Julia: Speech Take 2 and PT Evaluation

Well, Julia did much better (at least I think she did) during the second part of her speech evaluation. I think it worked well to go back the very next day, making the school and the actual evaluator familiar to her. Her PT evaluation was the next day after that so this too went extremely well. Well, at least in the sense that she participated and tried her best at every task presented to her. While I don't have the official word yet, the PT evaluator said that she was going to recommend her for PT through the public school system, but that academically she was fine so it would be outside of a classroom setting. I don't have any word yet, official or otherwise, regarding the speech, but her team meeting is scheduled on June 5th so I will get the lowdown on everything then.

I am happy to have at least the evaluation over and done with and am anxiously looking forward to the results!

Julia's Speech And Language Evaluation: Take 1

Today was, what is turning out to be part 1 of 2, Julia's speech evaluation to see if she is eligible to attend the public preschool in the fall.

I went in there thinking that the speech and language pathologist was going to tell me to get the heck out of there, that she was fine, and why was I worried anyway? When she told me instead that not only did she have concerns about her comprehension, but that she wanted her to have her hearing tested at 3 years and that we should come back tomorrow to continue the evaluation, well I was a little shocked. Maybe shocked isn't the word...surprised? The thing is while I thought there were still some concerns, I never in a million years thought that there could potentially be enough of a concern for her actually to be eligible...at least not in the area of speech. Julia was not exactly on her game either. For some reason, she was yawning a lot and seemed unable to focus her attention for too long. What I am saying as I can see why the evaluator may have been concerned today. We go back tomorrow at 8:45 to finish up, and back again on Thursday for her PT evaluation.

I figured I should point out...

...that money is not the only thing needed for our kids to get a proper education. You also need good teachers, good administrators, involved parents, and the right resources.

Certainly, the argument can be made that to get any of the above, you need money, but, even with money, the above mentioned things are hard to come by. I don't deny that.

Also, for the record, I too believe that if the state and federal governments are going to make the rules, they should foot the bill. They aren't though, so someone needs to step up to the plate. You would think that the next people in line to step up would be the concerned parents of the school system and the town as a whole.

Do I feel bad that the seniors and those who already have a tough time paying the bills would have to pay? Yes, I do. I am human, and a quite compassionate one at that. I just don't see any other way of making this work and I don't see the non-override budget as an option.

So Tell Me How You Really Feel, Sharon

Let me say point blank before I go forth with this post: In my personal opinion, cuts to educational funding should be considered a criminal act. No, I am not kidding, and yes, I feel that strongly about it.

The children of today are the future leaders of tomorrow. To be perfectly honest, even with adequate funding and available resources, there are still academic concerns surrounding such things as AYP and The No Child Left Behind Act. Cutting funds is certainly not the answer to this, or any other existing problems. How can a teacher be held responsible for a child's progress when they aren't provided with the tools to do so? I don't pretend to know the answer when it comes to resolving these and other concerns. What I do know is that if there is any hope of this ever being resolved, the money needs to be there. The feds have one heck of a nerve, if you ask me requiring such things anyway, unless they are willing to back it up with some cold, hard cash.

For anyone to even accuse the higher-ups at a school of being wasteful is not only ignorant, it's plain and simple not true. I not only have students in the school system, but am an active volunteer who actually sees, with my own two eyes how resourceful and creative school administrators and teachers can be, and in some cases have to be, in order to provide an appropriate education with the materials they have. Honestly? People who make accusations like that need only to go to the schools and see how wrong they are.

Yes, an override is needed. I think that the cutting of 36 positions, resulting in large class sizes and limited supplies more than justifies it. Does anyone really think the superintendent is making this up? If the override doesn't pass, you go to the schools next year and see for yourself. Maybe it is a form of theft, but, it's a legal one and I don't see anyone coming up with any better ideas. I'm sorry, but I think it is pathetically sad that someone wouldn't be willing to spend an extra $260 a year to support the future of the world. Further, we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with if someone, somewhere didn't screw up to begin with. I seriously doubt jeopardizing the education of the children will prevent this from happening again. No, I am not pointing fingers. Mistakes though, were undoubtedly made and even if those who made them are long gone, the children of today shouldn't suffer the consequences. It's just wrong.

If my landlord decided to raise the rent to cover the cost of the tax increase, I would gladly pay it. There is nothing more important than educating the children of today to provide for a better tomorrow. Nothing.

On a related note, it pisses me off to no end that people can make all kinds of judgements and accusations without having actually stepped foot in the school building to see what really goes on, not just what they think goes on. I assure you, what they think and what really is are two totally different things.

By the way, I too have serious doubts that the override will pass. So why bother, you might say? Well, because some one has to show the kids that can have a voice too, even if it is through their parents for now.

Link Fest

This is good to know, epecially since Emily has taken (or is currently taking in the case of Lamictal)both of thees drugs for seizure control. Emily has generalized tonic clonic seizures and while the Depakote was doing a fantastic job with seizure control, it was doing a number on her mood control. We switched her ove to Lamictal, and she has been seizure free for almost 2 1/2 years! WAHOO!

This seems like a good idea, and while I am more of the belief that things such as financial awareness should be taught at home, if it's not being done there, school seems like the next logical choice.

I just joined this organization today. After attending a school committee meeting last night (which will be included in a post regarding the school budget for next year) I have decided that it is time to take a more active role in the discusssions surrounding funding and support for the public education system.

This website provides an easy to understand breakdown of the various components of public education and what it means today. I knew most of it already, but I still found it quite useful.

Ever wondered what the difference between an IEP and a 504 is? This article does a nice job of explaining the similarities and differences between the two.

NCLB: Defined

I recently attended a conference workshop called, "NCLB:What's In It For Families." I leanred a lot from it, and thought it may be useful to those who still have questions about what it is all about, to post a summary of the information I came back with.

The No Child Left Behind Act is part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that was originally passed by Congress in 1968. It provided for the first time, significant federal funding for k-12 education. The original law has been renewed many times, most recently by NCLB.

The first part of ESEA is "Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged", more commmonly called Title I. Schools that educate the disadvantaged children of this nation receive Title I money, which is the largest portion of the federal k-12 education funds. More than half of all public schools are "Title I schools."

All Title I schools must meet certain requirements set forth by NCLB in order to get federal funding. In addition, additional measures are required in order to ensure that America's neediest students are no longer left behind. NCLB works according to four common-sense principles; accountability, flexibility in how the federal money is spent, scientific research to guide classroom practice, and involving parents by giving them information and choices about their child's education.

For the first time, public schools are being held accountable for results, including results for those groups of children who typically don't perform well. The measure of accountability is Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). AYP is defined by the states. Certain goals are set for student achievement and progress is measured by how well students perform on state developed tests. In Massachusetts, one such test is called the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). To make AYP, schools must meet, or make significant progress towards the levels of achievement defined on these tests. NCLB requires schools test your child in reading and language arts and math every year in grades 3-8 by using a state developed test.
Local report cards are prepared for every school that receives Title I funds. These reports must be easy to understand and available to all parents. This report card will show the results of the state testing for the school as a whole. Individual reports are mailed to the students home. For schools that are in need of improvement (which means they have not made AYP for two consecutive years or longer) options such as school choice and supplemental educational students must be offered. School choice offers parents that option of transferring their student to another public school. The school district must provide transportation for your child. Supplemental Education Services could be free tutoring, homework help, or other extra help outside of the regular school day. Your child may qualify if he or she is eligible for free or reduced priced lunch and they attend a Title I school that has not made AYP for three years or longer.


NCLB gives the states and schools more control and flexibility to use the federal money and resources where they are needed most. Principals and administrators can move funds from one program to another as they see fit.

NCLB provides more federal funding for states than ever before. While the majority of the funding for k-12 education comes from the states and communities, the federal share has been rising, and was at 8.3 percent in 2005, up from 5.7 percent in 1991. Another major component of the federal k-12 education program is the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, which has also seen its funding increased in recent years.

NCLB provides funding to help teachers through training and other professional development opportunities. The law also requires that teachers of core academic subjects be highly qualified. Highly qualified is defined as a teacher with one bachelor's degree, full state certification, and demonstrated competence for each subject taught. If your child is in a Title I school, NCLB requires that you know that you have the right to obtain and how to obtain information about the qualifications of your child's teachers.

NCLB requires that districts develop ways for parents to become more involved. This empowers you, as a parent to ask questions and make informed decisions regarding your child's education. Schools must have written policies on parent involvement and provide that information to you.

More than $1 billion a year under NCLB goes to help children learn to read through the Reading First program. This program is dedicated to helping ensure that all children learn to read on grade level by the third grade. The money provides schools the power to support high quality reading programs based on scientific research.

Clearly, I learned a lot about NCLB at this workshop. One of the key things I took back from it was that it's not, in my opinion, as bad as a thought it was. It makes sense for both teachers and children to be held accountable for what they are doing. It makes sense for teacher's to be highly qualified in the subjects they are teaching. Progress should be measured to see if what you are doing is working. I don't think the only measure of this progress should be a state test, in the case of Massachusetts the MCAS. I've said this before and I'll say it again: Some people just don't test well. A brilliant student, who otherwise gets high marks could fail the MCAS and not be able to graduate high school. This is just not right.

I still think my major gripe with NCLB is funding. I just don't think it's right to hold the schools responsible for high standards on a federal level, and then expect the schools, communities and states to come up with most of the funding to support and achieve it. If the public school system is going to be regulated by the federal government, the federal government should pay for it. I suppose there will never be a happy medium when it comes to this type of thing but something somewhere is just not working.

Coming soon...and entry about the proposed cuts to educational funding in my town and how I feel about that.

Letter Regarding Julia

To Whom It May Concern:

Enclosed please find a signed evaluation consent form giving the Middleboro Public School System permission to evaluate my daughter, Julia for admission in to the public preschool.

In addition to the referral that you have already received, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of the concerns I have for Julia, as well as how I feel she will benefit from admission in to an integrated preschool program.

Julia was accepted at the age of one year in to the Early Intervention program for both speech and gross motor delays. She has been with Early Intervention since that time, and, has also, at various times had outside Physical and Occupational Therapy at Health South in Plymouth, Massachusetts. While she has made remarkable progress as a result of these interventions, as well as continued work at home, there are still areas of need that I feel would be appropriately addressed in an integrated preschool setting.

Julia’s gross motor delay continues to be of great concern. As noted in her referral, she has overall hypotonia (low muscle tone) and this contributes significantly to her delay in her acquisition of age appropriate gross motor skills. Julia feels very “loose” and does not show any resistance when her extremities are moved passively. Julia is unable to climb stairs independently, and requires a hand (or a railing, or, in some cases both) in order to make her way up or down stairs. Even with a hand or railing to hold on to, it is evident by the amount of effort she exerts and the frequent “shakiness” of her legs that stair climbing is very difficult for her. Julia has an immature gait, which still looks somewhat “waddle-like”, as it sometimes does when a child first learns to walk. Julia also has a very “stiff” run and does not appear to bend her legs appropriately when running. She also has issues with balance and is unable to stand on one foot for even a few seconds. Julia is unable to jump off of a small ledge or, for example, off of a gym mat on to the floor. Julia’s ankles, when in a standing position tend to turn in and her feet are flat.

While Julia has made substantial gains in the area of speech and says many words and sentences, she does have difficulties with language. This is most obvious when she is presented with choices (both physically and mentally presented). When given a choice (“Julia do you want apple juice or milk?”) She will either say, “Yes,” repeat the choice (“apple juice or milk”) or say the last thing you said (“milk”). If you go back and switch the order (“Julia do you want milk or apple juice?”) she will still repeat the last thing said, even if she had said milk prior. She also has difficulty answering questions. If for example, you were to ask Julia what color a block was (let’s assume it’s red) and she didn’t answer you, you might prompt her by saying, “Is it green?” This would be an attempt obviously, to get her to respond with, “No, it’s red” or even just “No.” What she says instead is “Yes” even though she will be looking at the block and know it is red.

Julia sometimes seems overwhelmed in certain social situations. She is intensely shy and takes quite some time to be comfortable in new situations. Even when she is eventually beginning to feel comfortable, she still sometimes will prefer to be alone and does not always interact with the other children.

Due to her low muscle tone and gross motor delay, I feel Julia should be receiving Physical Therapy Services every week. I would also like Julia to receive some help with her language skills, so that she will be able to make choices and have appropriate conversations. Constant exposure to children in a preschool setting will help Julia overcome her shyness and develop appropriate social skills.

I feel very strongly that Julia should be accepted in to this program. Thank you very much for your consideration!