“Thank you for monitoring at a peer level because it should not just be the teacher who recognizes that was not appropriate.”
“I appreciate those of you who recognized this transition time as an opportunity to check your phones. That time is over now, though, so all technology should be put away.
The wisest educators use the wisest words to monitor, redirect, and compliment their students. No matter how hard educators are working, however, there are many times when there remains a disconnect in the kind of education some students receive. It is not until there is a sensory screening, for instance, that some children receive the kinds of interventions that they need to be successful.
Some districts have the wait until they fail model when it comes to those students who do not yet qualify for a full range of services. Other districts use early intervention sensory screenings, hearing screenings, vision screenings, and other options to get as many students qualified for services as possible from the very first day of class.
With a wide range of different educational staffing possibilities, in fact, there are many times when the earliest interventions can be a the difference that many students need to succeed.
Trained Specialists Can Use Sensory Screenings and Other Tests to Monitor the Kind of Help That Students Receive
It should be obvious, but if children cannot see or hear as well as their classmates they are likely not going to reach the same level as success. It is for these reasons that many schools conduct hearing and vision tests early in the school year. Unfortunately, there are other barriers to learning that are not as easily tested, and often go unnoticed. In a time when the majority of schools are facing a deficit in their funding provided by their states, these educational barriers can play significant factors in limiting the progress that students make. A recent attack on what some politicians are calling government schools is, in fact, increasing the fears that many people have that all children in this country are going to have access to the education they deserve.
In private and charter schools, for example, these classrooms do not serve all students. Selected by lottery or paid for by tuition, any school that is not a true public school does not need to meet the needs of all students. With expectations for behavior and success, in fact, those lower achieving students who do make their way into a private or charter school setting can be pushed out of the system if they are not maintaining their success. Returning to their public neighborhood schools, these children can again have access to the services they need, but in some states their educational funding for at least the semester, and sometimes the year, remains at the original school. The private and charter schools are then left with more money to educate the remaining students who are already showing success, and the struggling students return to public classrooms who are operating on limited funds.
Even with all of these advantages, however, study after study shows that charter schools rarely out perform public schools. The fact that there are companies trying to make money off the education of America’s students is not providing strong results for the students, but instead, is providing funds for the companies. Fortunately, the public school movement is offering a strong resistance in many parts of the country.
During the 2015 through 2016 school year, the U.S. Department of Education’s most recent data on participation in the Title I program, over 55,906 public schools used these funds to provide academic support. This funding serves as a valuable resource in neighborhood schools in many parts of the country where poverty is especially high. When you factor in the hearing and vision complications that some students face, you begin to understand the impact that the right services can have. Did you know, for instance, that as many as two or three out of every 1,000 children in the U.S. are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears? Combine this statistic with the fact that children in families without insurance are less likely to get the corrective devices they need and you begin to see the importance of sensory screening at all schools.
