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"content": "\u003cp>Scores of speech therapists across the country erupted last month when their leading professional association said it was considering dropping language calling for diversity, equity and inclusion and “cultural competence” in their certification standards. Those values could be replaced in some standards with a much more amorphous emphasis on “person-centered care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The decision to propose these modifications was not made lightly,” wrote officials of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in a \u003ca href=\"https://view.mail.asha.org/?qs=b0e3d526e5292d67d3def9ec5a7e57ad1e82f2ea5df60f70bf28bad547b370aab1ae6a006ae85e517c601f74fa61f581a3e16e9c3b3930e7f03c8371e4b63afd9693dcc138dbfd929c91eb7be243f9e4\">June letter\u003c/a> to members. They noted that due to recent executive orders related to DEI, even terminology that “is lawfully applied and considered essential for clinical practice … could put ASHA’s certification programs at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet in the eyes of experts and some speech pathologists, the change would further imperil getting quality help to a group that’s long been grossly underserved: young children with speech delays who live in households where English is not the primary language spoken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to have long-term impacts on communities who already struggle to get services for their needs,” said Joshuaa Allison-Burbank, a speech language pathologist and Navajo member who works on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico where the tribal language is dominant in many homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the country, speech therapists have been in short supply for many years. Then, after the pandemic lockdown, the \u003ca href=\"https://knowledge.komodohealth.com/hubfs/2023/Speech_Pathology_Research_Brief.pdf\">number of young children diagnosed annually with a speech delay more than doubled\u003c/a>. Amid that broad crisis in capacity, multilingual learners are among those \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/stoken/default+domain/FDMMAW82RH7RZDFKGHUF/full\">most at risk\u003c/a> of falling through the cracks. \u003ca href=\"https://www.asha.org/siteassets/surveys/demographic-profile-bilingual-spanish-service-members.pdf\">Less than 10 percent of speech therapists are bilingual\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A shift away from DEI and cultural competence — which involves understanding and trying to respond to differences in children’s language, culture and home environment — could have a devastating effect at a time when more of both are needed to reach and help multilingual learners, several experts and speech pathologists said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They told me about a few promising strategies for strengthening speech services for multilingual infants, toddlers and preschool-age children with speech delays — each of which involves a heavy reliance on DEI and cultural competence.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Embrace creative staffing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Navajo Nation faces severe shortages of trained personnel to evaluate and work with young children with developmental delays, including speech. So in 2022, Allison-Burbank and his research team began providing training in speech evaluation and therapy to Native family coaches who are already working with families through a tribal home visiting program. The family coaches provide speech support until a more permanent solution can be found, said Allison-Burbank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Home visiting programs are “an untapped resource for people like me who are trying to have a wider reach to identify these kids and get interim services going,” he said. (The existence of both the home visiting program and speech therapy are under serious threat because of federal cuts, including to Medicaid.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Use language tests that have been designed for multilingual populations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Decades ago, few if any of the exams used to diagnose speech delays had been “normed” — or pretested to establish expectations and benchmarks — on non-English-speaking populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, early childhood intervention programs in Texas were required several years ago to use a single tool that relied on English norms to diagnose Spanish-speaking children, said Ellen Kester, the founder and president of Bilinguistics Speech and Language Services in Austin, which provides both direct services to families and training to school districts. “We saw a rise in diagnosis of very young (Spanish-speaking) kids,” she said. That isn’t because all of the kids had speech delays, but due to fundamental differences between the two languages that were not reflected in the test’s design and scoring. (In Spanish, for instance, the ‘z’ sound is pronounced like an English ‘s.’)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are now more options than ever before of screeners and tools normed on multilingual, diverse populations; states, agencies and school districts should be selective, and informed, in seeking them out, and pushing for continued refinement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Expand training — formal and self-initiated — for speech therapists in the best ways to work with diverse populations\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the long-term, the best way to help more bilingual children is to hire more bilingual speech therapists through robust DEI efforts. But in the short term, speech therapists can’t rely solely on interpreters — if one is even available — to connect with multilingual children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means using resources that break down the major differences in structure, pronunciation and usage between English and the language spoken by the family, said Kester. “As therapists, we need to know the patterns of the languages and what’s to be expected and what’s not to be expected,” Kester said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also crucial that therapists understand how cultural norms may vary, especially as they coach parents and caregivers in how best to support their kids, said Katharine Zuckerman, professor and associate division head of general pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This idea that parents sit on the floor and play with the kid and teach them how to talk is a very American cultural idea,” she said. “In many communities, it doesn’t work quite that way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, to help the child, therapists have to embrace an idea that’s suddenly under siege: cultural competence,\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Quick take: Relevant research\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, several studies have homed in on how state early intervention systems, which serve children with developmental delays ages birth through 3, shortchange multilingual children with speech challenges. One \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X221120262\">study\u003c/a> based out of Oregon, and co-authored by Zuckerman, found that speech diagnoses for Spanish-speaking children were often less specific than for English speakers. Instead of pinpointing a particular challenge, the Spanish speakers tended to get the general “language delay” designation. That made it harder to connect families to the most tailored and beneficial therapies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0021992424000662\">study\u003c/a> found that speech pathologists routinely miss critical steps when evaluating multilingual children for early intervention. That can lead to overdiagnosis, underdiagnosis and inappropriate help. “These findings point to the critical need for increased preparation at preprofessional levels and strong advocacy … to ensure evidence-based EI assessments and family-centered, culturally responsive intervention for children from all backgrounds,” the authors concluded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Carr is a fellow at New America, focused on reporting on early childhood issues. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Contact the editor of this story, Christina Samuels, at 212-678-3635, via Signal at cas.37 or \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"mailto:samuels@hechingerreport.org\">\u003cem>samuels@hechingerreport.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about the speech therapists association was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/\">The Hechinger Report\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/weeklynewsletter/\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Scores of speech therapists across the country erupted last month when their leading professional association said it was considering dropping language calling for diversity, equity and inclusion and “cultural competence” in their certification standards. Those values could be replaced in some standards with a much more amorphous emphasis on “person-centered care.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The decision to propose these modifications was not made lightly,” wrote officials of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in a \u003ca href=\"https://view.mail.asha.org/?qs=b0e3d526e5292d67d3def9ec5a7e57ad1e82f2ea5df60f70bf28bad547b370aab1ae6a006ae85e517c601f74fa61f581a3e16e9c3b3930e7f03c8371e4b63afd9693dcc138dbfd929c91eb7be243f9e4\">June letter\u003c/a> to members. They noted that due to recent executive orders related to DEI, even terminology that “is lawfully applied and considered essential for clinical practice … could put ASHA’s certification programs at risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet in the eyes of experts and some speech pathologists, the change would further imperil getting quality help to a group that’s long been grossly underserved: young children with speech delays who live in households where English is not the primary language spoken.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is going to have long-term impacts on communities who already struggle to get services for their needs,” said Joshuaa Allison-Burbank, a speech language pathologist and Navajo member who works on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico where the tribal language is dominant in many homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Across the country, speech therapists have been in short supply for many years. Then, after the pandemic lockdown, the \u003ca href=\"https://knowledge.komodohealth.com/hubfs/2023/Speech_Pathology_Research_Brief.pdf\">number of young children diagnosed annually with a speech delay more than doubled\u003c/a>. Amid that broad crisis in capacity, multilingual learners are among those \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/stoken/default+domain/FDMMAW82RH7RZDFKGHUF/full\">most at risk\u003c/a> of falling through the cracks. \u003ca href=\"https://www.asha.org/siteassets/surveys/demographic-profile-bilingual-spanish-service-members.pdf\">Less than 10 percent of speech therapists are bilingual\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A shift away from DEI and cultural competence — which involves understanding and trying to respond to differences in children’s language, culture and home environment — could have a devastating effect at a time when more of both are needed to reach and help multilingual learners, several experts and speech pathologists said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They told me about a few promising strategies for strengthening speech services for multilingual infants, toddlers and preschool-age children with speech delays — each of which involves a heavy reliance on DEI and cultural competence.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Embrace creative staffing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The Navajo Nation faces severe shortages of trained personnel to evaluate and work with young children with developmental delays, including speech. So in 2022, Allison-Burbank and his research team began providing training in speech evaluation and therapy to Native family coaches who are already working with families through a tribal home visiting program. The family coaches provide speech support until a more permanent solution can be found, said Allison-Burbank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Home visiting programs are “an untapped resource for people like me who are trying to have a wider reach to identify these kids and get interim services going,” he said. (The existence of both the home visiting program and speech therapy are under serious threat because of federal cuts, including to Medicaid.)\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Use language tests that have been designed for multilingual populations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Decades ago, few if any of the exams used to diagnose speech delays had been “normed” — or pretested to establish expectations and benchmarks — on non-English-speaking populations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, early childhood intervention programs in Texas were required several years ago to use a single tool that relied on English norms to diagnose Spanish-speaking children, said Ellen Kester, the founder and president of Bilinguistics Speech and Language Services in Austin, which provides both direct services to families and training to school districts. “We saw a rise in diagnosis of very young (Spanish-speaking) kids,” she said. That isn’t because all of the kids had speech delays, but due to fundamental differences between the two languages that were not reflected in the test’s design and scoring. (In Spanish, for instance, the ‘z’ sound is pronounced like an English ‘s.’)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are now more options than ever before of screeners and tools normed on multilingual, diverse populations; states, agencies and school districts should be selective, and informed, in seeking them out, and pushing for continued refinement.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Expand training — formal and self-initiated — for speech therapists in the best ways to work with diverse populations\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In the long-term, the best way to help more bilingual children is to hire more bilingual speech therapists through robust DEI efforts. But in the short term, speech therapists can’t rely solely on interpreters — if one is even available — to connect with multilingual children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means using resources that break down the major differences in structure, pronunciation and usage between English and the language spoken by the family, said Kester. “As therapists, we need to know the patterns of the languages and what’s to be expected and what’s not to be expected,” Kester said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s also crucial that therapists understand how cultural norms may vary, especially as they coach parents and caregivers in how best to support their kids, said Katharine Zuckerman, professor and associate division head of general pediatrics at Oregon Health & Science University.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This idea that parents sit on the floor and play with the kid and teach them how to talk is a very American cultural idea,” she said. “In many communities, it doesn’t work quite that way.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In other words, to help the child, therapists have to embrace an idea that’s suddenly under siege: cultural competence,\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Quick take: Relevant research\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In recent years, several studies have homed in on how state early intervention systems, which serve children with developmental delays ages birth through 3, shortchange multilingual children with speech challenges. One \u003ca href=\"https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/0013189X221120262\">study\u003c/a> based out of Oregon, and co-authored by Zuckerman, found that speech diagnoses for Spanish-speaking children were often less specific than for English speakers. Instead of pinpointing a particular challenge, the Spanish speakers tended to get the general “language delay” designation. That made it harder to connect families to the most tailored and beneficial therapies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A second \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0021992424000662\">study\u003c/a> found that speech pathologists routinely miss critical steps when evaluating multilingual children for early intervention. That can lead to overdiagnosis, underdiagnosis and inappropriate help. “These findings point to the critical need for increased preparation at preprofessional levels and strong advocacy … to ensure evidence-based EI assessments and family-centered, culturally responsive intervention for children from all backgrounds,” the authors concluded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Carr is a fellow at New America, focused on reporting on early childhood issues. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Contact the editor of this story, Christina Samuels, at 212-678-3635, via Signal at cas.37 or \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"mailto:samuels@hechingerreport.org\">\u003cem>samuels@hechingerreport.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Kellen Hedler is actively engaged in his fourth-grade classroom: He raises his hand to correctly answer a math question, he reads prompts out loud for the class and he gathers with classmates to watch a science experiment during a lesson on erosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen has Down syndrome, and he spends more than 80% of his school day with his non-disabled peers. That level of inclusion in a general education classroom involves a lot of thoughtful planning on the part of his teachers at Frontier Elementary School in Edmond, Okla.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, says that inclusion also came with a learning curve: Back in college, he studied to become a general education teacher, but he doesn’t remember learning how to teach special education students like Kellen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have you differentiate lessons for assignments,” Frederick recalls of his college classes. “And then, when you’re in it, you feel very underprepared. Because it’s a real situation, you’re dealing with real people. You don’t want to mess it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities, like Kellen, are spending more time in general education classrooms. In 1989, less than a third of students with disabilities spent at least 80% of their day in general education, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_204.60.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>federal data\u003c/u>\u003c/a> shows. By 2022, that number had more than doubled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means general education teachers are more likely than ever to be working with students who have special needs. And yet, according to NPR reporting, the 10 largest universities in the country have a patchwork of special education requirements for future teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to elementary teacher prep programs, which are designed to prepare students to earn state teaching certifications, six of those institutions require education students to take just one dedicated course in special education. The remaining four require more than one course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But teacher prep degree paths are evolving. Some of the institutions that only require one course, including Texas A&M University and the University of Central Florida, told NPR they have bulked up the rest of their courses to infuse practices intended to reach every learner — not just typical ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7481x4987+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb0%2Ffd%2F4f730bbb4b21b8fda0d3fe6bb330%2Fnpr-k-233.png\" alt=\"Kellen's homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson.\">\u003cfigcaption>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And a new kind of degree is also becoming more common: Dual-licensure or “unified” degree programs aim to prepare students to earn both general education and special education certification. These programs are sprouting up across the country, including at Texas A&M, Wichita State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Northern Iowa.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lessons in special education don’t only happen in special education classes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The University of Central Florida’s teacher prep program has been under a gradual shift over the last seven years. Mary Little is a professor and program coordinator at UCF. She says the school has put a focus on learning from experience, and so its special education course is taught alongside a classroom internship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very [clearly] connecting theory and practice, collaboratively, within inclusive settings,” Little says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When teachers in training encounter questions in their internship classrooms, they can workshop them in real time with expert faculty. According to Little, challenges that come up include figuring out the appropriate learning accommodations for students with disabilities and working with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), which are legal documents that outline the services and accommodations each student is entitled to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little says the school is also intentional about infusing inclusive practices throughout its teacher prep program. That includes emphasizing a teaching practice known as Universal Design for Learning, or UDL. It prioritizes flexible methods of instruction to meet the needs of students who may learn in a variety of ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, in a first grade lesson on basic addition, a teacher could use pictures, tactile items and virtual tools to not only describe the math problem verbally, but also tangibly and visually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What might have, in the past, have been putting numbers up and having students look at those simple numbers, or giving students a worksheet and having them count off boxes or something has been expanded with UDL,” says Andrea Borowczak, director of UCF’s School of Teacher Education. “You’re trying to be accessible for all students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That also means not waiting for a child to be identified as having a disability before offering accommodations or specialized instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6240x4160+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F9a%2F1584ccd145768b0d15a6b633fd1f%2Fnpr-k-141.png\" alt=\"Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government.\">\u003cfigcaption>Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really helping all of our [teacher prep] students to thoughtfully prepare lesson presentations and assessments, and ways to demonstrate learning over multiple pathways, so that more of the students can access, master and demonstrate curriculum and content knowledge,” Little explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little and Borowczak say their school is also working on a new dual licensure program in early childhood education and special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, at least 4 of the 10 largest U.S. universities offer dual licensure or “unified” degree programs that prepare teachers to work in both general education and special education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘All students are general education students’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Kurth chairs the Department of Special Education at The University of Kansas, or KU, which recently debuted a \u003ca href=\"https://catalog.ku.edu/education/curriculum-teaching/bse-elementary-education/elementary-education-unified-conc/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>unified degree\u003c/u>\u003c/a> geared toward future teachers who want to serve in either general or special education classrooms. It requires eight more special education courses than the school’s traditional teaching degree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just one catch: For students with disabilities to benefit from dual degree programs like this, people have to choose to enroll in them, over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s going to require a paradigm shift to a philosophy that “all students are general education students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if you leave a unified program knowing how to teach all students, you know how to individualize instruction; you know how to collaborate with people across disciplines; you know how to understand students, IEPs and understand the general education curriculum,” Kurth says. “You’re just going to be a more confident and more capable teacher.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s too early to say if the department would switch to a unified-only education program. But it’s a possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I could honestly see a time in the near future where we do only have a unified program, because I think it has been really well-received,” Kurth said. “We’re maybe just a little cautious in trying to do too many big changes at once.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KU assistant professor Lisa Didion isn’t shy about pitching the school’s new unified degree program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, during a special education course that’s required for all KU education majors, she told her students that by joining the unified program, they would learn more strategies to reach all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s what’s really going to make a difference, is that if we have general educators that are trained like special educators, then we are really going to start moving that [needle],” Didion said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, said he’s considering switching to the unified program. He said as someone with disabilities, it’s important to him to be part of a “better system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important,” Erickson said. “But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody is able to succeed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities are spending more time in regular classrooms. Federal law encourages schools to teach these students alongside their peers as much as possible, but regular teachers aren’t always trained to serve students with disabilities. Beth Wallis from StateImpact Oklahoma reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BETH WALLIS, BYLINE: At Frontier Elementary in Edmond, Oklahoma, fourth-grader Kellen Hedler is in a general education classroom, working in a small group with his teacher, Adam Frederick. Today, they work on subtraction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ADAM FREDERICK: Nine take away six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN HEDLER: That’s hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: That is a hard one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen has Down syndrome. This small-group time is a chance for Frederick to give students like Kellen more attention, while others work independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Do you want the number line for it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Oh, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: OK. Two, three, four, five, six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen works with a tactile aid called a number line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: One. Two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Basically, a set of blocks that help with counting. They help him get to the right answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Three.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Three. Write it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen spends over 80% of his school day with his general-education peers. That means all of his teachers have to understand his learning style. But Frederick says he doesn’t remember taking any courses on special education when he got his teaching degree. Adapting his teaching to all kinds of learners was something he had to learn once he was in the classroom. He says that’s paid off for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: I do have students who are still doing addition with finger counting, yet I’m trying to teach multiplication. That gives me the opportunity to try to teach multiplication through addition for those students, and it gives our students who are on-level or above-level another strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Federal data show that more and more students with disabilities are spending at least 80% of their school day in general-education classrooms. That’s a benchmark often cited in federal datasets. In the last 35 years, the share of students who meet that benchmark has more than doubled. But how are teacher prep programs at universities changing to meet the needs of more inclusive classrooms?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LISA DIDION: When we think about students with disabilities, I want you to think about them as all of our students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Lisa Didion is teaching a class on special education to education majors at the University of Kansas, or KU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: A lot of times, when you get in school, sometimes they’re like, those are your students. These are my students. And we want to get rid of that kind of mentality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: The class is discussing how to advocate for their future students with disabilities – like actively participating in the process around individualized education programs, or IEPs. Those are documents that outline services a school is supposed to provide for each student with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Who in my classroom has a disability, and how can I better allow them to access that material? Questions about that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, raises his hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BENJAMIN ERICKSON: In many ways, it’s very individual, of…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: …Trying to figure out – with IEPs and stuff and trying to figure out, like, how do we make the environment least restrictive for this student, even if it might not be the same for another student?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: At the end of the class, Didion makes a pitch for students to join a new kind of major called Elementary Education Unified. It has eight more required special education courses than a regular education degree at KU, which only has two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: You will be able to have access to more strategies and go in-depth so that you can learn the skills to support all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Erickson is considering switching to the unified program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: I’m somebody who has a couple disabilities. I have ADHD. I was born with some brain disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: He says he still has more to learn, and it matters to him to be part of a better system for kids who learn differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important. But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody’s able to succeed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Unified programs are flourishing in Kansas, and not just at KU. Wichita State, Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State offer them. The University of Northern Iowa debuted a unified degree in early childhood education last year. Oklahoma State University is working to launch a similar program. There’s just one catch – for students with disabilities to start benefiting from these new teacher programs, people have to choose to enroll in them over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For NPR news, I’m Beth Wallis in Tulsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Kellen Hedler is actively engaged in his fourth-grade classroom: He raises his hand to correctly answer a math question, he reads prompts out loud for the class and he gathers with classmates to watch a science experiment during a lesson on erosion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen has Down syndrome, and he spends more than 80% of his school day with his non-disabled peers. That level of inclusion in a general education classroom involves a lot of thoughtful planning on the part of his teachers at Frontier Elementary School in Edmond, Okla.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, says that inclusion also came with a learning curve: Back in college, he studied to become a general education teacher, but he doesn’t remember learning how to teach special education students like Kellen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have you differentiate lessons for assignments,” Frederick recalls of his college classes. “And then, when you’re in it, you feel very underprepared. Because it’s a real situation, you’re dealing with real people. You don’t want to mess it up.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities, like Kellen, are spending more time in general education classrooms. In 1989, less than a third of students with disabilities spent at least 80% of their day in general education, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d23/tables/dt23_204.60.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>federal data\u003c/u>\u003c/a> shows. By 2022, that number had more than doubled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means general education teachers are more likely than ever to be working with students who have special needs. And yet, according to NPR reporting, the 10 largest universities in the country have a patchwork of special education requirements for future teachers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When it comes to elementary teacher prep programs, which are designed to prepare students to earn state teaching certifications, six of those institutions require education students to take just one dedicated course in special education. The remaining four require more than one course.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But teacher prep degree paths are evolving. Some of the institutions that only require one course, including Texas A&M University and the University of Central Florida, told NPR they have bulked up the rest of their courses to infuse practices intended to reach every learner — not just typical ones.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/7481x4987+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb0%2Ffd%2F4f730bbb4b21b8fda0d3fe6bb330%2Fnpr-k-233.png\" alt=\"Kellen's homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson.\">\u003cfigcaption>Kellen’s homeroom teacher, Adam Frederick, works with Kellen and other students on a math lesson. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And a new kind of degree is also becoming more common: Dual-licensure or “unified” degree programs aim to prepare students to earn both general education and special education certification. These programs are sprouting up across the country, including at Texas A&M, Wichita State University, The Ohio State University and the University of Northern Iowa.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Lessons in special education don’t only happen in special education classes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The University of Central Florida’s teacher prep program has been under a gradual shift over the last seven years. Mary Little is a professor and program coordinator at UCF. She says the school has put a focus on learning from experience, and so its special education course is taught alongside a classroom internship.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re very [clearly] connecting theory and practice, collaboratively, within inclusive settings,” Little says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When teachers in training encounter questions in their internship classrooms, they can workshop them in real time with expert faculty. According to Little, challenges that come up include figuring out the appropriate learning accommodations for students with disabilities and working with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), which are legal documents that outline the services and accommodations each student is entitled to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little says the school is also intentional about infusing inclusive practices throughout its teacher prep program. That includes emphasizing a teaching practice known as Universal Design for Learning, or UDL. It prioritizes flexible methods of instruction to meet the needs of students who may learn in a variety of ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For instance, in a first grade lesson on basic addition, a teacher could use pictures, tactile items and virtual tools to not only describe the math problem verbally, but also tangibly and visually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What might have, in the past, have been putting numbers up and having students look at those simple numbers, or giving students a worksheet and having them count off boxes or something has been expanded with UDL,” says Andrea Borowczak, director of UCF’s School of Teacher Education. “You’re trying to be accessible for all students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That also means not waiting for a child to be identified as having a disability before offering accommodations or specialized instruction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6240x4160+0+0/resize/1200/quality/75/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F02%2F9a%2F1584ccd145768b0d15a6b633fd1f%2Fnpr-k-141.png\" alt=\"Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government.\">\u003cfigcaption>Teacher Robyn Fox leads Kellen and his classmates in a lesson about the structure of the U.S. government. \u003ccite> (Katrina Ward for NPR)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It’s really helping all of our [teacher prep] students to thoughtfully prepare lesson presentations and assessments, and ways to demonstrate learning over multiple pathways, so that more of the students can access, master and demonstrate curriculum and content knowledge,” Little explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Little and Borowczak say their school is also working on a new dual licensure program in early childhood education and special education.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, at least 4 of the 10 largest U.S. universities offer dual licensure or “unified” degree programs that prepare teachers to work in both general education and special education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘All students are general education students’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Jennifer Kurth chairs the Department of Special Education at The University of Kansas, or KU, which recently debuted a \u003ca href=\"https://catalog.ku.edu/education/curriculum-teaching/bse-elementary-education/elementary-education-unified-conc/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u003cu>unified degree\u003c/u>\u003c/a> geared toward future teachers who want to serve in either general or special education classrooms. It requires eight more special education courses than the school’s traditional teaching degree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s just one catch: For students with disabilities to benefit from dual degree programs like this, people have to choose to enroll in them, over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s going to require a paradigm shift to a philosophy that “all students are general education students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And if you leave a unified program knowing how to teach all students, you know how to individualize instruction; you know how to collaborate with people across disciplines; you know how to understand students, IEPs and understand the general education curriculum,” Kurth says. “You’re just going to be a more confident and more capable teacher.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kurth says it’s too early to say if the department would switch to a unified-only education program. But it’s a possibility.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I could honestly see a time in the near future where we do only have a unified program, because I think it has been really well-received,” Kurth said. “We’re maybe just a little cautious in trying to do too many big changes at once.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KU assistant professor Lisa Didion isn’t shy about pitching the school’s new unified degree program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last fall, during a special education course that’s required for all KU education majors, she told her students that by joining the unified program, they would learn more strategies to reach all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And that’s what’s really going to make a difference, is that if we have general educators that are trained like special educators, then we are really going to start moving that [needle],” Didion said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, said he’s considering switching to the unified program. He said as someone with disabilities, it’s important to him to be part of a “better system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important,” Erickson said. “But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody is able to succeed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"npr-transcript\">\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Transcript:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LEILA FADEL, HOST:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students with disabilities are spending more time in regular classrooms. Federal law encourages schools to teach these students alongside their peers as much as possible, but regular teachers aren’t always trained to serve students with disabilities. Beth Wallis from StateImpact Oklahoma reports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BETH WALLIS, BYLINE: At Frontier Elementary in Edmond, Oklahoma, fourth-grader Kellen Hedler is in a general education classroom, working in a small group with his teacher, Adam Frederick. Today, they work on subtraction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ADAM FREDERICK: Nine take away six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN HEDLER: That’s hard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: That is a hard one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen has Down syndrome. This small-group time is a chance for Frederick to give students like Kellen more attention, while others work independently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Do you want the number line for it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Oh, yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: OK. Two, three, four, five, six.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen works with a tactile aid called a number line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: One. Two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Basically, a set of blocks that help with counting. They help him get to the right answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KELLEN: Three.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: Three. Write it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Kellen spends over 80% of his school day with his general-education peers. That means all of his teachers have to understand his learning style. But Frederick says he doesn’t remember taking any courses on special education when he got his teaching degree. Adapting his teaching to all kinds of learners was something he had to learn once he was in the classroom. He says that’s paid off for everyone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>FREDERICK: I do have students who are still doing addition with finger counting, yet I’m trying to teach multiplication. That gives me the opportunity to try to teach multiplication through addition for those students, and it gives our students who are on-level or above-level another strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Federal data show that more and more students with disabilities are spending at least 80% of their school day in general-education classrooms. That’s a benchmark often cited in federal datasets. In the last 35 years, the share of students who meet that benchmark has more than doubled. But how are teacher prep programs at universities changing to meet the needs of more inclusive classrooms?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LISA DIDION: When we think about students with disabilities, I want you to think about them as all of our students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Lisa Didion is teaching a class on special education to education majors at the University of Kansas, or KU.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: A lot of times, when you get in school, sometimes they’re like, those are your students. These are my students. And we want to get rid of that kind of mentality.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: The class is discussing how to advocate for their future students with disabilities – like actively participating in the process around individualized education programs, or IEPs. Those are documents that outline services a school is supposed to provide for each student with disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Who in my classroom has a disability, and how can I better allow them to access that material? Questions about that?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Benjamin Erickson, a junior majoring in elementary education, raises his hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>BENJAMIN ERICKSON: In many ways, it’s very individual, of…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: …Trying to figure out – with IEPs and stuff and trying to figure out, like, how do we make the environment least restrictive for this student, even if it might not be the same for another student?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: Yes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: At the end of the class, Didion makes a pitch for students to join a new kind of major called Elementary Education Unified. It has eight more required special education courses than a regular education degree at KU, which only has two.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DIDION: You will be able to have access to more strategies and go in-depth so that you can learn the skills to support all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Erickson is considering switching to the unified program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: I’m somebody who has a couple disabilities. I have ADHD. I was born with some brain disabilities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: He says he still has more to learn, and it matters to him to be part of a better system for kids who learn differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ERICKSON: Knowing that about kids who are coming into my classroom and learning how to support them is really important. But also, when you have an inclusive classroom and you make sure that everybody feels supported and everybody has what they need, everybody’s able to succeed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WALLIS: Unified programs are flourishing in Kansas, and not just at KU. Wichita State, Pittsburg State and Fort Hays State offer them. The University of Northern Iowa debuted a unified degree in early childhood education last year. Oklahoma State University is working to launch a similar program. There’s just one catch – for students with disabilities to start benefiting from these new teacher programs, people have to choose to enroll in them over traditional education programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For NPR news, I’m Beth Wallis in Tulsa.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her recent book, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538180365/Partnering-with-Culturally-and-Linguistically-Diverse-Families-in-Special-Education\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Partnering with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families in Special Education\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kristin Vogel-C\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">mpbell\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> notes the difficulties that parents of students with disabilities face when there is a language barrier. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.smfcsd.net/our-district/communication/news/default-board-post-page/~board/suptcommsboard-district-news/post/kristin-vogel-campbell-of-smfcsd-recognized-with-national-award-for-equity-in-education\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vogel-Campbell\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a 20-year veteran of special education, has seen a higher level of agency, access and knowledge of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/special-education\">special education system\u003c/a> among white and English-speaking parents of children with disabilities. Families that don’t fall into these identities often lack the social and cultural capital to effectively advocate for their children within a bureaucratic system. For example, families who have access to resources like attorneys or legal advocates may be better able to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58633/this-is-not-inclusive-some-students-with-disabilities-are-going-without-as-districts-scale-back-virtual-programs\">ensure their children receive the special education services\u003c/a> they need. “There are free and low-cost advocacy and attorneys, but their bandwidth is totally spread thin,” Vogel-Campbell said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, even though all parents and families have the \u003ca href=\"https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/d/300.322/e\">right to qualified interpretation\u003c/a>, schools can have difficulty finding interpreters that can accurately convey academic language during meetings about a student’s individualized education plan (IEP). According to Vogel-Campbell, not providing proper interpretation services during communication between educators and parents can break trust and delay the implementation of an IEP.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Though not all of these issues are within individual educators’ control, when special education teachers recognize these barriers, they can \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED/status/1751597264210911576/photo/1\">think creatively\u003c/a> about how to connect with and support families who speak languages other than English. Jeremy Jarvi and Ben Simson, two special education teachers who work with Vogel-Campbell in California’s San Mateo-Foster City School District, shared some of their strategies for doing just that. From using Google Translate, to creating systems of outreach and advocacy, Jarvi, Simson and Vogel-Campbell are dedicated to fostering a welcoming environment for the families of students with disabilities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Overcoming language barriers during the IEP process\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to Vogel-Campbell, the IEP process is very structured, and doesn’t provide parents an opportunity to share their specific hopes for their children. Language barriers and lack of trust can exacerbate this issue. For example, when a teacher makes eye contact only with an interpreter, rather than the parent, this doesn’t communicate respect towards the families of the students being discussed, said Vogel-Campbell.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While Vogel-Campbell’s school district obtains Spanish interpreter services relatively quickly, and is required to offer no-cost interpretation for all non-English speaking parents, she said that it may take up to a month to coordinate an interpreter of languages less frequently spoken in the area. \u003c/span>Vogel-Campbell suggested that educators make small efforts throughout the school year to reach out to parents in their preferred language. For instance, teachers can introduce themselves or greet a family in their native language, even if the rest of the meeting relies on an interpreter. Doing so communicates respect and eagerness to connect with those parents, said Vogel-Campbell. She urged educators to recognize that even if parents don’t understand the dominant language spoken by the teacher it “doesn’t mean that they’re not a source of knowledge and information for their students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi and Simson both regularly use \u003ca href=\"https://translate.google.com/\">Google translate\u003c/a> to communicate with non-English speaking parents. Jarvi, whose classroom consists of nine kindergarten through third graders with moderate to severe disabilities, tries to translate all IEPs using Google Translate. He said that translating it himself for parents is often faster than sending it through the district for a translation, which he said can take up to two weeks to complete. \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/immigrant-parents-report-faulty-slow-translation-of-special-education-documents/700531\">Monthslong waits for IEP translations, as well as poor translations, are common across California\u003c/a>, according to EdSource. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi said that the longer parents have to wait for the IEP document, the more drawn out the process is for parental consent, signature and implementation. “We want it to have a quick turnaround for consent and implementation, because the longer it takes for the parent to consent, the less time the child has to meet the goals,” he said. Without an IEP signed by a parent, the educator has to continue curriculum based off of the most recently signed IEP, which can be a year out of date. The quicker special education teachers can sit down with parents with an agreed upon IEP, the less likely students are to fall behind in meeting their curriculum goals whether those are academic or functional life skills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Communicating effectively with families\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi and Simson have implemented similar strategies to close the communication gap between themselves and their students’ parents. Simson, who works with middle school students, uses Google Translate to send and receive text messages and emails to and from parents. His classroom consists of families that speak English and Spanish. He tells parents that he has no problem translating on his end and he lets them take the lead on which language to use. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi also uses Google Translate as much as he can to communicate with parents of his students that might speak a primary language at home other than English. Over the years, he has worked with families who speak Khmer, Cambodian, Japanese and Spanish. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Continuing to build those relationships with parents, Simson approaches IEP meetings wondering how he can foster an authentic connection with the family to solidify the partnership between educator and parent. He also texts or calls parents every couple of days with positive news about their student and encourages parents to praise their children. If the student has an obstacle to overcome, Simson makes sure to collaborate with parents to come up with a redirection or constructive solution to the problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers might interpret parental deference to educators’ ideas as disengagement, but in her book Vogel-Campbell highlighted a diversity of non-Western cultural beliefs that may shape parents’ interactions with the school system. She said it’s important to recognize those differences and emphasize ways that parents can advocate for their children in the U.S. education system. Jarvi, who often speaks with parents who are new to the IEP process, makes sure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52468/helping-families-ask-questions-could-be-your-most-powerful-engagement-tool\">create lasting relationships with parents\u003c/a> in the hopes that they continue advocacy for their children after they leave his classroom. In his weekly communications home, he offers a variety of messaging styles from a traditional email to text messages that consist of a smiley face or frowny face. Although he said it can take some trial and error, Jarvi works to tailor his communication to a parent’s bandwidth and to smooth out any challenges.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Translation resources and multilingual services for families\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vogel-Campbell also shared some resources that her district uses for communicating with families speaking different languages. One is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parentsquare.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parent Square\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a communication tool designed for use in K-12 education that educators, administrators and district officials use to translate memos into more than 100 languages. Some teachers in Vogel-Campbell’s district also use \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.remind.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Remind\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an education communication platform with two-way texting translation capabilities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If parents ask educators for resources regarding support and advocacy, Vogel-Campbell recommended the organization \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://supportforfamilies.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Support For Families\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which is based in San Francisco but offers many online resources, such as introductions to different diagnoses. Vogel-Campbell also recommended connecting families to parent centers that offer multilingual services and resources to families of children with disabilities. Parent centers can be found by location at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">https://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Vogel-Campbell’s district also has recently partnered with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.footsteps2brilliance.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Footsteps To Brilliance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a bilingual app that can be used by families to continue literacy lessons at home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her recent book, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538180365/Partnering-with-Culturally-and-Linguistically-Diverse-Families-in-Special-Education\">\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Partnering with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families in Special Education\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kristin Vogel-C\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">mpbell\u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> notes the difficulties that parents of students with disabilities face when there is a language barrier. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.smfcsd.net/our-district/communication/news/default-board-post-page/~board/suptcommsboard-district-news/post/kristin-vogel-campbell-of-smfcsd-recognized-with-national-award-for-equity-in-education\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vogel-Campbell\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a 20-year veteran of special education, has seen a higher level of agency, access and knowledge of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/tag/special-education\">special education system\u003c/a> among white and English-speaking parents of children with disabilities. Families that don’t fall into these identities often lack the social and cultural capital to effectively advocate for their children within a bureaucratic system. For example, families who have access to resources like attorneys or legal advocates may be better able to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/58633/this-is-not-inclusive-some-students-with-disabilities-are-going-without-as-districts-scale-back-virtual-programs\">ensure their children receive the special education services\u003c/a> they need. “There are free and low-cost advocacy and attorneys, but their bandwidth is totally spread thin,” Vogel-Campbell said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Additionally, even though all parents and families have the \u003ca href=\"https://sites.ed.gov/idea/regs/b/d/300.322/e\">right to qualified interpretation\u003c/a>, schools can have difficulty finding interpreters that can accurately convey academic language during meetings about a student’s individualized education plan (IEP). According to Vogel-Campbell, not providing proper interpretation services during communication between educators and parents can break trust and delay the implementation of an IEP.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Though not all of these issues are within individual educators’ control, when special education teachers recognize these barriers, they can \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED/status/1751597264210911576/photo/1\">think creatively\u003c/a> about how to connect with and support families who speak languages other than English. Jeremy Jarvi and Ben Simson, two special education teachers who work with Vogel-Campbell in California’s San Mateo-Foster City School District, shared some of their strategies for doing just that. From using Google Translate, to creating systems of outreach and advocacy, Jarvi, Simson and Vogel-Campbell are dedicated to fostering a welcoming environment for the families of students with disabilities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Overcoming language barriers during the IEP process\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to Vogel-Campbell, the IEP process is very structured, and doesn’t provide parents an opportunity to share their specific hopes for their children. Language barriers and lack of trust can exacerbate this issue. For example, when a teacher makes eye contact only with an interpreter, rather than the parent, this doesn’t communicate respect towards the families of the students being discussed, said Vogel-Campbell.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">While Vogel-Campbell’s school district obtains Spanish interpreter services relatively quickly, and is required to offer no-cost interpretation for all non-English speaking parents, she said that it may take up to a month to coordinate an interpreter of languages less frequently spoken in the area. \u003c/span>Vogel-Campbell suggested that educators make small efforts throughout the school year to reach out to parents in their preferred language. For instance, teachers can introduce themselves or greet a family in their native language, even if the rest of the meeting relies on an interpreter. Doing so communicates respect and eagerness to connect with those parents, said Vogel-Campbell. She urged educators to recognize that even if parents don’t understand the dominant language spoken by the teacher it “doesn’t mean that they’re not a source of knowledge and information for their students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi and Simson both regularly use \u003ca href=\"https://translate.google.com/\">Google translate\u003c/a> to communicate with non-English speaking parents. Jarvi, whose classroom consists of nine kindergarten through third graders with moderate to severe disabilities, tries to translate all IEPs using Google Translate. He said that translating it himself for parents is often faster than sending it through the district for a translation, which he said can take up to two weeks to complete. \u003ca href=\"https://edsource.org/2023/immigrant-parents-report-faulty-slow-translation-of-special-education-documents/700531\">Monthslong waits for IEP translations, as well as poor translations, are common across California\u003c/a>, according to EdSource. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi said that the longer parents have to wait for the IEP document, the more drawn out the process is for parental consent, signature and implementation. “We want it to have a quick turnaround for consent and implementation, because the longer it takes for the parent to consent, the less time the child has to meet the goals,” he said. Without an IEP signed by a parent, the educator has to continue curriculum based off of the most recently signed IEP, which can be a year out of date. The quicker special education teachers can sit down with parents with an agreed upon IEP, the less likely students are to fall behind in meeting their curriculum goals whether those are academic or functional life skills.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Communicating effectively with families\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi and Simson have implemented similar strategies to close the communication gap between themselves and their students’ parents. Simson, who works with middle school students, uses Google Translate to send and receive text messages and emails to and from parents. His classroom consists of families that speak English and Spanish. He tells parents that he has no problem translating on his end and he lets them take the lead on which language to use. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jarvi also uses Google Translate as much as he can to communicate with parents of his students that might speak a primary language at home other than English. Over the years, he has worked with families who speak Khmer, Cambodian, Japanese and Spanish. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Continuing to build those relationships with parents, Simson approaches IEP meetings wondering how he can foster an authentic connection with the family to solidify the partnership between educator and parent. He also texts or calls parents every couple of days with positive news about their student and encourages parents to praise their children. If the student has an obstacle to overcome, Simson makes sure to collaborate with parents to come up with a redirection or constructive solution to the problem. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers might interpret parental deference to educators’ ideas as disengagement, but in her book Vogel-Campbell highlighted a diversity of non-Western cultural beliefs that may shape parents’ interactions with the school system. She said it’s important to recognize those differences and emphasize ways that parents can advocate for their children in the U.S. education system. Jarvi, who often speaks with parents who are new to the IEP process, makes sure to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52468/helping-families-ask-questions-could-be-your-most-powerful-engagement-tool\">create lasting relationships with parents\u003c/a> in the hopes that they continue advocacy for their children after they leave his classroom. In his weekly communications home, he offers a variety of messaging styles from a traditional email to text messages that consist of a smiley face or frowny face. Although he said it can take some trial and error, Jarvi works to tailor his communication to a parent’s bandwidth and to smooth out any challenges.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Translation resources and multilingual services for families\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vogel-Campbell also shared some resources that her district uses for communicating with families speaking different languages. One is \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parentsquare.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Parent Square\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a communication tool designed for use in K-12 education that educators, administrators and district officials use to translate memos into more than 100 languages. Some teachers in Vogel-Campbell’s district also use \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.remind.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Remind\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, an education communication platform with two-way texting translation capabilities. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">If parents ask educators for resources regarding support and advocacy, Vogel-Campbell recommended the organization \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://supportforfamilies.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Support For Families\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, which is based in San Francisco but offers many online resources, such as introductions to different diagnoses. Vogel-Campbell also recommended connecting families to parent centers that offer multilingual services and resources to families of children with disabilities. Parent centers can be found by location at \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">https://www.parentcenterhub.org/find-your-center\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Vogel-Campbell’s district also has recently partnered with \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.footsteps2brilliance.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Footsteps To Brilliance\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, a bilingual app that can be used by families to continue literacy lessons at home.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For the past 25 years, U.S. policy has urged schools to \u003ca href=\"https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">keep students with disabilities in the same classrooms with their general education peers\u003c/a> unless severe disabilities prevent it. It seems a humane policy not to wall off those with disabilities and keep them apart from society. Who would argue against it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools have embraced inclusion. According to the most recent data from 2020-21 school year, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two thirds of the 7 million students with disabilities who receive special education services spent 80% or more of their time\u003c/a> in traditional classrooms. Separation is less common today; only one out of every eight students with disabilities was taught separately in a special-needs only environment most of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a recent international analysis of all the available research on special education inclusion found inconsistent results. Some children thrived while others did very badly in regular classrooms. Overall, students didn’t benefit academically, psychologically or socially from the practice. Math and reading scores, along with psychosocial measures, were no higher for children with disabilities who learned in general education classrooms, on average, compared to children who learned in separate special education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was surprised,” said Nina Dalgaard, lead author of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/inclusion-children-with-special-educational-needs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inclusion study for the Campbell Collaboration\u003c/a>, a nonprofit organization that reviews research evidence for public policy purposes. “Despite a rather large evidence base, it doesn’t appear that inclusion automatically has positive effects. To the contrary, for some children, it appears that being taught in a segregated setting is actually beneficial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many disability advocates balked at the findings, published in December 2022, on social media. An influential lobbying organization, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said it continues to believe that inclusion is beneficial for students and that this study will “not change” how the disability community advocates for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students with disabilities have a right to learn alongside their peers, and studies have shown that this is beneficial not only for students with disabilities but also for other students in the classroom,” said Lindsay Kubatzky, the organization’s director of policy and advocacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every student is different, and ‘inclusion’ for one student may look different from others. For some, it could be a classroom separate from their peers, but that is rarely the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Campbell Collaboration study is a meta-analysis, which means it is supposed to sweep up all the best research on a topic and use statistics to tell us where the preponderance of the evidence lies. Dalgaard, a senior researcher at VIVE—The Danish Centre for Social Science Research, initially found over 2,000 studies on special education inclusion. But she threw out 99 percent of them, many of which were quite favorable to inclusion. Most were qualitative studies that described students’ experiences in an inclusion classroom but didn’t rigorously track academic progress. Among those that did monitor math or reading, many of them simply noted how much students improved in an inclusive setting, but didn’t compare those gains with how students might have otherwise fared in a separate special-needs only setting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fewer than 100 studies had comparison groups, but still most of those didn’t make the cut because the students in inclusive settings were vastly different from those in separate settings. Special education is a particularly difficult area to study because researchers cannot randomly assign students with disabilities to different treatments. Schools tend to keep children with milder disabilities in a regular classroom and teach only those with the most severe disabilities separately. In comparing how both groups fare, it should be no surprise that students with milder disabilities outperform those with more severe disabilities. But that’s not good evidence that inclusion is better. “It’s a serious, confounding bias,” Dalgaard said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Dalgaard was left with only 15 studies where the severity of the disability was somehow noted so that she could compare apples to apples. These 15 studies covered more than 7,000 students, ages six through 16, across nine countries. Four of the studies were conducted in the United States with the others in Europe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disabilities in the studies ranged widely, from the most common ones, such as dyslexia, ADHD, speech impairments and autism, to rarer ones, such as Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Some students had mild versions; others had more severe forms. I asked Dalgaard if she found clues in the results as to which disabilities were more conducive to inclusion. I was curious if children with severe dyslexia, for example, might benefit from separate instruction with specially trained reading teachers for the first couple of years after diagnosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dalgaard said there wasn’t enough statistical evidence to untangle when inclusion is most beneficial. But she did notice in the underlying studies that students with autism seem to be better off in a separate setting. For example, their psychosocial scores were higher. But more studies would be needed to confirm this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also noticed that how a school goes about including students with disabilities mattered. In schools that used a co-teaching model, one regular teacher and one trained in special education, students fared better in inclusion classrooms. Again, more research is needed to confirm this statistically. And, even if co-teaching proves to be effective over multiple studies, not every school can afford to hire two teachers for every classroom. It’s particularly cost-prohibitive in middle and high school as teachers specialize in subjects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Dalgaard noted that inclusion is often a cost-cutting practice because schools save money when they no longer run separate classrooms or schools for children with disabilities. “In some cases, children with disabilities no longer had access to the same resources. It’s not supposed to happen this way, but it does in some places,” said Dalgaard. “That is probably why the results of the meta-analysis show that some children actually learn more in segregated settings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was surprised to learn from Dalgaard that no sound meta-analysis has found “clear” benefits for special education inclusion. Indeed, previous meta-analyses have found exactly the same inconsistent or very small positive results, she said. This latest Campbell Collaboration study was commissioned to see if newer research, published from 2000 to September 2021, would move the dial. It did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a nation, we spend an estimated $90 billion a year in federal, state and local taxpayer funds on educating children with disabilities. We ought to know more about how to best help them learn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>*Correction: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Lindsay Kubatzky’s name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-ponts-new-research-review-questions-the-evidence-for-special-education-inclusion/\">\u003cem>special education inclusion\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the past 25 years, U.S. policy has urged schools to \u003ca href=\"https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">keep students with disabilities in the same classrooms with their general education peers\u003c/a> unless severe disabilities prevent it. It seems a humane policy not to wall off those with disabilities and keep them apart from society. Who would argue against it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schools have embraced inclusion. According to the most recent data from 2020-21 school year, \u003ca href=\"https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg/students-with-disabilities\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">two thirds of the 7 million students with disabilities who receive special education services spent 80% or more of their time\u003c/a> in traditional classrooms. Separation is less common today; only one out of every eight students with disabilities was taught separately in a special-needs only environment most of the time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a recent international analysis of all the available research on special education inclusion found inconsistent results. Some children thrived while others did very badly in regular classrooms. Overall, students didn’t benefit academically, psychologically or socially from the practice. Math and reading scores, along with psychosocial measures, were no higher for children with disabilities who learned in general education classrooms, on average, compared to children who learned in separate special education classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was surprised,” said Nina Dalgaard, lead author of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/better-evidence/inclusion-children-with-special-educational-needs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">inclusion study for the Campbell Collaboration\u003c/a>, a nonprofit organization that reviews research evidence for public policy purposes. “Despite a rather large evidence base, it doesn’t appear that inclusion automatically has positive effects. To the contrary, for some children, it appears that being taught in a segregated setting is actually beneficial.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many disability advocates balked at the findings, published in December 2022, on social media. An influential lobbying organization, the National Center for Learning Disabilities, said it continues to believe that inclusion is beneficial for students and that this study will “not change” how the disability community advocates for students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Students with disabilities have a right to learn alongside their peers, and studies have shown that this is beneficial not only for students with disabilities but also for other students in the classroom,” said Lindsay Kubatzky, the organization’s director of policy and advocacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every student is different, and ‘inclusion’ for one student may look different from others. For some, it could be a classroom separate from their peers, but that is rarely the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Campbell Collaboration study is a meta-analysis, which means it is supposed to sweep up all the best research on a topic and use statistics to tell us where the preponderance of the evidence lies. Dalgaard, a senior researcher at VIVE—The Danish Centre for Social Science Research, initially found over 2,000 studies on special education inclusion. 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In comparing how both groups fare, it should be no surprise that students with milder disabilities outperform those with more severe disabilities. But that’s not good evidence that inclusion is better. “It’s a serious, confounding bias,” Dalgaard said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the end, Dalgaard was left with only 15 studies where the severity of the disability was somehow noted so that she could compare apples to apples. These 15 studies covered more than 7,000 students, ages six through 16, across nine countries. Four of the studies were conducted in the United States with the others in Europe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The disabilities in the studies ranged widely, from the most common ones, such as dyslexia, ADHD, speech impairments and autism, to rarer ones, such as Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. Some students had mild versions; others had more severe forms. I asked Dalgaard if she found clues in the results as to which disabilities were more conducive to inclusion. I was curious if children with severe dyslexia, for example, might benefit from separate instruction with specially trained reading teachers for the first couple of years after diagnosis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dalgaard said there wasn’t enough statistical evidence to untangle when inclusion is most beneficial. But she did notice in the underlying studies that students with autism seem to be better off in a separate setting. For example, their psychosocial scores were higher. But more studies would be needed to confirm this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She also noticed that how a school goes about including students with disabilities mattered. In schools that used a co-teaching model, one regular teacher and one trained in special education, students fared better in inclusion classrooms. Again, more research is needed to confirm this statistically. And, even if co-teaching proves to be effective over multiple studies, not every school can afford to hire two teachers for every classroom. It’s particularly cost-prohibitive in middle and high school as teachers specialize in subjects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Dalgaard noted that inclusion is often a cost-cutting practice because schools save money when they no longer run separate classrooms or schools for children with disabilities. “In some cases, children with disabilities no longer had access to the same resources. It’s not supposed to happen this way, but it does in some places,” said Dalgaard. “That is probably why the results of the meta-analysis show that some children actually learn more in segregated settings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was surprised to learn from Dalgaard that no sound meta-analysis has found “clear” benefits for special education inclusion. Indeed, previous meta-analyses have found exactly the same inconsistent or very small positive results, she said. This latest Campbell Collaboration study was commissioned to see if newer research, published from 2000 to September 2021, would move the dial. 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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/proof-ponts-new-research-review-questions-the-evidence-for-special-education-inclusion/\">\u003cem>special education inclusion\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u003cem>Hechinger newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Helping Students with Intellectual Disabilities Conquer College",
"title": "Helping Students with Intellectual Disabilities Conquer College",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/helping-students-with-intellectual-disabilities-conquer-college/\">\u003cem>intellectual disabilities\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cem>The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LOGAN, Utah — It was Day One of orientation for the 15 students in Utah State University’s program for students with intellectual disabilities, and the group was playing a game of Get-to-Know-You Bingo. Courtney Jorgensen, pen in hand, wandered the courtyard, searching for the unlikely individuals who didn’t use Facebook and didn’t like dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know one we both have!” Jorgensen’s new roommate, Jessica, exclaimed, marking an X in a box in the left column. “We both love to dance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a bittersweet moment for Casey and Dean Jorgensen, Courtney’s parents, who live two hours away from the college, in Grantsville, Utah. They’d always hoped that their daughter might be able to attend college, but a college education was never a guarantee. They were excited for her, but like many parents of college freshmen, not quite ready when the time came to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m probably going to cry all the way home,” said Casey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some students in the Aggies Elevated program, named for the university’s agricultural college origins, have Down Syndrome, some have autism and several have multiple diagnoses. All have IQs of 70 or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without a program like Aggies Elevated, many of these students would be living at home, working menial, minimum-wage jobs. The employment rate for adults with cognitive disabilities is just \u003ca href=\"https://www.thinkwork.org/sites/default/files/files/statedata2018_web_F.pdf\">19 percent\u003c/a>, according to recent estimates. Those who do work make half of what adults without disabilities earn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54674\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54674\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1364\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-160x114.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-800x568.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-768x546.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-1020x725.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-1200x853.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aggies Elevated students and advisors wait for the bus. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The goal of Aggies Elevated — and the 274 other postsecondary transition programs for students with cognitive disabilities scattered across the country — is to prepare students for meaningful work and independent living. By the end of the two-year program, these students should have not only a certificate, but also the connections and confidence they will need to become self-sufficient adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Results so far are encouraging. Close to two-thirds of students who completed one of 25 \u003ca href=\"https://thinkcollege.net/tpsid\">federally funded programs\u003c/a> between 2015 and 2017 found paid work within a year, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://thinkcollege.net/resource/program-evaluation/year-three-annual-report-of-the-tpsid-model-demonstration-projects-2017\">recent survey\u003c/a>. Ninety percent of Utah State’s 19 graduates are currently employed, and three-quarters are living on their own, according to program researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there still aren’t enough programs to meet demand, and federal funding for some of them expires next year. That’s left colleges like Utah State scrambling to find other sources of money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney’s dream is to become a florist and a mom. As a child, she’d make weed bouquets for her parents; as a teenager, she won three blue ribbons in the state fair for her floral arrangements. But she couldn’t find work, in part, her mom believes, because “employers see a person with a disability and aren’t willing to take a risk.” She hopes the internships her daughter will get through the program will help convince employers that she’s capable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54680\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54680\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Courtney Jorgensen, right, rides the bus with other Aggies Elevated students. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Courtney, meanwhile, said she’s excited to learn “life skills that will help me throughout my life.” She thinks the hardest thing about college will be having to advocate for herself. “I’m a little shy … well, a lot shy,” she said with a smile. “I struggle with reading and spelling. It’s hard to ask for help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney’s disability is hard to pin down. When she was young, doctors thought she might be deaf, or have autism, her parents said. They tested other theories, but nothing fit. Eventually, her parents stopped looking for a label.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When she was 8, we were riding in the car and she asked me ‘Mommy, what’s wrong with me?’ ” her mother recalled. “I said ‘Nothing,’ and we went and got ice cream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By high school, Courtney was a bundle of contradictions. She had trouble processing spoken language, but she sang beautifully; she stumbled over some words, mispronouncing or slurring them, but she could recite theatrical monologues by heart; she had severe clinical anxiety, but she loved socializing, and was active in swimming and theatre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s a mystery,” said Dean. “Doctors have done brain scans and EKGs, but they can’t figure her out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In school, Courtney had a reduced workload, a paraprofessional teacher assigned to help her in her classes and was allowed other accommodations, like permission to dictate answers and use a calculator. Her school district also provided support to help Courtney transition out of high school, which federal law requires for students who qualify for special education, but her mother says there was little mention of college as part of the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After graduation, Courtney took part in a life skills program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. But the other participants had more severe disabilities than she did, and Courtney got a little depressed, her dad said. He thinks she’ll fit in better in Aggies Elevated — and maybe even continue on to a four-year degree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54676\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 5703px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54676\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"5703\" height=\"4019\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1.jpg 5703w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-160x113.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-800x564.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-768x541.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-1020x719.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-1200x846.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 5703px) 100vw, 5703px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aggies Elevated Program Director Sue Reeves helps students Jessica Otty, left, and Courtney Jorgensen, right, fill out an intake form at the local independent living center, Options for Independence. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They found the program through a state resource center and chose it “almost by default,” said Dean. It was the only one in Utah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want her to have the experience everyone else can have if she wants it,” he said. “I think this program will be life-changing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was students and their parents who pushed for the first programs for students with intellectual disabilities, roughly 20 years ago. Some families even financed them, through donations to the colleges. “They’d been educated in inclusive school environments,” said Robert Morgan, a professor of special education and rehabilitation at Utah State. “Their peers went on to college, and they said ‘why not me?’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But selling professors and administrators on the programs wasn’t always easy. Some worried about a dilution of standards, or a lessening of institutional prestige. Others had practical concerns about risk and liability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morgan encountered many of those objections when he proposed creating a program at Utah State around 2000-01 after hearing about similar efforts elsewhere. He managed to convince colleagues to create an employment preparation program for high school students with an Individualized Education Program (IEPs set forth goals for students with disabilities and specify the services, accommodations and modifications they will receive).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That program, which is still in existence, “broke down the resistance” to the creation of a college transition program, Morgan said. When three families approached the college a few years later with an offer to fund a program their children could attend, administrators said yes. The first cohort of eight students enrolled in 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54681\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54681\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1238\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-160x103.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-800x516.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-768x495.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-1020x658.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-1200x774.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A board used to talk about healthy relationships with Aggies Elevated students during a presentation at Options for Independence. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nationally, over the past decade, the number of programs for students with disabilities has increased by 85 percent, according to Think College estimates. Much of that growth can be attributed to a 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act that, among many other changes, allowed students without a high school diploma to receive federal financial aid to attend approved “comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs.” It also created a decade-long $110 million grant program that has financed programs at 44 two- and four-year institutions, including Utah State.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before Congress made that change, students had to pay for programs out-of-pocket or use Medicaid or Vocational Rehabilitation funds, which are designed to help people with mental or physical disabilities become independent and find employment. But not every state allows adults with intellectual disabilities to use such funds for college, and some low-income students couldn’t afford to attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law “lit a fire under the movement for sure,” said Cathryn Weir, program director for the Think College National Coordinating Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federally supported programs \u003ca href=\"https://thinkcollege.net/resource/program-evaluation/year-three-annual-report-of-the-tpsid-model-demonstration-projects-2017\">vary widely\u003c/a> in size, ranging from two to 80 students, and cost, ranging from free to $65,206. Some of the transition programs prepare students for a specific profession, while others offer a more general credential. Just under half offer student housing, and three-quarters are considered “academically inclusive,” meaning that at least half of course enrollments are in mainstream courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aggies Elevated falls somewhere in the middle, offering some specialized courses, while permitting Aggies students to enroll in freshman- and sophomore-level courses. Students pay standard tuition, room and board, plus a $5,000 program fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54678\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54678\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1276\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-768x510.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-1200x798.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Courtney Jorgensen and other Aggies Elevated students practice shopping for groceries. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year, 25 students applied for the 10 slots. They went through a lengthy application process that involves inventories, interviews and a campus visit, during which applicants interacted. Sue Reeves, the program director, said they’re looking for the student “who wants to go to college that would not otherwise be able to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’s just their parents’ idea, they’re not going to do well,” she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The morning after the Orientation Bingo game, after the chosen 10 said goodbye to their parents and spent the first night on their own in the dorms, they headed to a classroom for a crash course on college expectations. Reeves handed out Post-its and asked students to write down three ways college is the same as high school and three ways it’s different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney sat in the front row, and spoke her answers slowly into her phone. She then transcribed the recording. The device helps her spell words, she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reeves read the students’ responses aloud. Under the “same” category: “You have to be on time;” “You have to turn in your assignments” and “No swords allowed.” Under “different”: “No more 5-minute bells,” “More freedom” and “You have to be responsible for yourself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any Spiderman fans out there?” Reeves asked. “With great freedom ….”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Comes great responsibility,” several students finished, in unison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Reeves lectured the students about using smartphones in class, Courtney quickly tucked hers into her pocket, worried about breaking the rules. During a break, she asked Reeves if it would be OK to use a phone for transcribing. Reeves reassured her: “If it’s a tool you use, it’s OK,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, Courtney was tired and a bit overwhelmed. When a graduate student mentor asked the students to rate their stress level for the day, on a scale of 1 to 5, she gave hers a 3 or 4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot,” she said simply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Courtney was raised in the Mormon faith, and “has a firm belief that trials and challenges can make you stronger,” her mother said. One of her favorite religious songs is Laura Story’s “Blessings,” which asks, “What if your healing comes through tears?” Before she left for college, Casey bought two teardrop-shaped crystals — one for her, one for Courtney — to remind her daughter of that line. Courtney put hers on the desk of her dorm room. It reminds her that “you can do it — you’re not alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the number of college programs for students like Courtney is growing, they’re hardly keeping up with demand, advocates say. In some states, there still isn’t a single program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the most established programs face an uncertain future, with funding subject to the whims of changing college administrations, said Weir, of Think College. “The programs are still pioneers, and they constantly have to show their worth and prove themselves,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help them in that process, Think College published a set of voluntary standards for inclusive higher education in 2012. It’s now working on standards for program accreditation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weir said that true educational equity for students with intellectual disabilities is still years off: “275 programs sounds like a lot, but there are over 4,000 institutions” in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal support for the grantees expires next year, and many programs are scrambling to identify new sources of funding. Some are looking to nonprofits or foundations for support, while others are considering scaling back staffing or raising fees, Weir said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Utah State, the president has pledged to continue Reeves’ position through university funds. The program fee, added this year, and other funding sources will pay for mentors and staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Colleges got a bit of good news this September, when the Education Department issued guidance clarifying that states can use vocational rehabilitation funds to support students with intellectual disabilities attending college. In recent years, some states — Utah included — have denied funds to students on the grounds that the programs weren’t awarding “industry recognized credentials,” a narrowly defined category that excludes the two-year certificate in Integrated College and Community Studies that Aggies Elevated students earn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting to graduation won’t be easy for any of the students in the Aggies Elevated program. Many of them struggle with time management and have trouble with irregular schedules. Several have difficulty navigating new places; some have never been required to turn in homework; some are used to being told where to be at all times, says Reeves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Weir said college is the “perfect incubator” for young adults with intellectual disabilities, providing a relatively safe space where they can take charge of their own lives. She said the “sense of self-determination and confidence” that students gain through college is key to their success in the labor market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The skills they learn related to employment are important, but part of it is that their view of themselves changes,” she said. “It’s hard to measure, but it’s quite obvious when you see it. They talk more, they look you in the eye more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the second day of orientation, Courtney seemed more confident. During a group grocery-shopping trip, part of a lesson on meal-planning and preparation, she took charge, leading her team to the carrots and watermelons, and asking the questions that drove their decision-making — Small bag or large? One container or two?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students rode the city bus to the store to learn how it works, and on the way home, the driver asked, “Are we having fun?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah!” the students said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Got the bus system down?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No!” replied Courtney, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/helping-students-with-intellectual-disabilities-conquer-college/\">\u003cem>intellectual disabilities\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cem>The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp> \u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "At the 275 postsecondary transition programs for students with intellectual disabilities scattered across the country, students not only earn a certificate, but also the connections and confidence they will need to become self-sufficient adults. The number of such programs is growing, but it’s not keeping up with demand, and even established programs face an uncertain future.",
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"description": "At the 275 postsecondary transition programs for students with intellectual disabilities scattered across the country, students not only earn a certificate, but also the connections and confidence they will need to become self-sufficient adults. The number of such programs is growing, but it’s not keeping up with demand, and even established programs face an uncertain future.",
"title": "Helping Students with Intellectual Disabilities Conquer College | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/helping-students-with-intellectual-disabilities-conquer-college/\">\u003cem>intellectual disabilities\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cem>The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LOGAN, Utah — It was Day One of orientation for the 15 students in Utah State University’s program for students with intellectual disabilities, and the group was playing a game of Get-to-Know-You Bingo. Courtney Jorgensen, pen in hand, wandered the courtyard, searching for the unlikely individuals who didn’t use Facebook and didn’t like dessert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know one we both have!” Jorgensen’s new roommate, Jessica, exclaimed, marking an X in a box in the left column. “We both love to dance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was a bittersweet moment for Casey and Dean Jorgensen, Courtney’s parents, who live two hours away from the college, in Grantsville, Utah. They’d always hoped that their daughter might be able to attend college, but a college education was never a guarantee. They were excited for her, but like many parents of college freshmen, not quite ready when the time came to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m probably going to cry all the way home,” said Casey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some students in the Aggies Elevated program, named for the university’s agricultural college origins, have Down Syndrome, some have autism and several have multiple diagnoses. All have IQs of 70 or less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Without a program like Aggies Elevated, many of these students would be living at home, working menial, minimum-wage jobs. The employment rate for adults with cognitive disabilities is just \u003ca href=\"https://www.thinkwork.org/sites/default/files/files/statedata2018_web_F.pdf\">19 percent\u003c/a>, according to recent estimates. Those who do work make half of what adults without disabilities earn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54674\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54674\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1364\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-160x114.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-800x568.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-768x546.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-1020x725.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual2-1-1200x853.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aggies Elevated students and advisors wait for the bus. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The goal of Aggies Elevated — and the 274 other postsecondary transition programs for students with cognitive disabilities scattered across the country — is to prepare students for meaningful work and independent living. By the end of the two-year program, these students should have not only a certificate, but also the connections and confidence they will need to become self-sufficient adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Results so far are encouraging. Close to two-thirds of students who completed one of 25 \u003ca href=\"https://thinkcollege.net/tpsid\">federally funded programs\u003c/a> between 2015 and 2017 found paid work within a year, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://thinkcollege.net/resource/program-evaluation/year-three-annual-report-of-the-tpsid-model-demonstration-projects-2017\">recent survey\u003c/a>. Ninety percent of Utah State’s 19 graduates are currently employed, and three-quarters are living on their own, according to program researchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there still aren’t enough programs to meet demand, and federal funding for some of them expires next year. That’s left colleges like Utah State scrambling to find other sources of money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney’s dream is to become a florist and a mom. As a child, she’d make weed bouquets for her parents; as a teenager, she won three blue ribbons in the state fair for her floral arrangements. But she couldn’t find work, in part, her mom believes, because “employers see a person with a disability and aren’t willing to take a risk.” She hopes the internships her daughter will get through the program will help convince employers that she’s capable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54680\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54680\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-768x512.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual3-2-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Courtney Jorgensen, right, rides the bus with other Aggies Elevated students. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Courtney, meanwhile, said she’s excited to learn “life skills that will help me throughout my life.” She thinks the hardest thing about college will be having to advocate for herself. “I’m a little shy … well, a lot shy,” she said with a smile. “I struggle with reading and spelling. It’s hard to ask for help.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney’s disability is hard to pin down. When she was young, doctors thought she might be deaf, or have autism, her parents said. They tested other theories, but nothing fit. Eventually, her parents stopped looking for a label.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When she was 8, we were riding in the car and she asked me ‘Mommy, what’s wrong with me?’ ” her mother recalled. “I said ‘Nothing,’ and we went and got ice cream.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By high school, Courtney was a bundle of contradictions. She had trouble processing spoken language, but she sang beautifully; she stumbled over some words, mispronouncing or slurring them, but she could recite theatrical monologues by heart; she had severe clinical anxiety, but she loved socializing, and was active in swimming and theatre.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She’s a mystery,” said Dean. “Doctors have done brain scans and EKGs, but they can’t figure her out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In school, Courtney had a reduced workload, a paraprofessional teacher assigned to help her in her classes and was allowed other accommodations, like permission to dictate answers and use a calculator. Her school district also provided support to help Courtney transition out of high school, which federal law requires for students who qualify for special education, but her mother says there was little mention of college as part of the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After graduation, Courtney took part in a life skills program for young adults with intellectual disabilities. But the other participants had more severe disabilities than she did, and Courtney got a little depressed, her dad said. He thinks she’ll fit in better in Aggies Elevated — and maybe even continue on to a four-year degree.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54676\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 5703px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54676\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"5703\" height=\"4019\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1.jpg 5703w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-160x113.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-800x564.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-768x541.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-1020x719.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual4-1-1200x846.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 5703px) 100vw, 5703px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aggies Elevated Program Director Sue Reeves helps students Jessica Otty, left, and Courtney Jorgensen, right, fill out an intake form at the local independent living center, Options for Independence. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>They found the program through a state resource center and chose it “almost by default,” said Dean. It was the only one in Utah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We want her to have the experience everyone else can have if she wants it,” he said. “I think this program will be life-changing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was students and their parents who pushed for the first programs for students with intellectual disabilities, roughly 20 years ago. Some families even financed them, through donations to the colleges. “They’d been educated in inclusive school environments,” said Robert Morgan, a professor of special education and rehabilitation at Utah State. “Their peers went on to college, and they said ‘why not me?’ ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But selling professors and administrators on the programs wasn’t always easy. Some worried about a dilution of standards, or a lessening of institutional prestige. Others had practical concerns about risk and liability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Morgan encountered many of those objections when he proposed creating a program at Utah State around 2000-01 after hearing about similar efforts elsewhere. He managed to convince colleagues to create an employment preparation program for high school students with an Individualized Education Program (IEPs set forth goals for students with disabilities and specify the services, accommodations and modifications they will receive).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That program, which is still in existence, “broke down the resistance” to the creation of a college transition program, Morgan said. When three families approached the college a few years later with an offer to fund a program their children could attend, administrators said yes. The first cohort of eight students enrolled in 2014.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54681\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54681\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1238\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-160x103.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-800x516.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-768x495.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-1020x658.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual5-2-1200x774.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A board used to talk about healthy relationships with Aggies Elevated students during a presentation at Options for Independence. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Nationally, over the past decade, the number of programs for students with disabilities has increased by 85 percent, according to Think College estimates. Much of that growth can be attributed to a 2008 reauthorization of the Higher Education Act that, among many other changes, allowed students without a high school diploma to receive federal financial aid to attend approved “comprehensive transition and postsecondary programs.” It also created a decade-long $110 million grant program that has financed programs at 44 two- and four-year institutions, including Utah State.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before Congress made that change, students had to pay for programs out-of-pocket or use Medicaid or Vocational Rehabilitation funds, which are designed to help people with mental or physical disabilities become independent and find employment. But not every state allows adults with intellectual disabilities to use such funds for college, and some low-income students couldn’t afford to attend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law “lit a fire under the movement for sure,” said Cathryn Weir, program director for the Think College National Coordinating Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federally supported programs \u003ca href=\"https://thinkcollege.net/resource/program-evaluation/year-three-annual-report-of-the-tpsid-model-demonstration-projects-2017\">vary widely\u003c/a> in size, ranging from two to 80 students, and cost, ranging from free to $65,206. Some of the transition programs prepare students for a specific profession, while others offer a more general credential. Just under half offer student housing, and three-quarters are considered “academically inclusive,” meaning that at least half of course enrollments are in mainstream courses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Aggies Elevated falls somewhere in the middle, offering some specialized courses, while permitting Aggies students to enroll in freshman- and sophomore-level courses. Students pay standard tuition, room and board, plus a $5,000 program fee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_54678\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-54678\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1276\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-768x510.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-1020x678.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/23/2019/10/fieldintellectual6-1-1200x798.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Courtney Jorgensen and other Aggies Elevated students practice shopping for groceries. \u003ccite>(Kim Raff for The Hechinger Report)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>This year, 25 students applied for the 10 slots. They went through a lengthy application process that involves inventories, interviews and a campus visit, during which applicants interacted. Sue Reeves, the program director, said they’re looking for the student “who wants to go to college that would not otherwise be able to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it’s just their parents’ idea, they’re not going to do well,” she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The morning after the Orientation Bingo game, after the chosen 10 said goodbye to their parents and spent the first night on their own in the dorms, they headed to a classroom for a crash course on college expectations. Reeves handed out Post-its and asked students to write down three ways college is the same as high school and three ways it’s different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney sat in the front row, and spoke her answers slowly into her phone. She then transcribed the recording. The device helps her spell words, she explained.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Reeves read the students’ responses aloud. Under the “same” category: “You have to be on time;” “You have to turn in your assignments” and “No swords allowed.” Under “different”: “No more 5-minute bells,” “More freedom” and “You have to be responsible for yourself.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Any Spiderman fans out there?” Reeves asked. “With great freedom ….”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Comes great responsibility,” several students finished, in unison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Reeves lectured the students about using smartphones in class, Courtney quickly tucked hers into her pocket, worried about breaking the rules. During a break, she asked Reeves if it would be OK to use a phone for transcribing. Reeves reassured her: “If it’s a tool you use, it’s OK,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the day, Courtney was tired and a bit overwhelmed. When a graduate student mentor asked the students to rate their stress level for the day, on a scale of 1 to 5, she gave hers a 3 or 4.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s a lot,” she said simply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Courtney was raised in the Mormon faith, and “has a firm belief that trials and challenges can make you stronger,” her mother said. One of her favorite religious songs is Laura Story’s “Blessings,” which asks, “What if your healing comes through tears?” Before she left for college, Casey bought two teardrop-shaped crystals — one for her, one for Courtney — to remind her daughter of that line. Courtney put hers on the desk of her dorm room. It reminds her that “you can do it — you’re not alone.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the number of college programs for students like Courtney is growing, they’re hardly keeping up with demand, advocates say. In some states, there still isn’t a single program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the most established programs face an uncertain future, with funding subject to the whims of changing college administrations, said Weir, of Think College. “The programs are still pioneers, and they constantly have to show their worth and prove themselves,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To help them in that process, Think College published a set of voluntary standards for inclusive higher education in 2012. It’s now working on standards for program accreditation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weir said that true educational equity for students with intellectual disabilities is still years off: “275 programs sounds like a lot, but there are over 4,000 institutions” in this country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal support for the grantees expires next year, and many programs are scrambling to identify new sources of funding. Some are looking to nonprofits or foundations for support, while others are considering scaling back staffing or raising fees, Weir said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At Utah State, the president has pledged to continue Reeves’ position through university funds. The program fee, added this year, and other funding sources will pay for mentors and staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Colleges got a bit of good news this September, when the Education Department issued guidance clarifying that states can use vocational rehabilitation funds to support students with intellectual disabilities attending college. In recent years, some states — Utah included — have denied funds to students on the grounds that the programs weren’t awarding “industry recognized credentials,” a narrowly defined category that excludes the two-year certificate in Integrated College and Community Studies that Aggies Elevated students earn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Getting to graduation won’t be easy for any of the students in the Aggies Elevated program. Many of them struggle with time management and have trouble with irregular schedules. Several have difficulty navigating new places; some have never been required to turn in homework; some are used to being told where to be at all times, says Reeves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Weir said college is the “perfect incubator” for young adults with intellectual disabilities, providing a relatively safe space where they can take charge of their own lives. She said the “sense of self-determination and confidence” that students gain through college is key to their success in the labor market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The skills they learn related to employment are important, but part of it is that their view of themselves changes,” she said. “It’s hard to measure, but it’s quite obvious when you see it. They talk more, they look you in the eye more.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the second day of orientation, Courtney seemed more confident. During a group grocery-shopping trip, part of a lesson on meal-planning and preparation, she took charge, leading her team to the carrots and watermelons, and asking the questions that drove their decision-making — Small bag or large? One container or two?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The students rode the city bus to the store to learn how it works, and on the way home, the driver asked, “Are we having fun?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yeah!” the students said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Got the bus system down?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No!” replied Courtney, laughing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story about \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/helping-students-with-intellectual-disabilities-conquer-college/\">\u003cem>intellectual disabilities\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> was produced by \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://hechingerreport.org/\">\u003cem>The Hechinger Report\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://hechingerreport.org/newsletters/\">\u003cem>Hechinger’s newsletter\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "10 Ways To Help Kids With Learning Differences That Could Benefit All Students",
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"content": "\u003cp class=\"p1\">Schools are typically designed to serve the average student, and those with learning differences -- such as dyslexia or trouble with executive functioning skills -- usually make up a smaller part of the population. Estimates find that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/pages/risk.aspx\">5 to 20 percent\u003c/a> of Americans have learning differences. If struggling students don't find the help they need in school, keeping up with the rest of the class can be an enormous challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.curreyingram.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Currey Ingram Academy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is an independent school in Nashville developed specifically for kids with learning differences. As a way to spread the word about tactics that have worked at Currey Ingram Academy, head of school Jeffrey Mitchell shared 10 principles the school uses that are “realistic for every school in every context” as they seek to meet the needs of diverse learners. He presented his findings at the \u003ca href=\"http://schedule.sxswedu.com/events/event_PP60296\">SXSWedu\u003c/a> conference in Austin.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">He said that educators might already be applying the following ideas, and some might not work at their school. \"But if you take home one or two or three of these things and tweak what you’re currently doing, I think that the outcome will be positive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>Be Intentional\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let the mission of the school -- and your own personal mission -- guide your work, said Mitchell. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">School mission statements should be “understandable, memorable, powerful and simple,” so that teachers and administrators can say with confidence, “I know that, I believe in that, I live that. That’s what we do as a school.” The \u003ca href=\"https://www.curreyingram.org/page/about/mission-history--milestones\">mission\u003c/a> at his school is to create an academy \"\u003c/span>that empowers students with learning differences to achieve their fullest potential.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers can also adopt personal mission statements to help guide their planning. For example, when Mitchell was a seventh-grade science teacher, he wanted his students to be able to “ask questions like scientists,” and he infused that idea into each of his units.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rely on Evidence\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether the topic is reading instruction or classroom management, there is rich research available if you take the time to look for it. For example, recent advances in neuroimaging are changing intervention methods for students with dyslexia. Mitchell also pointed to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://visible-learning.org/2016/04/hattie-ranking-backup-of-138-effects/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">John Hattie’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> research on 1,200 meta-analyses in an effort to determine the variables that truly impact students' achievement.*\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If something is not working, consult the evidence,” said Mitchell. “Because chances are somebody out there is doing research on it and there’s good evidence to support a practice that you might not know about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Break Down the Traditional Structure of School\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I love being an educator,” said Mitchell. “But most everything about the industrial-factory model of school is not ideal for learners.” However, there are ways teachers can work around this structure, such as focusing on the word “variety.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you, as an administrator or teacher, are constructing curriculum, think about variety,\" said Mitchell. He reminds educators that classes will have a variety of learners so it's important to have several offerings. \"Think about multiple-sensory inputs -- let them hear it, let them see it, let them feel it -- and think about multiple instructional forms.” He also said variety is important when assessing student understanding; one form of test or assessment will not adequately reveal every student’s knowledge and skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Provide Clear Instruction on How to Think \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Currey Ingram Academy, teachers explicitly teach executive functioning skills to their students. Executive function and self-regulation skills are, according to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mitchell shared a strategy used by a third-grade teacher who was giving a short unit test. Immediately prior to the test, she spent 10 minutes reviewing test-taking strategies with her students -- with the test right in front of them. “She reminded them of seemingly simple things like, ‘There are four blanks for question two, and that means four responses are needed.'” After students were done with the test, they engaged in one more learning exercise. “They went over the test again. Not the answers, but the test itself. Did you answer all the questions? Instead of a typically summative learning experience, she made it a formative learning experience.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Be Mindful of Working Memory Limitations \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Working memory is a brain system that temporarily holds information while you process it. It’s where humans store data, step-by-step instructions, or a list until they don’t need it anymore.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The fundamental friction between the human brain and the traditional learning structure of school resides with our relatively poor working memory,” said Mitchell. He believes that sometimes teachers misinterpret a working memory issue as “willful misbehavior.” For example, what an adult might call “difficulty paying attention” may simply be that “there might be too many things for that child [to hold in working memory], especially children with learning differences.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Working memory also affects students’ ability to access information, remember instructions, get started on a task and copy information from the board. For some students, “three instructions may be too many. You may need to break it down to one or two.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Teach Reading Explicitly\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence reveals that “explicit, direct instruction works,” said Mitchell, “especially for younger and struggling readers.” There are many evidence-based programs available, but they all contain five strains: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. But even with a great program, a school must still schedule enough time for students to master these skills, said Mitchell. “You need an hour to an hour and a half every day to make the difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Manage Behavior Through Prevention\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitchell believes that 90 percent of classroom management is prevention: rules, routines, engaging instruction and structure. Rules should be simple, generated by consensus and reviewed regularly. Routines should include regular brain breaks (Mitchell’s teachers use egg timers and take a one-minute “learning break” when it dings), and instruction should use a variety of activities to engage learners. “For the other 10 percent,” said Mitchell, “you need formal, systematic behavior plans and support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use Communication to Your Advantage\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Schools “teach families, not just students,” said Mitchell. “If you reach out to your students or parents before they reach out to you, you have built up immense capital.” He recommends that teachers and administrators conduct regular surveys to hear feedback about how things are going in the classroom and at the school. Mitchell has found that his constituents often respond to the surveys with “ ‘thanks for listening to me,’ and that’s probably the most important thing that happens.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use Supporting Programs in a Targeted Way\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Strong schools engage in “robust and targeted professional development,” said Mitchell. “By targeted I mean you’ve set a goal as a district, you’ve set a goal as a school, you’ve set a goal as an individual, and you target your professional development based on those goals.” Given the financial constraints every school faces, targeting professional development to goals is the \"most effective way to utilize your finite resources.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Celebrate and Empower Students \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Systematically, identify and celebrate at least one strength in every student,” said Mitchell. Then, “give each student opportunities to showcase this strength.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students who enroll in Currey Ingram Academy after attending school in a more traditional environment “come in and they are fragile – they have had little success in the academic setting,” said Mitchell. He hopes that these 10 ideas his school employs can help schools that aren't specifically designed for kids with learning differences better meet the needs of all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cem>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">*An earlier version of this post confused the number of meta-analyses as the number of studies. We regret this error. \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp class=\"p1\">Schools are typically designed to serve the average student, and those with learning differences -- such as dyslexia or trouble with executive functioning skills -- usually make up a smaller part of the population. Estimates find that \u003ca href=\"https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/learning/conditioninfo/pages/risk.aspx\">5 to 20 percent\u003c/a> of Americans have learning differences. If struggling students don't find the help they need in school, keeping up with the rest of the class can be an enormous challenge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003ca href=\"https://www.curreyingram.org/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Currey Ingram Academy\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is an independent school in Nashville developed specifically for kids with learning differences. As a way to spread the word about tactics that have worked at Currey Ingram Academy, head of school Jeffrey Mitchell shared 10 principles the school uses that are “realistic for every school in every context” as they seek to meet the needs of diverse learners. He presented his findings at the \u003ca href=\"http://schedule.sxswedu.com/events/event_PP60296\">SXSWedu\u003c/a> conference in Austin.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">He said that educators might already be applying the following ideas, and some might not work at their school. \"But if you take home one or two or three of these things and tweak what you’re currently doing, I think that the outcome will be positive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cb>Be Intentional\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let the mission of the school -- and your own personal mission -- guide your work, said Mitchell. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">School mission statements should be “understandable, memorable, powerful and simple,” so that teachers and administrators can say with confidence, “I know that, I believe in that, I live that. That’s what we do as a school.” The \u003ca href=\"https://www.curreyingram.org/page/about/mission-history--milestones\">mission\u003c/a> at his school is to create an academy \"\u003c/span>that empowers students with learning differences to achieve their fullest potential.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Teachers can also adopt personal mission statements to help guide their planning. For example, when Mitchell was a seventh-grade science teacher, he wanted his students to be able to “ask questions like scientists,” and he infused that idea into each of his units.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Rely on Evidence\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Whether the topic is reading instruction or classroom management, there is rich research available if you take the time to look for it. For example, recent advances in neuroimaging are changing intervention methods for students with dyslexia. Mitchell also pointed to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://visible-learning.org/2016/04/hattie-ranking-backup-of-138-effects/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">John Hattie’s\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> research on 1,200 meta-analyses in an effort to determine the variables that truly impact students' achievement.*\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If something is not working, consult the evidence,” said Mitchell. “Because chances are somebody out there is doing research on it and there’s good evidence to support a practice that you might not know about.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Break Down the Traditional Structure of School\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“I love being an educator,” said Mitchell. “But most everything about the industrial-factory model of school is not ideal for learners.” However, there are ways teachers can work around this structure, such as focusing on the word “variety.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you, as an administrator or teacher, are constructing curriculum, think about variety,\" said Mitchell. He reminds educators that classes will have a variety of learners so it's important to have several offerings. \"Think about multiple-sensory inputs -- let them hear it, let them see it, let them feel it -- and think about multiple instructional forms.” He also said variety is important when assessing student understanding; one form of test or assessment will not adequately reveal every student’s knowledge and skills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Provide Clear Instruction on How to Think \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">At Currey Ingram Academy, teachers explicitly teach executive functioning skills to their students. Executive function and self-regulation skills are, according to \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"http://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, “the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mitchell shared a strategy used by a third-grade teacher who was giving a short unit test. Immediately prior to the test, she spent 10 minutes reviewing test-taking strategies with her students -- with the test right in front of them. “She reminded them of seemingly simple things like, ‘There are four blanks for question two, and that means four responses are needed.'” After students were done with the test, they engaged in one more learning exercise. “They went over the test again. Not the answers, but the test itself. Did you answer all the questions? Instead of a typically summative learning experience, she made it a formative learning experience.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Be Mindful of Working Memory Limitations \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Working memory is a brain system that temporarily holds information while you process it. It’s where humans store data, step-by-step instructions, or a list until they don’t need it anymore.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">“The fundamental friction between the human brain and the traditional learning structure of school resides with our relatively poor working memory,” said Mitchell. He believes that sometimes teachers misinterpret a working memory issue as “willful misbehavior.” For example, what an adult might call “difficulty paying attention” may simply be that “there might be too many things for that child [to hold in working memory], especially children with learning differences.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Working memory also affects students’ ability to access information, remember instructions, get started on a task and copy information from the board. For some students, “three instructions may be too many. You may need to break it down to one or two.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Teach Reading Explicitly\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Evidence reveals that “explicit, direct instruction works,” said Mitchell, “especially for younger and struggling readers.” There are many evidence-based programs available, but they all contain five strains: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. But even with a great program, a school must still schedule enough time for students to master these skills, said Mitchell. “You need an hour to an hour and a half every day to make the difference.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Manage Behavior Through Prevention\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mitchell believes that 90 percent of classroom management is prevention: rules, routines, engaging instruction and structure. Rules should be simple, generated by consensus and reviewed regularly. Routines should include regular brain breaks (Mitchell’s teachers use egg timers and take a one-minute “learning break” when it dings), and instruction should use a variety of activities to engage learners. “For the other 10 percent,” said Mitchell, “you need formal, systematic behavior plans and support.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use Communication to Your Advantage\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Schools “teach families, not just students,” said Mitchell. “If you reach out to your students or parents before they reach out to you, you have built up immense capital.” He recommends that teachers and administrators conduct regular surveys to hear feedback about how things are going in the classroom and at the school. Mitchell has found that his constituents often respond to the surveys with “ ‘thanks for listening to me,’ and that’s probably the most important thing that happens.”\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Use Supporting Programs in a Targeted Way\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Strong schools engage in “robust and targeted professional development,” said Mitchell. “By targeted I mean you’ve set a goal as a district, you’ve set a goal as a school, you’ve set a goal as an individual, and you target your professional development based on those goals.” Given the financial constraints every school faces, targeting professional development to goals is the \"most effective way to utilize your finite resources.” \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Celebrate and Empower Students \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Systematically, identify and celebrate at least one strength in every student,” said Mitchell. Then, “give each student opportunities to showcase this strength.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Students who enroll in Currey Ingram Academy after attending school in a more traditional environment “come in and they are fragile – they have had little success in the academic setting,” said Mitchell. He hopes that these 10 ideas his school employs can help schools that aren't specifically designed for kids with learning differences better meet the needs of all learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">\u003cem>\u003cspan class=\"s1\">*An earlier version of this post confused the number of meta-analyses as the number of studies. We regret this error. \u003c/span>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "20 Tips to Help De-escalate Interactions With Anxious or Defiant Students",
"title": "20 Tips to Help De-escalate Interactions With Anxious or Defiant Students",
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"content": "\u003cp>Students’ behavior is a form of communication and when it’s negative it almost always stems from an underlying cause. There are many reasons kids might be acting out, which makes it difficult for a teacher in a crowded classroom to figure out the root cause. But even if there was time and space to do so, most teachers receive very little training in behavior during their credentialing programs. On average, teacher training programs mandate zero to one classes on behavior and zero to one courses on mental health. Teacher training programs mostly assume that kids in public schools will be “typical,” but that assumption can handicap teachers when they get into real classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A National Institute of Health study found that \u003ca href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disorder-among-children.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">25.1 percent \u003c/a>of kids 13-18 in the US have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. No one knows how many more haven’t been diagnosed. Additionally between \u003ca href=\"http://www.education.com/reference/article/prevalence-learning-disabilities/\" target=\"_blank\">eight and 15 percent of the school-aged population\u003c/a> has learning disabilities (there is a range because there's no standard definition of what constitutes a learning disability). \u003ca href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-among-children.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Nine percent \u003c/a>of 13-18 year-olds have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (although the number one misdiagnoses of anxiety is ADHD), and \u003ca href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/dysthymic-disorder-among-children.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">11.2 percent\u003c/a> suffer from depression.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'We are 50% of every interaction with a child, so we have a lot of control over that interaction.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“So basically we have this gap in teacher education,” said \u003ca href=\"http://jessicaminahan.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Jessica Minahan\u003c/a>, a certified behavior analyst, special educator, and co-author of \u003ca href=\"http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2012-5-18-breaking-behavior-code-disruptive-students\" target=\"_blank\">\u003cem>The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. She spoke to educators gathered at a \u003ca href=\"http://www.learningandthebrain.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Learning and the Brain conference\u003c/a> about strategies that work with oppositional students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minahan is usually called into schools to help with the most challenging behavior. She finds that often teachers are trying typical behavioral strategies for a group of kids for whom those strategies don't work. However, she says after teachers learn more about why kids are behaving badly there are some simple strategies to approach defiant behavior like avoiding work, fighting, and causing problems during transitions with more empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANXIETY\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anxiety is a huge barrier to learning and very difficult for educators to identify. “When anxiety is fueling the behavior, it’s the most confusing and complicated to figure out,” Minahan said. That’s because a student isn’t always anxious; it tends to come and go based on events in their lives, so their difficulties aren’t consistent. When we are anxious our working memory tanks, making it very difficult to recall any salient information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers surveyed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15236317_The_significance_of_self-reported_anxious_symptoms_in_first-grade_children\" target=\"_blank\">group of first graders\u003c/a> none of whom had any reading or math disabilities. Those who had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder were eight times more likely to be in the lowest achieving group in reading, and two-point-five times more likely to be in the lowest quartile in math achievement by the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anxiety is a learning disability; it inhibits your ability to learn,” Minahan said. But it isn’t usually recognized as a learning disability and there is almost never a plan for how to address it in the classroom. “For kids with anxiety, the ‘can’ts fluctuate,” Minahan said. “When they’re calm they can. When they’re anxious they can’t. And that’s very deceiving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anxiety isn’t about ability, it’s about interference, which means that traditional rewards and consequences don’t often work with this group of learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rewards and consequences are super helpful to increase motivation for something I’m able to do,” Minahan said. But an anxious person’s brain has shut down and they aren’t able in that moment to complete the task being asked of them. The best way to combat this tricky problem is to try to prevent anxiety triggers and build up students’ social and emotional skills to cope with the moments when anxiety sets in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When kids are in the throes of bad behavior they have poor self-regulation skills, often get into negative thinking cycles that they can’t stop, have poor executive functioning, become inflexible thinkers and lose social skills like the ability to think about another person’s perspective. That’s why kids can seem so unempathetic when teachers ask, “how do you think that made Sam feel?” At that moment, the student acting out has no ability to take Sam’s perspective, but a few hours later or the next day, he might be able to show the remorse educators want to see.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nALL BEHAVIOR HAS A FUNCTION\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bad behavior is often connected to seeking attention, and when kids act out, they can see the results.* “Negative attention is way easier to get and hands down easier to understand,” Minahan said. “It’s much more efficient.” Adults tend to be unpredictable with attention when a student is doing what she is supposed to do, but as soon as there’s a dramatic, obvious tantrum, the student has the teacher’s attention. And negative attention is powerful -- one student can hijack a whole classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A common teacher response to low-level negative attention seeking is to ignore the student. The teacher doesn’t want to reward bad behavior. “I want to caution you about ignoring someone with anxiety because their anxiety goes up,” Minahan said. Ignoring an already anxious student can accidentally convey the message that the teacher doesn’t care about the student, and worse might escalate the situation. Perhaps a teacher can ignore a student tapping his pencil or banging on his desk, but threatening behavior can’t be ignored. And the student learns exactly what level of behavior he must exhibit to get attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-45053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/01/Podcast-e1515628002599.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>TIP 1: \u003c/strong>Instead, “what you need to do is make positive attention compete better,” Minahan said. She often suggests that teachers actively engage the most difficult student at the beginning of class saying something like, “I can’t wait to see what you think of this assignment. I’m going to check on you in 5 minutes.” When the teacher actually comes back in five minutes, validates the student’s progress, and tells her another check-in is coming in ten minutes it sets up a pattern of predictable attention for positive behavior. And while it might seem unfair to take that extra time and care with one student, it ultimately saves instruction time when a teacher doesn’t have to deal with a tantrum that sends the student out of the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>TIP 2:\u003c/strong> Often in an attempt to form a positive relationship with a student teachers will publicly praise positive behavior. That can backfire, especially with anxious kids who don’t want any extra attention from peers. Private or non-verbal praise is often better. Minahan recommends pulling students aside at the beginning of the year to ask how teachers can best tell them they’re proud. “It’s a gift to your February self if you can figure out a system now, otherwise you’ll get stuck on the negative attention scale,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 2.1:\u003c/strong> She also recommends fact-based praise as opposed to general praise. Vague praise is easy to dismiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANTECEDENTS TO BAD BEHAVIOR\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many kids have predictable anxiety triggers like unstructured time, transitions, writing tasks, social demands or any unexpected change. Similarly the antecedents of negative behavior are fairly predictable: unfacilitated social interactions, interaction with an authoritative adult, being asked to wait, when demands are placed, being told no, writing, and transitions.**\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 3:\u003c/strong> “Teach waiting now,” Minahan said. “When you are anxious, despite your age, it’s very hard to wait.” She was asked to observe a boy who constantly disrupted class. Minahan soon noticed the boy often did his work, but if he finished early or there was downtime in the class, he would start causing trouble. When Minahan pointed this out to him he had no idea what “wait time” was. She had to spell out to him that when he finished a task he should apply a strategy, like turning over the paper and doodling appropriately on the back. After this small intervention the student’s behavior was so improved that his teacher thought he’d gone on medication.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'You can have really bright, able children whose anxiety is interfering so much.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>For kids with anxiety, there are a number of strategies teachers can employ. The first is not to take any student behavior personally. The student isn’t trying to manipulate or torture the teacher, his behavior is reflecting something going on internally. Often a short movement break can help relieve anxiety, but not the way they are commonly given.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minahan described a seventh grade girl who was recovering from an eating disorder. The girl was scraping her arms so badly they would bleed. After lunch, predictably, the behavior was worse, so her teachers were letting her color and draw to relieve her anxiety. Another common break is to tell a student to go get a drink of water down the hall. The coloring break wasn’t working for this seventh grader and Minahan soon figured out why. “We accidentally left her alone to fester in her anxious thoughts,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 4:\u003c/strong> Leaving class doesn’t give the student a break from internal negative thoughts like “I’m fat,” or “I’m not smart enough,” which paralyze thinking. But a break paired with a cognitive distraction does offer respite from the “all or nothing” thinking that’s so common with anxious students. An older student might take a break and record herself reading a book out loud for a younger student with dyslexia. It’s impossible to read out loud and think another thought. Other distractions could include sports trivia, sudoku or crossword puzzles. Little kids might do a Where’s Waldo or look through a Highlight magazine for the hidden picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 5:\u003c/strong> When teachers want to wrap up a task they often use a countdown. “Silent reading time is going to be over in five minutes.” But counting down doesn’t support a high achieving anxious child who feels she must finish. And it takes a lot of executive function skills and cognitive flexibility to fight the urge to keep going after the time is up. So instead of counting down, a teacher might walk over to that student and say, let’s find a good stopping point. She may stop a minute later than the rest of the class when she reaches the designated point, but it won’t escalate into a tug-of-war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transitions are another common time for kids to act out. Younger students often don’t want to come in from recess, for example. But when a teacher says, “Line up. Recess is over. It’s time for your spelling quiz,” it’s no wonder the student doesn’t want to go from something he loves to something he hates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 6: \u003c/strong>The teacher can give students an in-between step to make the transition more palatable. Go from recess, to two minutes of coloring, to the spelling quiz. The intermediary step gives that non-compliant student behavioral momentum. He’s already sitting down, quiet, with pen in hand, so the jump to spelling isn’t as jarring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For middle and high school students, school is all about being social, but the only times students get to see their friends are in the two to five minute passing periods between classes. Again, the transition is from something they love to something they hate, so don’t make that transition extra hard by collecting homework as they come in the door. The toughest kids are probably already not doing well in the class, and a reminder of the homework exacerbates feelings of inadequacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 7:\u003c/strong> One high school geometry teacher started playing two minute YouTube videos about geometry as students came into class. It got students from the hallway into the classroom without thinking negatively and her class started to run more smoothly. She didn’t have the same interruptions she used to, which made the lost two minutes seem worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 8:\u003c/strong> Minahan also likes some of the biofeedback tools that are now available, like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.heartmath.com/emwave-technology/\" target=\"_blank\">EmWave\u003c/a>. A wound up student puts a sensor on his finger and calming down becomes a game. He might start out with a picture of a black and white forest, but as he calms down (and the sensor monitors his heart rate) the colors start to pop in. It can take as little as two to five minutes to completely calm a kid down when they can see the feedback so clearly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like it because it’s so concrete,” Minahan said. A student with high functioning autism might not even know what a teacher means by “calm down,” but with the biofeedback device she can see what it means.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>WORK AVOIDANCE\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nMinahan says it’s very common for students to have trouble initiating work, persisting through work and asking for help, but there are strategies to help kids build the skills to get better in these areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can have really bright, able children whose anxiety is interfering so much,” Minahan said. The anxiety isn’t coming from nowhere; it’s coming from prior experiences of feeling frozen and stupid. In that moment the child’s working memory isn’t working, so teachers need to find ways to bypass it until the anxiety passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 9:\u003c/strong> One way is to let students preview the work for the day. In the morning, an elementary school teacher might work on the first few problems with the anxious child so she knows she can do it. Then, when it’s time for that work later in the day, that child receives the sheet she’s already started and can go from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 9.1:\u003c/strong> In high school, teachers can give students with trouble initiating the preview as homework. Students can start at home without any pressure and continue at school. “Fight or flight is the worst when they first see it,” Minahan said, so try to bypass that moment and prevent a breakdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 10:\u003c/strong> At the same time, when the teacher names the strategies a student is employing, he is helping the student build a toolbox that can be used independently. Strategies might include, asking a teacher to help her start when she feels frozen, or asking to preview the homework. For perfectionist students, difficulty starting can stem from a fear of messing up. Give those students dry erase boards, where the mess ups can be easily erased. It helps when teachers treat the difficulty starting as a small problem and say something like, “Looks like you’re not initiating. What strategy are you going to use?”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'When I shift the reinforcement to skills, I've noticed the skills go up and that's what makes the difference for the kids who have mental health difficulties.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 11:\u003c/strong> Some strategies to build persistence include skipping the hard ones and doing the ones a student knows first, working with a buddy, and double checking work on problems that have been completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Giving help in class is often a tricky balance, especially if a student is too embarrassed to ask vocally. Instead of acting out because she can’t do the work, the student might raise her hand, pass the teacher a note or make eye contact. Then the teacher has to be careful not to give too much help. “We accidentally create dependency because we help so much,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That goes for academics as well as behavior. Often a teacher will notice a student becoming agitated and dysregulated and tell him to take a short walk. But ultimately the student will be better served if he can learn to monitor himself and implement strategies when he notices early signs of agitation. “Kids have to learn how to catch themselves on the way up and calm down there,” Minahan said, because that’s when the strategies work. But kids need to be taught how to recognize the signs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 12:\u003c/strong> Teach kids how to do a body check. With younger students a teacher can describe the signs of agitation as they are happening so the student starts to recognize them. With older students, ask them where in their body they feel anxious, for example, “in your belly?” “Give them the data every day,” Minahan said. “This is your body on the way up.” After the groundwork has been laid, a teacher can just say “body check, please” to let a student know it’s time to check in with themselves and start using a strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what can you do when a kid is already exploding? Minahan says, not much because the child will have a very hard time reacting in a reasonable way once he or she is riled up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 13: \u003c/strong>What educators can do is anticipate those moments and rehearse self-calming strategies when the child is calm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one case, Minahan knew an elementary student she was working with was going to have a traumatic change in her life. The child’s mom was giving her up to foster care and the date had been set. To prepare for what would undoubtedly be a moment when the student couldn’t control herself, Minahan had her practice self-calming in the social worker’s office, where she would probably go on the day. Twice a day for five minutes she rehearsed a self-calming routine when she was already calm so her working memory was available and she was learning the strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-45053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/01/Podcast-e1515628002599.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>When the day came and the child did freak out, Minahan quickly got her into the office with very little touching or verbal interaction which might further set her off. Once there, the girl got into her routine, and started singing to herself as a cognitive distraction. “The rehearsal allowed for automaticity and did not require cognition or working memory in that moment,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 14:\u003c/strong> Rehearse replies to confrontations. Minahan worked with a high school student who constantly got in fights. If he felt disrespected he’d start swinging. Together they rehearsed over and over him saying, “I don’t have time for this,” and walking away. During the rehearsals, Minahan gave him something to hold in his hands as he said this. And soon, he stopped getting in fights. It gave him the moment he needed to make a decision not to use his fists and a go-to automatic reply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 15:\u003c/strong> Use data to disprove negative thinking. Writing is a common barrier for kids with anxiety, Minahan said. But one way to begin getting students past this hurdle is to ask them how hard a task will be before they start and again after they’ve completed it. Almost always the perception of the task is worse than the actual task. With several weeks of data you can show students the pattern in their responses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minahan worked with a girl who hated writing so much that she was skipping school twice a week. She would often say that writing was torture to her. Minahan broke writing down into component parts with corresponding strategies for getting started on each part. When the student worked on a writing task Minahan would ask her how many strategies she employed. Often the girl didn’t use that many strategies, which didn’t fit with her own conception of herself. “We reframed her whole thinking and she felt more empowered to solve her problems,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>INTERACTION STRATEGIES\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nIn any interaction with students teachers can only control their own behavior, but that’s actually a lot of power. “We are 50% of every interaction with a child,” Minahan said. “We have a lot of control over that interaction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 16:\u003c/strong> If a teacher gets off on the wrong foot with a student early in the year, try randomly being kind to the child, rather than only giving positive attention based on his or her behavior. This kind of noncontingent reinforcement helps the child to see the teacher likes him for who he is, not because he does math well or reads perfectly, Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 17:\u003c/strong> In areas where the difficult student is competent, give her a leadership role. Maybe let her take a younger child to the nurse or start an activity club. This helps change the child’s perception of herself and also her relationship to the teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 18:\u003c/strong> When demanding something of a student, don’t ask yes or no questions and teach kids not to ask yes or no questions. In that scenario, someone has a 50 percent chance of being disappointed with the answer. By changing the question, the teacher opens the door for the answer to be diffusing, rather than an escalation of defiance. For example, if a student asks, \"Can I work with Jack?\" The teacher can reframe the question: \"Oh, did you want to know when you could work with Jack? You can ask: When can I work with Jack.\" The student might not like the answer, but it likely won't produce the same explosive reaction as getting an outright \"no.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 19:\u003c/strong> Give kids time and space. If a student is prone to arguing, eye contact and physical proximity can escalate potential protests.*** For example, if a kid is humming in an annoying way, a typical teacher move might be to make eye contact with the child and shake your head to get him to stop. But in this situation eye-contact is non-verbally asking the child for a response, which he may be incapable of giving at that moment. Instead, calmly walk over and put a note on his desk that says, “please stop humming.” Then run away and do not make eye contact with that student for a few minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The initial reaction is not pleasant and you have to wait for them to de-escalate before they can comply,” Minahan said. Sometimes the mere presence of the teacher prevents that de-escalation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 20:\u003c/strong> Reward practice or strategy use, not performance. “When I shift the reinforcement to skills, I’ve noticed the skills go up and that’s what makes the difference for the kids who have mental health difficulties,” Minahan said. Ultimately, educators are teaching kids the skills and strategies that they can then use throughout their life when they’re anxious, so rewarding practice makes sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The more teachers can empathize with students, teaching skill building and focus on preventing challenging behavior, the smoother the classroom will run. Often that means learning about the student in order to identify triggers and design new ways of interacting with even the most challenging students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*An earlier version of this post overstated the connection between bad behavior and seeking attention.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>**An earlier version of this sentence highlighted only one type of negative behavior -- fighting.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>*** This section was updated to include the situations under which eye contact could make a situation worse for a student. We regret these errors. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/01/Podcast-e1515628002599.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1078765985\">Subscribe in iTunes\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Don't miss an episode of the \u003cstrong>\u003cem>MindShift Podcast\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also available via \u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/category/stories-teachers-share/feed/\">RSS\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Interventions and strategic behaviors can help teachers manage students who are acting out or missing out on learning because of behavioral issues. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Students’ behavior is a form of communication and when it’s negative it almost always stems from an underlying cause. There are many reasons kids might be acting out, which makes it difficult for a teacher in a crowded classroom to figure out the root cause. But even if there was time and space to do so, most teachers receive very little training in behavior during their credentialing programs. On average, teacher training programs mandate zero to one classes on behavior and zero to one courses on mental health. Teacher training programs mostly assume that kids in public schools will be “typical,” but that assumption can handicap teachers when they get into real classrooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A National Institute of Health study found that \u003ca href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/any-anxiety-disorder-among-children.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">25.1 percent \u003c/a>of kids 13-18 in the US have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders. No one knows how many more haven’t been diagnosed. Additionally between \u003ca href=\"http://www.education.com/reference/article/prevalence-learning-disabilities/\" target=\"_blank\">eight and 15 percent of the school-aged population\u003c/a> has learning disabilities (there is a range because there's no standard definition of what constitutes a learning disability). \u003ca href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-among-children.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">Nine percent \u003c/a>of 13-18 year-olds have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) (although the number one misdiagnoses of anxiety is ADHD), and \u003ca href=\"http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/dysthymic-disorder-among-children.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">11.2 percent\u003c/a> suffer from depression.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'We are 50% of every interaction with a child, so we have a lot of control over that interaction.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>“So basically we have this gap in teacher education,” said \u003ca href=\"http://jessicaminahan.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Jessica Minahan\u003c/a>, a certified behavior analyst, special educator, and co-author of \u003ca href=\"http://www.childmind.org/en/posts/articles/2012-5-18-breaking-behavior-code-disruptive-students\" target=\"_blank\">\u003cem>The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students\u003c/em>\u003c/a>. She spoke to educators gathered at a \u003ca href=\"http://www.learningandthebrain.com/\" target=\"_blank\">Learning and the Brain conference\u003c/a> about strategies that work with oppositional students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minahan is usually called into schools to help with the most challenging behavior. She finds that often teachers are trying typical behavioral strategies for a group of kids for whom those strategies don't work. However, she says after teachers learn more about why kids are behaving badly there are some simple strategies to approach defiant behavior like avoiding work, fighting, and causing problems during transitions with more empathy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANXIETY\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anxiety is a huge barrier to learning and very difficult for educators to identify. “When anxiety is fueling the behavior, it’s the most confusing and complicated to figure out,” Minahan said. That’s because a student isn’t always anxious; it tends to come and go based on events in their lives, so their difficulties aren’t consistent. When we are anxious our working memory tanks, making it very difficult to recall any salient information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Researchers surveyed a \u003ca href=\"https://www.researchgate.net/publication/15236317_The_significance_of_self-reported_anxious_symptoms_in_first-grade_children\" target=\"_blank\">group of first graders\u003c/a> none of whom had any reading or math disabilities. Those who had been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder were eight times more likely to be in the lowest achieving group in reading, and two-point-five times more likely to be in the lowest quartile in math achievement by the spring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Anxiety is a learning disability; it inhibits your ability to learn,” Minahan said. But it isn’t usually recognized as a learning disability and there is almost never a plan for how to address it in the classroom. “For kids with anxiety, the ‘can’ts fluctuate,” Minahan said. “When they’re calm they can. When they’re anxious they can’t. And that’s very deceiving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anxiety isn’t about ability, it’s about interference, which means that traditional rewards and consequences don’t often work with this group of learners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Rewards and consequences are super helpful to increase motivation for something I’m able to do,” Minahan said. But an anxious person’s brain has shut down and they aren’t able in that moment to complete the task being asked of them. The best way to combat this tricky problem is to try to prevent anxiety triggers and build up students’ social and emotional skills to cope with the moments when anxiety sets in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When kids are in the throes of bad behavior they have poor self-regulation skills, often get into negative thinking cycles that they can’t stop, have poor executive functioning, become inflexible thinkers and lose social skills like the ability to think about another person’s perspective. That’s why kids can seem so unempathetic when teachers ask, “how do you think that made Sam feel?” At that moment, the student acting out has no ability to take Sam’s perspective, but a few hours later or the next day, he might be able to show the remorse educators want to see.\u003cbr>\n\u003cstrong>\u003cbr>\nALL BEHAVIOR HAS A FUNCTION\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bad behavior is often connected to seeking attention, and when kids act out, they can see the results.* “Negative attention is way easier to get and hands down easier to understand,” Minahan said. “It’s much more efficient.” Adults tend to be unpredictable with attention when a student is doing what she is supposed to do, but as soon as there’s a dramatic, obvious tantrum, the student has the teacher’s attention. And negative attention is powerful -- one student can hijack a whole classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A common teacher response to low-level negative attention seeking is to ignore the student. The teacher doesn’t want to reward bad behavior. “I want to caution you about ignoring someone with anxiety because their anxiety goes up,” Minahan said. Ignoring an already anxious student can accidentally convey the message that the teacher doesn’t care about the student, and worse might escalate the situation. Perhaps a teacher can ignore a student tapping his pencil or banging on his desk, but threatening behavior can’t be ignored. And the student learns exactly what level of behavior he must exhibit to get attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-45053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/01/Podcast-e1515628002599.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>TIP 1: \u003c/strong>Instead, “what you need to do is make positive attention compete better,” Minahan said. She often suggests that teachers actively engage the most difficult student at the beginning of class saying something like, “I can’t wait to see what you think of this assignment. I’m going to check on you in 5 minutes.” When the teacher actually comes back in five minutes, validates the student’s progress, and tells her another check-in is coming in ten minutes it sets up a pattern of predictable attention for positive behavior. And while it might seem unfair to take that extra time and care with one student, it ultimately saves instruction time when a teacher doesn’t have to deal with a tantrum that sends the student out of the room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>TIP 2:\u003c/strong> Often in an attempt to form a positive relationship with a student teachers will publicly praise positive behavior. That can backfire, especially with anxious kids who don’t want any extra attention from peers. Private or non-verbal praise is often better. Minahan recommends pulling students aside at the beginning of the year to ask how teachers can best tell them they’re proud. “It’s a gift to your February self if you can figure out a system now, otherwise you’ll get stuck on the negative attention scale,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 2.1:\u003c/strong> She also recommends fact-based praise as opposed to general praise. Vague praise is easy to dismiss.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>ANTECEDENTS TO BAD BEHAVIOR\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many kids have predictable anxiety triggers like unstructured time, transitions, writing tasks, social demands or any unexpected change. Similarly the antecedents of negative behavior are fairly predictable: unfacilitated social interactions, interaction with an authoritative adult, being asked to wait, when demands are placed, being told no, writing, and transitions.**\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 3:\u003c/strong> “Teach waiting now,” Minahan said. “When you are anxious, despite your age, it’s very hard to wait.” She was asked to observe a boy who constantly disrupted class. Minahan soon noticed the boy often did his work, but if he finished early or there was downtime in the class, he would start causing trouble. When Minahan pointed this out to him he had no idea what “wait time” was. She had to spell out to him that when he finished a task he should apply a strategy, like turning over the paper and doodling appropriately on the back. After this small intervention the student’s behavior was so improved that his teacher thought he’d gone on medication.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'You can have really bright, able children whose anxiety is interfering so much.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>For kids with anxiety, there are a number of strategies teachers can employ. The first is not to take any student behavior personally. The student isn’t trying to manipulate or torture the teacher, his behavior is reflecting something going on internally. Often a short movement break can help relieve anxiety, but not the way they are commonly given.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minahan described a seventh grade girl who was recovering from an eating disorder. The girl was scraping her arms so badly they would bleed. After lunch, predictably, the behavior was worse, so her teachers were letting her color and draw to relieve her anxiety. Another common break is to tell a student to go get a drink of water down the hall. The coloring break wasn’t working for this seventh grader and Minahan soon figured out why. “We accidentally left her alone to fester in her anxious thoughts,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 4:\u003c/strong> Leaving class doesn’t give the student a break from internal negative thoughts like “I’m fat,” or “I’m not smart enough,” which paralyze thinking. But a break paired with a cognitive distraction does offer respite from the “all or nothing” thinking that’s so common with anxious students. An older student might take a break and record herself reading a book out loud for a younger student with dyslexia. It’s impossible to read out loud and think another thought. Other distractions could include sports trivia, sudoku or crossword puzzles. Little kids might do a Where’s Waldo or look through a Highlight magazine for the hidden picture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 5:\u003c/strong> When teachers want to wrap up a task they often use a countdown. “Silent reading time is going to be over in five minutes.” But counting down doesn’t support a high achieving anxious child who feels she must finish. And it takes a lot of executive function skills and cognitive flexibility to fight the urge to keep going after the time is up. So instead of counting down, a teacher might walk over to that student and say, let’s find a good stopping point. She may stop a minute later than the rest of the class when she reaches the designated point, but it won’t escalate into a tug-of-war.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Transitions are another common time for kids to act out. Younger students often don’t want to come in from recess, for example. But when a teacher says, “Line up. Recess is over. It’s time for your spelling quiz,” it’s no wonder the student doesn’t want to go from something he loves to something he hates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 6: \u003c/strong>The teacher can give students an in-between step to make the transition more palatable. Go from recess, to two minutes of coloring, to the spelling quiz. The intermediary step gives that non-compliant student behavioral momentum. He’s already sitting down, quiet, with pen in hand, so the jump to spelling isn’t as jarring.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For middle and high school students, school is all about being social, but the only times students get to see their friends are in the two to five minute passing periods between classes. Again, the transition is from something they love to something they hate, so don’t make that transition extra hard by collecting homework as they come in the door. The toughest kids are probably already not doing well in the class, and a reminder of the homework exacerbates feelings of inadequacy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 7:\u003c/strong> One high school geometry teacher started playing two minute YouTube videos about geometry as students came into class. It got students from the hallway into the classroom without thinking negatively and her class started to run more smoothly. She didn’t have the same interruptions she used to, which made the lost two minutes seem worth it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 8:\u003c/strong> Minahan also likes some of the biofeedback tools that are now available, like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.heartmath.com/emwave-technology/\" target=\"_blank\">EmWave\u003c/a>. A wound up student puts a sensor on his finger and calming down becomes a game. He might start out with a picture of a black and white forest, but as he calms down (and the sensor monitors his heart rate) the colors start to pop in. It can take as little as two to five minutes to completely calm a kid down when they can see the feedback so clearly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I like it because it’s so concrete,” Minahan said. A student with high functioning autism might not even know what a teacher means by “calm down,” but with the biofeedback device she can see what it means.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>WORK AVOIDANCE\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nMinahan says it’s very common for students to have trouble initiating work, persisting through work and asking for help, but there are strategies to help kids build the skills to get better in these areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can have really bright, able children whose anxiety is interfering so much,” Minahan said. The anxiety isn’t coming from nowhere; it’s coming from prior experiences of feeling frozen and stupid. In that moment the child’s working memory isn’t working, so teachers need to find ways to bypass it until the anxiety passes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 9:\u003c/strong> One way is to let students preview the work for the day. In the morning, an elementary school teacher might work on the first few problems with the anxious child so she knows she can do it. Then, when it’s time for that work later in the day, that child receives the sheet she’s already started and can go from there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 9.1:\u003c/strong> In high school, teachers can give students with trouble initiating the preview as homework. Students can start at home without any pressure and continue at school. “Fight or flight is the worst when they first see it,” Minahan said, so try to bypass that moment and prevent a breakdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 10:\u003c/strong> At the same time, when the teacher names the strategies a student is employing, he is helping the student build a toolbox that can be used independently. Strategies might include, asking a teacher to help her start when she feels frozen, or asking to preview the homework. For perfectionist students, difficulty starting can stem from a fear of messing up. Give those students dry erase boards, where the mess ups can be easily erased. It helps when teachers treat the difficulty starting as a small problem and say something like, “Looks like you’re not initiating. What strategy are you going to use?”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'When I shift the reinforcement to skills, I've noticed the skills go up and that's what makes the difference for the kids who have mental health difficulties.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 11:\u003c/strong> Some strategies to build persistence include skipping the hard ones and doing the ones a student knows first, working with a buddy, and double checking work on problems that have been completed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Giving help in class is often a tricky balance, especially if a student is too embarrassed to ask vocally. Instead of acting out because she can’t do the work, the student might raise her hand, pass the teacher a note or make eye contact. Then the teacher has to be careful not to give too much help. “We accidentally create dependency because we help so much,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That goes for academics as well as behavior. Often a teacher will notice a student becoming agitated and dysregulated and tell him to take a short walk. But ultimately the student will be better served if he can learn to monitor himself and implement strategies when he notices early signs of agitation. “Kids have to learn how to catch themselves on the way up and calm down there,” Minahan said, because that’s when the strategies work. But kids need to be taught how to recognize the signs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 12:\u003c/strong> Teach kids how to do a body check. With younger students a teacher can describe the signs of agitation as they are happening so the student starts to recognize them. With older students, ask them where in their body they feel anxious, for example, “in your belly?” “Give them the data every day,” Minahan said. “This is your body on the way up.” After the groundwork has been laid, a teacher can just say “body check, please” to let a student know it’s time to check in with themselves and start using a strategy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But what can you do when a kid is already exploding? Minahan says, not much because the child will have a very hard time reacting in a reasonable way once he or she is riled up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 13: \u003c/strong>What educators can do is anticipate those moments and rehearse self-calming strategies when the child is calm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one case, Minahan knew an elementary student she was working with was going to have a traumatic change in her life. The child’s mom was giving her up to foster care and the date had been set. To prepare for what would undoubtedly be a moment when the student couldn’t control herself, Minahan had her practice self-calming in the social worker’s office, where she would probably go on the day. Twice a day for five minutes she rehearsed a self-calming routine when she was already calm so her working memory was available and she was learning the strategies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/stories-teachers-share-mindshift/id1078765985\">\u003cimg class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-45053\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/01/Podcast-e1515628002599.jpg\" alt=\"Podcast-Square\" width=\"250\" height=\"227\">\u003c/a>When the day came and the child did freak out, Minahan quickly got her into the office with very little touching or verbal interaction which might further set her off. Once there, the girl got into her routine, and started singing to herself as a cognitive distraction. “The rehearsal allowed for automaticity and did not require cognition or working memory in that moment,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 14:\u003c/strong> Rehearse replies to confrontations. Minahan worked with a high school student who constantly got in fights. If he felt disrespected he’d start swinging. Together they rehearsed over and over him saying, “I don’t have time for this,” and walking away. During the rehearsals, Minahan gave him something to hold in his hands as he said this. And soon, he stopped getting in fights. It gave him the moment he needed to make a decision not to use his fists and a go-to automatic reply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 15:\u003c/strong> Use data to disprove negative thinking. Writing is a common barrier for kids with anxiety, Minahan said. But one way to begin getting students past this hurdle is to ask them how hard a task will be before they start and again after they’ve completed it. Almost always the perception of the task is worse than the actual task. With several weeks of data you can show students the pattern in their responses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Minahan worked with a girl who hated writing so much that she was skipping school twice a week. She would often say that writing was torture to her. Minahan broke writing down into component parts with corresponding strategies for getting started on each part. When the student worked on a writing task Minahan would ask her how many strategies she employed. Often the girl didn’t use that many strategies, which didn’t fit with her own conception of herself. “We reframed her whole thinking and she felt more empowered to solve her problems,” Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>INTERACTION STRATEGIES\u003cbr>\n\u003c/strong>\u003cbr>\nIn any interaction with students teachers can only control their own behavior, but that’s actually a lot of power. “We are 50% of every interaction with a child,” Minahan said. “We have a lot of control over that interaction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 16:\u003c/strong> If a teacher gets off on the wrong foot with a student early in the year, try randomly being kind to the child, rather than only giving positive attention based on his or her behavior. This kind of noncontingent reinforcement helps the child to see the teacher likes him for who he is, not because he does math well or reads perfectly, Minahan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 17:\u003c/strong> In areas where the difficult student is competent, give her a leadership role. Maybe let her take a younger child to the nurse or start an activity club. This helps change the child’s perception of herself and also her relationship to the teacher.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 18:\u003c/strong> When demanding something of a student, don’t ask yes or no questions and teach kids not to ask yes or no questions. In that scenario, someone has a 50 percent chance of being disappointed with the answer. By changing the question, the teacher opens the door for the answer to be diffusing, rather than an escalation of defiance. For example, if a student asks, \"Can I work with Jack?\" The teacher can reframe the question: \"Oh, did you want to know when you could work with Jack? You can ask: When can I work with Jack.\" The student might not like the answer, but it likely won't produce the same explosive reaction as getting an outright \"no.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 19:\u003c/strong> Give kids time and space. If a student is prone to arguing, eye contact and physical proximity can escalate potential protests.*** For example, if a kid is humming in an annoying way, a typical teacher move might be to make eye contact with the child and shake your head to get him to stop. But in this situation eye-contact is non-verbally asking the child for a response, which he may be incapable of giving at that moment. Instead, calmly walk over and put a note on his desk that says, “please stop humming.” Then run away and do not make eye contact with that student for a few minutes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The initial reaction is not pleasant and you have to wait for them to de-escalate before they can comply,” Minahan said. Sometimes the mere presence of the teacher prevents that de-escalation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Tip 20:\u003c/strong> Reward practice or strategy use, not performance. “When I shift the reinforcement to skills, I’ve noticed the skills go up and that’s what makes the difference for the kids who have mental health difficulties,” Minahan said. Ultimately, educators are teaching kids the skills and strategies that they can then use throughout their life when they’re anxious, so rewarding practice makes sense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The more teachers can empathize with students, teaching skill building and focus on preventing challenging behavior, the smoother the classroom will run. Often that means learning about the student in order to identify triggers and design new ways of interacting with even the most challenging students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>*An earlier version of this post overstated the connection between bad behavior and seeking attention.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>**An earlier version of this sentence highlighted only one type of negative behavior -- fighting.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003cem>*** This section was updated to include the situations under which eye contact could make a situation worse for a student. We regret these errors. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/01/Podcast-e1515628002599.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1078765985\">Subscribe in iTunes\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Don't miss an episode of the \u003cstrong>\u003cem>MindShift Podcast\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>When Martha Youman was starting out as a second-grade teacher, every Friday she would stay late after school to make what she called “seat work” for her 30 students— packets to help differentiate instruction for the three levels of learners in her classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“My high-level [students] would get lots of reading passages with reading comprehension questions,” she said. “My medium level would get the same thing, but shorter. And my students at the low level would get things like coloring pages, connect the dots — just things to keep them busy so they wouldn’t act out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">She said that some students at the lowest learning level couldn’t even write the alphabet yet, so she’d even put kindergarten-style trace-the-letter pages into their seat work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">While the “seat work” kept behavior in check, it was failing as a teaching strategy. Youman, who had been a New York City Teaching Fellow, said she knew that some of these kids were struggling to read, but also knew from class interactions that they were smart. “I kept them busy. Truly, there were interventions they needed, I just didn’t know how to help them,” she said. “I had a master's in teaching, and didn’t know how to deal with these students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Youman now understands that some of her struggling second-graders were most likely dyslexic, with neurobiologically different brains that often fail to read words and sentences without direct, specific intervention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“I received zero dyslexia training in grad school,” she said. “I received one class in how to teach reading, one in how to teach language arts, how to teach science, how to teach math. But these classes focused more on lesson planning and strategies at a class level. We did not talk at all about kids who can’t catch up, ever. The word dyslexia was never even mentioned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">After a few years in what felt like “the front lines of a war zone,” she went back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in school psychology, figuring she’d become the expert the struggling kids needed to intervene on their behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">It was only after she took a doctorate-level class called “High-Incidence Disabilities” with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/10/08/why-recognizing-dyslexia-in-children-at-school-can-be-difficult/\">Dr. Nancy Mather\u003c/a> at the University of Arizona did the lightbulb switch on. She learned that reading disabilities affect anywhere from 5 percent to 20 percent of students. Youman recalled discussing dyslexia in the class and feeling perplexed. “I stopped and said, 'Wait, this happens a lot? Then why don’t we know about it?' ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">The 7- and 8-year-olds who couldn’t even write the alphabet, she discovered, might have been helped if someone had stepped in to find out \u003ci>why\u003c/i>—was it a deficiency with roots in the child’s environment, or lack of phoneme awareness? Or a comprehension deficiency, or some combination of any or all of them? Youman quickly decided that this is where she could be useful -- to go inside schools and help find the kids who were struggling, figure out what was happening and try to intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Armed with a Ph.D. in school psychology and currently diagnosing disabilities at a middle school in the Jefferson Elementary School District in Daly City (near San Francisco), Youman now understands more clearly why she didn’t know then how to help her struggling students: First, she was never trained how to specifically help students become better readers; and second, there are multiple bureaucratic barriers standing in the way of students getting help. For example, until very recently, California law provided 13 disability categories that could qualify students for services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP), but dyslexia wasn’t one of them.*\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“When I’m testing a child to decide if they need special education services, I have to say that they have a Specified Learning Disorder, or SLD,” she said, noting that dyslexia is one of the categories buried under the umbrella term SLD. “But that can be confusing for parents if psychologists in one state say your kid has dyslexia. If they were to move to another state and say, 'We were told our child has dyslexia,' their new school might say, ‘Dyslexia isn’t a thing here.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">That’s recently changed, aided in part by advocacy work Youman herself has done to get a new bill passed that addresses dyslexia in schools directly. On October 8, the California state legislature enacted \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1369\">Assembly Bill 1369\u003c/a>, which will require schools to assess young readers for dyslexia specifically. The new law, which will make allowances for school psychologists to diagnose a “phonological processing deficit” also known as dyslexia, may seem like a small change, but Youman said its impact on how children can get intervention will be huge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“With this change, we can actually tell parents and teachers that a child being evaluated has dyslexia,” said Youman. “And we can recommend specific interventions that help at home and in the classroom. Hooray! This change seems very minor, but it is really huge.” Although Youman said that no direct changes have come to schools yet, at least they are on their way. And she’s hoping that just being able to say the word dyslexia will open the doors to more and better changes, including more sophisticated in-school tutoring and teacher training on how to recognize and teach to dyslexics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Assembly Bill 1369 has helped to clarify the overall SLD category, which Youman described as “messy.\" Much of the time, she is forced to rely on her clinical judgement to decide who gets an IEP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In addition, Youman said that whether or not IEPs actually help depends upon the individual school’s resources, because teachers and paraprofessionals need to be trained on what exercises to do to help students diagnosed with dyslexia, and the best results come from individual instruction. She admitted that in many cases, IEPs don’t really work and many families must rely on private tutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Youman wishes that dyslexia intervention had the outcomes of speech and language therapy, a school-rendered intervention she said actually works. “For speech and language therapy, the student sees a trained person. What they do is targeted, one-on-one or two-on-one, and they do a really good job targeting the specific areas of weakness.” But with dyslexia (or SLD), at her school, students are pulled out in groups of 10 to get help with their homework, and that’s the whole of the intervention. And Youman, now an expert in dyslexia, said it’s not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cstrong>Where is the Training?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">In a recent New York Times op-ed titled “\u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/opinion/teachers-arent-dumb.html?_r=0\">Teachers Aren’t Dumb,”\u003c/a> cognitive psychologist Daniel T. Willingham at the University of Virginia wrote that many teachers don’t know the basic concepts of reading -- ones agreed upon by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/Pages/nrp.aspx\">National Reading Panel\u003c/a>. He cited one study of undergraduates preparing to be teachers, “fresh from their coursework in reading instruction,” in which 42 percent couldn’t correctly define the term “phonological awareness,” the first of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/teaching/\">five pillars of reading\u003c/a>. In Willingham's estimation, American schools of education are dropping the ball when it comes to preparing teachers how to teach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Laurie Cutting, professor of special education and faculty director of the \u003ca href=\"http://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/vkc/services/disabilityservices/reading_clinic/\">Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic\u003c/a>, called the lack of American teacher training in reading “a disgrace,” considering she has yet to meet a teacher who doesn’t want to do right by her students. Yet misinformation abounds. She said teachers who don't know how to teach reading make a logical, if flawed, observation about it, based on classroom experience: 50 percent of any group of kids are going to “magically” learn how to read. Teachers then may assume that the second half will also magically learn how to read, given enough time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Cutting said that’s not the case. That second half will struggle and need some direct instruction; within that group, a portion will need a whole lot of direct instruction (perhaps even intervention). The half (maybe a little more in affluent schools) that learns to read as if it were natural can subtly influence how teachers think of reading -- which may lead teachers to lean on more holistic views of language, focusing more on enriching vocabularies and exposure to literature instead of phonics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">But the 50 percent who need direct instruction need first to learn how to \u003ca href=\"http://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/decoding/what-is\">decode\u003c/a>, or be able to match the sounds of letters to print letters in order to form words. Teaching the whole class the basics of decoding will not damage the students who are already reading (Cutting said some research suggests that it might actually make their reading stronger). But direct instruction on exactly how to teach phonemic awareness and decoding to that other 50 percent may be getting short shrift in education schools (think of Martha Youman, with her master's in teaching, but no idea how to help struggling readers). Dr. Louisa Moats, vice president of the International Dyslexia Association, has called this gap between what the scientific community knows about reading and what teachers learn the \u003ca href=\"http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/moats.htm\">“Knowledge Gulf.”\u003c/a> She travels widely, offering whole-school interventions in reading training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“It really is a disgrace,” Cutting said, “because we know how to do it [teach decoding]. We have these tools, and we know how to teach this part of reading. The other parts are not as easily addressed, like fluency, but we know how to teach kids how to decode.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Cutting said approximately 1-2 percent of kids will always struggle, but that leaves 48 percent -- nearly all of that second half of the classroom -- who would be greatly helped with direct instruction correctly administered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Enriching students and exposing them to literature is a necessary part of learning to read, but only one leg of the \u003ca href=\"http://psychology.uiowa.edu/maclab/research/reading\">triangle model\u003c/a> of reading. Cutting explained that in order for reading fluency to happen, students must have strong connections in all three pieces: a semantic representation, or knowing what the word means; an orthographic representation, knowing what the word looks like; and a phonological representation, knowing what the word sounds like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">For many dyslexics, at least one piece of this triangle isn’t represented, sometimes two. But, as Maryanne Wolf wrote in \"Proust in the Squid,\" the most common deficit among children who can't read is phoneme awareness: the ability to see letters and sound them out efficiently to form words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cstrong>What Individualized Instruction Looks Like\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Since each human brain must learn to \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/10/01/understanding-dyslexia-and-the-reading-brain-in-kids/\">read on its own\u003c/a>, Cutting, along with Brooke Soden, associate director at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic, understand that deficiencies and weaknesses are individual, and often must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">That’s how the clinic tackles reading disabilities: one child at a time. Soden coordinates and manages the clinic, overseeing one-on-one tutoring as well as providing community training to teachers on how to teach reading. Often children arriving at the clinic are the hardest ones to work with, after their parents and teachers have tried everything else, so Soden assesses students to tease out what’s really going on and where their weaknesses are, then works with tutors on individual plans of action for each child. In most cases, the tutoring involves systematic, direct instruction, much of which is a version of the Orton-Gillingham method created to teach dyslexics to read nearly 100 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Developmental pediatrician Sheryl Rimrodt, who works with Cutting and Soden in helping to diagnose children with both behavioral and reading disabilities, said that since dyslexia doesn’t have any biomarkers to distinguish it, diagnoses are made up of descriptions of what they see happening, blended with the child’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Often, reading problems go hand-in-hand with attention and impulsivity issues like ADHD (Cutting suggested that current research may find a link between the two, having to do with executive function), which creates yet another challenge: Is the child acting out because they can’t read? Or, is it the other way around?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">If sorting out the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia weren’t complicated enough, the Vanderbilt researchers mention the most crucial piece for schools and clinics alike: deciding who is going to get special intervention services. The Reading Clinic costs money, even though scholarships are available to the financially needy. And IEPs in schools also cost money; it costs money to train teachers and bring on extra staff to do the crucial one-on-one work necessary to improve dyslexia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“You have a finite amount of money, and a bunch of kids. The kids who are going to get the services are most likely the ones who are the most severe, or have the most advocates,” Cutting said. “It’s sort of a fundamental fact of life. It’s too bad that we are not able to capture kids early enough to do some remediation so that they don’t have as many word-level problems. It’s too bad that teachers many times aren’t trained in a way that allows those kids to work through their weaknesses, to sound out their words. Because that would benefit all of the kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cem>*Note: An earlier version of this post misidentified \"Individualized Education Program\" as \"Individualized Education Plan.\" It also misidentified Youman's school district as the San Francisco Unified School District. We regret these errors. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Martha Youman was starting out as a second-grade teacher, every Friday she would stay late after school to make what she called “seat work” for her 30 students— packets to help differentiate instruction for the three levels of learners in her classroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“My high-level [students] would get lots of reading passages with reading comprehension questions,” she said. “My medium level would get the same thing, but shorter. And my students at the low level would get things like coloring pages, connect the dots — just things to keep them busy so they wouldn’t act out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">She said that some students at the lowest learning level couldn’t even write the alphabet yet, so she’d even put kindergarten-style trace-the-letter pages into their seat work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">While the “seat work” kept behavior in check, it was failing as a teaching strategy. Youman, who had been a New York City Teaching Fellow, said she knew that some of these kids were struggling to read, but also knew from class interactions that they were smart. “I kept them busy. Truly, there were interventions they needed, I just didn’t know how to help them,” she said. “I had a master's in teaching, and didn’t know how to deal with these students.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Youman now understands that some of her struggling second-graders were most likely dyslexic, with neurobiologically different brains that often fail to read words and sentences without direct, specific intervention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“I received zero dyslexia training in grad school,” she said. “I received one class in how to teach reading, one in how to teach language arts, how to teach science, how to teach math. But these classes focused more on lesson planning and strategies at a class level. We did not talk at all about kids who can’t catch up, ever. The word dyslexia was never even mentioned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">After a few years in what felt like “the front lines of a war zone,” she went back to school to pursue a Ph.D. in school psychology, figuring she’d become the expert the struggling kids needed to intervene on their behalf.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">It was only after she took a doctorate-level class called “High-Incidence Disabilities” with \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/10/08/why-recognizing-dyslexia-in-children-at-school-can-be-difficult/\">Dr. Nancy Mather\u003c/a> at the University of Arizona did the lightbulb switch on. She learned that reading disabilities affect anywhere from 5 percent to 20 percent of students. Youman recalled discussing dyslexia in the class and feeling perplexed. “I stopped and said, 'Wait, this happens a lot? Then why don’t we know about it?' ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">The 7- and 8-year-olds who couldn’t even write the alphabet, she discovered, might have been helped if someone had stepped in to find out \u003ci>why\u003c/i>—was it a deficiency with roots in the child’s environment, or lack of phoneme awareness? Or a comprehension deficiency, or some combination of any or all of them? Youman quickly decided that this is where she could be useful -- to go inside schools and help find the kids who were struggling, figure out what was happening and try to intervene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Armed with a Ph.D. in school psychology and currently diagnosing disabilities at a middle school in the Jefferson Elementary School District in Daly City (near San Francisco), Youman now understands more clearly why she didn’t know then how to help her struggling students: First, she was never trained how to specifically help students become better readers; and second, there are multiple bureaucratic barriers standing in the way of students getting help. For example, until very recently, California law provided 13 disability categories that could qualify students for services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP), but dyslexia wasn’t one of them.*\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“When I’m testing a child to decide if they need special education services, I have to say that they have a Specified Learning Disorder, or SLD,” she said, noting that dyslexia is one of the categories buried under the umbrella term SLD. “But that can be confusing for parents if psychologists in one state say your kid has dyslexia. If they were to move to another state and say, 'We were told our child has dyslexia,' their new school might say, ‘Dyslexia isn’t a thing here.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">That’s recently changed, aided in part by advocacy work Youman herself has done to get a new bill passed that addresses dyslexia in schools directly. On October 8, the California state legislature enacted \u003ca href=\"http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201520160AB1369\">Assembly Bill 1369\u003c/a>, which will require schools to assess young readers for dyslexia specifically. The new law, which will make allowances for school psychologists to diagnose a “phonological processing deficit” also known as dyslexia, may seem like a small change, but Youman said its impact on how children can get intervention will be huge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">“With this change, we can actually tell parents and teachers that a child being evaluated has dyslexia,” said Youman. “And we can recommend specific interventions that help at home and in the classroom. Hooray! This change seems very minor, but it is really huge.” Although Youman said that no direct changes have come to schools yet, at least they are on their way. And she’s hoping that just being able to say the word dyslexia will open the doors to more and better changes, including more sophisticated in-school tutoring and teacher training on how to recognize and teach to dyslexics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">Assembly Bill 1369 has helped to clarify the overall SLD category, which Youman described as “messy.\" Much of the time, she is forced to rely on her clinical judgement to decide who gets an IEP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p1\">In addition, Youman said that whether or not IEPs actually help depends upon the individual school’s resources, because teachers and paraprofessionals need to be trained on what exercises to do to help students diagnosed with dyslexia, and the best results come from individual instruction. She admitted that in many cases, IEPs don’t really work and many families must rely on private tutors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Youman wishes that dyslexia intervention had the outcomes of speech and language therapy, a school-rendered intervention she said actually works. “For speech and language therapy, the student sees a trained person. What they do is targeted, one-on-one or two-on-one, and they do a really good job targeting the specific areas of weakness.” But with dyslexia (or SLD), at her school, students are pulled out in groups of 10 to get help with their homework, and that’s the whole of the intervention. And Youman, now an expert in dyslexia, said it’s not enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cstrong>Where is the Training?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">In a recent New York Times op-ed titled “\u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/08/opinion/teachers-arent-dumb.html?_r=0\">Teachers Aren’t Dumb,”\u003c/a> cognitive psychologist Daniel T. Willingham at the University of Virginia wrote that many teachers don’t know the basic concepts of reading -- ones agreed upon by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/Pages/nrp.aspx\">National Reading Panel\u003c/a>. He cited one study of undergraduates preparing to be teachers, “fresh from their coursework in reading instruction,” in which 42 percent couldn’t correctly define the term “phonological awareness,” the first of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/teaching/\">five pillars of reading\u003c/a>. In Willingham's estimation, American schools of education are dropping the ball when it comes to preparing teachers how to teach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Laurie Cutting, professor of special education and faculty director of the \u003ca href=\"http://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/vkc/services/disabilityservices/reading_clinic/\">Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic\u003c/a>, called the lack of American teacher training in reading “a disgrace,” considering she has yet to meet a teacher who doesn’t want to do right by her students. Yet misinformation abounds. She said teachers who don't know how to teach reading make a logical, if flawed, observation about it, based on classroom experience: 50 percent of any group of kids are going to “magically” learn how to read. Teachers then may assume that the second half will also magically learn how to read, given enough time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Cutting said that’s not the case. That second half will struggle and need some direct instruction; within that group, a portion will need a whole lot of direct instruction (perhaps even intervention). The half (maybe a little more in affluent schools) that learns to read as if it were natural can subtly influence how teachers think of reading -- which may lead teachers to lean on more holistic views of language, focusing more on enriching vocabularies and exposure to literature instead of phonics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">But the 50 percent who need direct instruction need first to learn how to \u003ca href=\"http://www.readinghorizons.com/reading-strategies/decoding/what-is\">decode\u003c/a>, or be able to match the sounds of letters to print letters in order to form words. Teaching the whole class the basics of decoding will not damage the students who are already reading (Cutting said some research suggests that it might actually make their reading stronger). But direct instruction on exactly how to teach phonemic awareness and decoding to that other 50 percent may be getting short shrift in education schools (think of Martha Youman, with her master's in teaching, but no idea how to help struggling readers). Dr. Louisa Moats, vice president of the International Dyslexia Association, has called this gap between what the scientific community knows about reading and what teachers learn the \u003ca href=\"http://www.childrenofthecode.org/interviews/moats.htm\">“Knowledge Gulf.”\u003c/a> She travels widely, offering whole-school interventions in reading training.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“It really is a disgrace,” Cutting said, “because we know how to do it [teach decoding]. We have these tools, and we know how to teach this part of reading. The other parts are not as easily addressed, like fluency, but we know how to teach kids how to decode.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Cutting said approximately 1-2 percent of kids will always struggle, but that leaves 48 percent -- nearly all of that second half of the classroom -- who would be greatly helped with direct instruction correctly administered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Enriching students and exposing them to literature is a necessary part of learning to read, but only one leg of the \u003ca href=\"http://psychology.uiowa.edu/maclab/research/reading\">triangle model\u003c/a> of reading. Cutting explained that in order for reading fluency to happen, students must have strong connections in all three pieces: a semantic representation, or knowing what the word means; an orthographic representation, knowing what the word looks like; and a phonological representation, knowing what the word sounds like.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">For many dyslexics, at least one piece of this triangle isn’t represented, sometimes two. But, as Maryanne Wolf wrote in \"Proust in the Squid,\" the most common deficit among children who can't read is phoneme awareness: the ability to see letters and sound them out efficiently to form words.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cstrong>What Individualized Instruction Looks Like\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Since each human brain must learn to \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2015/10/01/understanding-dyslexia-and-the-reading-brain-in-kids/\">read on its own\u003c/a>, Cutting, along with Brooke Soden, associate director at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic, understand that deficiencies and weaknesses are individual, and often must be addressed on a case-by-case basis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">That’s how the clinic tackles reading disabilities: one child at a time. Soden coordinates and manages the clinic, overseeing one-on-one tutoring as well as providing community training to teachers on how to teach reading. Often children arriving at the clinic are the hardest ones to work with, after their parents and teachers have tried everything else, so Soden assesses students to tease out what’s really going on and where their weaknesses are, then works with tutors on individual plans of action for each child. In most cases, the tutoring involves systematic, direct instruction, much of which is a version of the Orton-Gillingham method created to teach dyslexics to read nearly 100 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Developmental pediatrician Sheryl Rimrodt, who works with Cutting and Soden in helping to diagnose children with both behavioral and reading disabilities, said that since dyslexia doesn’t have any biomarkers to distinguish it, diagnoses are made up of descriptions of what they see happening, blended with the child’s history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">Often, reading problems go hand-in-hand with attention and impulsivity issues like ADHD (Cutting suggested that current research may find a link between the two, having to do with executive function), which creates yet another challenge: Is the child acting out because they can’t read? Or, is it the other way around?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">If sorting out the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia weren’t complicated enough, the Vanderbilt researchers mention the most crucial piece for schools and clinics alike: deciding who is going to get special intervention services. The Reading Clinic costs money, even though scholarships are available to the financially needy. And IEPs in schools also cost money; it costs money to train teachers and bring on extra staff to do the crucial one-on-one work necessary to improve dyslexia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">“You have a finite amount of money, and a bunch of kids. The kids who are going to get the services are most likely the ones who are the most severe, or have the most advocates,” Cutting said. “It’s sort of a fundamental fact of life. It’s too bad that we are not able to capture kids early enough to do some remediation so that they don’t have as many word-level problems. It’s too bad that teachers many times aren’t trained in a way that allows those kids to work through their weaknesses, to sound out their words. Because that would benefit all of the kids.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp class=\"p2\">\u003cem>*Note: An earlier version of this post misidentified \"Individualized Education Program\" as \"Individualized Education Plan.\" It also misidentified Youman's school district as the San Francisco Unified School District. We regret these errors. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca rel=\"attachment wp-att-3574\" href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2010/11/are-e-readers-helpful-for-dyslexia/chirantanpatnaik/\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-3574\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2010/11/ChirantanPatnaik1-300x182.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline\">By Sara Bernard\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The many bells and whistles of e-readers are fun to use, but for dyslexics, they can be essential tools for basic reading.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, the book reader for the iPad has a text-to-speech feature built in called \u003ca href=\"http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/accessibility.html\">VoiceOver\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.intel.com/about/companyinfo/healthcare/products/reader/index.htm\">Intel Reader \u003c/a>can take pictures of text and convert it into audio files within seconds. Readers can then choose the speed of playback for those audio files, helping them sound out words they’re struggling with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>E-readers with built-in dictionary features can also help readers quickly see the pronunciation and the order of syllables in a word. And readers can customize reading modes, such as font, size, and color. \"All the books I've found so far tend to be on white, but there's an option to make it a dark yellow which is good for me,\" \u003ca href=\"http://www.beingdyslexic.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=6116\">notes one member\u003c/a> of an online forum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s even an iPad and iPhone app called \"\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adult-dyslexia-tips-tricks/id382179989?mt=8\">Tips and Tricks for Beating Adult Dyslexia\u003c/a>\" includes general information about diagnosis, techniques for dealing with symptoms, and first-person stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, there’s little significant research to date that supports the claim that e-readers help students with disabilities -- it's primarily anecdotal evidence so far, since all of this is so new. An \u003ca href=\"http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/10/20/01dyslexia.h04.html\">article in \u003cem>Education Week\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/10/20/01dyslexia.h04.html\"> \u003c/a>explores the use of e-readers in special-needs education and concludes that \"the jury's still out.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This might be because some students might need to rely on the physical pages to skim headings and subheadings quickly to organize their thoughts, one researcher says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the advantages are clear to those who use them – students show independence without help from adults. According to one teacher, \"It is not only liberating for the kids, but also liberating for the teachers.\"\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s even an iPad and iPhone app called \"\u003ca href=\"http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adult-dyslexia-tips-tricks/id382179989?mt=8\">Tips and Tricks for Beating Adult Dyslexia\u003c/a>\" includes general information about diagnosis, techniques for dealing with symptoms, and first-person stories.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, there’s little significant research to date that supports the claim that e-readers help students with disabilities -- it's primarily anecdotal evidence so far, since all of this is so new. An \u003ca href=\"http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/10/20/01dyslexia.h04.html\">article in \u003cem>Education Week\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003ca href=\"http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/10/20/01dyslexia.h04.html\"> \u003c/a>explores the use of e-readers in special-needs education and concludes that \"the jury's still out.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This might be because some students might need to rely on the physical pages to skim headings and subheadings quickly to organize their thoughts, one researcher says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the advantages are clear to those who use them – students show independence without help from adults. According to one teacher, \"It is not only liberating for the kids, but also liberating for the teachers.\"\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
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"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
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}
},
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"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
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"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
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"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"order": 15
},
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
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"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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