Search Results for: blog the no child left behind act and special education

St. Paul has Difficulty Keeping Paraeducators

The St. Paul Public Schools district, in St. Paul, Minnesota, is having difficulty recruiting and retaining paraeducators. This directly affects the students who are in Special Education and who need the assistance that comes from the teacher’s aids. This is not the only school district with this challenge. A paraeducator, or paraprofessional, are the current names for what used to be called a teacher’s aid. Previous to that, in some schools across the nation, the position was staffed by mothers, who worked as volunteers. Sometimes, the job title is shortened to “paras”. The paraeducators are the ones who help children … Continue reading →

Waivers from No Child Left Behind Raises Concerns

The Department of Education is allowing all 50 states to apply for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act. This law was created during the Bush administration. How will the waivers affect students who have special needs? The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB ) was created in 2001. The main purpose of this law was to make schools, and teachers, accountable for how well, (or how poorly), their students are learning. The criteria that is being used to determine which schools are doing well, and which are “failing”, comes from standardized testing. The scores that come from … Continue reading →

Special Needs Podcast Roundup – Week of October 11, 2011

It is time for another Special Needs Podcast Roundup! This is where to go to find brand new episodes of podcasts that are about topics that are relevant to parents of kids who have special needs. You can learn helpful information, find out about trends in special education, and even get a glimpse into the lives of other parents who are raising children who have special needs. NPR has an episode of “All Things Considered” that was released on October 11, 2011. This episode is called “No Child Left Behind Waivers Worry Some Advocates”. The Department of Education is going … Continue reading →

There She Blows!

How many of us moms will admit that sometimes we just, well, we blow? We lose it. Our level of frustration begins to rise until it spills over and it feels like there is nothing left to do but let it out. I am sure that somewhere out in this world are moms who never raise their voices. I say hats off to you. But I also know that it’s one of those things most of us moms who do yell don’t like to admit. Why do we yell? I think we do it for a few reasons. One is … Continue reading →

Lauren Bush and the FEED Projects

I blogged about green models the other day, but I intentionally skipped over Lauren Bush. Lauren, the granddaughter of former President George H. W. Bush and the niece of former President George W. Bush, is both a model and fashion designer. As you might imagine, Lauren was born in Texas. She graduated from The Kindaid School in Houston then studied fashion design at Parsons The New School for Design and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. In 2006, she graduated from Princeton University with an Anthropology degree. Although only 5’7” (short in Model Land), Lauren signed with the … Continue reading →

No homeschooler left behind act (according to me)

After taking a look at the No Child Left Behind Act, I decided to re-write a No homeschooler left behind act. Here is a summary of the NCLB Act No Child Left Behind requires all public schools administer a state-wide standardized test annually to all students. Schools which receive Title I funding must make Adequate Yearly Progress in test scores (e.g. each year, its fifth graders must do better on standardized tests than the previous years). If a Title I school fails to make Adequate Yearly Progress, it is put on a list of “failing schools” published in the local … Continue reading →

The Hazards of Homeschooling through High School

Homeschool opponents like to point out that homeschoolers avoid talking about downsides of homeschooling. So I thought I would take this moment to mention that homeschooling through high school can be downright hazardous. This is not to say that you should not homeschool through high school, but to inform you that you should be ready and in fighting form. Hazard #1: Their crowd gets smaller every year. Each year as we gather at our homeschool classes or activities we find that the number of kids in our children’s age group has gotten smaller. There seems to be a gazillion teeny … Continue reading →

Why I Was Embarrassed to Admit I’m a Stay-at-Home Wife

When I finally made the confession that I’m a stay-at-home wife, I alluded to the fact that I felt guilty and suggested that I was embarrassed of my status. It’s true. Guilty as charged. But why? The Way I Was Raised The reason for that is because of my mom. In “Another Reason I’m Married Without Children”, I explained how my mom didn’t like kids and looked down on motherhood. But it went beyond that. I don’t know if she was a feminist, but she had feministic tendencies for sure. It was drilled into my head from an early age … Continue reading →

Perceptions of Homeschooling from the Media

I just read a 10 page article on homeschooling that showed up in my Google Alerts today. It actually turned out to be dated Oct 5, 1998, but it came to my email box as new news. Still, there were several statements in this article about homeschooling that caught my eye. I will address them below. “Americans are becoming fussy consumers rather than trusting captives of a state monopoly,” says Chester Finn, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank. “”They’ve declared their independence and are taking matters into their own hands.” I don’t think that … Continue reading →

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

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As many of you know, a very famous author celebrates a birthday in March. Dr. Seuss, as most of us know him, was born on March 2. Each year schools, teachers, librarians, and many more honor Dr. Seuss’s work through fun activities and readings of his stories. The day surrounding his birthday has even been given a special name, Read Across America Day. The first Read Across America Day was held in 1998 on March 2. Among some of the special first Read Across America activities were an Oregon Head Start Dr. Seuss reading by a retired school teacher which … Continue reading →