Comments on: UDL and the Common Core

By: Elizabeth Stein

Elizabeth Stein — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:17:12 +0000

Mary, thanks for sharing your experiences and viewpoint. I think many readers will connect to your comment.

Specifically, you said, “I believe that it is time to accept the fact that we cannot mandate that all students will be able to learn all things, that some students have challenges that cannot be fixed, and that we should tailor their education to what they need to succeed in life. We need to accept that all students cannot be tested in the same way and on the same material, and that if we truly are differentiating, assessing what students learn should be based on what they are learning based on their needs.”

I think it is important for everyone to keep in mind that holding students to high standards and expectations really does help so many students to achieve at deeper and greater levels. For so many, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that may redirect any signs of learned helplessness. And it is simply beyond exciting to see that PARCC has considered universal design toward accommodating diverse learners. We are moving in the right direction (generally speaking).

However, the question remains, what can be done to help those students (such as the students in your class) whose cognitive levels just cannot meet the expectations of the Common Core–even with accommodations? Clearly much more thinking and solution seeking must be done. I think it makes sense that a universal approach to accommodating the testing experience should follow from a universally designed approach to creating the test in the first place.

Until then, we do what we do…keep the instruction real–with our sights set on challenging and pushing our students toward personal levels of high achievement.

Thanks for sharing and keeping this very important discussion going…

By: Mary Sheble

Mary Sheble — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:47:59 +0000

I agree. I have a number of very cognitively impaired students who must take the high stakes tests. These children work hard and have made great strides, but will never meet grade level expectations. As a teacher, I am made to feel that if I just try the right program or way of teaching we could get these children to meet the grade level expectations. These children need to be learning the skills they need to help them be successful in life. That is not necessarily the core. The core for them is life skills. We try to tie as much as we can to the core, but often, they are not able to cognitively understand the concepts, especially as they move up in grade level. I invite any politician who continues to make these unrealistic demands on testing, to come in and spend a week with these kids and then tell me if they think that this is the way to go. So you can give them all the accommodations you want, attempt to make the core accessible, and they still will not be able to pass the tests. I believe that it is time to accept the fact that we cannot mandate that all students will be able to learn all things, that some students have challenges that cannot be fixed, and that we should tailor their education to what they need to succeed in life. We need to accept that all students cannot be tested in the same way and on the same material, and that if we truly are differentiating, assessing what students learn should be based on what they are learning based on their needs.

By: Elizabeth Stein

Elizabeth Stein — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:17:06 +0000

Melody, thanks for your comment–it brings to life some real issues that need real solutions! look at the solutions that are in our control are always consoling.
Keeping your focus on your daily instruction–meaningful instruction– that meets the specific needs of your students is a very valued solution. As far as the high stakes testing, part of our goal, as you know, is to do all we can to keep our students calm and as relaxed as possible. And forums like this help us to share our voice and connect with others who understand the full perspective of the world of education beyond the test. You know what it takes to give your students what they need for their future–so you just do it. And we continue to re-channel our energy as we are doing our best each day to give our students what they need. Thanks for sharing your voice–it’s the only way support and solutions may be found…

By: Elizabeth Stein

Elizabeth Stein — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:53:55 +0000

Brigid, thanks for sharing your thoughts. You bring up a great point about the value of pre-teaching and the necessity of re-teaching for students with learning disabilities. I think it is also crucial to make sure that accommodations are embedded into the instruction and assessment procedures, so teachers scaffold students’ ability to apply knowledge and skills as independently as possible. What do you think?

By: Melody Geroux

Melody Geroux — Wed, 08 May 2013 19:31:29 +0000

All the accommodations in the world will not help my 8th graders, working at a 1st grade skill level, pass the 8th grade tests. These students with multiply disabilities are not eligible to be alternately assessed, yet can’t possibly succeed at anywhere near their grade level – not for lack of their trying, or their teachers before me, or me. Pushing the curriculum down lower, raising the standards, and the new core curriculum, or whatever new fad, scare tactic or reworking of old news comes along isn’t going to change that – and I’m tired of watching them cry and act out to the point of hospitalization over whatever test is used because a politician thinks it will.
I have come to accept I’ll probably retire (12 years to go) before education is broken enough for it to be given to actual educators to try and resurrect from the ashes.

By: Brigid Richards

Brigid Richards — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:49:49 +0000

Accommodations provide my best chance to teach my learning disabled students. When they use my learning lab for a project or test they’re struggling with, in a general ed. class, they’re opting to care about their work and get my support, which often includes teaching them the material for the first time. Many of my students can’t do difficult academic tasks, unless they have a tutor next to them.