The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
When the fire alarm goes off at Princess Anne Elementary, fifth-graders in Room 5 close ranks around Matthew Hill.
Matthew, 10, has mild autism, and everyone knows he hates loud noises. So his classmates remind him to cover his ears, tell him it's OK, and help lead him outside.
"If everyone in the class was special education, the kids wouldn't necessarily be able to support each other like that," said his mother, Lisa Hill.
At this school, like many regionally and nationally, most disabled students spend all day in the regular classroom or visit the resource room for just some subjects or activities. Only a few spend most of the day learning one-on-one with a special-education teacher.
This is not the mainstreaming of the 1970s, when special-education students were first guaranteed access to public schools.
Since 2001, federal law has required that students with disabilities meet the same testing standards as other students. That has accelerated the push to expose children with disabilities to the general curriculum. In many cases, it means students who would have attended classes in separate buildings or in separate classrooms are instead learning in regular classes, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
In Matthew's case, the integration extends beyond lessons on grammar and Virginia history.
Matthew is also part of the school Safety Patrol, helping lower the flag daily. And he's thrilled to have one of the few speaking parts in this week's winter choral concert.
In Matthew's class, the 21 students include six with disabilities. They have two teachers, Jill Barger and Tammara Franklin. Franklin has a special-education certification.
Matthew and some of his classmates leave the classroom to get intensive help in language arts or during a test, so passages can be read out loud to them.
Virginia Beach schools, aware that special-education services are offered differently around the city, brought in a consultant to audit the programs. One recommendation called for an evaluation of inclusion practices. As a first step, the school division is requiring schools to map out what strategies they will use to include special-education students.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
In Meeta Jones' fourth-grade math class, special-education assistant Barbara Pfeufer helped on a math lesson by moving from table to table offering tips to disabled and nondisabled students alike.
Allison Wright, 10, who has spina bifida, compared her answers with deskmate Katie Quinn, and then made a few changes.
Allison gets 15 minutes of help in class each day with reading or math, and eventually may need none at all, said her mother, Beth Wright.
Some students always will require intensive special instruction, Principal Krista Barton-Arnold said.
"Some kids struggle with 20 to 24 kids in a classroom," she said.
That includes Finn Weber, a witty and bright but easily distracted 7-year-old. Finn, who has a developmental disorder called Asperger's syndrome, didn't get much done in a regular first-grade class last year, said his mother, Tammy Weber.
So for second grade, he works with special-education teacher Melissa Bruckner for all but art, music and gym classes.
"It makes a huge difference that they can individualize it for each child," Weber said. "It's not either you go over here or over there."
On a recent day, Finn highlighted the "sh" sound in "fresh" and the "mp" sound in "bump" with broad strokes of green marker.
When his chatter would veer off topic, Bruckner steered him back.
While the ultimate goal is to get him to a regular classroom, he's learning far more this year, Tammy Weber said.
"In the resource room, he actually gets work done."
Lauren Roth, (757) 222-5133, lauren.roth@pilotonline.com
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Okay . . .
I read the article early yesterday and it is possible I read "test" for "exercise." However, it also happens that the Pilot updates articles throughout the day, esp when there are errors. I am gonna say that I am pretty sure the original article had "test" and they changed it (I remember looking at it twice). Working together on exercises is, of course, a different story.
probably like group work
The kids were probably doing something similar to what we used to call "group work." Group work is good b/c you can compare and contrast your answers. It's a great exercise for critical thinking in various subjects.
I'm sure there is still work they have to do where you can't "share" your answers, but it's not all like that.
As for the inclusion programs in beach schools, I see the fantastic results in my sons' school. The schools here use "differentiated learning," so each child has to live up to his/her potential. It does not discount the class progress as a whole.
Great Job!
Beach schools have been working diligently over the past several years with improving their inclusive services for students with disabilities. My hat goes off to all of the administrators, teachers, and parents who embrace in the philosophy of believing that all children belong. Princess Anne and many other schools hold this belief and demonstrate it everyday. There is always more work to be done but it is a good start. The positive aspects of this type of service delivery are tremendous but it must be done correctly. The recent audit was very complementary of the inclusion services observed in beach schools. However, you must have a plan and revist that plan to make sure what you are doing is working for all kids. Kudos to all who work hard to include students with differences each and everyday.
Math Lesson, not Test
It was not a math test, it was a math lesson
not an honor code violation
Ahhh, my college days...always wrote the code on my papers =). Educators are not teaching students to cheat, but sometimes we do have them work together on certain things (I didn't see where it said the assignment was a test, but that can be done too). It could have been a 'think, pair, share' activity or some other form of cooperative learning. Maybe the reporter was trying to illustrate the successful integration of this student into a mainstream classroom by noting the student was accepted and working with others?...just a thought.
Read again, Mary
If you read closely, the girl with spina bifida was not allowed to cheat "during a math test," but was able to compare answers during a "math lesson." As if teachers would let any child, whatever their abilities may be, cheat on a test.
Hold on a second, Mary63204
The article does not say that Allison was testing, but was just working on classwork.
Only one objection . . .
Good article overall--I liked what it was saying with one exception. The girl with spina bifida was allowed to look at her seatmate's paper and change answers *during a math test.* That should not be allowed/taught for *any* of our students, special needs or not. Not during a test. When she goes to college or out into the working world, that will be called cheating and she will innocently expect it to keep on occurring. She might even get cited under the honor code if she goes to a place like U Va. Those universities are setting up disabilities programs these days, too.