\u2018No Child Left Behind\u2019 hurting deaf kids? <\/p>\n
By Tara Sullivan <\/p>\n
The Baytown Sun <\/p>\n
Published December 16, 2008 <\/p>\n
Megan Marsh looks like any other 16-year-old girl playing with the
\nfamily cat while text messaging her friends. <\/p>\n
Her stepfather Clint Osowski smiled when asked what Megan likes to
\ndo: \u201cShe sends about 2,000 text messages each week,\u201d he laughed. <\/p>\n
The conversation backtracked a moment as Megan set the cat aside and
\nasked her stepfather what he had just said \u2013 though she\u2019s sitting
\nright next to him. <\/p>\n
\u201cI said you\u2019re much better at text messaging than me,\u201d Osowski
\nsigned. <\/p>\n
Megan was born completely deaf. She lacks the auditory part of the
\ninner ear \u2013 the cochlea \u2013 so even with cutting-edge technology,
\nthere is little hope that she\u2019ll ever be able to hear. <\/p>\n
Though she\u2019s never heard her own voice, Megan is in all other
\nrespects a \u201cnormal\u201d teenager. She\u2019s a tech-savvy, trendy teen
\nwho loves animals and history, and thinks about life after high
\nschool. <\/p>\n
But she\u2019s struggling through high school at Robert E. Lee and her
\nparents are at their wit\u2019s end trying to do something about it.
\nLooking over her report cards, her passing marks are little indication
\nof the trials Megan endures each day. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you look at her progress reports it\u2019s a whole different
\nstory,\u201d Osowski said, pulling out the latest six-weeks report. <\/p>\n
She\u2019s passing the classes taken with certified deaf education
\ninstructors, but she lags behind in the few \u201chearing classes\u201d
\nshe\u2019s enrolled. Yet some how, Megan manages to pass each class with
\nlittle understanding of the material. The Osowski\u2019s feel Megan\u2019s
\nbeing shepherded through an education system that is failing to
\neducate her. <\/p>\n
It was around the time she entered junior high school that Megan\u2019s
\nstruggle began: a plight that coincided with the district\u2019s
\n\u201cmainstreaming\u201d of deaf education students, a provision of the
\n\u201cNo Child Left Behind Act.\u201d <\/p>\n
Texas State Director of Special Education Kathy Clayton and Director
\nof Deaf Services division of Individuals with Disabilities Education
\nAct (IDEA) Brent Pitt said Megan\u2019s placement in mainstream classes
\nstems from a provision of NCLB, which requires that the \u201cmost
\nqualified\u201d instructor teach special education students. \u201cMost
\nqualified\u201d is defined as a bachelor\u2019s degree or higher and at
\nleast 27 credit hours in the subject being taught. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no law that says a child must take physics in a
\nmainstream classroom,\u201d Pitt said. \u201cThe district may well be saying
\nthey don\u2019t have a deaf specialist qualified to teach physics.\u201d <\/p>\n
Whereas both Megan and her parents would like to see her in special
\ndeaf education classes, she\u2019s being placed into \u201cmainstream\u201d
\ncourses where a \u201cmost qualified\u201d deaf education specialist is not
\navailable. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got these deaf kids in a hearing class because the
\nphysics instructor is \u2018highly qualified,\u2019 though he\u2019s had no
\nexperience working with deaf students,\u201d Osowski said. \u201cI\u2019ve had
\nteachers tell me they\u2019d love to be able to reach Megan, they just
\ndon\u2019t know. That doesn\u2019t sound like \u2018most qualified\u2019 to me. In
\nher other classes, she\u2019s had teachers who are deaf. They understand
\nwhat she\u2019s going through and can actually reach her.\u201d <\/p>\n
The Osowski\u2019s believe Megan\u2019s grades are a major player in this
\nroad toward educational failure. <\/p>\n
Instead of ensuring that Megan understands her class work, the
\nOsowski\u2019s believe Megan\u2019s teachers are passing her out of pity \u2013
\nperhaps just to grant her a diploma, regardless of her understanding
\nof any high school material. As the semesters go by, Megan is
\nshepherded into higher and higher level courses. Concurrently, she is
\nfalling farther behind any hope of understanding what she\u2019s being
\ntaught. <\/p>\n
Holding up a progress report and report card, Osowski shook the paper
\nangrily. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019ll be failing in her progress report than when report cards
\ncome along she\u2019s magically passing,\u201d he said. \u201cOne time she
\nbrought home a 100 in physics \u2013 you can\u2019t tell me this child who
\nis struggling in math earned a 100 in physics.\u201d <\/p>\n
In order to be accepted into a college, children with disabilities
\nmust be able to demonstrate a 7th grade education level \u2013 something
\nthe Osowski\u2019s are worried their daughter may not be able to show if
\nher current education track stands. <\/p>\n
Clayton confirmed that there is no law that special education
\nstudents are arbitrarily passed, as doing so would hurt the child\u2019s
\neducation in the long run. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a state where every student with a disability or not can
\nreceive a diploma,\u201d she said. \u201cThe diplomas all look the same, but
\nwhen you look into the student\u2019s academic achievement record
\nthat\u2019s when you see they were in special education. In order to get
\na diploma in the way this young lady\u2019s family may want, in order to
\nbe considered for college, there are mandated courses she must
\ntake.\u201d <\/p>\n
But the Osowski\u2019s argue that if Megan doesn\u2019t understand her
\ncoursework, there is no hope for college anyhow. Further, they\u2019re
\nconcerned that with only a basic understanding of math and reading,
\nshe\u2019ll have trouble functioning in an adult world. <\/p>\n
The Osowski\u2019s said they\u2019ve been told they have no options in
\ntheir daughter\u2019s education. Clayton confirmed there is exception to
\nthe NCLB \u201cmost qualified\u201d instructor rule, though she said
\nstudents who are unable to be in regular education classes can take
\nspecial ed courses, though this will hurt their chances of getting
\ninto college. <\/p>\n
Because of this mandate, the Osowski\u2019s have dubbed NCLB the
\n\u201cEvery Deaf Child Left Behind\u201d Act. <\/p>\n
Former GCCISD teacher DeeAnn Thigpen \u2013 now a member of Rep. Ted
\nPoe\u2019s staff \u2013 said she remembers well the problems and pressures
\nfacing teachers working within the current special education
\nrequirements of NCLB. <\/p>\n
\u201cI guess it was just an unspoken rule that you\u2019d never fail a
\nspecial education child,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you ask teachers, no one
\nwill admit to that, but it was understood.\u201d <\/p>\n
Just as other special education students had done before her, Megan
\nenrolled in the GCCISD program by the age of three. Her parents
\nbelieved the head start would be helpful, ensuring that Megan wasn\u2019t
\na leg behind the others just because she couldn\u2019t hear. <\/p>\n
For a time, they were right. But at some point, Megan\u2019s reading and
\nmath levels flat-lined. Because the two subjects are so crucial to
\neveryday adult life, the Osowski\u2019s tried their best to supplement
\nMegan\u2019s education at home. But neither parent is a teacher, and
\nmoreover, neither is a deaf education specialist. As the years
\nprogressed, Megan has continued to fall behind. <\/p>\n
She muses over becoming a veterinarian one day, but the road to
\nrealizing that dream looks rocky. Megan\u2019s parents don\u2019t want her
\nto fail, but the constant struggle in classes she can\u2019t comprehend
\nis driving Megan to hate school altogether. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf my daughter could quit school today, she would because she
\nfeels stupid,\u201d Anna Osowski said. \u201cIt\u2019s not her fault – this
\nsystem has failed her.\u201d <\/p>\n
At the Dec. 8 GCCISD Board of Trustees meeting, the Osowski applauded
\nfor high-achieving students alongside other parents in attendance. <\/p>\n
At their Baytown home, the only award Megan\u2019s brought home \u2013 a
\nred ribbon for her artwork submission to the Houston Livestock Show
\nand Rodeo \u2013 hangs framed in the hallway. <\/p>\n
Clint Osowski sighed as his wife leaned forward and spoke. <\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know how much it pains us that our daughter will never be
\nup there, walking across that board room floor accepting an award for
\nher achievements?\u201d <\/p>\n
Though the Osowski\u2019s realize the system in which their daughter is
\ntrapped is largely out of their control, they hope that by bringing
\nthe issue to light, they\u2019ll be able to help other deaf students. <\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/baytownsun.com\/story.lasso?ewcd=a0dd41cdfe13144b<\/p>\n
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\u2018No Child Left Behind\u2019 hurting deaf kids? By Tara Sullivan The Baytown Sun Published December 16, 2008 Megan Marsh looks like any other 16-year-old girl playing with the family cat while text messaging her friends. Her stepfather Clint Osowski smiled…<\/p>\n