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Friday, March 25, 2011

Well, folks...I'm flummoxed!

The offer to Doctor Sherman still stands.  At any time he can shoot us his answers and we'll post them.  Up next on The Underground...


Title I and our noncompliance-several of you have sent in comments about how your school is in non-compliance with Title I regs.  We'd appreciate hearing from any and all of you who have something worth mentioning.

And....

Special Education and the upcoming state audit.  What does it mean?  Where is ACPS headed vis a vis Special Education?  Again, please submit your comments concerning this topic, too.

"Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe." 
 Voltaire

29 comments:

  1. Lucy Calkins was the last straw for me and my special ed student. It was explained to me by our principal that Lucy Calkins is based on research showing that the average child gathers in the rules of grammar in an organic, developmental process. Since these skills would develop naturally in time, I therefore should not be concerned about a third grader who could not use punctuation or capitalization. I pointed out that special ed exists because there are kids who do not learn like the 'average' child. I asked for an alternative grammar curriculum which was our right under the law.

    The teacher - a truly wonderful woman - had encouraged me to ask for the alternative curriculum in a quick unmonitored conversation before the IEP meeting. I stress unmonitored because she feared retribution if the principal found out. She believed that other strategies she had used in the past to reach students like my child could be successful.

    I was told no. Just plain no. Allowing my child to use an alternative curriculum would undermine the administration's efforts to implement Lucy Calkins with integrity. I received a follow up email from the principal assuring me that my child was, in fact, on grade level in all subjects and required no additional intervention. A third grader unable to properly place ANY punctuation, unable to use capitalization appropriately, and this was on grade level!?!

    I have no idea what they planned to do when my child sat for the SOL in fifth grade after failing to teach the child any grammar. Well, now that I think about it, I suppose a portfolio assessment would have turned out to be a much "fairer" evaluation method for him by then ...

    For the sake of balance, I should acknowledge that we did have one encounter in four years with a teacher who refused to implement my child's IEP because it was inconvenient for the rest of the class. (Maybe they should have thought of that before placing my child in that class?) But it was the willy-nilly barrage of new curricula and the administration-driven inflexibility in the face of programatic and systemic failures that caused me to pull my youngest from ACPS.

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  2. Good for you!! You are also correct about the Calkins program. What a load of crap! One size does NOT fit all!

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  3. I have yet to see any 504 or IEP for ANY student in my class..

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  4. Anonymous 9:04 that is not unusual. What have you done about it? Parents will expect and demand that you have seen, read and implemented them. Parents like me have struggled with that reality for years, for me 14 years. The last VDOE audit found this and it is one of the many reasons ACPS failed the last one. The last audit was based on data prior to the previous administration, this is a systemic problem that has been around for a long time. Based on what I've observed this problem, hasn't been resolved.
    Equally troubling is the fact that too many teachers that have seen the 504 and IEPs haven't implemented them. From a parents perspective ACPS is the teachers, principals,and central administration. ACPS has failed too many of it's disabled students and everyone is accountable, but parents mostly get to watch as the system shifts blame and we hear, "That's not my job", and we never find whose job it is, so nothing changes.

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  5. In this case ACPS should get on a bus and go to Fairfax; while FCPS has its issues, and not every family whose child needs an IEP is happy, they are miles and miles ahead of ACPS. I was amazed to discover that progress reports (reports that come out with report cards that discuss the progress on IEP goals) are not routinely done in ACPS (well at TC anyway) was actually told, "oh, we don't do that here" by someone in charge of things at that time...2 years ago...I hope this at least changed with the last audit...did it??

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  6. Oh, left off my comment regarding Title 1 and not meeting regulations. I have heard the rumor that many of the schools won't bother with "being" (applying for again?) Title 1 next year. Does anyone know if the AYP years start over as a Title 1 school, in other words, does becoming Title 1 mean you are now on a different cycle of years in regards to consequences for not meeting AYP? Is this perhaps the reason for applying for that status, and then going back to non-title 1 status reverts the start year of failing to meet AYP once again? Is this all an AYP game??

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  7. 7:27 IEP hmmm.. your not the only parent with a child with an IEP so what am I doing about it? USING ALL THE STRATEGIES I KNOW TO HELP THE STUDENT...what else am I supposed to do with a school district as screwed up as this one? I am going to battle shooting in the dark looking for a needle in a haystack....SOOOOOO TIRED OF BEING BEATEN DOWN LIKE I AM THE PROBLEM....TEACHERS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM...if your so concerned your child's IEP is not being addressed than ADVOCATE FOR YOUR CHILD AND HAND DELIVER A COPY TO THE TEACHERS LIKE I HAVE BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST 18 YEARS...BE PROACTIVE

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  8. That's actually what I do, my point to you, whether you like it or not, you are employed by ACPS and as such are part of the problem, you may not have caused it but you are a part of it. If you teach and you know students have 504 or IEP plans and you haven't received them, you should stand on the desk at Central Office until you do. You could come to a SEAC meeting and work with parents to change the system. I am very proactive. All you said in your first post was you know should get the plans but you don't, didn't indicate anything else.

    As far as the progress reports for the IEPs, it hasn't gotten better, because they don't provide them unless you demand them, which is what I do and why I've received them. The system is broke, teachers should be screaming at Central Office as the front line they are the ones who represent the system, turn your anger into power, don't be silent when the teacher in class next to yours tells kids with IEPs the "best you can get is a C because you have an IEP, or you don't need this class because you probably won't go to college anyway." The audit found the whole system in non compliance, some teachers rightly so, others by default, you are all a part of the same system. Yet, no one ever wants to admit there are bad teachers among the good. The really good ones, many my student has had the good fortune to have, give 100% and don't rage when parents speak the truth, they know how bad things are and encourage parents to speak out.

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  9. FCPS has more than their share of issues, including the fight to get the assistance dog in the classroom. Actually as a parent of a disabled student in ACPS, the fight in ACPS is preferred than the fight I know parents go through in Fairfax. The system is broke all over the country. Fairfax is so large and they really do practice one sized fits all out there. ACPS has a good infrastructure and a lot of good teachers, they also have obstructionists and people who refuse, don't know how, or any other reason, not to meet the requirements of the law. It really isn't as hard as it is made out to be. Most of the problem still stems from attitudes about the disabled.

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  10. 11:59 we are ALL here because we know there is a problem. You are required to SIGN the IEP so I find it difficult that you don't have a copy. I have NEVER heard any teacher say "you get a C b/c you have an IEP". ACPS's grades are ridiculously OVER INFLATED. and HOW WOULD I KNOW IF A STUDENT HAD AN IEP OR NOT IS THERE A MARKING ON THEIR FOREHEAD???????? OH AND BTW WE ARE SCREAMING ON THE DESKS...YOU VOTED THIS SCHOOL BOARD IN DO SOMETHING ALREADY

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  11. I never said I didn't have a copy. The teacher said it. re read the post and stop screaming! You may never have heard, does that mean it didn't happen? You have no idea, what some parents and their kids have suffered at the hands of ACPS and its teachers.

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  12. How can you ask " How would I know if a student had an IEP or not...." You are the one who said "I have yet to see a 504 or IEP for any student in my class". Relax and decide what you are screaming about.

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  13. don't tell me what i can and cannot feel say or do. you are speaking in circles and it are showing your ass. it does not suprise me now hearing that your child was told s/he would not be going to college as it appears the apple didn't fall far from the tree. REDIRECT YOUR ENERGY and ADDRESS THE REAL PROBLEM..good day

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  14. if a teacher does not receive an iep how are they to know if there are students who have one or not???? are teachers required to read minds now too?

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  15. so hold up, let me get this straight....iep parent is upset with a teacher who did not know there was an iep in place because a 6 figure salaried administrator did not do their job of informing there staff?....really??

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  16. I don't recall FCPS failing an audit. There are cases there certainly, that are problematic, like the dog assistance (though one of the issues was the dog was quite large, and the student had difficulty controlling him, and they lacked the appropriate certification, and FCPS did allow a trial).
    ACPS appears to think IDEA was just initiated, in my opinion. Many of their regs aren't in compliance with federal regs or state regs. It is as if they have just learned disabled students are enrolled in their district.
    I personally would prefer FCPS issues than ACPS issues re: special ed, but to each their own I suppose.
    The back and forth between the parent and teacher here is truly getting rather rude and losing focus.
    Teachers don't know who has an IEP, so it is difficult for them to follow up. Parents are frustrated because the IEPs they signed aren't being given to the teachers (only one general ed teacher needs to sign, and that might have been last year's teacher..depends upon when the IEP was initiated).
    Clearly there are problems, but blaming all parents or all teachers doesn't solve anything. The structure should be in place for IEPs to be given, and for parents to obtain progress reports that would state whether or not accommodations are being met, and how the goals are being addressed, and if any goals have been mastered.
    These progress reports should go home at the same time as the report cards. Are they?

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  17. I agree with the poster at 4:32 that it's counterproductive for teachers and parents to blame each other for things that are not our fault. I've been at ACPS for a few years now, and in the past I've been given IEPs for a number of students with different learning issues. I've always tried my best to comply with the suggested class modifications and accomodations, and those students have generally done as well as (sometimes better, with such involved parents) as the other students. In the past two years though, I've noticed that I'm just not getting the IEPs in my box as I used to. I blame the policies of a superintendent who so overdoes the extra paperwork for admin and counselors that they don't have time to give teachers the basic paperwork we need for our special needs students. Let's put blame where it is deserved and not shout at each other, please. That is just counterproductive. If we're mad enough to shout, let's do it at Mort, the man who overloads teachers and admin with irrelevant paperwork and training sessions that take us out of class and away from our students on a regular basis.

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  18. Regardless if whether a general education teacher is told or given a copy of the IEP...it is their JOB to read/look through the cum folder of each of their students. And in there, they would find the brown file with all the special ed documents and IEPs. So yes, teacher above, you should have known about and implemented those IEPs.

    ~a former special education teacher, now a general education teacher

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  19. well guess what folks...I was just responding to the request about non compliance...iep parent personalized the exchange...all your experiences occurred PRIOR to mort and me too darling.. so throw your blame to whom deserves it..NOT ME...and gee who's responsibility would it be to show a new teacher WHERE the cum folders are located????? DUH perhaps the administrators??? you are both a joke just like your buddy mort..a real district has the teacher sign that they are in receipt of the iep or 504 thereby created accountability but hey that word does not exist here

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  20. how does anyone know that the teacher didn't ask for the information? Did they ask for iep or 504 and still not get them? why are there people jumping to conclusions and especially always the teacher's fault?

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  21. Has the learning environment for Special Education students improved within ACPS over the past 3 years? That should be the question examined and addressed. The issues did not start under the current administration, but have they become any better, worse, or about par?
    SOL scores would indicate that student achievement has improved for the Special Education SOL subgroup (yup, that is how they refer to our children now).

    Yet, when you examine the numbers from when the current administration took over, there is a disturbing and unexplainable jump in SOL scores for students in the Special Education SOL subgroup. Between 2008 and 2009 ACPS saw an average of a 40% increase in SOL pass rates in special education students through the use of Virginia Grade Level Alternative assessments. In extreme cases, Maury and Jefferson Houston, student achievement increased an astounding 85% and 81% through the use of the VGLA. These numbers should be a red flag for ACPS teachers, parents, and the VDOE.

    http://www.acps.k12.va.us/mes/sol/2010-vgla-vaap-vsep-overview.pdf

    In 2008 141 students took the VGLA as a grade level alternative to the SOL. In 2010 there were over three times as many students taking the VGLA. In 2008 ACPS had 84 students pass the VGLA. In 2010 that number skyrocketed to 727 students. In one year between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of "Pass Advance" VGLA scores went from 6% to 52%. Something odd about this?

    VDOE has taken notice of this disturbing trend in districts such as ACPS, which has dramatically increased student participation in the VGLA. ACPS parents should take note too. This is not what was happening years ago, it is far worse. The same bad habits are now masked by suspiciously inflated, potentially unethical, and educationally unsound numbers.

    http://www.doe.virginia.gov/news/news_releases/2010/apr22.pdf

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  22. It is not uncommon for teachers to have no access to student files, since they don't always arrive with the students. They're stuck in a box somewhere--especially at the beginning of the year when we can set up constructive approaches to help all our students. This is 2011, and we're still waiting for paper files to be schlepped from one place to another, since our new computer records system does not provide that info. Added to these obstacles, this year, we didn't even know who was in our classes for sure until October. Kids' schedules kept changing and changing and changing.

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  23. "IEP parent personalized the exchange". There isn't anything in this world more personal to me than my student. I shared my personal experience, and once again, the underground is defensive. Oh well. For teachers who want to work with parents, and willing to listen to their perspective I encourage you to attend the next meeting of Special Education Advisory Committee, you will discover many areas where teachers and parents agree and could work together. This blog is toxic.

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  24. This blog is toxic? Go visit Central Office if you want to feel toxic..in the form of dishonesty, repression and paranoia. At the very least, this blog allows freedom to express opinions and ideas. Let's keep it respectful and civil, lest we become that which we despise.

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  25. The VGLA pass rate also says that more students got the opportunity to use VGLA instead of standard tests that by design set the students up for failure. This is a success if more students who could have gone the VGLA route along were given the opportunity to demonstrate what they've learned.

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  26. Yes, the VGLA does appropriately offer some students the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned. However, ACPS's increased reliance on the VGLA and the results do not reflect the appropriate use of this alternative assessment.

    In many cases the VGLA creates a false picture of what students are actually comprehending in subject areas. How is a student, who is comprehending on a 1st grade level, accurately demonstrating grade level learning in say 5th grade subject areas? This false representation does nothing to help the student learn. It boosts numbers for SOL subgroups allowing false assertions to be made and false conclusions to be drawn.

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  27. That is not what VGLA was/is. It is a worksheet factory! OUr entire school devoted itself to nothing but shoving VGLA 'exemplar' worksheets in front of the students and then providing answers to them, as well.

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  28. During the upcoming audit I hope teachers provide this level of feedback. During the last audit they were silent.

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  29. Nothing more than fraud all the way around. The suspicious numbers speak for themselves.

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