It is so unreal it is almost unbelievable.
Anyone who has worked with students with special needs knows that all kids are NOT alike, and they can NOT all function at high levels.
He said this:
“We know that when students with disabilities are held to high expectations and have access to a robust curriculum, they excel.”
Really? Guess he doesn’t know that not all special needs will disappear with the right curriculum, standards, and testing. Guess he subscribes to the same thinking as school administrators who believe kids will outgrow their learning disabilities and differences, thereby requiring fewer support services as they mature. That’s one way to justify cutbacks in the services they need and the special educators and therapists who administer them.
Yes, we should have high expectations for children with special needs. But access to a “robust curriculum” is not the answer. Nor is testing them. Nor is threatening their teachers and schools in the same manner as Duncan’s approach to general education.
http://www.chicagonow.com/still-advocating/2014/06/arne-duncan-and-special-education-a-dangerous-mixture/
It's insulting to teachers to say that we do not demand the best of students. How did we let the reformers take the high ground on this issue?
Now since the extreme right opposes it we who are teachers and are on the left wing....are treated like trolls if we oppose it also.
Nothing wrong with sensible standards, but FL has had standards for decades. They keep changing them, changing the name.
It's the tests that are going to destroy public education.
You simply can not declare that all children are capable of reaching the same level....and have it be true. Magic wands don't work that well with kids.
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