Labels

How many do you know?

IEP, ESL, ESOL, TAG, GAPE, Title I, SpEd, BD, AMD, ADD, ADHD, ODD, 504, SL, MR, ASD

I would say that more than half of the kids in all of Mi'ita's classes to date have been labeled as something or other. Most of those kids have a pull out program--they leave the class and join a small group or even have one on one with a specialist every day or three times a week or once a week. Regular classroom teachers of these students are responsible for tailoring their regular classroom curriculum to each kid's need, too. So, if you have 30 kids in the class, most likely you have at least 15 different modifications you need to do for each lesson.

It's called differentiated curriculum. If a teacher doesn't differentiate their curriculum to meet the needs of these protected children, they are liable.

Mi'ita actually is TAG and I was concerned for years that she wasn't getting her needs met in school. I would say that many of her 2nd grade year's worth of problems were directly related to the fact that she wasn't getting her needs met. Of course, she wasn't labeled yet, so I couldn't hold her teacher accountable... Nor would I have. I was a teacher myself and see the horrendous burden it is to expect one teacher to meet the needs of every individual kid in their class.

I have one kid to teach. I tailor her education directly to her needs, and that's all.

Definitions, off the top of my head:

IEP: Individual Education Plan--Students performing below level, but not diagnosed with a medical condition. Requirements lowered.

ESOL, ESL: English to Speakers of Other Languages, English as a Second Language--Students who speak another language at home and are not fluent in academic English

TAG, GAPE: Talented and Gifted, ?--Students who perform above the intellectual level of their grade level peers

Title I: Students who are below level in Reading and/or Math and need extra help to boost them to be at grade level, but do not have a diagnosed medical condition

SpEd: Special Education-- Students with a diagnosed medical condition that affects their cognition

BD: Behavior Disorder--Students who are extremely disruptive in the school setting and require intervention

AMD: Anger Management Disorder

ADD, ADHD: Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder--Students who have trouble concentrating, with or without a hyperactive component

ODD: Oppositional Defiance Disorder--Students who do not respect authority (extreme, usually violent)

504: Students who have a diagnosed medical condition that does not effect their cognition, but the teacher needs to be aware of their condition for health and safety reasons

SL: Speech/Language--Students who need help with the mechanics of speaking, or who do not hear well

MR: Mental Retardation

ASD: Autism Spectral Disorder