Since the auto and other manufacturing industries and other related businesses have either left Michigan or downsized, LDA of Michigan has heard from many displaced workers with reading disabilities who have found it difficult to find work. Many are in their 40s and 50s, too young to retire, and very uncomfortable with the idea of returning to school to upgrade their skills. Adding to the problem of being displaced is that even very well-qualified workers in their 40s and 50s are finding it hard to re-enter the workforce in jobs equivalent to the ones that they lost. They may need to piece together several part-time jobs to make ends meet, and may have to forego benefits and pension plans in the process. The latest AARP Bulletin has an article about the problems of getting jobs equivalent to the ones lost.
The critical issue for most of those who call us is that their long-time difficulties with reading have made it nearly impossible to find work. Many left high school to work "on the line" or in shipping or hauling. Lacking high school diplomas didn't matter at the time they entered the workforce, but the lack of a diploma now is a serious handicap for re-entry.
Here are some of the issues that we've helped callers to the Learning Disabilities Association deal with:
You can dial 211 anywhere in Michigan on a "land line" telephone to reach United Way information and referral. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They link people with food, housing, health care clinics, prescription supports, and a host of other public assistance programs and services. They try to link callers with services in their zip-code areas.
Prescription Support: Walmart, offers 30 day supplies of some generic medications for $4, and so does Target. Call these store pharmacies to check if your medications are covered, or if there is a generic equivalent for medications you are taking. In addition, Meijer pharmacy provides prescription Metaformin (a diabetic medication) free of charge; it also provides certain prescription antibiotics free of charge. These are services available to all.
If prescription medication support is needed, beyond what Walmart, Target or Meijer offer, call the Partnership for Prescription Assistance Michigan at phone number 888-477-2669. They answer calls Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
For employment, if a worker has a disability, Michigan Rehabilitation Services may seem overwhelmed with the numbers of displaced workers in manufacturing fields. However, working with a case manager at MRS may improve a person's chances of re-employment. It helps to be assertive about your needs. If support is needed in getting a GED or a high school diploma, or additional training, then applicants to MRS need to make sure that this is understood to be a priority. Michigan Protection and Advocacy Services offers help negotiating with MRS through their Client Assistance Program. If you're really stuck, contact them.
In addition, getting some assistive technology evaluation and training may be very useful to allow a person with severe dyslexia compensate for reading and writing problems. Recent open source software developments have made it possible to add accessibilty to any PC through a flash drive, without loading the software onto the computer.
SSI Disability income: Social Security representatives in the field offices usually obtain applications for disability benefits in person, by telephone, by mail, or by filing online. The application and related forms ask for a description of the claimant’s impairment (s), treatment sources, and other information that relates to the alleged disability. There are also incentives for people with disabilities to re-enter the workforce through Ticket to Work, with a variety of income and health supports to ease the transition.
Michigan Assistance and Referral Service also has online resources and applications for different kind of help, like support from the Department of Human Services.
The statewide system of Centers for Independent Living are also resources for a variety of supports and services, and may help with advocacy support if needed.
Literacy Tutoring, Adult Education, and GED Preparation. Call your local school district for the adult education and GED programs nearest to your location. They will also be able to refer people to literacy tutoring programs, where trained volunteer tutors work one-on-one with adult learners to improve their reading skills. Some tutors may have additional skills working with adults with learning disabilities.
Since many adults are overwhelmed by their many needs, it helps to set priorities. It is helpful to choose one problem at a time to work on. Choosing ones' priorities may be the first step towards empowering an adult who may be feeling very defeated by the system. Just as it is important take care of physical needs and upgrade skills, it is also important that adults in this situation be given the opportunity to regain their dignity and self-respect.
The Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan offers support mostly through identifying other agencies that can provide needed services. In the process, we also try to offer moral support and encouragement. Our volunteers often will be able to refer you to a variety of resources that they have used, and can guide you in working with resources in Michigan.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
"Journey into Dyslexia", Standardized Education, and the Need for "Shop Class"
I'm watching this scene on HBO right now -- Steven J. Walker who manufactures wood pellets (to fuel a special type of woodstove) is telling the story of his painful experience as a kid with dyslexia, except for high school shop class and a great shop teacher. He breaks into sobbing tears as he tells how the school district discontinued shop classes and sold off all the equipment, which ultimately leads to his starting the pellet business. Well, tech ed has come a long way, but the emotional attachment that this man conveys is the one constant.
The documentary is "Journey into Dyslexia", now showing on HBO. It's a collage of authoritative, narrative and personal perspectives on learning disabilities involving reading. One of the talking heads is Guinevere Eden, a neuro-scientist whose studies of brain imaging confirm differences in how people with dyslexia process the written word. Another is David Connor, a disability studies scholar, who discusses inclusive education as a civil right, and suggests that although others may conceive of dyslexia as "disability" he prefers to consider it a natural part of human variance. Still another is Jonathan Mooney, who engages the rebel in me as he rails at the dismissive attitudes of the many unsympathetic adults with whom he dealt while in school. The overall theme of the documentary is that this kind of human variance (dyslexia) leads to such positive phenomena as entrepreneurial risk-taking, creativity, toughness and perseverance and other great things. But, I notice that the people with dyslexia featured in this documentary also talk about how painful it was to grow up with dyslexia. I know from my own experiences (as a teacher and a mother) that many kids with dyslexia and other learning disabilities are not nearly so resilient. I think I should probably re-watch this film and seriously consider its narrative, and counter-narratives.
When my son entered high school (he has language-based learning disabilities), he and his one best friend, a boy with autism, ended up at two different schools. He was crushed. The deal I made with him was that if he could successfully make it through a year at the big high school (a huge adjustment in itself), I'd entertain the idea of his "dual-enrollment" the following year at the big high school he had to go to and the small alternative high school where his friend attended. Dual enrollment meant that he would use his lunch hour to take a bus from one school to the other. It meant that he had to take care of responsibilities at each school while he was there. And, it meant that he would have to manage his obligations at each school with limited support from teachers. As an incentive for toughing the year out, we went through the course catalog for the big high school and picked some CTE classes that were in areas of his interests. So he happily took Computer Assisted Design (CAD), TV production, Know Your Auto, and Intro to Electronics. For his freshman year, he only took three of the four core academics to make room for the CTE courses. That year, he passed all his classes, and discovered that he had become a leader and self-directed learner in CAD. (The last time I recalled having teachers make favorable remarks about his school accomplishments was when his third grade teacher told me that he was the "go-to" artist for drawing sharks and jellyfish during their unit on oceans. Kids with all manners of learning disabilities often experience a huge praise deficit. Rick Lavoie's video-talks give a great deal of insight about this.)
The following year, even though his 9th grade science teacher recommended he take Intro to Biology (scornfully called "Science for Dummies" by my special education colleagues), we suggested that he be allowed to take "Foundations of Science" at the alternative school, instead. This interdisciplinary, experiential science course had kids "doing science" and reporting out on their findings, using a variety of technologies, and much more tantalizing than "Science for Dummies". He also took courses in Film Studies at the alternative school and, the following year, transferred out of the district and into a technical middle college at our local community college. He achieved a high school diploma, an Associate's degree, and tech certification in digital media production at the middle college, and finished a B.A. in the field at a neighboring university. He now works part-time as a camera-person for a community television station, and is building a solid resume of his experience.
Career and Technical Education saves lives. There is no doubt in my mind that this is true.
Unfortunately, in this age of standardization, core curriculum, and a push to make all children "college ready", CTE has taken real hits. Here in Michigan, the enrollment reports for CTE courses have been on a downward trend since 2003 (the data only goes through 2007, currently). People in the field report that each year, there are fewer enrollments, and fewer programs in the high schools. And they attribute the decline to a devaluation of skilled labor--the kinds of skills that are taught in CTE programs. The other day, on the companion blog to the public radio program "on Being" was a post "The Work We Value, The Intelligence We Ignore: Is the Work that Made America Great Valued Any Longer? It features the comments of Mike Rowe, the creator and host of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. In his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Rowe said: "I believe we need a national PR Campaign for Skilled Labor. A big one. Something that addresses the widening skills gap head on, and reconnects the country with the most important part of our workforce." It's not that we don't need the skilled trades, it's that we have so devalued them in the rush to make all children "college-ready", that kids who would benefit from learning their academic content through hands-on, authentic work experiences are no longer able to carve out time in their schedules to take these courses.
On the MAISA website, there are samples of what districts have done to make math courses more accessible, and there are samples of courses and curriculum crosswalks that show how academic content can be embedded in CTE with resulting student success. I've focused on the math, since this field has been dominated by a very rigid and didactic structure--the sequence of Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 seems to be unshakable--not so much because they are "naturally" sequential and dependent on each other, but because of some sort of religious adherence to this being the "one right way" to teach mathematics.
Derrick Fries, Ph.D., a professor at Eastern Michigan University, has collected data that shows a strong association between poor student performance in 8th grade math and those likely to fail to complete Algebra 2. Since a Michigan diploma is contingent on completion of a semester of Algebra 2, this means that we can predict which students are at high risk of dropping out, or failing to attain a diploma. If we can alter these outcomes by offering more tangible, work-related courses with the core academic content embedded, we can improve graduation rates. If Mike Rowe is correct, we also are filling a gap in the labor pool by creating a new generation of skilled laborers.
We know that young people who fail to complete high school are more than likely to face lives of poverty. We also know that the dropout rates for students with disabilities are disproportionately higher than for the general population. And, we also know that many students with a variety of disabilities flourish in classes where they are able to learn by doing. CTE classes are prime examples of learning by doing.
I repeat, Career and Technical Education saves lives.
The following year, even though his 9th grade science teacher recommended he take Intro to Biology (scornfully called "Science for Dummies" by my special education colleagues), we suggested that he be allowed to take "Foundations of Science" at the alternative school, instead. This interdisciplinary, experiential science course had kids "doing science" and reporting out on their findings, using a variety of technologies, and much more tantalizing than "Science for Dummies". He also took courses in Film Studies at the alternative school and, the following year, transferred out of the district and into a technical middle college at our local community college. He achieved a high school diploma, an Associate's degree, and tech certification in digital media production at the middle college, and finished a B.A. in the field at a neighboring university. He now works part-time as a camera-person for a community television station, and is building a solid resume of his experience.
Career and Technical Education saves lives. There is no doubt in my mind that this is true.
Unfortunately, in this age of standardization, core curriculum, and a push to make all children "college ready", CTE has taken real hits. Here in Michigan, the enrollment reports for CTE courses have been on a downward trend since 2003 (the data only goes through 2007, currently). People in the field report that each year, there are fewer enrollments, and fewer programs in the high schools. And they attribute the decline to a devaluation of skilled labor--the kinds of skills that are taught in CTE programs. The other day, on the companion blog to the public radio program "on Being" was a post "The Work We Value, The Intelligence We Ignore: Is the Work that Made America Great Valued Any Longer? It features the comments of Mike Rowe, the creator and host of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. In his testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Rowe said: "I believe we need a national PR Campaign for Skilled Labor. A big one. Something that addresses the widening skills gap head on, and reconnects the country with the most important part of our workforce." It's not that we don't need the skilled trades, it's that we have so devalued them in the rush to make all children "college-ready", that kids who would benefit from learning their academic content through hands-on, authentic work experiences are no longer able to carve out time in their schedules to take these courses.
On the MAISA website, there are samples of what districts have done to make math courses more accessible, and there are samples of courses and curriculum crosswalks that show how academic content can be embedded in CTE with resulting student success. I've focused on the math, since this field has been dominated by a very rigid and didactic structure--the sequence of Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 seems to be unshakable--not so much because they are "naturally" sequential and dependent on each other, but because of some sort of religious adherence to this being the "one right way" to teach mathematics.
Derrick Fries, Ph.D., a professor at Eastern Michigan University, has collected data that shows a strong association between poor student performance in 8th grade math and those likely to fail to complete Algebra 2. Since a Michigan diploma is contingent on completion of a semester of Algebra 2, this means that we can predict which students are at high risk of dropping out, or failing to attain a diploma. If we can alter these outcomes by offering more tangible, work-related courses with the core academic content embedded, we can improve graduation rates. If Mike Rowe is correct, we also are filling a gap in the labor pool by creating a new generation of skilled laborers.
We know that young people who fail to complete high school are more than likely to face lives of poverty. We also know that the dropout rates for students with disabilities are disproportionately higher than for the general population. And, we also know that many students with a variety of disabilities flourish in classes where they are able to learn by doing. CTE classes are prime examples of learning by doing.
I repeat, Career and Technical Education saves lives.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Creativity and Foresight for Strategic Enrichment
by Kathleen Kosobud, for LDA of Michigan
I was e-mailed by a fellow traveler in disability advocacy, Liz Bauer, a former member of the Michigan Board of Education and a continuing activist in "getting it done fairly" for kids with disabilities.
She wrote on behalf of a mother who was asking her for guidance to help her 12 year old daughter who is entering 8th grade and, like her mother, has challenges with dyslexia. She was asking for resources so her daughter could complete American History as an independent study. The mother said: "I wish to jump start her 8th grade [year] with enthusiasm, success, and encouragement that we are intelligent women who can master this with a smile and confidence!"
Well, I may have overlooked her request for a resource that would allow her daughter to get credit for a course over the summer, but I think that I may have fulfilled the spirit of her request, and made a broader statement about what summer experiences can do for kids who struggle to learn during the school year:
If I were still teaching in a middle school, I'd be gathering resources to build the background vocabulary and experience of my 8th graders. In a "true" middle school model, we integrated all content across the curriculum, so the idea of studying American History in the absence of studies of scientific thought and discovery, literature, and the arts is sometimes difficult for my interdisciplinary brain to wrap itself around.
For 8th graders in Michigan, US History is defined in time--from the Age of Exploration to the Civil War. It's an arbitrary limit, and it encompasses a great deal of "dusty" content, so the real trick is making it personal--building connections that make one appreciate how we got to where we are. Here are the grade level content expectations for 8th grade social studies.
My inclination would be to go looking for documentaries (http://www.pbs.org/, and http://www.learner.org/ are two teacher resources I might use), fictionalized accounts of historical periods in film (check with your local youth librarian for videos in their collections), audio books of appeal to middle schoolers (check with your local youth librarian or sign up for Bookshare for delivery of online books to your computer at http://www.bookshare.org/), visits to area museums, forts, historic sites, and virtual tours (http://www.thwt.org/virtualtours.htm) to access as much of the time encompassed in 8th grade US History as possible. One author who is very popular with middle schoolers is Avi--who is himself dyslexic and a real history buff. His fiction really can draw you into the period.
A big consideration: because it is a real drag to be passively learning at any time (especially summer), I would think about projects to make things come alive--crafts, cooking, model-making, creating videos or slide shows online, etc. If you are near historic sites, make visits and learn from their visitor guides (the people who are on staff, not the pamphlets) what happened in Michigan at a given period of time. Visit Greenfield Village and spend some time in different periods of history all in a day--churn butter, watch glass blowing, learn to make ribbon roses for the latest of looks in hats, etc. Some libraries offer free or reduced passes to these attractions around southeastern Michigan so you may be able to save money and see some pretty interesting sites.
Good luck and enjoy your adventures in history this summer.I think back to summers with my own two children, who often needed to recover from school over the summer. I looked for recreation programs, camps, and other experiences that tapped into their interests and talents. I looked for opportunities for friendship-building through their interests. I always kept in mind that this was their summer vacation, not an extension of the school year.
I'm sharing this with readers of this blog because sharing my thoughts and ideas is a way of spreading the word that there is a better world for all of us who learn differently, teach differently, and may not always feel included.
May you have a good summer with your children, too!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Adventures at the Michigan State Board of Education Meeting
June 14, 2011(Flag Day)
posted by Kathleen Kosobud on behalf of the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan
Today I attended the Michigan Board of Education (MBOE) meeting (link to video archives) in Lansing. On the agenda was a briefing on the Personal Curriculum. Since my previous comments at the Ann Arbor forum of the MBOE were critical of local districts' implementation of Personal Curricula for students with disabilities, I decided that it was a good idea to be a visible presence at this Board meeting. As it turned out, the Personal Curriculum presentation was delayed until after the public comment portion of the agenda.
Timing, it turns out, is everything. Wendy Heckman, a mother who had worked for 4 years to convince her school district to offer a Personal Curriculum for her daughter, joined me just before the public comment time. She brought "visual aids": her daughter's senior picture, a picture of her daughter holding her diploma, and the diploma along with a wonderful (and short) public comment about what implementation of the Personal Curriculum means for students like her daughter. The catch in Wendy's voice, full of the emotion she had experienced when she knew for certain that her daughter would be graduating with a diploma, was palpable. Members of the board were visibly affected by Wendy's words; and the "visual aids" she brought put a face on the story. When she finished, all those at the meeting clapped. Here is my introduction of Wendy, followed by her comments:
My name is Kathleen Kosobud. As a volunteer advocate for the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan, I met Wendy Heckman, a parent, who called for information and assistance in getting a Personal Curriculum plan for her daughter, a senior with an IEP. She will be speaking after me.
This board’s support of a Personal Curriculum for students with IEPs is why I’m here. The word has still not spread and the result is a return to the “wait to fail” model of support for students with disabilities. If general education is for all students, we need to educate districts that the Michigan Merit Curriculum can be achieved in many ways.
And here are Wendy Heckman's comments:
My name is Wendy Heckman and I would like to share with you some of my daughter Riley and my journey through the Michigan Merit Curriculum. I first found out about the Michigan Merit Curriculum at Riley’s 8th grade annual I.E.P. meeting, where I was told Riley would have to complete and succeed in the MMC in order to graduate and receive a diploma. My first thought was, “Oh, my God, how are we going to get her through this?”Riley has a learning disability in math and received an I.E.P. during her 5th grade school year. As of her last evaluation in March 2011 with the KTEA-11 she scored a 5.2 grade equivalent in Math Concepts and Applications and a 4.9 grade equivalent in Math Computation. She struggles with short-term memory loss and with math problems containing multiple steps. Riley is 18 years old. Two weeks ago Riley was a senior struggling through her two toughest classes that semester, Algebra 11 and Chemistry A (which she was completing on Plato) and which she was failing in both classes.For three years I had asked for a Personal Curriculum in math for Riley and each time was turned down with excuses like: “No, Personal Curriculums were only for students who were accelerating in the MMC” or “The State of Michigan frowns on the use of Personal Curriculums” or “Personal Curriculums are very hard to get and very rare” I would like to say in November 2010 Riley was the first student in her school district to receive a Personal Curriculum (which was for Algebra II) and in January 2011 she received a Personal Curriculum in Chemistry.
Even though Riley finally had a Personal Curriculum, her final months of High School were an emotional roller coaster for her and her family. “Will she do it? What if she doesn’t?”During these last months while Riley struggled, I looked for any way that we could somehow fight to get Riley her diploma. A Certificate of Completion was no longer an option, she had done more than show up for her four years of High School. She had participated in Marching Band, with her beloved cymbals “Bert and Jeff”. She was the first girl cymbal player in their Marching Band history, Concert Band, Drumline, Follies, Theatre Arts and had even won an award through Barry County for a poem she had written in 9th grade. She made friends, went to proms, participated in float making and powderpuff football during Homecoming Senior year. She went back and passed the Math classes that she struggled through and failed, until she passed them.So what was Riley entitled to? According to FAPE, every child is entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education-even students with handicaps. But what was appropriate for Riley? Was the Michigan Merit Curriculum appropriate for Riley? And if she was not entitled to a diploma, what was she entitled to? She would have the amount of credits required to graduate according to the school district, but would be missing a ½ credit in Science according to the MMC.I couldn’t help but feel that something was not right here. According to Michigan’s Mandatory Special Education Act of 1976 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendment of 1997 guaranteed all persons with disabilities the right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). But the Michigan Merit Curriculum states that each child must have:
4 credits in English-Language Arts
4 credits in Math-including Algebra I, Algebra II and Geometry. Plus 1 other math course-senior year
3 credits in Science-including Biology and Chemistry or Physics
3 credits in Social Studies-including U.S. History & Geography; World History & Geography with a ½ credit in Economics and a ½ credit in Civics
1 credit in Visual, Performing and Applied Arts
1 credit in Physical Education & Health
and an Online Experience
How could FAPE work with the Michigan Merit Curriculum to entitle a child with Learning Disabilities to a diploma? It can't. Not without a Personal Curriculum. What is appropriate for one child isn’t always appropriate for another. Every child learns differently and by lumping them into one mold and expecting them to succeed in the MMC (especially learning disabled students), I feel would be a violation of their right to a Free and Appropriate Public Education. They have been set up to fail! It is a known fact that children with learning disabilities can succeed in the academia field, they can be Doctor’s, Lawyer’s, Nurses, CEO’s and Teachers. They can be successful, but the only way for them to succeed in MMC is with Personal Curriculums.Teachers, School Administrators, Parents and Students need to be made more aware of Personal Curriculums and the modifications and options that are out there for them. Many parents in our School District are unaware of Personal Curriculums or have asked and been denied like me. Riley and I had to pave a path for a Personal Curriculum-the School and the Head of Special Education had absolutely no clue how to set up a Personal Curriculum-so we walked it together.It was a group effort, what is the old saying? “It takes a village to raise a child.” Well, maybe it takes a community for a child to succeed in the Michigan Merit Curriculum. From parents to Teachers, from School Administrators to Special Education Teachers, to whom I owe a huge thank you, these Teachers are incredibly underrated and under appreciated-to Ms. Denny Bouchie, Ms. Jeanine Smith, and Ms. Tammie Grabowski, I can never thank you enough. To Ms. Kathleen Kosobud from the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan who became more than an Advisor, but a lifeline and treasured friend. Thank You.In the end I’m am proud to say “She did it! Riley did it! She received her High School diploma with her friends and fellow classmates on June 5th 2011. I think I was more proud of this diploma than my own High School diploma. My daughter Riley and I took a journey together, there were delays and detours, but this is one journey that will be one of my fondest. When I reflect on that moment when we met for the first time after finding out she could graduate (2 days before graduation), Riley was standing in the Gym, with her senior class, holding the flowers I had sent to her, she turned and looked at me, she said one word, and as she said it she smiled, with this big grin, “MOM!” We hugged and held each other, crying while I took her face in my hands and told her, “You did it! You did it! I’m so proud of you!” That memory will be one of my most treasured memories, one that will live with me forever. This is for you Riley! I love you, Mom.
I'm so glad that Wendy and I attended the Board meeting because it brought home the need for districts across the state to do a much better job of informing families of both the requirements of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) and the many ways that students' needs could be accommodated through the creative development of a Personal Curriculum.
And what a great segue into the Michigan Department of Education's Personal Curriculum presentation! Abbie Groff (the presenter) reported that the largest number of questions came from people inquiring about the Personal Curriculum for students with IEPs. This aspect of the Personal Curriculum is to provide access to modifications to allow students to achieve as much of the MMC "as is practicable". The vagueness of this language has been a problem for districts because it leaves each district to decide on the flexibility that they can apply. If they are overly rigid, their graduation rates suffer. If they are overly relaxed, then their "graduates" may be inadequately prepared for post-secondary programs and employment.
After the presentation several Board members remarked that they had been in touch with constituents who reported that their districts were not honoring requests for considering a Personal Curriculum. Ms. Groff reinforced that districts must consider a Personal Curriculum if requested, but did not have to approve every request. She also reminded the Board that a parent, emancipated student, or teacher could make the request, and that people in certain roles were required to participate in the consideration of a Personal Curriculum.
If you or your school district needs more information or technical assistance with Personal Curriculum options, contact your Personal Curriculum Liaison at your intermediate school district (click link, check box for ISD District, and click "Search"), or contact Mary Head for the name of your local contact or for more information about the Personal Curriculum option. There are plenty of resources that she and other MDE staff have collected to make it easier for districts to follow through on requests for Personal Curriculum plans, and there are video and podcast archives that can provide more information.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Post-script to Public Comment entry
by Kathleen Kosobud, writing for LDA of Michigan
I just heard from the mother of the young woman who was not offered a personal curriculum until her senior year of high school. She called to tell me that her daughter was graduating...with her class...and had passed all of her courses! Today was her open house.
This could only have happened through the combined efforts of a team of people who believed that this young woman had value: her family, her teachers, her friends, her school administrators--and most importantly--the young woman, herself!
This is a story of triumph over adversity; but it is also a cautionary tale. Even while holding high expectations for achievement, we need to remember to be considerate of circumstances that may make such achievements very challenging. We need to be proactive in planning to allow the playing field to be truly leveled for students with disabilities. It is unfair to withhold a fair accommodation from a person who needs it until they have reached the point of despair. It is a form of taunting that amounts to bullying.
It is my hope that Michigan districts will be more proactive and consider requests for accommodation through creative course selection, differentiation of instruction, alternative formats for course completion, and through the option for developing a plan for a personal curriculum. Our common objective is to see to it that many more students successfully complete high school with diplomas, and are able to continue their educations or training for successful entry into the workforce.
Public Comment to the Michigan Board of Education forum in Ann Arbor
To: Members, Michigan State Board of Education
Date: May 26, 2011
My name is Kathleen Kosobud. I am a “temporarily retired” special educator working on my dissertation. My research focus is on family-school collaboration in special education. I am one of the first 87 teachers in the country to have achieved the status of National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT-EA/Generalist, 1993). I am also the immediate past president of the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan (LDA), an all-volunteer organization; and I am finishing my service as LDA’s representative on MDE’s Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC). I am here to speak from my experiences as a teacher, parent, and advocate about righting the course for students with disabilities as they are challenged to meet the High School Content Expectations or “huskies” (HSCEs) of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC).
I read the SBE’s recommendations to Governor Snyder: “Education Improvement and Reform Priorities” and heartily endorse your performance focus regarding graduation, and the ability of graduates to “obtain post-secondary credentials that ensure they are well-equipped with skills for work, self-support, starting a business, and contributing to the common good”. This year marks the first graduating class affected by the changes in curriculum requirements through the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Although the initial legislation was passed in 2006, with additional legislation supporting the development of “Personal Curricula” (PCs) for students with disabilities passed in 2007, it seems that districts across the state are still unprepared or unwilling to implement PCs for students whose identified disabilities interfere with successful completion of the MMC, without such modification. During the past year I have fielded calls from parents who have encountered varying forms of resistance to their requests for PC plans for their high schoolers.
One parent called me after school personnel at her son’s 9th grade special education planning meeting (IEP), told him that he would not be getting a diploma. Stunned by this pronouncement, his comment was, “Then why am I bothering to go to school?”
Another parent called me when her daughter, a senior with mathematics learning disabilities, flunked her first semester of Algebra II. Although this parent had requested a Personal Curriculum for her daughter since her freshman year, the district said that she had to fail courses in order to warrant consideration for a Personal Curriculum. So, until her senior year, she was left to struggle through all of the curriculum requirements at her high school, without PC modifications and lagging in credit. Since she also was having difficulty with the mathematics HSCEs of chemistry, the district suggested that she drop Band (the one course in which she was experiencing success), in order to take a team-taught class in chemistry, and repeat the Algebra II course that she failed. Finally, because she was going to be short of credits for graduation at the end of the year, the district would not allow her to walk with her graduating class--students with whom she had attended school for all 12 years of her time in this rural district.
A third parent called after a district told her that they “didn’t do” PCs. Period. This troubles me on a number of levels.
First, students with high-incidence disabilities have always had the potential for gainful employment and full participation in the adult world, with appropriate accommodation for their disabilities. The reluctance of districts to respond affirmatively to requests for Personal Curricula is punitive, and mean-spirited. Loss of access to a diploma represents, for students with disabilities, lifelong diminishment of opportunity. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics[1] in April of this year, people with less than a high school education experienced a seasonally adjusted 14.6% unemployment rate nationally. High school graduates for the same time period experienced a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.7%. This is nearly a 5% difference. Further, for men with disabilities, ages 16 to 64 years old, the unemployment rate was 16.1%, compared to a 9.2% unemployment rate for those without disabilities[2] Women in the same age range were unemployed at 15.2% with disabilities and 7.8% without. We don’t need to “help” our students with disabilities add to these sorry statistical outcomes.
Second, denial of the opportunity to complete high school with the support of a PC reinforces the abundantly-felt lack of self-worth that students with disabilities often acquire as part of their school experiences. From the time that they begin to show achievement differences, students with disabilities are more likely to be bullied, excluded and devalued. Denial of opportunity to complete high school with a diploma is, in effect, an institutional validation of everything that students with disabilities have internalized since the early years of their schooling. Without hope, we see a rise in risky behavior, alienation, and ultimately the justification needed for dropping out.
Third, the failure of districts to appreciate that people ultimately contribute to society in a variety of ways has led to a decrease in the wealth of options for students to be successful in completing “as much as is practicable” of the Michigan Merit Curriculum, in alignment with their talents, interests and career goals. Many Michigan districts are experiencing, for example, a decrease in enrollment in Career and Technical Education courses, even though there could be many opportunities for the embedding of practical mathematics and sciences in these courses, in fulfillment of the MMC. Like many of you, I depend on skilled technicians when I need home improvements or repairs. It is a short-sighted form of budget-consciousness that comes out of districts interpreting the MMC as a series of “one size fits all” classes.
I don’t think that the Michigan Board of Education had any intention of increasing the stratification of students by recommending the MMC. In fact, two years ago, while I was still president of LDA of Michigan, we printed and distributed buttons like the one I’m wearing that reads: “Rigor, Relevance, Relationships…and ACCESS!” I adhere to the notion of “assuming competence” in all individuals and so I see the MMC as an opportunity for districts to collaboratively create classes and programs that allow for maximum learning diversity.
We have many resources in place to offer technical assistance and support through Michigan's Integrated Improvement Initiatives (MI3)[3] for this work. We can make school a much better environment for students with disabilities, from the time they are identified through the time that they successfully complete high school with the appropriate supports, services, accommodations, and modifications. Districts across the state are using the MMC to develop courses that have the capacity to engage a variety of learners through multiple representations of content, differentiation in the ways that students interact with the content, and opportunities for students to demonstrate their mastery of content in a variety of ways. These need to be widely shared, and easily accessed by those districts that have fewer resources to devote to the task of curriculum development. Finally, we need to remember that the workforce that will bring Michigan out of its economic slump depends on having diverse enough skills that the collapse of a single industry will not bring us to our knees.
Michigan’s Board of Education has laid the groundwork through the policies that it has crafted to make a more equitable and attainable future. In the words of the late Ronald Edmonds, my former Pioneer High School history teacher (1978 speech):
“We can whenever, and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need, in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”
Thank you.
-----
About N Kathleen Kosobud: Kathleen is a member of the Network of Michigan Educators, a group of 500 or so recognized educators in Michigan who are available to state policy-makers for their expert opinions on policies affecting education and children, through the “Ask the Network” program started by Jean Shane at the MDE. Kathleen blogs for LDA of Michigan at http://ldamiexchange.blogspot.com/, and for her own amusement at http://backburner-nkk.blogspot.com/. She was one of the contributors to the revamping of the teacher education program at Michigan State University’s School of Education through a project to infuse inclusive content into all teacher education courses for the preparation of new teachers, under the guidance of Susan J. Peters, Ph.D. After achieving National Board Certification as an Early Adolescence/Generalist as a teacher of middle school mathematics in a special education resource classroom, she served as a teacher-in-residence for Assessment Development at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She is the parent of two adult children with learning disabilities, and identifies as a person with learning disabilities, herself. You can reach her by e-mail.
[1] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A4: Employment Status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm, accessed 5/25/11
[2] US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Table A-6. Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t06.htm, accessed 5/25/11
[3] http://cenmi.org/About.aspx
Date: May 26, 2011
My name is Kathleen Kosobud. I am a “temporarily retired” special educator working on my dissertation. My research focus is on family-school collaboration in special education. I am one of the first 87 teachers in the country to have achieved the status of National Board Certified Teacher (NBCT-EA/Generalist, 1993). I am also the immediate past president of the Learning Disabilities Association of Michigan (LDA), an all-volunteer organization; and I am finishing my service as LDA’s representative on MDE’s Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC). I am here to speak from my experiences as a teacher, parent, and advocate about righting the course for students with disabilities as they are challenged to meet the High School Content Expectations or “huskies” (HSCEs) of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC).
I read the SBE’s recommendations to Governor Snyder: “Education Improvement and Reform Priorities” and heartily endorse your performance focus regarding graduation, and the ability of graduates to “obtain post-secondary credentials that ensure they are well-equipped with skills for work, self-support, starting a business, and contributing to the common good”. This year marks the first graduating class affected by the changes in curriculum requirements through the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Although the initial legislation was passed in 2006, with additional legislation supporting the development of “Personal Curricula” (PCs) for students with disabilities passed in 2007, it seems that districts across the state are still unprepared or unwilling to implement PCs for students whose identified disabilities interfere with successful completion of the MMC, without such modification. During the past year I have fielded calls from parents who have encountered varying forms of resistance to their requests for PC plans for their high schoolers.
One parent called me after school personnel at her son’s 9th grade special education planning meeting (IEP), told him that he would not be getting a diploma. Stunned by this pronouncement, his comment was, “Then why am I bothering to go to school?”
Another parent called me when her daughter, a senior with mathematics learning disabilities, flunked her first semester of Algebra II. Although this parent had requested a Personal Curriculum for her daughter since her freshman year, the district said that she had to fail courses in order to warrant consideration for a Personal Curriculum. So, until her senior year, she was left to struggle through all of the curriculum requirements at her high school, without PC modifications and lagging in credit. Since she also was having difficulty with the mathematics HSCEs of chemistry, the district suggested that she drop Band (the one course in which she was experiencing success), in order to take a team-taught class in chemistry, and repeat the Algebra II course that she failed. Finally, because she was going to be short of credits for graduation at the end of the year, the district would not allow her to walk with her graduating class--students with whom she had attended school for all 12 years of her time in this rural district.
A third parent called after a district told her that they “didn’t do” PCs. Period. This troubles me on a number of levels.
First, students with high-incidence disabilities have always had the potential for gainful employment and full participation in the adult world, with appropriate accommodation for their disabilities. The reluctance of districts to respond affirmatively to requests for Personal Curricula is punitive, and mean-spirited. Loss of access to a diploma represents, for students with disabilities, lifelong diminishment of opportunity. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics[1] in April of this year, people with less than a high school education experienced a seasonally adjusted 14.6% unemployment rate nationally. High school graduates for the same time period experienced a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 9.7%. This is nearly a 5% difference. Further, for men with disabilities, ages 16 to 64 years old, the unemployment rate was 16.1%, compared to a 9.2% unemployment rate for those without disabilities[2] Women in the same age range were unemployed at 15.2% with disabilities and 7.8% without. We don’t need to “help” our students with disabilities add to these sorry statistical outcomes.
Second, denial of the opportunity to complete high school with the support of a PC reinforces the abundantly-felt lack of self-worth that students with disabilities often acquire as part of their school experiences. From the time that they begin to show achievement differences, students with disabilities are more likely to be bullied, excluded and devalued. Denial of opportunity to complete high school with a diploma is, in effect, an institutional validation of everything that students with disabilities have internalized since the early years of their schooling. Without hope, we see a rise in risky behavior, alienation, and ultimately the justification needed for dropping out.
Third, the failure of districts to appreciate that people ultimately contribute to society in a variety of ways has led to a decrease in the wealth of options for students to be successful in completing “as much as is practicable” of the Michigan Merit Curriculum, in alignment with their talents, interests and career goals. Many Michigan districts are experiencing, for example, a decrease in enrollment in Career and Technical Education courses, even though there could be many opportunities for the embedding of practical mathematics and sciences in these courses, in fulfillment of the MMC. Like many of you, I depend on skilled technicians when I need home improvements or repairs. It is a short-sighted form of budget-consciousness that comes out of districts interpreting the MMC as a series of “one size fits all” classes.
I don’t think that the Michigan Board of Education had any intention of increasing the stratification of students by recommending the MMC. In fact, two years ago, while I was still president of LDA of Michigan, we printed and distributed buttons like the one I’m wearing that reads: “Rigor, Relevance, Relationships…and ACCESS!” I adhere to the notion of “assuming competence” in all individuals and so I see the MMC as an opportunity for districts to collaboratively create classes and programs that allow for maximum learning diversity.
Button Design, LDA MI Conference 2009
We have many resources in place to offer technical assistance and support through Michigan's Integrated Improvement Initiatives (MI3)[3] for this work. We can make school a much better environment for students with disabilities, from the time they are identified through the time that they successfully complete high school with the appropriate supports, services, accommodations, and modifications. Districts across the state are using the MMC to develop courses that have the capacity to engage a variety of learners through multiple representations of content, differentiation in the ways that students interact with the content, and opportunities for students to demonstrate their mastery of content in a variety of ways. These need to be widely shared, and easily accessed by those districts that have fewer resources to devote to the task of curriculum development. Finally, we need to remember that the workforce that will bring Michigan out of its economic slump depends on having diverse enough skills that the collapse of a single industry will not bring us to our knees.
Michigan’s Board of Education has laid the groundwork through the policies that it has crafted to make a more equitable and attainable future. In the words of the late Ronald Edmonds, my former Pioneer High School history teacher (1978 speech):
“We can whenever, and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need, in order to do this. Whether we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven’t so far.”
Thank you.
-----
About N Kathleen Kosobud: Kathleen is a member of the Network of Michigan Educators, a group of 500 or so recognized educators in Michigan who are available to state policy-makers for their expert opinions on policies affecting education and children, through the “Ask the Network” program started by Jean Shane at the MDE. Kathleen blogs for LDA of Michigan at http://ldamiexchange.blogspot.com/, and for her own amusement at http://backburner-nkk.blogspot.com/. She was one of the contributors to the revamping of the teacher education program at Michigan State University’s School of Education through a project to infuse inclusive content into all teacher education courses for the preparation of new teachers, under the guidance of Susan J. Peters, Ph.D. After achieving National Board Certification as an Early Adolescence/Generalist as a teacher of middle school mathematics in a special education resource classroom, she served as a teacher-in-residence for Assessment Development at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She is the parent of two adult children with learning disabilities, and identifies as a person with learning disabilities, herself. You can reach her by e-mail.
[1] US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Table A4: Employment Status of the civilian population 25 years and over by educational attainment http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t04.htm, accessed 5/25/11
[2] US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Table A-6. Employment status of the civilian population by sex, age, and disability status, not seasonally adjusted, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t06.htm, accessed 5/25/11
[3] http://cenmi.org/About.aspx
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