…but only an information processing disorder that significantly impacts language?
This idea has been rolling around in my head for a few months, and apparently, in the minds of others, too. My supervisor started talking about this last month at a meeting of secondary school SLPs. She is on a team of SLPs researching and talking about such ideas as: should all language disorders be considered under the category of Learning Disabilities? What information do psychologists have that support/contradict SLP findings during testing? So often, why do all disciplines write their "own" reports instead of a nice, cohesive, synthesized report?
Most of us come to the conclusion pretty early in our careers that 1) you can be learning disabled (SLD) without qualifying for language disability (in the case of textbook dyslexia), but 2) you pretty much can't be language disordered without also qualifying for learning disability. Despite dyslexia being language-based, it fell more in the scope of practice of LD teachers. Many dyslexic kids have strong speaking and listening skills. Sometimes, in my 12 years of elementary school work, I would work with these kids on phonemic awareness/Orton Gillingham strategies, but usually I had bigger fish to fry. Namely, the kids that had significant deficits in listening, speaking, reading and writing. I usually focused on the first two domains and the LD teacher focused on the second two, but of course there was cross-over.
Now, as a high school SLP, most kids that I work with know how to read at at least a 3rd grade level. Still, syntax, vocabulary and multisyllabic words give them an extremely hard time. I find myself doing a lot to modify the reading level of the content and trying to teach the content in a LLD-friendly way so that they can pass their tests and graduate. I make therapy activities that include graphic organizers and visual ways to organize and see information so that they can learn it for their tests. I make notecards with test information so that they can study effectively. I'm touching on the information processing piece but not being strategic. Research is showing a clear link between processing and language disorders, but so far what I have read makes it seem that processing is part of the language disorder, not that processing is the problem that CAUSES the language disorder.
New Plan:
I will research information processing and language disorders and find out what the experts say. Jennifer Windsor and Kathy Kohnert at the University of MN were studying non-linguistic ways to diagnose LLD 10 years ago. Kathy has since retired, but Dr. Windsor is still there. This line of research points to the idea that since language is a cognitive skill, we should be able to devise cognitive (maybe even nonlinguistic) tests that can identify LLD in anyone, regardless which language they speak. I will find out what information processing pieces are interfering the most with language-learning activities for my students. I will purposefully build my therapy with these strategies front and center. It will be a lot of synthesizing of information because I can't take away the supports I've already given my students--content that will be on the test, readability/understandability, current accommodations-- but I need to add information processing strategies explicitly. I'm taking a deep breath. And I'm ready to GO!
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
The Problem With a Well-Standardized Test
I recently read some information on the American Psychological Association's website about the relationship between SES (particularly low-SES) and education. Most of the statistics were familiar. We know how kids living in poverty perform relative to their more affluent counterparts. But what do we DO with that knowledge in assessment/analysis short of tut-tutting about the difficult realities that some of our kids face? Similarly, we are supposed to take into account a child's racial/ethnic background when choosing standardized tests--make sure they were part of the standardized sample, etc.
Well, what about when 95% of your students live in poverty and only 20% of the norm group of the test were from low-SES backgrounds--because that was the makeup of the US when standardization was done? What about when 95% of your students are non-White but only 30% of the norm group was?
Yes, it's true that my students are living in the US and therefore theoretically a US-based norm sample should reflect their reality. But I would argue that it doesn't really. My students do not leave their section of the city. Except for school and an occasional ethnic restaurant trip, they are racially, linguistically and culturally isolated. They live in generational poverty. Their world is small--certainly not the world of national norm samples. When they get a standard score of 75, and C-/D+ grades, how worried should I be that there is a true disorder? Are we over-identifying students in poverty based on standardized test scores? How can we be more certain that a child's lack of skills is not due to lack of exposure, but a true disorder? It is rare that I have an initial assessment these days, but when I do 3-year reassessments and I get a standard score of 80, should I keep them in? Is this still a significant enough discrepancy from peers...?
For curiosity's sake, I would love to give the OWLS (because I like it and it's quick and easy to administer) to a random representative sample of kids in my school. It would be interesting to see what the standard scores would look like compared to the national norm group. Can anyone here say "sabbatical.....?!"
Well, what about when 95% of your students live in poverty and only 20% of the norm group of the test were from low-SES backgrounds--because that was the makeup of the US when standardization was done? What about when 95% of your students are non-White but only 30% of the norm group was?
Yes, it's true that my students are living in the US and therefore theoretically a US-based norm sample should reflect their reality. But I would argue that it doesn't really. My students do not leave their section of the city. Except for school and an occasional ethnic restaurant trip, they are racially, linguistically and culturally isolated. They live in generational poverty. Their world is small--certainly not the world of national norm samples. When they get a standard score of 75, and C-/D+ grades, how worried should I be that there is a true disorder? Are we over-identifying students in poverty based on standardized test scores? How can we be more certain that a child's lack of skills is not due to lack of exposure, but a true disorder? It is rare that I have an initial assessment these days, but when I do 3-year reassessments and I get a standard score of 80, should I keep them in? Is this still a significant enough discrepancy from peers...?
For curiosity's sake, I would love to give the OWLS (because I like it and it's quick and easy to administer) to a random representative sample of kids in my school. It would be interesting to see what the standard scores would look like compared to the national norm group. Can anyone here say "sabbatical.....?!"
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Insidious Racism of Low Expectations
I can't fall asleep. My mind is racing, thinking about my students, almost all of whom are students of color with many risk factors for difficulty in school and in life. I love being a bilingual speech-language pathologist in a diverse, urban district. But sometimes it keeps me up at night.
In our district, we've been asked to think a lot about racial equity. The superintendent has made it clear that she is not looking for racist teachers (I have never met one yet), but racist practice and policies. Now that I work in high school, I can see the effect of years of the racism of low expectations. I can say that this racism of low expectations cuts across all racial groups, because I can make excuses for just about anyone (White and uneducated? Sad! Asian from a refugee camp? Hard! Single black mom with 4 kids and 2 jobs? Poor thing!) And I've come to the conclusion that the problem lies more with the low expectations that I have of PARENTS than of students.
We teachers love our students. We try to inspire. We try to get them to like us (at least a little!). We cajole, reteach, remind, threaten, and perform…all so that our kids learn content, responsibility and pride. We try to set high expectations--or at least medium expectations--for our students. And some kids just don't do the work. They don't show up for class. They are on their phones or sleeping during class. Then parents don't show up for conferences. And all 4 phone numbers are disconnected when we call. So we stop trying to call. And then parents come to an IEP meeting and by that time, teachers don't show up the meeting because they already feel like it doesn't matter…. And our lack of a relationship with the parent leads to the student getting away with doing almost nothing. (If you call failing classes and not learning content, responsibility and pride "getting away" with something.) It is time for parents and teachers to hold each other accountable. In order to do this, we have to start making REAL relationships, speaking our truths, and giving teachers/parents/students the tools they need to be successful.
My new mantra is this: It is my job and the job of your teachers to give you work you CAN do; it is your job and the job of your parents to DO it.
What does this mean?
--Parents, while I appreciate your flattery (Oh, teacher, you are so smart. You care so much about my child. I know you are doing the best you can. I appreciate everything you do...), I no longer should let that Savior flattery cloud the fact that you are flattering me to abdicate your own responsibility (…I can't help with school because I didn't graduate myself, I don't speak English, I had a bad experience at school, I work 2 jobs). Now, before you think horrible thoughts about me, hear me out. Homework should be doable at an independent level for all students. Teachers MUST be sure that they have given work that students CAN do. Parents should hold us accountable to that. But we need to start expecting parents to make sure that their kids do their homework. If they feel that the homework is too hard, they need to call us. We will make further modifications if needed. If not, then there should be home and school consequences. Providing expectations of work completion, and actually checking to make sure work is done is not too much to ask.
--Let's say it's a student that said: "Thank you for helping me, Ms. Awesome Teacher. I can only understand things when YOU explain them. But I didn't do my (modified) History assignment because it's too hard. I have a learning disability, you know." What would we say to that student? If we would swoop in and rescue them, THAT is lowering expectations. What we need to say is: "Yes, I know you have a learning disability. That means you have to work harder than other kids, but you can do anything they can do. I have modified this assignment so that you CAN do it. It's your job to DO it." And then call home to let the parent know that you have already made sure that the work is doable independently at home, maybe discuss ways to build confidence by talking about strengths, and then asking the parent to provide a quiet place to study (or allow them to go to the public library) and to check to be sure the work is done.
--We need to be sure that kids CAN do the work we assign. If students can't decode, do they have an audio version of the text? If kids have low language skills, do we have an adapted text for them? Does that adapted text also have an audio version? Are we making sure that there are many visual supports to our lessons (and we aren't just lecturing? Spraying-and-praying? Talking-not-teaching)? Do parents have internet access and do they check their child's grades/missing work? Are parents aware when their child is not in class and have they been told about the specific impacts of interrupted schooling due to absences? Is there a way to have families "earn" paid high-speed internet access by showing that they are checking the Parent Portal? It would be a great investment (Superintendent? Mayor?) for parents to be our accountability partners; it could also provide the means for students to receive alternative content or show what they know in alternate ways. Are parents willing to do the hard thing (take away video game systems, stop paying for cell phones, assign chores, etc) if school work isn't done? Do parents know their kids' strengths? Do we try hard to build positive, lasting, real and equal relationships with parents? Are we working together?
I'm sure there are plenty of institutionalized policies in our schools that cause racial inequity. This is the one that is keeping me up. It's almost 2:00am and I get up at 5:30am to get ready for school. I hope now that I got all of that out, I will be able to sleep. For three hours. Yikes.
In our district, we've been asked to think a lot about racial equity. The superintendent has made it clear that she is not looking for racist teachers (I have never met one yet), but racist practice and policies. Now that I work in high school, I can see the effect of years of the racism of low expectations. I can say that this racism of low expectations cuts across all racial groups, because I can make excuses for just about anyone (White and uneducated? Sad! Asian from a refugee camp? Hard! Single black mom with 4 kids and 2 jobs? Poor thing!) And I've come to the conclusion that the problem lies more with the low expectations that I have of PARENTS than of students.
We teachers love our students. We try to inspire. We try to get them to like us (at least a little!). We cajole, reteach, remind, threaten, and perform…all so that our kids learn content, responsibility and pride. We try to set high expectations--or at least medium expectations--for our students. And some kids just don't do the work. They don't show up for class. They are on their phones or sleeping during class. Then parents don't show up for conferences. And all 4 phone numbers are disconnected when we call. So we stop trying to call. And then parents come to an IEP meeting and by that time, teachers don't show up the meeting because they already feel like it doesn't matter…. And our lack of a relationship with the parent leads to the student getting away with doing almost nothing. (If you call failing classes and not learning content, responsibility and pride "getting away" with something.) It is time for parents and teachers to hold each other accountable. In order to do this, we have to start making REAL relationships, speaking our truths, and giving teachers/parents/students the tools they need to be successful.
My new mantra is this: It is my job and the job of your teachers to give you work you CAN do; it is your job and the job of your parents to DO it.
What does this mean?
--Parents, while I appreciate your flattery (Oh, teacher, you are so smart. You care so much about my child. I know you are doing the best you can. I appreciate everything you do...), I no longer should let that Savior flattery cloud the fact that you are flattering me to abdicate your own responsibility (…I can't help with school because I didn't graduate myself, I don't speak English, I had a bad experience at school, I work 2 jobs). Now, before you think horrible thoughts about me, hear me out. Homework should be doable at an independent level for all students. Teachers MUST be sure that they have given work that students CAN do. Parents should hold us accountable to that. But we need to start expecting parents to make sure that their kids do their homework. If they feel that the homework is too hard, they need to call us. We will make further modifications if needed. If not, then there should be home and school consequences. Providing expectations of work completion, and actually checking to make sure work is done is not too much to ask.
--Let's say it's a student that said: "Thank you for helping me, Ms. Awesome Teacher. I can only understand things when YOU explain them. But I didn't do my (modified) History assignment because it's too hard. I have a learning disability, you know." What would we say to that student? If we would swoop in and rescue them, THAT is lowering expectations. What we need to say is: "Yes, I know you have a learning disability. That means you have to work harder than other kids, but you can do anything they can do. I have modified this assignment so that you CAN do it. It's your job to DO it." And then call home to let the parent know that you have already made sure that the work is doable independently at home, maybe discuss ways to build confidence by talking about strengths, and then asking the parent to provide a quiet place to study (or allow them to go to the public library) and to check to be sure the work is done.
--We need to be sure that kids CAN do the work we assign. If students can't decode, do they have an audio version of the text? If kids have low language skills, do we have an adapted text for them? Does that adapted text also have an audio version? Are we making sure that there are many visual supports to our lessons (and we aren't just lecturing? Spraying-and-praying? Talking-not-teaching)? Do parents have internet access and do they check their child's grades/missing work? Are parents aware when their child is not in class and have they been told about the specific impacts of interrupted schooling due to absences? Is there a way to have families "earn" paid high-speed internet access by showing that they are checking the Parent Portal? It would be a great investment (Superintendent? Mayor?) for parents to be our accountability partners; it could also provide the means for students to receive alternative content or show what they know in alternate ways. Are parents willing to do the hard thing (take away video game systems, stop paying for cell phones, assign chores, etc) if school work isn't done? Do parents know their kids' strengths? Do we try hard to build positive, lasting, real and equal relationships with parents? Are we working together?
I'm sure there are plenty of institutionalized policies in our schools that cause racial inequity. This is the one that is keeping me up. It's almost 2:00am and I get up at 5:30am to get ready for school. I hope now that I got all of that out, I will be able to sleep. For three hours. Yikes.
Friday, February 21, 2014
Snow Day! Strike Averted! Are We a Related Service or What?!
This winter has been extreme, even by Minnesota standards. School has been cancelled 3 times because of temperatures of -30 degrees, and now a blizzard.
The Saint Paul Federation of Teachers (the union that represents me and all of my colleagues) has reached a tentative agreement with the Superintendent and School Board after 9 months of negotiations and teachers working without a contract since July 2013. Whew! We were poised to strike, which was scary. SPFT was the very first teachers union in the US to ever strike. We've done it before, and we would have done it again.
Now, on to the speech-language stuff. I love to read and listen to the experts in our field with regard to adolescents with speech and language disorders. It makes me inspired to do so much more for my kids. I mean, if you have a disorder (-2 SD in Minnesota) in language, that means you are REALLY REALLY bad at listening, speaking, reading and writing. And yet, I'm supposed to make a significant difference 30-60 minutes per week. Our Aunties (Ehren, Reed, Nippold, McKinley, etc) advocate for more intense service--a credit bearing class. This is fraught with logistical nightmares, but I am not afraid of those. I wonder if every day service can be justified. How do I establish a "need" when kids have never had the opportunity to have a Language Strategies class? It may bump many of my students into a higher federal setting, which is frowned upon. But, again, if it's successful, both parents and students would want it...
ZOINKS! VOILA! An Idea: I could take a look and see how many of my students have D's or N's in content areas (especially social studies and science because many already get support in reading and math)… If they do better in those classes after having my class, it can build the case for a need. Hmmm… OK, I'm on to something. Stay tuned. This plan is so crazy, it just might work.
The Saint Paul Federation of Teachers (the union that represents me and all of my colleagues) has reached a tentative agreement with the Superintendent and School Board after 9 months of negotiations and teachers working without a contract since July 2013. Whew! We were poised to strike, which was scary. SPFT was the very first teachers union in the US to ever strike. We've done it before, and we would have done it again.
Now, on to the speech-language stuff. I love to read and listen to the experts in our field with regard to adolescents with speech and language disorders. It makes me inspired to do so much more for my kids. I mean, if you have a disorder (-2 SD in Minnesota) in language, that means you are REALLY REALLY bad at listening, speaking, reading and writing. And yet, I'm supposed to make a significant difference 30-60 minutes per week. Our Aunties (Ehren, Reed, Nippold, McKinley, etc) advocate for more intense service--a credit bearing class. This is fraught with logistical nightmares, but I am not afraid of those. I wonder if every day service can be justified. How do I establish a "need" when kids have never had the opportunity to have a Language Strategies class? It may bump many of my students into a higher federal setting, which is frowned upon. But, again, if it's successful, both parents and students would want it...
ZOINKS! VOILA! An Idea: I could take a look and see how many of my students have D's or N's in content areas (especially social studies and science because many already get support in reading and math)… If they do better in those classes after having my class, it can build the case for a need. Hmmm… OK, I'm on to something. Stay tuned. This plan is so crazy, it just might work.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack!
Two people in the past two days (who don't know each other and live thousands of miles apart) have told me that I should blog. Because I'm a giver, just givin' the people what they want, I decided to jump back in!
Before I start, I should admit a few things. One, I use bad language. Sometimes it will look like *#!@% and sometimes it won't. Two, as spectrum-y as it sounds, I connect song lyrics to much of what I hear and say. When I said I was "givin' the people what they want," I was singing the song "Candy Everybody Wants" by the 10,000 Maniacs. Three, sometimes I go off on a tangent. The name of the blog is a nod to Sarah McLachlan's album and also....have you ever tried to spell the word "ecstasy?" It looks very weird. Like it's misspelled. But it isn't.
So, here I go.
Before I start, I should admit a few things. One, I use bad language. Sometimes it will look like *#!@% and sometimes it won't. Two, as spectrum-y as it sounds, I connect song lyrics to much of what I hear and say. When I said I was "givin' the people what they want," I was singing the song "Candy Everybody Wants" by the 10,000 Maniacs. Three, sometimes I go off on a tangent. The name of the blog is a nod to Sarah McLachlan's album and also....have you ever tried to spell the word "ecstasy?" It looks very weird. Like it's misspelled. But it isn't.
So, here I go.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
SOMETIMES SAYING IT OUT LOUD DOES MAKE IT REAL
Tonight I was on a panel of immersion educators discussing struggling learners and general immersion strategies. Then I had a breakout session afterward. I thought it went well, which is nice. I loved seeing colleagues that I miss and respect. One of my friends asked how things are going in high school. "I don't cry anymore," I responded. "You have to do what you love," says a friend, "Don't work where you aren't happy." I realized that I DO like high school now. I just have to get good at it.
I've gotten over the knowledge that my job isn't important to almost anyone. I can laugh about the fact that the principal gave the tiny room I asked for to someone else. I still feel like I could not show up for work for two weeks and only 3 people would notice. But, still--- it's going all right. My kids are pretty great and I finally have some friends that make every lunch period happy.
Now, all I have to do is keep refining this ginormous job of speech-language pathologist at the high school level. I know I need to teach strategies, but my kids don't seem to generalize them. So I try to help with content and assignments, but I don't see them enough to keep up with what they do in class. If I do push-in service (which I will do a lot of next year), I will be doing more literacy and less oral language... I have a lot of ideas, I just have to figure out what to do and when. I want to be awesome. I just have to figure out how.
I've gotten over the knowledge that my job isn't important to almost anyone. I can laugh about the fact that the principal gave the tiny room I asked for to someone else. I still feel like I could not show up for work for two weeks and only 3 people would notice. But, still--- it's going all right. My kids are pretty great and I finally have some friends that make every lunch period happy.
Now, all I have to do is keep refining this ginormous job of speech-language pathologist at the high school level. I know I need to teach strategies, but my kids don't seem to generalize them. So I try to help with content and assignments, but I don't see them enough to keep up with what they do in class. If I do push-in service (which I will do a lot of next year), I will be doing more literacy and less oral language... I have a lot of ideas, I just have to figure out what to do and when. I want to be awesome. I just have to figure out how.
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