funding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Dr. Jhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09059923970887402788noreply@blogger.com0