My first special education article 1st draft

Written by Stephanie R. Stewart, M.Ed.

Terre Haute, IN 47807

In Ordinary time

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??????Let me start with the date May 8, 2023, and then let me continue. As an educator of students with challenges, I am discovering that special education may have come a long way but we still have a long way to go. There are numerous reasons why what I say might be challenged, none of which I will share with you.? I, however, am hoping that when you read my first article you will have an open mind and possibly some helpful information.? Where to start, I have been teaching at the middle school level for the past two-to-three years in a resource room setting. Teaching reading and literature to 6,7 & 8 grade students with challenges in various areas of need(s) {Mild/Moderate}. Most of the students read two grades below level (below basic) along with a few exceptions of being at the level of “basic, advanced, and/or proficient” and I mean a few, 13 of 65. Here‘s my first area I would like to tackle and that is the Curriculum/Pacing Guides for Middle School Grades 6-8.??

?????I have found that the curriculum/pacing guide is not established for students with reading challenges or those who aren’t so proficient in reading. The later part of what I just typed is a reference to those students in a general education setting whose comprehension is not at the average or grade level. Dilemma? arises, and that is how to teach the required novel to your special needs students within the time frame allotted for the general education students or classrooms on grade level. Who do we speak to concerning this issue of much needed change for our students? There needs to be an allowance for accommodations such as small groups, graphic organizers and extra time. How do we ensure that the 14th Amendment which gave us FAPE is truly received by all ? Why is there an optional reading list? And how do you get to the optional reading list when you are still reading the required reading past the scheduled expectancy of reading.? Shouldn’t we as educators allow our students to engage in read-alouds as a class? Which by the way has its own pacing result. The required novels in themselves open up questions as to “should the students really be reading some of these types of books? A much much later discussion.

????There is a need for a Special Education Curriculum/Pacer Guide. I just did a little research and will do a lot more on this personal concern and subject or issue. According to edadvocate.org (Lynch, 2022) the “school district leaders develop pacing guides”. Well, the invention of the pacing guide had to start somewhere and then trickle down to the school district, “am I right”. Lynch continues to reference the betterment of the pacing guide from the “expectations of the content to be covered in each subject at each grade level” to “the subjects and topics cover on state test and schedule tests”. This proclamation leads to me stating, “How are our students averaging or fairing in either factor? Or are the end results prejudiced with the typical response of reminders of the students current skill? level? and special grouping factor of special education.? Once again, I need to ask, Are we teaching our students with challenges fairly or allowing them to pass to the next grade level without learning anything or emphasizing that they are not applying themselves in school to learn because here is the famous word COVID or because they are special education students underneath it all.? We have written off of having an expectation of learning to grade level. Then what is FAPE for? I was fortunate enough to find what I consider an supporting definition for establishing a Special Education Curriculum/Pacer Guide located on truelifeimateteacher.com (Theresa, n. d.) in which it states “a pacing guide is used to pace out a certain period of time, and identify standards or units to be taught during that time”. If this is the case, Why not allow for the actual various reading levels and produce a time table based on those factors to include below one or five levels of reading for the curriculum/pacer guide. The popular answer to the reading solution is the “science of reading”. But once again they do not address the issue of below level reading for grades higher than 3rd I believe or nor the needs of students with challenges. Is 45 minutes in middle school enough time for reading? Sounds like another later discussion paper. Well, I guess I’ll wrap up this first article and expand on it later in life.

Thanks for Reading-