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Some kids genuinely do need IEP's; others don't. I think it has a lot to do with the idealogy that all kids are bright and capable if taught properly. And those who do not respond to "regular" teaching methods are put on IEP's to inform the teacher so that he/she can make adjustments to accommodate the student but also so that any liability for the student's failure is shifted to the teacher rather than the student.
In fact, if a student who has an IEP is failed (or failing), the teacher is blamed. If you were a parent and had a child who would not or could not perform at the same level as his/her peers, wouldn't you label him/her as disabled to shift the responsibility to someone else? For many parents, IEP's are a way for their son/daughter to get passed through the system when he/she would not normally be able to do so. It ensures that their son or daughter can get through high school when they normally would not be able to do so.
Now, there are some students with legitimate IEP's who really do need to be accommodated. But there are also many who don't, whose parents see an angle and play it.
Some kids genuinely do need IEP's; others don't. I think it has a lot to do with the idealogy that all kids are bright and capable if taught properly. And those who do not respond to "regular" teaching methods are put on IEP's to inform the teacher so that he/she can make adjustments to accommodate the student but also so that any liability for the student's failure is shifted to the teacher rather than the student.
In fact, if a student who has an IEP is failed (or failing), the teacher is blamed. If you were a parent and had a child who would not or could not perform at the same level as his/her peers, wouldn't you label him/her as disabled to shift the responsibility to someone else? For many parents, IEP's are a way for their son/daughter to get passed through the system when he/she would not normally be able to do so. It ensures that their son or daughter can get through high school when they normally would not be able to do so.
Now, there are some students with legitimate IEP's who really do need to be accommodated. But there are also many who don't, whose parents see an angle and play it.
I agree with you 100%. My sister is a Math and Science teacher, at a middle school. She says that parents have to make sure their children do their homework and show up for class. A teacher can't make a student do his or her homework or show up to class.
I also feel that the school district needs to make classrooms safer for students. If a student doesn't feel safe, then a student isn't going to be able to pay attention to the school work and learn.
Another factor is teasing. If a student is being constantly teased by his or her peers, then he or she isn't going to comfortable. That means he or she isn't going to be learn properly. The last thing a student who is the victim of teasing needs is to be labeled as Intellectually Disabled, slow, or special needs?
I was a victim of teasing when I was in grade school, and I had problems learning for that reason. The teasing got worst when I got to high school. I went from being on 3.5 GPA to a D average, because of teasing, bullying, and harassment. When I started failing, I labeled as having a learning disability. Never mind the fact that I was being teased everyday, and getting harassing phone calls at home from students.
The reason why I am hard on special education is because school districts would rather have a student labeled than to investigate to see what the real problem is.
I'm a bit confused here. In all the districts in which I have taught, parents can indeed request that their child be tested for special education. However, children are not just assigned an IEP indiscriminately. Each child must be tested by a school district psychologist or diagnostician to see if there is indeed a discrepancy between performance & intelligence on the test, in order to determine a learning disability. With careful evaluation of the multifaceted testing results, we get a better picture of the root of the child's learning problems.
There are also 504 plans for students who have a medical disability that gets in the way of learning.
I'm a bit confused here. In all the districts in which I have taught, parents can indeed request that their child be tested for special education. However, children are not just assigned an IEP indiscriminately. Each child must be tested by a school district psychologist or diagnostician to see if there is indeed a discrepancy between performance & intelligence on the test, in order to determine a learning disability. With careful evaluation of the multifaceted testing results, we get a better picture of the root of the child's learning problems.
There are also 504 plans for students who have a medical disability that gets in the way of learning.
A student can trick also trick a psychologist. It's up to the psychologist to figure out if the student is playing games. If the student is playing games, then the psychologist should further investigate to see what's going on with the student.
When I was 12 years old, I told a psychiatrist that I heard voices although I never had auditory hallucinations. Make a long story short, I was placed in a hospital for two weeks. Test were ran on me, and it was determined that I didn't hear voices, but I was a traumatized child, because I was constantly teased by my peers. Instead of my HMO treating me with psychotherapy in order to help me get over being teased and learning how to be more assertive, they doped me up with anti depressants, anti psychotics, and mood stabilizers. I was 12 years old at the time. When I was 16, the doctor had me on 1200mg of Depakote, a high dosage of lithium, and anti depressants. I was probably prescribed a different anti depressant every six months. I was sleepy, I couldn't concentrate, and I would fall asleep in class. The teasing got worse. I went from a 3.5gpa to a D average. When the school psychologist administered the test, she should have taken the meds into consideration.
My experience probably happened to other students, because school districts would rather use a uniform method to screen students instead of investigating to see what is causing a student to act out.
If teachers, the school psychologist, and even my HMO doctor would have taken into consideration that being teased was causing my failing grades, I would have had a better quality of life.
This is why I feel special education needs to audited. If a child needs an IEP or even needs to be placed in a non-Public school, then that's great. However make sure that child or teen student would actually benefit from the program.
I suggest we leave out the question about SSI - That has nothing at all to do with this forum.
As far as IEP's, all kids that I know that have IEP's were done at the teachers suggestion. Parents are usually brought in after the teacher has observed a child for quite awhile. For most parents, it's not something that they want other people to know about or something that is done casually.
thetruthcomesout, Your experience does not reflect what I know about my school district, and I'm sorry for your experience.
I suggest we leave out the question about SSI - That has nothing at all to do with this forum.
As far as IEP's, all kids that I know that have IEP's were done at the teachers suggestion. Parents are usually brought in after the teacher has observed a child for quite awhile. For most parents, it's not something that they want other people to know about or something that is done casually.
thetruthcomesout, Your experience does not reflect what I know about my school district, and I'm sorry for your experience.
I know each district is different.
It was the district, it was the school. The school was privately ran, but got funding from different school districts.
The school administrator was the one that recommended that my parents sign me up for SSI. I was young and naive, so I just played crazy to get the money. If I could do it all over again, I would have just been myself.
If a child needs an IEP or even needs to be placed in a non-Public school, then that's great. However make sure that child or teen student would actually benefit from the program.
Public schools actually do everything within their power NOT to send students to non-public schools, because it's much less expensive for the district to keep a student in a public school. So if LAUSD approved your attendance at a non-public school, there had to be a pretty darned good reason.
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