Article for discussion

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Problems with the rush to label children

December 30, 12:33 PM

by Hermitt, Education Examiner

Something written by the SF Education Examiner, Caroline Grannan

caught my eye. In her article on the corruption of charter schools in

Philadelphia, she mentioned that a school receives $23,279 for every

special-ed student regardless of the degree of disability. She added

that 14 percent of the schools students were classified as speech or

language impaired.

This is not unique to charter schools. We experienced this with my

daughter. From the time she entered public school (She went to

private school Pre-K for two years first) we were urged to have her

tested for ADHD. I disagreed and refused to do so and it caused a

major problem between her Kindergarten and First Grade teacher and me.

(What they did not know was that I had private informal testing done

that said she was fine.) When we decided to homeschool, I made the

error of telling her first grade teacher in January of that year that

we would homeschool the next year. From that point on, there was an

overwhelming campaign to get her labeled as speech impaired and to get

me to agree to bring her in once a week for extra services. I turned

that down as well. She is 12 years old now, and while she is still a

high-energy child, she is advanced academically and her speech

impediment (which we affectionately called the Wa-wa's) is long gone.

In a conversation with a distant relative who is also an administrator

in NY public schools, he told me how some parents actually want these

labels on their kids because it made them eligible for extra

assistance with tests and helped to raise test scores. Having the kids

labeled also allowed many of the parents to get NYC schools to pay for

specialty private schools. He complained about how the children who

were labeled at the insistence of their parents ate up a huge part of

the schools budget in special services. These parents had learned to

manipulate the system. While this is not a wide-spread problem, is a

serious one that un-does the city's benefit from labeling kids as

special ed.

NEA views disproportionality -- when students of a particular

population or demographic group are over- or underrepresented in

special or gifted education programs relative to their group's

presence in the overall student population -- as an important issue to

address in local or state efforts to close the gaps in student

achievement.

While the Truth in Labeling issues are being taken seriously, I feel

like improvements are moving at a snails pace. Schools are abusing

labeling. Parents are abusing labeling. Kids are being told that

they are less-than or not as smart as others. This will have

long-term effects that people are not willing to look at.

I am begging and encouraging parents to question any labels that are

being put on your kids. I am asking teachers to consider if these

kids really need labels, or perhaps just time to mature.

As a final example, I present myself. Back in the early 1970's I was

placed in a special Ed Kindergarten and First Grade. As my mother

recalled it, when they gave me the verbal assessment, I refused to

cooperate. I was instantly labeled before anyone had ever taught me

to read or add. To make a long story short, an incident where a

teacher spanked me ended with my being re-tested to get me out of that

teacher's classroom. In the spring of my first grade year, I was

moved from special-ed into the most advanced class. Go figure. I

graduated high school with honors and have an IQ that got me an

invitation to take the MENSA test. Had I remained under those labels,

I doubt we would have ever really known my potential.

As an advocate for individualized education, Hermitt is

critical of what does not work and excited about what might. This

blogger of 10 years will examine the good and bad of education inside

and outside of the classroom.

http://www.examiner.com/x-673-Education-Examiner~y2008m12d30-Problems-with-the-r\

ush-to-label-children

Thoughts?

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