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 8^th 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 5^th 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 9^th 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 5^th 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.