Special Learners: Overview
Q. There's
actually less poverty today than in past generations, and better nutrition. We
have better early-detection systems in place in health care, and better
treatment regimens. Our government is spending far more money on education than
ever in our history. With so many more teachers holding master's degrees than
ever, we know more about teaching than ever before. With all these resources
employed, surely we should be seeing some rewards. Then why does it seem as
though there is an epidemic of students labeled "at-risk" of school failure?
And why are we seeing more and more kids in costly special education?
Schools today devote extra attention to a number of
different kinds of special learners:
·
Students with mental or physical handicaps
·
Students with "learning disabilities" such as ADHD,
dyslexia and other conditions which may or may not be medically diagnosed
·
Students whose academic, artistic or other needs cannot be
met by the regular classroom because of their gifts and talents
·
Students who are "at risk" of underachievement and dropping
out because of a wide range of factors, including poverty
·
Students who are "at risk" of underachievement and dropping
out because they are "English language learners" -- immigrants from foreign
countries who don't read, write and speak English very well
About 20% of the children labeled as needing special
education have medically-diagnosed physical and mental problems that they can't
help. They command our best efforts to help them overcome their "differences" so
that they can learn to their fullest potential. There are a lot of marvelous
things being done to help children with physical impairments, speech disorders,
mental challenges and the like.
BUT . . . 80% of children bear the label of "special
education" or "learning disabled" chiefly because they can't read, or they read
beneath their grade level and IQ. That's the "presenting" factor: reading
disability. Nothing shows up on an X-ray; nothing requires surgery or
medication. They just can't read very well. It's not a disease. It's an
instructional deficiency . . . that can be fixed. Even mentally handicapped
children can learn to read, if they are taught right.
These children don't need to be in special ed programs at
twice the cost of the regular ed programs, or at least not for their entire
school careers. They don't need over-the-top discipline, or medication, or simplistic
assignments, or to be excused from proper academics and have their schooling
relegated to mere job training.
They're only labeled "SPED" because they can't read! They
just need better reading instruction in the early grades. True, because of
brain differences, many of them may never be doctors and lawyers and scholars.
But the truth is, with proper reading instruction, just about 99% of the
population can read at grade level, and should be doing so. They should NOT be
in costly special education programs.
That may be a bitter pill to swallow for teachers
struggling with the disruptions and headaches that "at-risk" students,
especially those whose symptoms are often labeled BD (Behavior Disability) and
ADHD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder). But you can chart the
explosive growth of "at-risk" students over the past generation right next to
the explosive growth in reading disability. The two go hand in hand.
According to nationally-known teacher and author Bill Page,
and a growing number of parents and teachers alarmed about the high numbers of
children being labeled "at risk" in our schools, misbehavior is an effect, not
a cause, of reading disability. Both misbehavior and reading disability can be
corrected and prevented, with a back-to-the-basics approach to reading.
Page, also
a motivational speaker, has published a book, At-Risk Students, which contends that students who have perfectly
normal IQ's but are struggling in school are reacting normally to the stress
and pressure of appearing not to keep up academically by trying to excel in a
negative way. If you can't be the "best" at schoolwork, the theory goes, at
least you can be the "best" at being "cool" by defying authority, focusing on
what you want to focus on, clowning around, or pretending to be apathetic so
that you don't have to try and possibly fail.
Page says
that rebelliousness and delinquency are cover-ups for students' fears of being
labeled "dumb." They get entangled in crime and rebellion because they don't
want to be exposed as what they are: fearful, embarrassed, worried and
extremely frustrated.
Page is
among the growing voices of education advocates who say that well-meaning
teachers who continue to shame and scar "at risk" students - by criticizing
them for not achieving while failing to give them the skills to achieve -- are
actually committing child abuse.
He's calling for teachers to reflect
on their part in the dance of failure, and respond with empathy and positive
practicality, rather than punishment. And that starts with Job One: getting a
strong, new hyperfocus on kindergarten through second grade, repairing our curriculum
and instruction techniques in those crucial early grades, and teaching them how
to read.
Homework: See
the book, At-Risk Students, by Bill
Page, on www.teacherteacher.com