Not surprised where NC ranks. Hope this will bring about some positive changes.
Concernedpa.
Yep, my state is in the bottom 5 as well. Guess the good news is we'reWe are in NC... and it comes as no surprise to me where we are falls into the "needs intervention" category. What I wonder is... recognizing this is great; now what is to be done about it? A LOT of children are suffering inadequate educations and services nationwide.
Mary
Melody - thanks for posting that article. The fact that the states set their own standards makes me question the validity of the results. From the article:
"The requirements a state must meet are those it sets for itself in its State Performance Plan (SPP). States tend to set extremely modest goals. A plan that calls for any increment in performance, no matter how small, was approved by the Department of Education."
It comes as no surprise to me that my state fell into the "needs intervention" catagory.
"States fail to ensure that local school districts comply with the law."
I had experience with this once again, at the end of the school year. I had written the school to request my son be tested for dyslexia. I was told that, "Oh no, the schools don't do testing for dyslexia. If you want that done, you will have to seek testing elsewhere." This just didn't seem right to me, so I contacted the state's Dept. of Education and played tag for a few minutes before I was actually put in touch with the woman I needed to speak to. As I suspected, they do have to test for dyslexia. She sent me a packet of papers with everything we discussed and anything that pertained to what we spoke of, highlighted. This included all codes, etc, so I would have no problems citing the sections and all when I wrote to them again requesting the testing be done.
[QUOTE=John]I don't agree with the list . We all here have heard that NY and NY are among the best.[/QUOTE]I agree something must be odd about the way the rate them. Here in NY, I can't imagine having better services, I guess I could but realistically they do all one can expect. He has always had enough of what he needs, really all he can handle. There is money for fencing, respite and health care. We are starting kindergarten this fall and I am still waiting for "the other shoe to drop". Hopefully it won't but there is even an ABA / ASD specific class if we need it.
There must be a county or district thing to it as well
I live in Texas, and as of right now, we have just completed and gotten the results back on my son's assessment testing within our school district. They had guaranteed him in a pre-k program for special needs children at my 7 year old daughter's school, which in my personal opinion is an EXCELLENT school. He is starting school in August. With that said, so far so good! Hopefully they keep up the good work and follow through on his education, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Guess all I can do at this point, is hope and pray they fit the bill. I know that NY fails because of NYC. Half of New York State's population lives in NYC. That means, if NYC is doing a crappy job (which it is, a situation that will not change in my lifetime), NY cannot get out of the "needs improvement" category ever. I wish there were a way to separate out NYC from the stats so that we could get an idea of how the rest of NYS is doing. NYC actually has completely separate sped laws that it follows. Education is such a mess there that having separate laws that actually support getting kids OUT of the public school is necessary. But those laws make it impossible to improve the public schools since all the funding goes out of the public schools, exacerbating the situation. NYC is the perfect example of what an education voucher program does to public education. It's not pretty.hi my nephew just graduated from preschool and he has pddwe live in staten island and i wanted to know if any one knew of really good schools for kids with pddI personally am not surprised where New York sits on the list. Every year I have to fight for my son to get what the schools are supposed to be providing for him. This has been going on for 8 years. He had been mainstreamed all his years except for last year (which was the worse). It seems it is the specialists that are lacking and not the classroom teachers.I'm Not surprised about CO.I hate this state and only 3 more years until we can move and get restationed. We're stuck here and they took away funding hrs. from my daughter IEP (HAD A WONDEFUL ONE IN for pre-K in FL and she would of had a full day of K). CO refused to give her a full day of K. I even offered to pay for it!!! They give all 2nd speaking/ illgeals full day of K for FREE. Instead of giving her a proper IEP, they tried to hold her back and give a full day of K the next year. The best part they could not give me a reason for trying holding her back. They Now want to give her more support!!! What took them soooooooo long?Anyways, I would not allow it and I would of took legal action. My daughter has SID and she also has all the signs of pdd or ASD. I'll know in Sept. MY cousin has ASD WITH SID.Here is a more specific breakdown for some of NY State. This was very helpful info. for me, plus someone from the local autism society can tell you which districts better serve kids with autism.
LOCAL SCHOOLS ARE FAILING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Thirteen local school districts received failing grades in the recent release from the state Department of Education on the numbers of students with disabilities who are dropping out or otherwise behind their able counterparts. As citizens we now put all these districts on notice to shape up.
Today, 12 percent of students between the ages of 6 and 17 enrolled in pre-kindergarten to 12th grade in New York, about 410,000, are classified as disabled. The nature of the disabilities range from physical disabilities to attention deficit disorder to autism.
Specifically there are eight classifications according to New York state law. In 1975, the federal government enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) to address the educational needs of handicapped children. In 1990, EAHCA was amended into what is now known as The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) reauthorized December as 2004 IDEA.
The act's purpose was to reverse years of educational neglect of students with disabilities. If school districts certify that their actions are in compliance with state policies and conform to federal law, the school districts receive IDEA funds.
The IDEA's mandate is to provide students with disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE), i.e., an education tailored to meet their needs in the least-restrictive school setting and to confer educational benefit. At the core of this statute is the requirement for school districts to create an Individual Education Plan (IEP), the footprint of the student's current performance, short- and long-term goals and objectives and the school district's recommendation for a program and placement. The IEP is drafted at a meeting of the school district's multidisciplinary team called the Committee on Special Education (CSE), and becomes the outline for the student, presumably followed with periodic review and adjustments as necessary.
Why then, did recent statistics reveal a failure of local schools in their programs for students with disabilities?
Five districts in Orange County: Washingtonville, Valley Central, and all three cities - Middletown, Port Jervis, and Newburgh, were identified as needing intervention or assistance.
Two districts in Sullivan County were identified as needing intervention, Liberty and Monticello.
Four districts in Dutchess County were identified, Dover, Poughkeepsie, Wappingers and Hyde Park.Two districts in Ulster County were identified as needing assistance, Kingston and Rondout Valley.
These districts are now challenged to conduct some introspective study and identify why their students are not graduating with the same percentages as their non-disabled piers, why the fourth and eighth grade reading and math scores are significantly lower, and why students with disabilities drop-out at such a higher percentage.
The history of legislation is our loud and clear message as a democratic society that our priorities are in our most precious and valuable asset, our children. It's time that all our school districts take those priorities to heart and make changes so that every local child has a free and appropriate education!
Susan Stockburger, Esq.
Independent Living, Inc.
Newburgh