Reflection7

The Carl D. Perkins Act was designed to create and institute a career and technical program. Basically, this act help to create a program within the secondary school to help students that so choose to work on technical skills. This act help to set the foundation through outlining the resources needed to be successful and also partnering with higher education institutes (including post-secondary technical schools). In my opinion, this is an excellent program for those students not necessarily interested in pursuing traditional bachelors degrees in college. Instead of a student graduating college and entering the workforce with extremely limited skills, the student can now gain and facilitate skills before graduation, thus making him more marketable.
Currently, our school is going through somewhat of a transition. We have been a traditional highschool since it's inception, but have now decided to offer our students more career and educational planning for the future. What is happening is that our school is divinding up into "academies." These academies are designed to prepare students for life after highschool. Within these academies, the Career and Tech department has a huge role. Prior to the establishment of the academies, students could take certain tech classes such as auto shop as an elective, but the emphasis was primarily as a "hobby" class. Now, since the formation of the academies, counselors are now helping guide students through some of these career and tech programs so that they can come out of highschool with more training than ever before. With the academies, students will begin creating their degree plans sometime during their eighth grade year. This plan will help them choose the proper courses based on what they plan to do post-highschool. For example, if a student wants to be a nurse, she will be guide through health occupation classes throughout her four years of highschool, thus ultimately preparing her for college curriculum and nursing school. There are many different careers that students can choose from when creating their degree plans. I think that this is a great program and have noticed that this seems to be happening throughout the metroplex. I am pretty sure that this is a global idea as well. In many countries,students start at a very early age preparing for what they are going to do when they grow up. I think that this will help create more productive citizens and give them the best opportunity utitilizing their skills and interests.

Reflection #6

OK, since this is a blog, let me voice my displeasure. This is round 2 for this post. After about an hour or two, I went to post my final product and received an error message and then lost all of my work. So, now I am frustrated, so this might be a little shorter than my other post. The big thing about the first part of the blog was the fact that counselors do a lot. I am pretty sure that I have discussed that premise before in the discussion boards, but the more and more I read, I realize that they are the work horses of the school. The text from this week discusses 8 major responsibilities of a certified counselor. These responsibilities are broken down and classified in domains. Most of the domains are focused around the students. In fact, 6 of the 8 domains (Program Management, Guidance, Counseling, Consultation, Coordination, and Student Assessment)are geared to providing the students with the best possible resources, environment, and guidance to assist the students in reaching their maximum potential. The other two domains deal with the counselors improving their competence and the cohesiveness of the school's faculty. The counselors really work with everyone. Sometimes they work with the students one-on-one. Sometimes they will work with parents and the community in order to improve the student experience. Sometimes they work directly with various staff members. It really is eye opening considering that what the media shows counselors doing all the time is only one part of one domain (Counseling Domain).
As a school administrator (this is going to sound chessy and over eager) I would love to have my hand in the entire process. Obviously, it would depend on my position as to how much I would actually be involved, but as a principal I would really want to put a lot into the creation or alteration of a program. I will tell you that my least favorite part of the process would be the organization part. I am sure as a principal, this would be one of the most important, especially when creating a site based committee. The parts I would love the most would be the planning and designing part. I have always been a good ideas guy, the only bad part of planning would be the research required to create a program. I am not a fan of research, but I really love learning about as much as I can. Once I have the adequate knowledge, I really love putting programs together. It's kind of like being the House of education. Then you would think that because I like to design programs then I would like to implement them, but I really could care less about the implementation part. It is kind of like chasing a girl and then being disappointed. Sometimes the hunt is better than the catch! I would like the evaluation part of the process, because it would give me a chance to compare the new versus the old and allow me to tweak if necessary. All of this being said,I would, as a principal, take and extremely active role in these processes. I think that this not only sends a good message to the department, but also strengthens the program.
Finally, my analysis of the department would be a rating of a moderate level. I say this again,like discussed in a previous discussion board, the struggle for our counselors is the fact that they are one short. They have created an implemented some good programs. The problem is that they are lacking some support and the community doesn't rally enough! To be honest with you, I don't know if the program meets standards or not, I would only be assuming when I say that I am sure that they do. However, the students do not seem to be improving in the high priority areas this year, in fact they are actually taking a step backward. I think that the biggest problem is that they have a lack of support! They need more support from the administration. I will continue to help them, but I am limited on what I can do! I will say this though, they are great when it comes to Responsive services! They are truly passionate about their jobs and they truly care about these kids. After these units on counselors, I definitely do not envy them. I have no desire to serve as a counselor!

Reflection #5

Let me start of by saying that this article is so true and a little disappointing. All too often students and just people in general are victims of their own successes. In this case, students are hand-cuffed by their intellegence. Why is that? The article offers up many beliefs for why our country shys away from acceleration. The biggest two of the 12 reasons I think is the fact that age trumps everything else and disasters are memorable. I think that we live in a society that dictates your status based on your age. Think about it. You can't go to school until you are five. Even if you are a smart four year old, you are too young to begin. Generally speaking, promotions and raises in the corporate world on based more on longevitiy than actual merit. Don't get me wrong, usually it works out that the older you are or the longer you are somewhere, the more deserving you usually are. The reality is that time and age are not always indicators of intellegence or performance. Sometimes young people (or new employees) can exceed the expectations set for them. I also agree that diasasters are memorable, especially in this context. If the belief is a student is capable of moving up or ahead, and the student fails, it could leave long term negative effects with that student. In this instance, it would be crucial to ensure that the student is truly prepared for the acceleration. Based on the reading, however, this seems to be very infrequent. As a parent, my oldest son has always been very intelligent. He has been in the GT program since elementary school. I think that the fear for us would be the maturity and social growth. I know that the reading discussed that acceleration was actually beneficial for academic and social growth. Despite the reading, I would still be reluctant. I think that for most parents, we just want our children to have normal and productive childhoods, and normal to us is the normal progression through school.
As I was reading through this report, I read several of the myths the authors drew attention to. I can't say that I was too suprisingly shocked by any of them. Honestly, based on the school in which I teach, I expect many educators to believe that acceleration is not important, because most of our students really don't need it! I hate to say it, but this is definitely the case at our school. We only had two students on the first six weeks honor roll! I think that when the masses don't need something, the minority is left out. Of course, I think that it is crazy, but it happens all of the time in our society. Also, due to my current school I think that it is ludacris to think that acceleration is solely for the wealthy. I teach at a low socioecnomic school and I have seen some truly intelligent kids come through there, and I can tell you that they were by no means wealthy. Also, think about all of the movies and publicity we see of people coming from the streets and being very successful based on intellect. Really, I hate to say this but when it comes to education (or lack there of) nothing surprises me these days.
Based on reading through the Texas State Legislation on Gifted and Talent programming, it would seem like the state is trying to do their part when it comes to our special students. The state has it all laid out in black or white, but it seems that it is three tiered. Tier one looks as if a district wants to be compliant they have to meet some minimum requirements, the second tier is for districts to be recommended and the last tier is for exemplary. The problem that I can see is that depending on the intepretation, acceleration is only mentioned twice. First, in section 2.1E it states that services for gifted/talented students are comprehensive, structured, sequenced and appropriately challenging. It would seem that acceleration could fall into place here. The other place is located in section 2.4E where it states that acceleration options are actively facilitated by district administrators, counselors, and teachers. The problem is not the fact that acceleration is only mentioned twice, but that the mention of acceleration only comes under the category of exemplary. My question is why not sooner? Why not emphasize acceleration at all levels? Ultimately, I believe the state has good intentions and a pretty decent program, but it is up to the districts to really put in place a good program for these students and not let them fall through the cracks!

Bilingual Education

After reviewing a great deal of material regarding bilingual education, I might still be lost. Actually, the fact of the matter is, I am not the best at interpreting the documentation of the policies developed by the state or TEA. I will say that from what I can tell, TEA's policies do align with much of the information I have been reading and studying. Obviously, the main focus of TEA is to get the students mainstreamed into the English classroom. I mean it makes total sense considering the standards on which our schools are graded and the tests in which our students take. It also makes sense in the fact that we are an English speaking country and in the short term, we should be graduating productive citizens that can help our local communities and economy. Don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily agree with this ideology (I will discuss this later.). Also, it seems to me that the policies set are relatively vague. Maybe vague is not a good word, but maybe open to interpretation. It felt like when I was reading them I could apply any type of program towards bilingual education as long as the focus was getting the student "socially proficient" and "educationally proficient." Obviously, there are specifics standards that must be met, but I would like to see more definition towards the programming.

With the immigration population constantly increasing year after year, there have been many types of programs put in place in order to assist in the mainstreaming of ELL students into fully English classrooms. In the "Not 'One Size Fits All" article, Andrea Honisfeld discusses some program models which include, English-language monolingual program, English-monolingual plus ESL program, Transitional bilingual education program, Maintenance bilingual education program, and structured immersion program. All of the programs have their unique traits and characteristics, but one really blows my mind. I cannot understand the thought process behind the English immersion programs. Research has shown that this is the least favored approach when dealing with ELL students. According to some academic research, it also might arise civil right issues. What I can't understand is how could a school or a district possibly think that a sink or swim approach is the best way to deal with these transitioning students? Unfortunately, I am not too familiar with the program in place at my current school, but I believe that it may be using this approach. Last year, I received a student in my class fresh from Costa Rica. He couldn't speak or understand one bit of English. They told me to do the best I could. Luckily, I speak a some very broken Spanish, but not enough to teach a lesson. The only saving grace was that we have an ESL teacher that he could go see whenever I could afford the time. So, from time to time, I would send him up there to get help on his work (similar to sending a student to Content Mastery). The problem is that the ESL teacher doesn't teach math, so she was limited in what she could help him with, because he basically would sit in there and see the examples I was writing, but couldn't understand any of the teaching. Needless to say, his work was not up to a 9th grade level. This year, I had a student in my class for a week before I knew that she couldn't speak English. When I would ask her questions, she would just nod her head and smile. I thought she was shy, and didn't think twice about it. She actually was doing her work, but I finally figured out when she was absent and missed some work. I had to ask her more invasive questions, and it was then I realized she had no idea what I was saying. Luckily for her, she had a bilingual friend in my class that was helping her. I just do not see the value of these students being in my class when they cannot understand what is being said. I couldn't imagine sitting in a college class in China and having the professor speak Mandarin! Apparently, this is acceptable because the focus is on mainstreaming.

Alright, I don't like to be one that solely complains and never offers a solution. So here it is. You asked what I would like to see in TEA's approach. Well, I would like to see a more defined set of rules governing the programming of bilingual education. I think that we need to embrace the culture of these students and help make sure that they not only become proficient in English, but also maintain their mastery of their native language. My suggestion would be to mandate that all programming favor programs like the maintenance bilingual education program. This program is designed to develop full proficiency in both languages. Allowing students to be proficient in two or more languages will not only make them productive citizens locally, but could open up a global market for them and the benefits could come back full circle. With immigration booming, we need more bilingual educated individuals in every facet of the work force. I mean I am still trying to learn languages in order to be a more productive me. I will teach my kids the same things. So, how do we do it? I propose that in each school, each department should be required to have a bilingual faculty member. I think it could be an aide or a certified teacher. Then, you place all of your ELL students with that aide or teacher in the mainstream classroom. This way, they are not only getting English instruction, but they have immediate assistance when necessary. These teachers should simultaneously focus their lesson plans in English and in Spanish. Depending on the level at which each student is, allow them to receive notes and homework assignments in Spanish as well as English. I know what you are thinking, what if there are several students at different levels? Well differentiate like you would do with a special education student. The bottom line is that we have to be creative, embrace their ability to work in two languages, and not short stick them. Keep in mind that this is just a rough idea and I know that there are flaws present, but I am not an expert and it is a start. Obviously, the emphasis is on Spanish speakers being the ELLs, but their are immigrants coming over from all over the world. Also, the program would have to be based on enrollment, because financially it may not be feasible to do this if the district only had a few ELL students. The point is that I am in favor of creating bilingual students, not just "English proficient" students.

Title 1

Title 1 is a federal program design to help economically disadvantaged students succeed at the state mandated levels, or realistically the TAKS test. This program financially helps Local Education Agency and schools containing larger numbers of underprivileged children. Schools receive these funds by meeting one of four statutory formulas based primarily on census poverty estimates and the cost of education in each state. The title one program has served more than 17 million children, of which, 60 percent are elementary aged. This program can use the financial resources to fund supplemental reading and mathematics programs, as well as some pre-school, after school, and summer programs. Generally, Title I funds are aimed to help those schools with the highest percent of children from low income families, and generally the school must focus Title I services on those students who are failing, or most at risk of failing to meet state academic standards. A school may use Title I funds for school wide programs to serve all children if the school has enrollment of 40 percent low income families.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) raised educational standards and expectations for all students across the board. The idea behind this act, passed by President George W. Bush, was to help students improve academically by raising the expectations. He also wanted to close educational gaps between the races. With the passage of NCLB, funding has increased a great deal on the educational. NCLB also allows students with Limited English proficiency to gain assistance without the necessary economic requirements. This program also created funding and programs to assist with the students who are at risk of dropping out. Also, Title I funds are now available to private elementary and secondary schools. The private school programs are designed to help students meet their educational needs by providing supplemental educational services. These services are developed with the assistance of the private school officials and should be equitable those of public school programs.

Another branch of the Title I program comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This program provides billions of dollars of additional funding to Title I Part A. The funds for this are allocated on four principles: (1) spend funds quickly to create and save jobs, (2) improve student achievement through school improvement and reform, (3) ensure transparency, recording and accountability, and (4) invest one time ARRA funds thoughtfully to minimize the "funding cliff." Due to the nature of this program, funding will not be available long-term. Therefore, schools should invest in short term programs or resources that will create long-term results. They should not commit these funds to programs that will be on-going. These types of programs include after school tutoring programs, professional development programs, and academic coaches.

Ultimately, Title I funds can be used on a plethora of programs to help all students be successful. I think one of the hot ticket topics over the last several years has been technology. It would seem that you could allocate some of the Title I funds to create and expand resources on the campus. This could include career and technology courses, labs, and personal technology such as itouches and ipads. As I continue to learn everyday in my teaching career, one thing I have noticed is how much students are tied to technology. Students are around and use technology on a daily basis. Why not embrace their culture and intrigue by supporting education with the most current technology available. Also, for those students at risk, why not invest in special tutoring programs or classes. One thing I like about our school is the fact that we use pull-out classes to aid these students with improving their state test scores. Why not fund these types of classes through Title I or ARRA? One thing I think that needs to be added to the pull out program is a special counseling program. I think that it is important to talk to these students on a regular basis; checking with them not only academically, but emotionally as well. Hold group sessions explaining the risks of failing and dropping out and what their futures hold if they choose that path. Finally, why not financially support a mentor type program for the students identified as at risk? Mentors can do wonders for a lost child. If given the funding, using a creative head, there is so much you can do to help a student in danger of failing not only TAKS, but life as well.

Reflection #2

As a candidate for the position to revise the district's alternative education program, let me detail some of the ideas I have acquired during my time as a teacher. First, let me be up front and honest about the fact that I have no formal experience with alternative education. I have done some research and determined that alternative education should consist of a program geared to those individuals that experience academic struggles, and due to these struggles have developed severe patterns of disruptive behavior. The disruptive behavior may include but is not limited to physical altercations, insubordination, and truancy. In my opinion, an alternative program does not look like that of a regular daytime program. An alternative program needs to focus first on the behavior and emotional support, and then the academic piece. This is not to say that one is more important than the other. Studies have shown that academic intelligence and capabilities alone have not been found to be the sole key of successful social integration. Social skills, interpersonal skills and social-emotional characteristics have been found to be just as crucial. Throughout the research I have done, the word trust comes up a great deal. The alternative program should begin by focusing on trust. In order for this to occur, trust must start with the staff. The faculty must believe that the students will and are able to succeed. This confidence will flow onto the students and begin to change their attitudes and mentality towards education. As the teachers exude patience, and display a caring attitude, the students will begin to gain trust in the teachers and establish better relationships with the teachers. These relationships will ultimately make classroom management easier and allow the teacher to focus more on the academic requirements for the students. Teachers must create lessons that are more engaging to the students, and focus on individual student needs. Ideally, classrooms would be smaller allowing for the time teachers need to differentiate the instruction. Instruction should also attach education to real-world experience. This will help the engagement aspect of the curriculum.

All across the country, there are several examples of successful alternative education programs. The Centennial School in Pennsylvania has become a model for day-treatment programs. This school uses research-based practices to match curriculum to student's level, analysis of student error patterns, active engagement, and they make connections between learning and the student's world. Also, in Pennsylvania, the creation of a Twilight Academy has become very successful. This school is much different from traditional day programs. The hours of the school is three in the afternoon until seven in the evening. This school has four teachers and limits their enrollment to 60 students. It keeps the class sizes to a maximum of 15 students. The students follow a computer based curriculum that helps the teacher differentiate the learning for each individual student. The students are also exposed to job opportunities during the day, and group counseling sessions at school. The school's success was based on the fact that 11 of the 12 students eligible to graduate meet their requirements, and the following year their was a waiting list for students to be enrolled in the Twilight Academy. The teachers involved in this program also gained a great deal of personal and professional success as well. Overall, this program does need to be modified and improved, but this another example of a successful alternative education program.

If chosen to revise the alternative education program, there are several components I will strive to meet in order to make the program successful. First, I want to make sure that we have the support we need in order to run an effective program. The support has to come from the top. We will need school board support, district support and teacher support. Without the support, our resources could be limited and ultimately effect the results of the program. Their support will be necessary for long-term implementation as well. We will also need teachers and administrators who believe that the program and the students can succeed. This not a program designed to institutionalize troubled kids. This will be a program to give troubled students every opportunity to succeed. The teachers will also need to be creative and willing to diversify their teaching practices. The bottom line is that this will not be a program where students are banished and never heard from again. This is a program that if funded and supported properly could change not only the lives these students, but could improve the community as well.

Reflection #1

In 1975, Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This is Public Law 94-142. The law or act was designed to help individuals (infants to youth) with disabilities improve their educational environment and services. In 1997, this law became known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Since the implementation of IDEA, students have been exposed to improvements in special education and early intervention programs. More and more students are getting into their neighborhood schools rather than specialized schools. The country has also seen an increase in graduation rates, post-secondary enrollment, and employment rates among those with disabilities. Ultimately this law guarantees education to all children with disabilities. Under IDEA, students are given more opportunities due to proper testing to identify individual specific needs. Staying with the theme of individual specific needs, teachers also have IEPs (Individual Educational Plan) to help them properly and effectively reach those students with disabilities. IDEA also has programs in place in order to assist students in transitioning from high school to college or the workforce. Starting at age 14, students are counselled on what they need to do in order to reach their career goals.

When a parent or teacher becomes concerned about a student's academic ability or notices the possibility for a disability, the family must go through a rather extensive process before they can receive services. The first part of the process is for the student to go through a full individual evaluation. Parental consent is needed in order to conduct the evaluation. This evaluation will see if the child has a disability as defined by IDEA and it will set in motion the use of proper educational tools for that specified child. Children can be recommended for evaluations either by their parents or by the school. Generally speaking, parents would normally notice that their child needs special help first, but in some instances, a child's teacher may bring this to the forefront as well. In either case, parents must give written consent for the evaluation to take place. Once the consent has been given, the evaluation must take place within 60 days. The evaluation includes reviewing any relevant existing information, evaluating many areas including the child's physical health, emotional state, and intellect. The evaluations are conducted in several formats. Once the evaluation is done, a group that determines the eligibility of that child (including the child's parent) will meet and fully discuss the results of the tests. The group will determine if the child meets IDEA's definition of a child with a disability. If so, an IEP will be developed for said child.

As stated earlier, since the implementation of IDEA more and more students with disabilities are being educated in their public schools. So when a student is placed into a special education program where are they placed within the school? Following the requirements of idea, the school in conjunction with the student's IEP will place the student in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). LRE is defined as placement of a student where the child has the maximum appropriate opportunity to learn with non-disabled students. IDEA also states that the removal or separation of a student with a disability should only occur if the nature of the disability is such that education in regular education classes cannot be satisfactorily achieved. The biggest consideration when discussing placement is the unique needs of each individual child. Every child has separate and personal needs. They must attend the school that they would attend if not disabled. They cannot be placed in classes or programs based on their disabling condition or label. For example, a deaf child should not automatically be removed simply because they are deaf. Also, for each child they must consider where the services may best be carried out. These locations could range from regular education classes to hospitals or private institutions. One item worth pointing out, is that parents have the opportunity to be involved in the placement decisions of their child.

Once the student has been evaluated and placed in special education services, it then becomes up to the teachers to make sure they are doing everything necessary and required for the student. First off, the teacher must be aware of his or her students that are classified as special ed. Once the teacher has identified these students they should get with the special education coordinator to make sure they have the appropriate and most current IEPs. It is these IEPs that will help guide the teacher in formatting his or her class specifically for each individual student. The teacher must know and follow those IEPs without hesitation. As the year progresses the teacher should pay attention to those accommodations being used in the classroom, and analyze whether or not they were effective. The teacher may also find themselves using different accommodations not listed that work well for a student. He should take this data and inform the special education coordinator,and/or the ARD committee in order to help continue to shape the student's IEP. As always, the teacher should maintain constant contact with the parents.

Occasionally it will occur that parents and schools disagree with matters dealing with a specific student. Sometimes these disagreements cannot be resolved through a simple meeting. More extreme measures may be needed for conflict resolution. In these cases there are methods at which to choose. Due process is a method of conflict resolution where a third party judge will make a decision regarding a student's special education program after listening to the evidence presented by all parties involved. His decision is binding, but may be appealed. Mediation is a voluntary method individuals may choose in order to resolve any issues. Through mediation control stays with the parties. In this case a mediator helps discuss the issues between the parties in order to reach an agreement. The mediator does not make any decisions for either party. The mediator will help write an agreement to be signed by both parties. As administrator the goal should be not to have to use either of these two avenues. Administrators should focus on professional development that helps teach the staff proper ways to communicate with parents, especially involving special education issues. Also, the administrator should require the inclusion of parents in all decision making processes. It is important for the administrator to be an active participant in these procedures as well. Communication and showing that the well being of the student is of the utmost importance will solve many of these issues before it goes too far.