Mcps special ed shake up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have heard the same, but don't know the specifics. I know there is a big push to get kids mainstreamed regardless of whether that hurts the child or mainstream classroom.

This is the worst possible option for everyone involved. It hurts everyone, so will that make the leadership happy?

+1. Wtf?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child has been in a Home School Model class for 2 years as a peer and while I am sure it's a lot of work for the teacher, there haven't been any issues. The class is a good size and there is a special educator that comes in to do small groups. Many of the kids get pulled out for a variety of things so the class size winds up small. My daughter is doing well academically. Home School Model is good because the kids are all ready identified so the support is there.

The issue to me is the kids who come in unidentified. If a child is unidentified and has behavior issues then it can weeks/months to get anything done about it. Those child are usually not in a HSM class. Then the rest of the class is affected by the behavior and there are no supports in place.

Just an FYI, almost all MCPS students are in a HSM classroom. Your daughter’s experience, or at least what she reports to you, doesn’t negate what teachers are saying. No offense, but most parents don’t really know what is going on in their Children’s classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child has been in a Home School Model class for 2 years as a peer and while I am sure it's a lot of work for the teacher, there haven't been any issues. The class is a good size and there is a special educator that comes in to do small groups. Many of the kids get pulled out for a variety of things so the class size winds up small. My daughter is doing well academically. Home School Model is good because the kids are all ready identified so the support is there.

The issue to me is the kids who come in unidentified. If a child is unidentified and has behavior issues then it can weeks/months to get anything done about it. Those child are usually not in a HSM class. Then the rest of the class is affected by the behavior and there are no supports in place.

Just an FYI, almost all MCPS students are in a HSM classroom. Your daughter’s experience, or at least what she reports to you, doesn’t negate what teachers are saying. No offense, but most parents don’t really know what is going on in their Children’s classroom.

Lady as multiple posters have shared, some MCPS schools have a practice of dumping all the IEP kids into one class to make it easier to deliver services to them. Then they put some kids without IEPs in there too so it technically qualifies legally LRE. This clearly violates the spirit of the IDEA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The amount of identified kids is high. The severity of needs has exploded. Yet, the student-teacher ratio has increased- especially in the discrete programs. My understanding is that the new superintendent wants to close down discrete programs in elementary and limited them in middle and high. Unfortunately, we need more programs, not fewer.

Does that include closing down the SESES programs in elementary schools? Has he visited those?

Parent of an autistic SESES child here. This isn’t a helpful response. These are children with disabilities, not animals. The resources in this program are superstars and know what they are doing. They are helpful in ways the HSM could never be.

As for the mainstream kids - they’re giving my child high fives and fist bumps every time I go up to the school, so let’s cool it with the generalizations.
Visiting these programs should be required. If you aren’t in a building that houses an SESES program you have absolutely no idea what this looks like or sounds like. The staff are physically and verbally attacked regularly. The entire school (staff and students) is impacted daily as well. The screaming and vulgar language alone is like nothing you can imagine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an elementary teacher.

The number of kids that need to be serviced is unmanageable. Therefore, to make it a little more reasonable, schools do tend to group a lot of the higher needs kids together and then provide more support to that classroom. However, in addition to these children who need extra academic support, they often also add in kids with behavior needs (whether or not they have IEP's) because of the extra support.

The problem is that a lot of these children need almost a 1-1 (when you have a kid screaming and running down a hallway, it doesn't matter if they have an IEP, they still need direct support). The extra support that was supposed to be shared by all of the kids who deserve it, gets funneled to the one out-of-control child and the classroom teacher is left with the rest. Then there's the paperwork/IEP meeting day where there is no support for any of the children.

The idea is right, to provide the needed support, but with so many children needing so much support right now, there are just not enough bodies!

It seems like the number of kids who need major support is going up exponentially! When I started teaching 15 years ago, we had a few per grade level that we split up. Now, there are around 10 per grade level that have MAJOR needs and many more with minor needs. I don't understand what is going on, but we need a better system for meeting the needs of the children while still allowing all of the children to learn!

Democrat politicians will not allow a better system. Voters are in denial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amen! We've long needed an overhaul in special ed in CO. Given the federal and state and local funding trends, I'm not sure what exactly they'll be able to do, but the current bunch is awful. Overcrowded discrete classrooms because there aren't enough of them, long-term subs instead of teachers, not enough special ed paras, the list is endless.

If the problem is staffing, it’s a tough one to fix unless you have a lot of money to throw at it.

Liar. The problem is policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amen! We've long needed an overhaul in special ed in CO. Given the federal and state and local funding trends, I'm not sure what exactly they'll be able to do, but the current bunch is awful. Overcrowded discrete classrooms because there aren't enough of them, long-term subs instead of teachers, not enough special ed paras, the list is endless.

If the problem is staffing, it’s a tough one to fix unless you have a lot of money to throw at it.

Liar. The problem is policy.

Policy is a HUGE problem, but so is money. Without proper funding, school systems can’t afford more restrictive environments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amen! We've long needed an overhaul in special ed in CO. Given the federal and state and local funding trends, I'm not sure what exactly they'll be able to do, but the current bunch is awful. Overcrowded discrete classrooms because there aren't enough of them, long-term subs instead of teachers, not enough special ed paras, the list is endless.

If the problem is staffing, it’s a tough one to fix unless you have a lot of money to throw at it.

Liar. The problem is policy.

Policy is a HUGE problem, but so is money. Without proper funding, school systems can’t afford more restrictive environments.

What exactly is a restrictive environment?
One bodybuilder type of guy for every violent kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amen! We've long needed an overhaul in special ed in CO. Given the federal and state and local funding trends, I'm not sure what exactly they'll be able to do, but the current bunch is awful. Overcrowded discrete classrooms because there aren't enough of them, long-term subs instead of teachers, not enough special ed paras, the list is endless.

If the problem is staffing, it’s a tough one to fix unless you have a lot of money to throw at it.

Liar. The problem is policy.

Policy is a HUGE problem, but so is money. Without proper funding, school systems can’t afford more restrictive environments.

What exactly is a restrictive environment?
One bodybuilder type of guy for every violent kid?

I wish I was this ignorant. The least restrictive environment to learn in is a mainstream classroom. If a child cannot learn in that setting, they are supposed to be moved to a more restrictive environment- in MCPS, these are programs like autism, SESES, etc. Kids continue to get moved to even more restrictive placements as needed. Unfortunately there is sometimes restraints by trained educators needed.

As these placements have lower class sizes, more paras, and bus transportation, they cost more. Private placements cost even more. Hence the need for money.

[Anonymous]

Violent kids get their own bus?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Violent kids get their own bus?

There are generally 3-4 kids on a mini bus that includes the driver and an assistant. Some kids are getting bussed this way to Baltimore or NOVA daily. And those 3-4 kids can be spread out through the county. It’s expensive!

[Anonymous]

MCPS has taken LRE too far with honors for all. There are no non honors English classes at my HS. That means we literally have level 1& 2 EML kids who speak very little English and cannot access the curriculum, kids who aced AP lang last year, and kids with severe gaps in reading comprehension (I have some kids who are literally on a 2nd grade reading level) all in the same 30 plus kid class. MCPS keeps pushing more PD and more differentiation as the solution, but even with two teachers in the room—I have a wonderful SPED coteacher and I have taken dozens of credits in EML and SPED differentiation—can’t possibly meet the needs of everyone in that room. Their needs are simply too high and diverse and two people can only differentiate the curriculum so much. Simply saying more PD will solve everything is BS. We need leveled classes with appropriate supports. Many “Honors” classes now don’t even attempt to have kids read one short novel. Everyone suffers. The kids are frustrated or bored and the teachers burn themselves out very quickly. Even having two teachers in the room isn’t enough many times when the level of ability ranges from can’t read a 2nd grade level paragraph to needing one on one attention at all times to kids on grade level and kids who would really be well served by a rigorous honors course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS has taken LRE too far with honors for all. There are no non honors English classes at my HS. That means we literally have level 1& 2 EML kids who speak very little English and cannot access the curriculum, kids who aced AP lang last year, and kids with severe gaps in reading comprehension (I have some kids who are literally on a 2nd grade reading level) all in the same 30 plus kid class. MCPS keeps pushing more PD and more differentiation as the solution, but even with two teachers in the room—I have a wonderful SPED coteacher and I have taken dozens of credits in EML and SPED differentiation—can’t possibly meet the needs of everyone in that room. Their needs are simply too high and diverse and two people can only differentiate the curriculum so much. Simply saying more PD will solve everything is BS. We need leveled classes with appropriate supports. Many “Honors” classes now don’t even attempt to have kids read one short novel. Everyone suffers. The kids are frustrated or bored and the teachers burn themselves out very quickly. Even having two teachers in the room isn’t enough many times when the level of ability ranges from can’t read a 2nd grade level paragraph to needing one on one attention at all times to kids on grade level and kids who would really be well served by a rigorous honors course.

Exactly this. Our current model doesn’t meet the needs of any student. Or teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Violent kids get their own bus?

There are generally 3-4 kids on a mini bus that includes the driver and an assistant. Some kids are getting bussed this way to Baltimore or NOVA daily. And those 3-4 kids can be spread out through the county. It’s expensive!

This is INSANE. The Department of Education mandating this, is crushing the public school system. And taxpayers.

How does anyone agree with this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Violent kids get their own bus?

There are generally 3-4 kids on a mini bus that includes the driver and an assistant. Some kids are getting bussed this way to Baltimore or NOVA daily. And those 3-4 kids can be spread out through the county. It’s expensive!

This is INSANE. The Department of Education mandating this, is crushing the public school system. And taxpayers.

How does anyone agree with this?

This entire thread is about people wanting this- or at least wanting these violent kids out the mainstream classroom. The law is that every child gets educated. There are a lot of challenges in making this happen. Besides the violent kids, we also want to educate those with significant intellectual disabilities whose goals are significantly different from mainstream education. Many kids need close to 1-1 or 2-1 adult to kid ratio. They need this to learn. This is expensive but what is needed for society.