Meme: Five Things Policymakers Ought to Know (Guest Blogger)

One of the many hats I wear is as a faciltator for an online community of accomplished teachers in Virginia. I offered to post a response from another accomplished teacher to the MEME Five things I wish policymakers knew about my classroom. Thanks to Nancy Flanagan for starting this MEME at Teacher in a Strange Land.

My friend Dawnette Fuller offered these insights but does not have a blog yet so I offered to post for her. Please leave a comment so she can see how much fun blogging is. Dawnette is a National Board Certified special education teacher in Chesapeake Virginia.

1. There is a reason my students are in special education, because they
are not learning on grade level or they learn in a different manner. So,
why must they take the same standardized test for the grade they are in, not
for the grade that their learning ability currently is?
2. The alternate assessments that are available for these students are
involve many hours of teacher time, and only reflect pieces of what a
student has learned. They are not a true reflection of the student and
their learning.
3. A lower class size would make remediating special education
students more efficient. Perhaps they should try to teach 18 LD/OHI/ED
students for a day and they would see that even having an assistant doesn't
make it easy, or efficient, or best for students.
4. That a "mild disability" class is not in the best interest in
students. Grouping students by disability is best for their learning. One
ED student in an LD classroom can impede the learning of the rest of the
students.
5. That I teach for the love of teaching. Please try to reduce the
paperwork that seems to increase twofold each year so that I may actually
focus on student learning, not the paper trail that seems to get longer by
the year.