[QUOTE=Huffpo]
Should students with disabilities be held to the same academic standards as their peers? And should schools and teachers be held accountable for their progress?
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan answered that question with a resounding yes, proposing a seemingly wonky regulatory change that could have profound effects on some of the nation’s most vulnerable learners…
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I don’t know what kind of fucked up world you live in that you think disabled children can take the same tests as regular students and be expected to pass. My child is autistic and he already struggles with the modified tests. I’ve seen the hard work he puts in. So I know it’s not from a lack of trying. Now you fuckers want to move the goal posts, and in the process, my child probably isn’t going to graduate if your stupid plan comes to fruition.
I’m with you. This whole movement on having all the students in this country being measured by the same yardstick is stupid. It has bad effects on both ends of the spectrum and is expensive to boot.
As someone how really has not given it much though and has no strong opinion, one way or the other, can you answer how society is supposed to judge a person’s aptitudes and abilities without a standard of testing? Should graduating be a measure of attaining a certain level of achievement or a measure of how much work has been put in? Should any child graduate who has not reached that level as long as they have worked hard?
“Society” doesn’t need to judge my child. As far as work put in, I’d wager my child puts MORE work in than the average student as he has to struggle with things that come easily to others.
And yes, my child should be allowed to graduate. It’s not like a HS diploma entitles him to an IT job at some fortune 500 company. It’s just an acknowledgement of his hard work. I see no reason to shame him just because he was born with a disability.
This. If a person has a diploma, it should mean that this person is able to perform certain mental tasks, and has acquired a certain amount of basic knowledge.
I’m quite willing to give students who have put in hard work a certificate of attendance. Just working hard, though, does not equal competence in an area. My husband tries very hard to cook. More often than not, though, if he cooks without my assistance and supervision, he throws the food out, because he just can’t cook.
There are ways in which society does need to be able to judge your child if he is to realize any independence. Will he be able to hold a job? What level of responsibility can he handle? Is he able to learn, retain and apply certain information better than other types? Society will be judging your child throughout his life. Sometimes (probably more than most people deal with) the judgement will be unfair but that is something that everyone deals with.
What shame? There is no shame in putting forth a lot of hard work and failing. There should be shame in being handed something you didn’t earn.
I’d agree with this if we were talking about college, but we’re not. It’s a HS diploma. What weight do you think a HS diploma actually holds in the real world? Do you think hiring managers who’s only requirement is that you have a HS diploma is really concerned about whether or not a perspective employee is savy on caculus? I don’t think so. As long as you can read and comprehend a paragraph or as long as you can flip a burger or put food items in a grocery bag, I think they’re cool.
Any other entry level job that requirs more skills likely has an etrance test anyway.
I think that yes, a high school diploma should indicate that the holder is able to read, write a comprehensive paragraph, and do some arithmetic. It would be great if the diploma also meant that the graduate was exposed to concepts like how to conduct a scientific experiment and a bit of critical thinking. I don’t think that a high school diploma should be awarded simply because the student was breathing and awake most of the time s/he was in school.
There have been at least a couple of threads of what should be taught in high school, and what should be required to pass. Perhaps it’s time for another one.
Did you miss the part about modified tests? These tests require more than just breathing and having a pulse.
If I wasn’t at work right now, I’d tell you about the stupid curriculum being forced on the teachers here in Texas, but I don’t have the time. A lot of this is where my ire comes from.
Hard-working students should be recognized and rewarded regardless of whether they ultimately can read, do arithmetic, memorize facts, or write a paragraph. They should not be made to feel they have “failed” if they tried hard–far from it.
I just don’t think lowering the standards for receiving a high school diploma for them is a good idea. The diploma should mean that you have met a certain set of standards, not that you tried hard or did your best.
What if the school counselor sat down with each disabled student, guardians, and other interested parties and worked out realistic goals for the student to achieve with the ultimate goal of receiving a certificate if the goals were met? The certificate would mean the student was able to work hard and achieve goals, so it would not be meaningless. An employer would understand that this person could be counted on to show up and do his or her best, which is pretty important even if a job does not involve writing or algebra. Would that be an acceptable substitute?
Because those kids actually have a chance at going to college and having a professional career. That little extra push will be an advantage.
My child and many other like him have no chance at going to college or having a professional career.
I wouldn’t be oppossed to a modified diploma or something like that. I fully admit I’m speaking from emotion when I say this: Dammit!! My son works hard, he desrves to put on a gown and cap and walk across that stage with the rest of his class.
I don’t disagree that he should be able to put on a cap and gown and walk across that stage as the result of the work.
I just think it’s awfully tough for someone in your position to have a neutral opinion (certainly don’t blame you). For the kid who isn’t too bright and has to work damn hard to pass the standard tests, though - I don’t think we want to diminish him by saying that his degree doesn’t mean anything, you can and should be able to do more than flip burgers and bag groceries if you can pass a tough high school curriculum.
For the sake of your kid, every disabled kid that works hard, and the rest of us, I hope we can figure out a way to get them capped and gowned and celebrated for their achievements. As a society, what losers and failures we are if we think stomping on a disabled kid’s accomplishments and feelings of self-worth are acceptable collateral damage.
Who should we write to to voice our objections to this state of affairs?
Apparently most people, even you, think that a HS diploma holds some weight in the real world, or you wouldn’t be kvetching so much about how you kid should have one. You know that most employers want their employees, even the unskilled ones, to have a HS diploma, as at the very least it shows that the person showed up to school regularly for 12 or 13 years and mostly was able to learn the material presented. It carries a lot of weight that people can read and write and communicate with others in generally agreed-upon terms and styles. If it didn’t carry any weight in the real world, you wouldn’t have so much angst that your child might not get one, so trying to be flip about it just makes you look disgruntled.
Because yeah, a HS diploma shows that you’ve been present for school and that you mostly understood the material presented and that you successfully did the work necessary to receive said diploma. It’s not just a “feel-good” achievement, and you know it.
We’re not stomping on anything. It’s a certificate that says that the kid has achieved certain levels of knowledge/competence. Schools shouldn’t have anything to do with self-worth, and I’m tired of trying to make them fit the mold of some kind of confidence booster.
Some kids are smart, some kids are dumb, some kids are slow, some kids are disabled. If you’re concerned about their confidence level, do something at home to celebrate their accomplishments. You should be doing that anyway.
When did schooling become some kind of race? It’s a place to learn shit, that’s all. And if a kid can’t make the cut, for whatever reason, that’s too bad.