Austin's Movie wins a National Award!!

Here's the latest from Tim Nagae, filmmaker mentioned in an earlier post:

Dear Friends:

I would like to inform you that "Austin's Movie" won a national award for film and TV programs called, the "Accolade Award - the Award of Excellence: short documentary." The Accolade's website is www.theaccolade.net and they are going to post the name of "Austin's Movie" on this site soon.

There is another one above the "Award of Excellence," called "Best of Show." But there was no Best of Show for TV programs for this time, which means the "Award of Excellence" is supposed to be the best....? By the way, "Haley and Madonna" won the 2004 Best of Show 4 years ago. If "Austin's Movie" won the Best of Show, a short clip of the movie would be posted on their website, though. But I'm very very happy with this award!

This is a great honor to me, Austin, Austin's family, those who were involved in the production of "Austin's Movie," especially John Sauve, Donna, Matt, CTN and WFUM that broadcast the program. And of course, Lucy for inspiring me to make this movie. Thank you for supporting the production of "Austin's Movie"!

Sincerely,

Tim Nagae

P.S. As always, the link to the promo video of "Austin's Movie" is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FShuvD8MGGY

Manipulatives as Standard Accommodation

Okay, I am not as political and sometimes not quite as cerebral as Kath, but my brain does seem to churn out a lot of thoughts. Here's one of the latest:
On standardized assessments, such as our friend the MEAP, some students qualify for a calculator correct? Well, one of our teachers was presenting on Algeblocks last week, and I had a thought: what if Algeblocks or AlgebraTiles were a standard accommodation?

Students would have to know how to use them independently and they have no labels, so there would be no outside assistance or influence. AlgebraTiles or something like them could even be printed as one extra page. Students who operate in the abstract wouldn't need them and wouldn't use them. Those who are not operating at that level may have an actual scaffold and be able to show their comprehension on an assessment.

I am completely aware that this is not a likely reality, but I continue to wander in the world of what if.... on this one!

LDA of Michigan President Posts Question About "Full Continuum"

I was able to post a question for the November 24th weekly chat about Designing and Delivering Quality Special Education, hosted by EPE Research Center and Education Week.

picture source:
http://www.edweek.org/rc/articles/2008/10/27/special_education_in_america.html,
accessed 12/1/08

Question from Kathleen Kosobud, Doctoral Candidate, Michigan State University (and President, LDA of Michigan):

With the increased focus on inclusive practice, many parent groups fear that "individualized" education will no longer be realized for children with "high incidence" or "mild" disabilities. What would you say to those who are concerned about "preserving the full continuum"?

George Theoharis:

The fear of decreased individualization is common, but unfounded. As with good inclusive practices we keep students with mild disabilities and their needs as central to planning. We cannot forget that removing students from the learning environment does not equal needs being met.

We have years of experience and research to show us this. The trick is to differentiate and plan for students needs upfront. One real example of this is when I am doing a presentation with teachers, I ask a few of them to go to the back of the room to get some remedial help on differentiating curriculum. The very act of standing up and leaving to learn in an area that is difficult for them causes them to feel anxious, and stigmatized. They feel very unprepared to learn in the new environment. Yet, this is what we ask our struggling learners to do everyday.

Another way to look at the continuum is not about spaces (4 walls) instead it is about intensity of services. And the law demonstrates that if services are portable, they should be brought to the child (emphasis added).

For more of this discussion, see Designing and Delivering Quality Special Education, November 24, 2008 with guests:

• Nancy Reder is director of Government Affairs for the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, an organization working with states to improve outcomes for students with disabilities.
• George Theoharis, a former teacher and principal, is a professor in the Department of Teaching and Leadership at Syracuse University, where he studies classroom inclusion practices and other special education issues.

Austin's Movie to show on WFUM

Tim Nagae, a Michigan filmmaker sent this to us:

I would like to inform you that "Austin's Movie" will will be broadcast on WFUM Flint Michigan Television on Tuesday, November 18 at 10:30 pm and Monday, November 24 at 10 pm. It premiered on November 2nd. Since I didn't do a good job to get media attention, I haven't received any feedback from those who watched the program on TV. So if you can forward this information to your friends and family it will be very helpful.

By the way, I previously sent you the information that "Austin's Movie" won a Philo Farnsworth Award from the Alliance of Community Media, the cable TV's organization. I have just received the evaluation sheets for the program from them. Two out of three judges scored perfect "100." The total score was 297!

As always, visit the link to the promo of "Austin's Movie" on You Tube. Thank you. Tim Nagae

Michigan Youth Leadership Forum

The Michigan Youth Leadership Forum is a unique leadership training program for high school juniors and seniors with disabilities. Young people with disabilities cultivate leadership, citizenship, and social skills. Students with leadership potential are selected through a competitive application process and attend at no cost to them or their families. Applications require some preparation, so applicants need to start right away to be able to meet the deadline of December 15, 2008. Contact Bill Milzarski at the Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns, Department of Labor and Economic Growth, at 517-335-6004 (voice or TTY) or 1-877-499-6232 (toll free)(voice or TTY); e-mail at MCDC@michigan.gov; or fax 517-335-7773.

See what they do at this site .

LDA of Michigan President posts in national discussion!

I just happened to post a question for a weekly chat about Special Education, hosted by EPE Research Center and Education Week.

Question from Kathleen Kosobud, Doctoral Candidate, Michigan State University:

Michigan recently began implementing its 21st Century High School Curriculum, which requires all students to meet certain minimum outcomes within the core curriculum, regardless of seat time. For the "gifted" learner, this means that students can proficiency out of courses, and advance on their own. For students who may struggle in academic courses, there are provisions for taking longer to meet the core proficiencies. These include 4 years of English, 4 years of Math (Algebra I & II, Geometry, 1 other course), 3 years of Science, 3 years of Social Studies, 1 credit of the Arts, 1 credit of P.E., an online experience, and 2 credits of a Language other than English. A personalized curriculum is allowed, if requested by family, emancipated minor, or adult student still in high school. MY QUESTION: What dilemmas or concerns do you anticipate, based on your knowledge of other states where there is a core curriculum requirement? What recommendations would you have for Michigan as it begins this journey?

Kim Sweet:

Unfortunately, I have not studied states that have such a requirement. In general, though, I think flexibility in seat time requirements is an important innovation in educating students with special needs at the high school level. In reviewing the description you've set forth, I'd be concerned that there are adequate protections to ensure that the student/the student's family are the decision makers, and that "personalized curricula" do not become an excuse for segregating students with disabilities or inappropriately reducing expectations.

Too bad that the response to my question was not more robust. I know that one of my concerns would be that schools might be unfairly penalized if students in special education opted to stay in high school until they met the proficiency requirements to get a diploma based on the standard curriculum. Students with special educational needs, and English language learners are allowed up to 5 years, under the latest NCLB regulations issued by Margaret Spellings, to complete high school. If students with special needs take longer than 5 years to complete high school (allowed in Michigan), what happens to the status of schools that allow this kind of "extended time"? Conversely, what happens if a student does not meet the proficiency requirements for the Michigan Merit Curriculum? Are they denied a dipoloma? Are they issued a "certificate of completion"? What would the consequences be for not having a "regular" diploma?

Kathleen

What's measurable?

Here's an interesting challenge. I received this note from a former student of mine who had taken a special ed. law course with me two years ago. --KK

Dear Kathleen:

How should we be writing our IEP goals for our students?
I know they need to be measurable, but look below for the differences I am talking about.

Let's take math for example,

1. Do I write a goal related to where the student is currently functioning (will be able to complete 8/ 10 addition problems with regrouping) even though this is not what they are working on in the gen ed inclusion math classroom?

Or

2. Do I write a goal related to the students needs to meet the GLCEs (Grade Level Content Expectations) for that grade ( will be able to solve 1 step linear equations with the use of a calculator)?

Or

3. Do I write goals related to the students needs and GLCEs of another grade: 3rd grade GLCE, for example, even if the student is in 8th grade?

I have looked at various goal-writing books that help to write measurable goals, but am just not sure about the answer to this.

Also, if you have documentation that explains what we should be doing, that would be great.

Thank you,
Former Student

And my response to her:

Dear Former Student:

Good to hear from you...and a really good question.

I gather that you are teaching and an IEP is coming up. I always hated writing "measurable goals and objectives" because I always worried that they'd be aiming too high, or too low...or too specific or too broad. Of course if you aim too low, I believe that we are now allowed to amend the IEP to account for that kind of under-estimation of progress.

Your option (1) appears to be too narrow for an objective, although it could be part of a Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP statement).

Your option (2) takes into consideration the student's access to the general curriculum, although it does not identify the modifications to the curriculum to account for what your student might reasonably be able to accomplish.

Your option (3) could arguably be the best choice--assuming that you would monitor progress frequently sampling the same set of skills for one or two years' worth of GLCEs and noting progress.

Universal Skills Approach: I went to the Center for Educational Networking site and found this article which illustrates one kind of thinking used in six Michigan schools as a pilot. The article was published in 2004. In this model, you'd be setting goals about "thinking and problem-solving"; universal skills across the curriculum.

Curriculum Based Monitoring Approach: There's the Toolkit on Teaching and Assessing Students with Disabilities. An article by Lynn and Doug Fuchs describes the scientific basis of CBM, and the process used. The parent version of the toolkit gives a reasonably clear description of CBM and writing goals and objectives that are measured by CBM.

Cookbook or A La Carte Menu Approach: NICHCY has a resource listed on an "old" page. Scroll down to just above the "Especially for Parents" heading on the page. There's a "cookbook" for writing measurable goals/objectives there; very formulaic and boring, but serviceable, if this is how your bosses want you to write 'em.

Now that I've overwhelmed you with information, but not given you a straight answer, I'd suggest taking your research (and mine) to your boss or your spec. ed. colleagues, explaining the difficulty you are having, and asking the same question. What do other IEPs look like in your district, and what kind of Professional Development is being offered through your local district or ISD? Is your district using an electronic IEP form with an electronic menu of goals and objectives? My "gut" on this one is that the votes are still out on what the standard is--the regulations say what you are supposed to do, and how it should connect from performance statement to outcome measurement. But--if you are too specific, you'd have to write a zillion goals and objectives, and if you're too global, it is often difficult to assess progress. Then you end up having IEPs that have been accomplished before the ink is dry on the signatures, or that take several years to accomplish.

You know what? I'd like to hear what you get as an answer (and if you were willing to tell me, where you are currently working). It's a real stinker of a question. And...if all else fails, I'd suggest doing the best you can, given the ambiguities. The worst that can happen is someone will tell you to fix it, which gives you an opportunity to show how carefully you've thought about this, and how you are genuinely in need of a clear answer. I think that the answers you get will be more reflective of the district's alignment to a particular school of thought, than of a "right" answer.

Kathleen

Postscript: I'm on the Special Education Advisory Committee for the state (representing LDA of Michigan) and we looked at some of the data on State Performance Plan #5: Educational Settings. One of the findings for the schools in need of most assistance was that placements were made on the basis of categorical label, not need, and IEP goals and objectives were based on categorical placement in one setting, despite differences in individual performance and need.

Since my past includes stints working with students with severe cognitive and multiple impairments, giftedness and LD, emotional impairments, mild cognitive impairments, and health impairments (diabetes, AD/HD, transplantation, etc.), you'd think I'd be an expert on goal/objective writing but I realized that to answer her question, it was less about what I would do for a given student in an IEP, and more about what I would be told to do by my supervising administrators, depending on curriculum, setting, accountability requirements, with individual need becoming a moving target based on all of these other, external factors.

Any comments?

Kathleen

5th and 6th Graders with Learning Disabilities Needed for Research Study

Hsin-Yuan Chen chenhs11@msu.edu

is recruiting 5th and 6th graders with Learning Disabilities for an

Online Reading Comprehension Strategies Research Project.

This is an IRB-approved research study for her dissertation work at
Michigan State University.

She is asking for parents to contact her if their child:

1. Has been diagnosed as having a Learning Disability
2. Must be a 5th or 6th Grader
3. English is the child's primary language
4. Is willing to be involved in completing a written questionnaire.

This questionnaire will take approximately 20 minutes to finish. It can be completed at home at any time.

The flyer and consent forms are posted in a folder titled Online Reading Research at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ldaofmichigan/files/

Thank you for your help!

We're Podcasting Now!

Hello! I finally linked the L.D.A. Michigan IDEA Exchange up with Odiogo, a free text-to-speech reader. It's ready to be used. All you do is click on "listen" and it automatically reads the posting. Try it...I think you'll like it! It also allows you to subscribe to audio-feed (podcasts on i-Tunes, etc.). I haven't mastered that one, but give me a few days...

Kathleen

Help Wanted: Recommendations

LDA of Michigan wants your help identifying tutors (reading, math, general academic strategies), psychologists who do evaluations of learning problems, names of contacts at disability offices of community colleges, colleges and universities, and adult basic education programs around the state. Please send your recommendations to LDAofMichigan@sbcglobal.net

Welcome

Mother: Your English teacher says you're cutting corners in 'Creative Writing'
Son: She's lying. She doesn't really want us to write creatively.
Mother: She says you made a contraction out of an entire paragraph.
Son: Unpronounceable, but very creative...

This is a discussion space for LDA of Michigan's board and professional advisory. All board members and PAB members are welcome to author or comment on the postings on this page. You can post pictures (above), change fonts, add links, or post video images (see below) using wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) technology.

If you would like to be designated an administrator of this page, please contact me by email.

Thanks, Kathleen K.

And here, in honour of our Canadian board members (with thanks and apologies to Molson).

CLICK HERE