Comments on: Education Secretary Looks To Teachers To Raise Bar For Students With Disabilities

By: disabilitiesrightsadvocate

disabilitiesrightsadvocate — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:48:35 +0000

Coming from an independent living background, I think that the one thing that is the most important is for each individual to be afforded the opportunity to choose their own course in life, whether it be school, work or what have you. It is clear that either way, their course must be one that is specific to their individual needs and they need not be presscribed their futures in any way or by anyone, including educators and parents. Generally speaking, “regular or general” education notoriously chooses the standards by which students ought to be at, without taking anything else into consideration. This happens even more so within the confinements of segrated “special” education classrooms that set the bar extremely low, based on illogical perceptions of individual achievements of students with disabilities. Best practices in education clearly provoke a lot of discussion and disagreement, but the main focus is and always should be person-centered inclusive models designed by each individual based on their own needs and desires.

By: Naina

Naina — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 13:26:38 +0000

I think its time to stop reading and seeing things with the negative connotations. I do not believe that Arne Duncan is ignorant nor un-informed. He and his administration are talking about the gaps of achievements, and the need to get our special populations either onto the academic track or the skilled and/or functioning citizen track. However, within the realm of public education and the daily to-do tasks special educators have in their day, how can we as a nation begin reform. First let us define what the “equal” education we want for all our students is to be. Practically we know that one shoe does not fit all, but we can design those that will look the same but have a modification to suit the foot!! So instead of whining and criticizing lets start putting the problems on the table and coming up with solutions that make sense and are cost-effective!!

By: mykidsmom

mykidsmom — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 20:03:43 +0000

What concerns me is that each state is left to decide how high to set the bar. If anything more parents ought to be involved in their local school boards and perhaps even state level board of ed. That’s where the true opportunity exists to change things. So, parents, please consider running for a school board seat. School issues are local issues.

By: Daviette

Daviette — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:15:04 +0000

I am hopeful about the optimism of Secretary Duncan and President Obama. I look forward to my children going to college and having careers. I appreciate and share his passion for learning.

By: 6trojans

6trojans — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 20:27:20 +0000

I have a child with Down syndrome and another with high functioning autism. I look forward to both going to college!

By: pamw

pamw — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:57:43 +0000

I agree with Sec. Duncan about educators having higher expectations and preparing children with disabilities for college and/or careers.

As you know, IDEA is the law that governs special education for children with disabilities. The Purpose of IDEA is:

“to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that … [is] designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living” (20 U.S.C. 1400(d))

Note: When Congress reauthorized the law, they added “further education” to the purpose of the law.

In the Findings of IDEA, Congress described obstacles to implementation of the law:

“implementation … has been impeded by low expectations, and an insufficient focus on applying replicable research on proven methods of teaching and learning for children with disabilities.”

Congress reported that “over 30 years of research and experience” demonstrated that special education would be more effective by:

“… having high expectations for such children and ensuring their access to the general education curriculum in regular classrooms, to the maximum extent possible … to meet the challenging expectations that have been established for all children; and be prepared to lead productive and independent lives to the maximum extent possible.” 20 U.S.C. 1400(c)(5)

Would special education be more effective if schools and school staff had higher expectations for children with disabilities? Should schools prepare children to lead productive and independent lives to the maximum extent possible?

Pam

By: foteah

foteah — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 00:30:39 +0000

I find it hard to believe Duncan actually believes what he’s saying. I think he realizes he’d be turning a lot of people off by essentially saying some individuals can’t/shouldn’t aspire to college and career. Having taken the polar opposite of that stance in his comments, though, he’s still ostracized a slew of people, as evidenced by the commentary here.

By: eileens5

eileens5 — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:34:40 +0000

As the parent of an adult son with severe disabilities, I can assure you that college is not realistic, feasible, or appropriate for every person with or without disabilities. I saw the title for this article, and thought, “Finally, the education secretary is looking at life beyond graduation for people with disabilities”. I assumed that Mr. Duncan was going to refer to the lack of appropriate programs for post-graduation. I hoped that Mr. Duncan would finally look into the sad fact that the availability of appropriate programs for people like my son is entirely inadequate. As you know, I was giving Mr. Duncan much more credit than he deserves.

My son is not able to speak or care for his personal needs. My son has multiple seizures on a daily basis, and needs constant supervision just to keep him safe. My son would not and could not sit through a college class, nor would it be appropriate for him to do so. On the other hand, my son could participate in a day program with other adults who have similar needs, but there is nothing available that will meet his specific needs. My son sits home, day after day, with a care provider who cannot leave the house with him because she is worried about liability insurance – and she is the best staff person we have been able to find in 2 years.

Parents generally want one thing for their children. We want them to be happy. For my “normal” daughter, I hope that means college and a well-paying job. For my son, that means a productive day, doing the things that matter to him, with friends, in his own home community. It doesn’t mean college, Mr. Duncan.

By: Bonnie Jean

Bonnie Jean — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 15:06:07 +0000

Special Education is specialized individualized education based on identified needs and strengths of the individual (not grouped) students.
From students that are individuals with multiple disabilities to students mildly affected by disabilities having higher expectations does not mean making everyone into an Einstein!

It means using multiple intelligence to allow that student to become the best they can be. It takes not only the schools and educators but family and communities. This is one reason I do not care for the “Bell Curve” it assumes if you do not fit into a “program” you cannot learn and you are passed over. If we all fit into the “bell curve” we would all be exactly the same in every way, shape and fashion. Educating is common sense! We do not start 3 month old babies reading Supreme Court cases, but we do work on colors, letters etc. Some students will never go beyond these basic items, some never get to that level. I know of one young woman that never moved or spoke a word her entire life….but an educator noticed she could move her pointer finger on one hand. From there this educator used “High Expectations!??Did she try to make this young lady take the States standards tests? Of course not!!!! But she had this young lady use her one moving finger to flip a switch made for her movement to turn on a radio! From there the expectations are endless…if she can flip a switch can she speak finally by flipping a switch on an assistive technology device and talk to her mother for the first time????
Wow! endless possibilities, but not if we keep our focus on linguistic language intelligence only!

By: carbond

carbond — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:52:43 +0000

I find it interesting that Arne Duncan, our Secretary of Education, was never a teacher. He majored in Sociology at Harvard, was intially given a position of educational authority by a friend and was responsible for turning many public schools into charter schools. I don’t think that Duncan really has a clue how the classroom work on a day to day basis. Furthermore, through this statement, Duncan has demonstrated that he has no understanding concerning special education and the exceptional student. I wish that he would spend a week in any public school and see for himself the extent that special education teachers and staff work to meet the needs of each exceptional child every single day.