Education in Missouri…Where Does it Stand?

Story from a Mother.
The job of motherhood is not one to be taken lightly. It requires sincere thoughtful attention, diligent effort, and tireless concern. A mother has to look out for her child and predict every possible issue. Unfortunately, that cannot always happen. Life does not always happen the way you think it will.
When I had my second child, I had the expectations of milestone achievements similar to my first. No doubted, every child is different, but you expect some similarities. But then reality hit me and my second was nothing like my first. Things weren’t quite so obvious at first, but as time went on, we knew something was very different. Then he got diagnosed with autism. While we were somewhat expecting that, it was still very hard to cope. Daily challenges are one thing, life challenges are another. We have both.
Now, looking into the education in Missouri beyond the preschool years, I am facing another crisis. My child is not ready to be mainstreamed yet, but the school says he is. I am his mother and I should have to right to decide his future, not some officials.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2007 found that 69 percent of Missouri 8th grade students were not ranked “proficient” in reading and 70 percent were not ranked “proficient” in Math. Yet, they think my child can be properly educated in this system. It seems fairly obvious even non-special education students are having a rough go. I should have the right to decide where my child spends his days, and if I did, I would chose the private school about 7 miles away, that can better educate my son.

Missouri's Education...Worse than I Thought

As a mother of young children, it is impossible for me to stay away from the depressing news of the failures of many of Missouri schools. Being that my children are not yet in school, I may be a little naive on all the facts. I am sure, like many other parents, reading about the lack of education in some of the bigger cities brings a sense of sadness for all those parents. Yet, not living there, I have felt a little secure in my bubble outside the cities. Even though I have always known things could be better here, I never knew how bad they really were.

Reading the Missouri Poliitical News Service, I came across an op-ed written by Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield, titled "Who Needs Help; K-12 Education in Missouri".

Some new facts that may surprise you are:
Fact: Most minority students do not go to school in the metro areas.
Only 30% of black students go to school in St. Louis or Kansas City.

Fact: Most poor performing minority students do not live in Metro areas.
67% of black students testing basic or below go to school outside Kansas City and St. Louis City.

Fact: A small percentage of poor performers live in metro areas.
Only 10% of all students testing basic or below go to school in Kansas City and St. Louis.

Fact: Most poor performing students don’t live in metro areas and are white.
Almost 70% of children testing basic or below and living outside St. Louis and Kansas City are white.

What does this data mean? That solving the minority, metro problem will only affect less than 6% of students in Missouri. Solving the education problem will require an expanded focus on all schools from the bad to the great. Many minority children do poorly outside the metro areas. Almost half of white students need help.

So much emphasis has been placed on the metro areas and not enough on areas outside the cities. While I know it is important for those cities to improve, I also agree with Dr. Sinquefield that the entire state needs improvement.

This news definitely gives me the feeling my little bubble has popped and I hope, for the sake of my children and the rest of the children, things are done to improve education for all.

Who Will Help the Children?

As a young mother, I worried about quality naps, diaper rash, developing fine and gross motor skills, hitting the developmental milestones at the right time, proper nutrition, and of course happiness of my children. These were all things I would try to control, (although no one has total control of these issues, but I gave it my best). Now, as my children are leaving 'my nest' and entering kindergarten, I must relinquish many news concerns to teachers, at least for part of the day.

The problems with the public education system are not new and you would think people would try new things to fix them, not keep trying to same failed policies.
Recently, gubernatorial candidate, Kenny Hulshof announced his plan for education in Missouri. His plan includes more charter schools in Kansas City and children gaining access to scholarship tax credits. His opponent Nixon, however, wants to keep the status quo, the same plans that have been and will continue to fail our children.

Nixon even has the audacity to criticize Hulshof for accepting political contributions from another school choice advocate, Rex Sinquefield. Nixon says " I have never accepted money from Mr. Sinquefield or any of his Political Action Committees, and I certainly never will. Mr. Sinquefield's pro-voucher agenda undermines our public school system and as a product of Missouri's public schools, I believe we must strengthen our school system, not weaken it."
Two points here: Nixon would NEVER be offered money by Sinquefield, secondly, its Nixon's plans that will keep our schools failing, not Sinquefield's. Nixon's plans will simply keep things the way they are...broken!

Education reform plans, such as those by Hulshof and Sinquefield, are plans that intend to strengthen the schools, grant good education to all children, and stimulate growth and change within the entire program.

Congratulations to Hulshof for taking a stand against failed systems. I can only hope Missourians will make the right vote, the vote for change.

Re-examining Testing of Special Needs Children?

In the state of California, a student must pass a high school exit exam in order to earn a diploma.  That basic theory reminds me of a reform idea Jeb Bush used in Florida, which would not let children progress to the 4th grade if they were not reading at a 3rd grade level.  Previously, the children who could not read were not 'discovered' until the 10th grade.  Once a child is in the 10th grade, they are more likely to drop out than to learn to read at that point in the game. 

So California students must pass this test in order to officially graduate.  It makes sense...what is the point in giving them a diploma if in fact they have  not been sufficiently educated?  On the other side of this coin, I am against over regulation by the government and the power they seem to have in every area of our lives. 

For several years, special education students in California were exempt from taking these tests, but currently they are required to do so.  On one hand, a child should be educated properly in order to graduate but special education children show different ways of learning.  This past year, nearly half of the special education students failed this exam.  The parents and the children are mortified, depressed, and angered at the testing methods.  An article in a StudyMBA blog  as well as the Los Angeles Times depicts the parents frustrations with the testing methods. 

If this were happening in Missouri to my child in the public schools, I would be more angry with the schools and its teaching than the tests.  I know many Missouri public schools that cannot effectively educate special needs children.  The state should allow the parents of those children to find schools that can educate them. 

Have the parents in California faced this issue and concern?  Undoubtedly, the parents are upset when their child fails, but perhaps it is the school's fault???

Special Needs Advocate?

Watching the Democratic and Republican Conventions had me on the edge of my seat...well, some of it at least.  As an aunt of a special needs child, I relate to Palin on some level.  I have witnessed my sister raise her 9 year old daughter with autism.  Things have not been easy for her, yet she is blessed with her amazing child nonetheless.  Everyday presents challenges, some knows and others completely unpredictable.  Sarah Palin promises to be an advocate if she and McCain are elected President and Vice President.  I have heard various things from special needs parents and their opinion on her stance.  While some parents aren't convinced because no specifics were laid out, others were quite pleased knowing that not only a mother, but a mother of special needs, knows what works and what doesn't.  She will do her best to help these children and their families. 

    

Of course, other critics are concerned with her stance on school choice and whether choice would only drain money from public education and special public education.  Well, here is where I am baffled by those critics of not only Palin but choice itself.  My sister has struggled all these years to get good education for her daughter.  If she were allowed choice, she could have chosen to send her child to a neighboring public school with an amazing special education program or to the private school just two blocks away that has better services for special needs children.  Educational choices are incredibly important to all parents, but especially those with special needs children. 

    

I hope and pray for all families like my sister's that Palin not only advocates for special needs children in other areas, but for educational choices.  With her intentions to help special needs families and her support of school choice, I think we could have a great combination on our hands. 

    

Many other states have created programs that allow children with special needs to receive scholarships that can be used at any public or private school, and the results have been astounding.  Not only has the parental satisfaction level skyrocketed, but the children's success is through the roof. 

    

This past year, Missouri legislators were not up to the task to allow for such a program, but hopefully they will soon realize it needs to be done. 

 

This is from a blog: "Blessed with Autism":

The central concern of many parents with children who have special needs is the financing to fulfill the decades-old federal mandate requiring public schools to offer educational services to their children — or pay for them in nonpublic school settings.

Exactly my point...give them the choice to go to nonpublic settings.  What have we got to lose?

Empowerment

Any parent of a child on the Autism Spectrum will tell you life is not easy and definitely not something fabricated. Life with a child with autism is a challenging life, one with obstacle after obstacle. Families need to be empowered to stay strong and fight for their child's rights. Unfortunately, some people are naive about the truths about life with autism. The reality is that 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism. While Missouri has improved in many ways, such as increasing funding for diagnosis and treatment, there are still ways to improve.

The Blue Ribbon Panel on Autism was created by Michael Gibbons to figure out the best ways to help families affected by autism. The panel consisted of 16 people, including lawmakers, educators, parents, doctors, and health officials. From the discussions in the panel, the recommendations were brought to light. It created the Commission on Autism Spectrum Disorders, which helps advise the government how to implement the best models brought about during panel discussions. Also created was the Office of Autism Services, which serves as a medium to help families navigate through the various services, resources, and care services available.

Missouri has made these advancements in Autism early diagnosis and treatment, but there are still many more things to do to help. Not only do people need to be aware of the condition and make treatments available, they also need to make sure children are receiving the education they need. Early detection helps children enroll in special needs preschools, but unfortunately, after that, many children are without access to those schools. Many public schools are simply not equipped to properly educate and treat children on the spectrum. Those children should be granted access to the schools that are capable of properly educating. Autism awareness is a stepping stone to this problem, an important one, but it is time we look beyond what we now know and look to changing how special needs education is delivered.

Key Elements

Teaching children with special needs takes an extra talented teacher to know what the child needs. There are special steps in order to make sure the child is getting the education he/she needs, which can be hard to perfect in some situations. Unfortunately, not every public school can provide the child with that type of teacher. This is not to say that private schools can always provide that either. While it may be easy to know what needs to be done, it is harder to actually implement those plans.

According to Education.com, there are several key elements to effectively teaching special needs children:

• A teacher who sets high expectations for the child and who encourages peer interaction and mentoringas appropriate.
  
• Special and regular educators who collaborate in instruction and who have a sense of ownership in the process.
  
• Individualized instruction with decisions based on careful collection and analysis of data focused on measurablegoals and behaviors
  
• Special services are brought into the classroom to facilitate generalization and to prevent stigmatization
  
• A collaborative team approach -including regular and special educators, school administrators, supplemental school personnel, and parents or guardians -is employed to set goals and to evaluate progress of the IEP
  
• An assumption that all children can acquire skills if instruction is modified to help the child succeed
  
• Adapting the school environment by extending school hours or the school year and coordinating with home caregivers.
  
  When children are forced to attend schools (by geographical location or lack of funds to attend others) and not receiving the education they require, they are missing out on windows to their future. Education is the first step in life....from the day you are born, you are learning new things. If a child's brain is not encouraged to grow and grow correctly, it will stagnate and the child's life will forever suffer. Here the scenario changes...there is a private school down the road that has excellent special needs teachers...but the parents cannot afford it. Or the neighboring school district has the best special needs teachers around, but the family lives just outside the borders. Guess who is ultimately negatively impacted by this? The child! Now, imagine if the parents and the child had the choice...wouldn't that be nice?