With coronavirus closures, disabled students lose services - Los Angeles Times

With coronavirus closures, disabled students lose services - Los Angeles Times

Students with disabilities deprived of crucial services because of coronavirus closures

Nine-year-old Trevor de la Torre was home with a migraine when his parents got word that his school was closing in response to the coronavirus emergency — and his critically needed hands-on therapies would effectively stop, too.

His one-on-one reading specialist, gone. His speech therapy, gone. His occupational therapist who is teaching him how to write letters, gone. His one-on-one classroom aide is no longer by his side to help him understand assignments and break down lessons into more manageable parts.

Trevor was born with a rare brain malformation called hemimegalencephaly — half his brain was removed when he was 6 months old to stop life-threatening seizures. He has only half of his vision and his mobility, as well as visual, auditory, speech and developmental delays, his mother, Kelly de la Torre, said.

Now the expert support team provided by the Poway Unified School District is only permitted by the district to wave a virtual hello and check in on video chat — and Kelly de la Torre is everything to her son.

“It’s a ton to be balanced. I felt very anxious this week and I don’t usually struggle with anxiety,” said de la Torre, who also has children who are 2 and 10 years old.

Students with disabilities and their parents, like the de la Torre family, were dealt a particularly harsh blow when the coronavirus emergency shut down California schools. Overnight, the intense hands-on assistance required for their children’s education and physical needs was no longer available, and in many cases not suitable for online learning.

Under federal education and civil rights law, public schools are required to provide equal educational resources to students with disabilities. School districts that do not meet the individual needs promised in personalized education plans could be at risk of losing federal funding.

Statewide, 767,560 California students, about 12% of the total, received special education services in 2017-18, according to the National Center for Education Services. In Los Angeles. public schools alone, there are about 70,000 special CONTINUE READING: With coronavirus closures, disabled students lose services - Los Angeles Times

Hope and the History of School Reform | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Hope and the History of School Reform | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

Hope and the History of School Reform

Nine years ago I wrote this post after meeting with a group of graduate students working on their Masters in Business Administration. Many had taught for a few years through Teach for America and were eager to apply their knowledge and skills learned in the MBA program to low-performing schools where most students were of color.

So why re-post this piece? As a historian of school reform I hear often from readers, former students, and teachers that my recounting of failed reforms and disappointing results after efforts to transform schooling lead to despair if not cynicism about the entire landscape of school improvement. And that is what I have been hearing recently from some readers. So I decided to re-publish this piece.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to speak to a group of Stanford University graduate students who were completing a joint Masters’ degree in education and business administration.

Many of the 18 students sitting around a seminar table had taught a few years in urban schools through Teach for America. Those who had no direct experience in schools had worked for consulting firms with contracts in major urban districts. Smart, savvy about organizations and passionate about reforming schools, the students wanted to hear my thoughts about reform that I had extracted from CONTINUE READING: Hope and the History of School Reform | Larry Cuban on School Reform and Classroom Practice

A Wise Superintendent Offers Counsel for Our Times | Diane Ravitch's blog

A Wise Superintendent Offers Counsel for Our Times | Diane Ravitch's blog

A Wise Superintendent Offers Counsel for Our Times 

Michael Matsuda is Superintendent of the Anaheim Union High School District in California. He served on the board of the Network for Public Education.

Important Message Sent on Behalf of Superintendent Matsuda

Fifty years from now, when our students are old, when they have children and grandchildren of their own, they will look back and say, “Do you remember what happened?” I picture them pensively reflecting, staring silently, breathing deeply, perhaps tearing up, and then after reliving the experience to the very end, smiling, “Those were the times of amazing grace, when people came together with kindness and compassion to support each other, when they made sacrifices for complete strangers, when schools became beacons of hope for families who were food deprived, and when teachers transformed educational experiences through emotional connection, through affirming mental health, and through meaningful learning.”

It was a time when people realized that humanity has no barriers, and that love is limitless if we have the courage to embrace it and to share it near and far, with neighbors and strangers, with old and young, rich and poor, Christian, Hindu, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, LGBT, black, brown, yellow, and white. It was a time like no other, CONTINUE READING: A Wise Superintendent Offers Counsel for Our Times | Diane Ravitch's blog

John Richard Schrock: Distance Learning Is Inferior to Human Interaction | Diane Ravitch's blog

John Richard Schrock: Distance Learning Is Inferior to Human Interaction | Diane Ravitch's blog

John Richard Schrock: Distance Learning Is Inferior to Human Interaction

John Richard Schrock was a professor of science education at a Emporia State University for many years. He also taught in middle and high schools, as well as in Hong Kong. He frequently writes about education issues.

Screen Reading and Online Coursework Inferior

The forced closure of classrooms and shift to online learning from home has revived the hopes of big Ed-Tech companies that they can regain some legitimacy in education. Meanwhile, the general response of teachers and professors is exposing their extensive negative experiences with distance learning.

In the early 2000s, computer enthusiasts predicted the end of “brick-and-mortar” K-12 schools; students would study from home in their pajamas, using online links to teachers who would also teach from home. New digital readers were predicted to totally replace printed books by 2015. And massive open online colleges (MOOCs) would deliver all coursework online and free, replacing university coursework and making college classrooms obsolete a decade ago.

None of these predictions came true. Our armed forces CONTINUE READING: John Richard Schrock: Distance Learning Is Inferior to Human Interaction | Diane Ravitch's blog

Advice for Parents: Talking to Kids About COVID-19 | Cloaking Inequity

Advice for Parents: Talking to Kids About COVID-19 | Cloaking Inequity

ADVICE FOR PARENTS: TALKING TO KIDS ABOUT COVID-19

Below is a blog post from the University of Kentucky College of Education Department of Educational, School and Counseling Psychology’s Candace Hargons about best practices when talking to your kids about COVID-19.

In these unprecedented and trying times, most of us are having to manage our own fears and concerns about how we want to live through the COVID-19 pandemic. However, for those of us who are parents, we are also considering the experience we want to create for our kids and how we help them manage as well. As a licensed psychologist, a former high school teacher turned professor, as well as a married, working mom, I am sharing a few of the strategies I’ve learned based on psychological research and lived experience. Not everything works for everyone, but these can be used to get you started and help you continue to adapt.

1. Allow your children room to identify and express their feelings. In an effort to protect kids, some of us minimize the thoughts, emotions, and sensations they may be experiencing. We figure if we tell them not to be afraid, they will not feel it; however, telling kids not to be scared teaches them to hide fear, rather than to feel less fearful. Feelings give us good information about how a situation is being experienced, even though as the mantra goes “feelings aren’t facts.” Younger kids are more likely to have physical symptoms related to their emotions, rather than emotional language. So, invite your kids to tell you or show you how they feel. It doesn’t need to be a long conversation. You can simply ask: “How are you feeling today?” They can draw it, write it, or talk it out. After they answer, you can respond with gratitude and empathy with “Thank you for sharing that with me” or “That sounds tough. Would you like a hug?” You don’t have to fix it, because you may not be able to.

2. Maintain a similar rhythm in the ways you can. For example, wake time and/or bedtime can be maintained in most cases. If you were already doing a set family meal time, keep that up. This consistency facilitates mental health. Since so many things are changing at once, reducing the overall number of adjustments they have to make can reduce stress.

3. Incorporate time for play. In the rush to maintain academic rigor, your students may be receiving a lot of work. This is useful, but so is play time. Play is how younger kids learn. Social engagement is how adolescents learn. Family play time can be a new part of your week, if it isn’t already. Kid play time if you have multiples can be semi-structured (you set the play activity) or free play (you let them decide within a certain timeframe). Some artists are hosting online paint parties. Other parents are co-hosting digital play dates. For adolescents, support their need for communication and social engagement with peers (within a social distancing context) by allowing Facetime or Google Duo video interaction. Virtual dance parties are gaining popularity, so this may be an option for your teen’s school. Also, make sure there is regular physical activity, which can be incorporated with the play, for everyone.

4. Manage the media. Some news outlets are more sensational than others. Some outlets have more credible information than others. Media literacy is another teaching opportunity. If you don’t already watch, I’ve found Governor Beshear’s evening fireside chat and COVID-19 updates to be refreshingly balanced and informative. Make the decision for your family about what media you will and will not follow and how much media intake to allow. Also, when media sources engage in racial stereotyping discuss it.

5. Take care of you too. You are also adjusting, and it is okay to express when you need a little time or do not know the answer. If you are partnered, asking for a nap break (kids can wear you out no matter how much you love them) may be necessary. Being flexible with family roles and house chores/maintenance is also necessary. Avoid letting it all fall on one person, especially as many people are now balancing working from home.

I hope these tips are useful for you and your family. Below are additional resources for teachers and parents to use with kids:

https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/lessons/

https://www.mindheart.co/descargables

The University of Kentucky is increasingly the first choice for students, faculty and staff to pursue their passions and their professional goals. In the last two years, Forbes has named UK among the best employers for diversity, and INSIGHT into Diversity recognized us as a Diversity Champion three years running. UK is ranked among the top 30 campuses in the nation for LGBTQ* inclusion and safety. UK has been judged a “Great College to Work for” two years in a row, and UK is among only 22 universities in the country on Forbes’ list of “America’s Best Employers.” We are ranked among the top 10 percent of public institutions for research expenditures — a tangible symbol of our breadth and depth as a university focused on discovery that changes lives and communities. And our patients know and appreciate the fact that UK HealthCare has been named the state’s top hospital for four straight years. Accolades and honors are great. But they are more important for what they represent: the idea that creating a community of belonging and commitment to excellence is how we honor our mission to be not simply the University of Kentucky, but the University for Kentucky.

This blog is crossposted from here.

Sharing is caring: 

Advice for Parents: Talking to Kids About COVID-19 | Cloaking Inequity

CURMUDGUCATION: Why Teach Literature: #2 Humanity

CURMUDGUCATION: Why Teach Literature: #2 Humanity

Why Teach Literature: #2 Humanity

When I was teaching, and I had extra time on my hands, I would reflect on the work--the whys and hows and whats. So in solidarity with my former colleagues, I'm going to write a series about every English teacher's favorite thing-- teaching literature, and why we do it. There will be some number of posts (I don't have a plan here).

Also, it would be nice to write and read about something positive, and I don't know anything much more positive than what teachers do and why they do it.

Young humans routinely work on the oldest questions.How can I fully be my best realm self? How does the world work, and how is one supposed to be in it?

These questions appear in a million different guises, many of them not obviously deep or profound. What should I wear today? Who will I sit with at lunch? Is it okay if laugh at that? Is it not normal that I'm not interested in that? If people know this about me, will they hate me? Am I ever going to find someone with whom I can share a special connection? Am I weird?

Reading provides students with an opportunity to see beyond their immediate surroundings, where everything they know about the world, about being human, even about themselves, is taught to them by a small group of peers and a limited number of CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Why Teach Literature: #2 Humanity

Teacher Tom: We Can Help Children Heal Through the Stories We Tell

Teacher Tom: We Can Help Children Heal Through the Stories We Tell

We Can Help Children Heal Through the Stories We Tell

I went for a long walk yesterday, past Seattle Center to the Olympic Sculpture Park, then along the waterfront as far as Pioneer Square where I hairpined back along 1st Avenue to Pike Place Market, before turning up Pike Street, to Westlake Center, then back home to South Lake Union. On a normally sunny spring afternoon, all of those places would have been thronged with people, but for obvious reasons they weren't.

There were people out, the solo pedestrians all spaced six feet apart, but there were family "pods" walking in groups, still maintaining a distance from others. The only people who didn't seem to be following the protocol were some of the mentally ill street people. Every conversation I overheard was about some aspect of the pandemic. People were sharing information, opinions, a speculation. They were ranting about politicians, sharing their fears, or expressing their fearlessness. There were people in masks and gloves. Indeed, for the first time since 9/11 at least, everyone seemed to share a one-track mind. No one was distracted. We were all focused on this moment and this crisis.

And then it hit me: this is what it looks like when it's all-hands on deck. Unlike 9/11 when we the people were rendered fairly helpless, left to our worries and prayers, this crisis is something about which each of us must do something, and from my perspective isolating here in downtown Seattle, it seems that everyone is taking action. 

It wasn't that long ago in human history that a virus like CONTINUE READING: Teacher Tom: We Can Help Children Heal Through the Stories We Tell

Searching for Normalcy in a Chaotic World: Teaching, Learning and Living at a Distance | Ed In The Apple

Searching for Normalcy in a Chaotic World: Teaching, Learning and Living at a Distance | Ed In The Apple

Searching for Normalcy in a Chaotic World: Teaching, Learning and Living at a Distance

We have routines, our early morning ablutions, our route to work, shopping, job responsibilities, family responsibilities, now, remote working, remote interactions, and for children the abnormality is unsettling.

Being cooped up in an apartment, not being able to visit friends, not being able to interact with my teachers, “I feel like I’m being punished.”

From a teacher’s perspective: how do I connect with my kids, how can my “teaching” be engaging?  I can’t look over Juan’s shoulder and whisper, “…try that again … how did you get that answer?” You can’t see that light bulb going off, “Oh, yes, I see now,” you can’t give a thumbs up at just the right time, or, a frown.

Is Maria drifting off, is her attention wandering, I don’t know.

Remote learning is remote, it’s far away and it lacks the emotional connection.

The standardized grades 3 – 8 tests are gone, no more test prep, you can follow the curriculum: Is there curriculum to follow? Or, are we talking about the CONTINUE READING: Searching for Normalcy in a Chaotic World: Teaching, Learning and Living at a Distance | Ed In The Apple

Physical Distance, Social Collective Mourning [A Plague On All Our Houses] | The Jose Vilson

Physical Distance, Social Collective Mourning [A Plague On All Our Houses] | The Jose Vilson

PHYSICAL DISTANCE, SOCIAL COLLECTIVE MOURNING [A PLAGUE ON ALL OUR HOUSES]

There must have been a cumulative gasp from every educator in the city when we found out Dez-Ann Romain passed away. If we don’t know her personally, we know an educator like her. Young, energetic, helpful, a team player. Once we clear this curve, may we remember the moments when we sacrificed the helpers we sought out. Those of us who showed up for the three-day ad-hoc professional development training last week all knew we would put ourselves at risk for the same energy that carried us through any number of disasters. For many of us, if “essential workers” like nurses, doctors, grocery store workers, bus drivers, conductors, police officers, firepeople, and other municipal workers had to show up, educators would count ourselves in the number.

Little did we know that we’d be one to two degrees away from knowing someone who’s been affected by COVID, if not ourselves.

For NYC teachers, disaster is another one of those unwritten stipulations in our contracts. We have big budget movies dedicated to this moment except we don’t have stunt doubles coming to save us. I learned of biblical plagues all through my Catholic education. No locusts have shown up thus far, but apathetic politicians substitute quite nicely. What’s more, we’re so faithful to the work that we reconfigure our entire set of pedagogies mid-year, call parents, and deliver electronic devices to our CONTINUE READING: Physical Distance, Social Collective Mourning [A Plague On All Our Houses] | The Jose Vilson

2020 ESP of the Year Offers Guidance, Advocacy During Crisis

2020 ESP of the Year Offers Guidance, Advocacy During Crisis

2020 ESP of the Year Offers Guidance, Advocacy During Crisis

When Ohio announced the closure of schools for the rest of the academic year to help fight the spread of the coronavirus, Andrea Beeman’s thoughts, like most educators, went to her students. A special education paraprofessional in Maple Heights, a suburb of Cleveland, she works with students who have severe developmental disabilities.

“It’s critical that our students stay home during this crisis, but I worry about my students retaining all of the skills and knowledge that the special education teams have worked so hard to help them develop,” Beeman says. “We’ll continue to support them as best we can by distributing more learning packets, urging parents to read to their students, and finding other ways to continue instruction.”

Education support professionals (ESP) are finding many ways to support students nationwide during the school closures – like the paraeducators who put together instructional packets, food service workers who prepare and bag much-needed meals, and the bus drivers who deliver food as well as books and other learning materials. Or the secretaries answering a myriad of parent questions, the technical services staff working to maintain external and internal communications and support the massive move to online learning environments, and the custodians who clean distribution sites and make sure buildings are safe, sanitary and the cleanest they can be when students return, whether its later this spring or next academic year.

“ESP members are the glue that holds our schools and communities together,” says Beeman. “Never in the 21st Century have we ever experienced anything like the CONTINUE READING: 2020 ESP of the Year Offers Guidance, Advocacy During Crisis

CURMUDGUCATION: Where Is Teaching's Dr. Fauci?

CURMUDGUCATION: Where Is Teaching's Dr. Fauci?

Where Is Teaching's Dr. Fauci?

There are Dr. Fauci fan clubs already thriving around the country, in honor of the physician who has managed to thread the thorny needle that is being a nation's medical guide in these challenging times. He's a trusted voice, an expert in his field. He's a reminder that "leading US physician" is a thing, like the Surgeon General is a thing.

So where is the Dr. Fauci for teaching?

This came up in a discussion about nationalizing health care when one person observed that it could end up as disaster, like having Betsy DeVos in charge of education.

Education is different, I pointed out, because teachers have always been boxed out of all leadership positions. Which sucks, and explains a lot, and not just the last thirty-five years of reformster baloney.

Other professions are in charge of their own professions. They're in charge of their training; you can't hand out medical degrees unless you're certified by a bunch of doctors. Ditto for training lawyers or nurses or physical therapists. But any college that wants to start cranking out teachers just has to satisfy some bureaucrats at the state capitol. And these days, you can even set up an "alternative pathway" to teaching and all you need to do is convince some lawmakers to let you do it.

Training for the profession? Done by other members of the profession. Entrance to the profession? Lawyers and doctors and physical therapists have to convince other members of the profession to CONTINUE READING: CURMUDGUCATION: Where Is Teaching's Dr. Fauci?

Ideas to Teach Reading and Writing, and Other Stuff, for Students with or without Disabilities: HANDWRITING

Ideas to Teach Reading and Writing, and Other Stuff, for Students with or without Disabilities: HANDWRITING

Ideas to Teach Reading and Writing, and Other Stuff, for Students with or without Disabilities: HANDWRITING

It sounds like there’s a shortage of ideas to work with students with or without disabilities, especially students who don’t work well online, or need a break from it. So, I am starting this page and will add to it, if there’s interest, in days to come.

I welcome teachers and parents to add whatever they’d like to share, what works for you, or special resource pages or links.

Handwriting

Teachers don’t always focus on handwriting because of other skills they are made to address. The focus on technology has sometimes pushed handwriting out of the picture. So, helping students, especially students with reading or writing (dysgraphia) disabilities, become better at handwriting at home, might be a beneficial exercise at this time.

Teachers struggle to understand what students mean when they turn in sloppy papers. Even if students misspell words, it’s much easier to see the breakdown of their errors and help them correct their papers, when letters are neatly printed or written in cursive.

***Don’t push a child to write if they have difficulty holding a pencil or if they are too CONTINUE READING: Ideas to Teach Reading and Writing, and Other Stuff, for Students with or without Disabilities: HANDWRITING