The Common Denominator Online: Matt Wennersten

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Class Notes
	Special ed produces a superstar (Published April 19, 2004) By MATT WENNERSTEN

Sometimes the system really works. You see articles all the time about D.C. Public Schools children under-performing, under-achieving, or worse, dying, and you begin to wonder if this world really is the best we can do. Well, it’s not the best we can do, but there are some bright spots.

Over spring break, I had the chance to think about my students, what they do well, what they do less well, their quirks and idiosyncracies, plus some wild speculation about their future. Lately, I’ve been frustrated by two boys in my algebra class who pay attention, answer questions in class but never write anything down or turn in any homework. They’re both very smart, but lazy. When I challenge them on this, they retort that they understand what is going on in class, they know how to answer the questions, plus, they get As and Bs on the tests. Why study? While grading mid-terms over the holiday, I noticed that both of these kids managed a 45 percent -- in other words, F-. This wasn’t a surprise. The mid-terms reached back to the start of the semester, and while they might get by on natural cleverness, the lack of practice turned into lack of retention. They did just fine on the material we studied the week before the test, but going back further, they had forgotten.

But this is all by way of a big surprise: As I looked over the rest of the mid-terms, I saw that one of my special education students pulled a 90 percent, or B+ according to the official DCPS grading scale. The first thing I did was check over his test; one of the accommodations he gets on his individualized education plan (IEP) is to take his tests separately with a special ed teacher, as his English skills are very limited. In fact, English is his second language, and he reads far below grade level. I was looking to see where he had been given extra help beyond reading questions out loud; for example, where his helping teacher might have spelled out procedures or otherwise given him more assistance than my other students. I found two notes: some key words underlined in a word problem, and then a note at the end from his helping teacher stating "he didn’t complete this last section because he doesn’t understand how to do these problems." Otherwise, it was all him, a well-earned B+.

So what? Special education students are capable of getting a B+, or A+! Special education shouldn’t and doesn’t mean retarded. Many students are in special ed simply because they need one or two specific accommodations to be successful, like a student who has dyscalcula and physically can’t see the difference between 6 and 9 or 2 and 5. I allow them to use a calculator in situations where I’m not assessing computation. For example, if the problem is 0.5 + -0.8 = ?, no calculator; but if the problem is write the equation of a line connecting the point (2,4) and the point (-3,9), use a calculator.

In the case of my 90 percent mid-term, however, this kid is in special ed because of serious and profound learning problems. In middle school, he was given an IQ test and scored a 42. Average IQ is 80-100. An IQ of 70 is considered borderline intellectual functioning. An IQ of 50 is moderate mental retardation. Below 50 is typically a sign of severe brain injury. Note that his IQ test was given in English.

An IQ of 42 typically means that the kid has difficulty understanding simple directions or performing basic tasks, like finding a classroom by himself. This is obviously not the case, as he gets to my classroom just fine. Last year I met but didn’t teach a kid who actually had this level of mental retardation. I remember my heart breaking when he asked me what kind of shoes he was wearing, since the kids were making fun of his shoes and he couldn’t figure out what brand they were.

Despite his low score, my IQ 42 student was essentially left to his own devices all through middle school. At the start of the year, before I saw his IEP, I would have agreed that the kid was retarded. He would avoid eye contact and avoid talking if possible. When asked simple questions like -- "What’s one plus one?" -- he’d shout out a random number: "Five!" Rather than attempt any work in class, he would write "CAN’T" in childish letters on a piece of paper. This is the same kid who scored better than three quarters of my math class.

In fact, he’s one of my best students. His hand is raised to answer questions every day in class. He turns in all of his homework assignments. The difference is that he’s actually been getting the services he was supposed to get by law since he started school. Three of the teachers he sees every day are special education teachers who give him remediation in reading and mathematics. Not only that, all three of these teachers are dual-certified in special ed and ESL. Part of his problem was that he didn’t really speak English! The main part, however, is that he genuinely has some learning disabilities, his brain functions differently from the average student. His coping strategy was pretending to be dumb. From what I can gather, in middle school, unable to understand English instructions, he was labeled retarded and allowed to be a "lump" in the classroom. No one pushed him to do normal work, since he obviously couldn’t understand. This is how kids are allowed to fail.

Is he now the brightest kid in class, or the quickest kid? No. In fact, one of the primary reasons he’s in special ed is that he is slow in processing information. When shown how to do something, he gets it, but it takes him a bit more time than other students. At the beginning of the year, this showed up when I asked the class a series of questions. He was still formulating the answer to the first question even though everyone else had moved on to the fourth or fifth. I’d ask him for an answer (first he’d try to avoid answering, but when pressed), he’d give what seemed like a random response. In fact, he was so off, I almost thought he was joking. Meanwhile, his thinking was actually deep and full of insight and wit. For example, when given word problems about, say, chicken farming, he thinks about why a chicken farm might grow by five chickens a year, and he makes connections between the increasing number of chickens and the meaning of linear equations, something that escapes the majority of my other students. I don’t think I would have been able to reach this student without the insight given to me by his special ed teachers; each week, they check in with me on the progress and stumbling blocks of all of my special ed students.

He’s not alone, in his special ed status or in his success. Last year, one of my students did so well in school that her mother had her removed from special education completely. I can proudly say that special education really works at my school. I wish I could say this was the norm, but we know from stories across the city that the DCPS special ed norm is inadequate services and abandoned children. It’s not hopeless. In every special ed child there is a superstar.

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Wennersten is a third-year mathematics teacher at Bell Multicultural Senior High School and a graduate of the D.C. Teaching Fellows program. Contact him at mwenners@yahoo.com.