e worried that her students, whose reading is two to three levels below others their age, would be unable to handle the increased rigor along with a scripted approach to teaching and learning.
In fact, she has already had to go off script. Since the suggested passage was several years above their reading level—and her students were unable to read it independently while also making sense of it—Papa asked one of her colleagues to record an audio version of the text.
Papa is hardly alone in modifying the material to meet the diverse needs of her students. The verdict is still out as to whether students with disabilities can meet these new, more rigorous standards.
So far, implementation has faced stiff opposition from some parents and educators who say that special education students can’t keep up. The Common Core isn’t necessarily the culprit, but rather the way the standards are being interpreted in the state-approved curriculum. EngageNY is one interpretation of the standards, with each state choosing its own approach. Curriculum woes aside, high-stakes tests have fueled further objections with some parents refusing to let their children be tested. Children who are not tested suffer no penalties; the tests have no bearing on end-of-year grades or the following year’s placement.
Papa, for her part, sees incremental progress among her students.
“A couple of years ago, I would never have tried such a difficult passage with these kids,” said Papa, reflecting on her lesson. “My students are stepping it up and showing some unexpected successes. I see the light bulbs go on and I see a lot of growth in their comprehension, in their vocabulary and in their confidence. They know they’re doing exactly what their peers are doing right across the hallway.”
Still, the pace is far slower in Papa’s class than in the school’s mainstream classes. Special education students are taught either in their own classroom (called a self-contained classroom) or with other students (called inclusion). The school’s fourth-grade inclusion class, with 15 general education students and seven special education students, completed the first of four English segments in October. Meanwhile, Papa’s self-contained class, with a month of school left to go, was still on the first segment and only one-quarter of the way to the finish line. At the end of the year, some of Papa’s students were tested while others opted out of taking the tests.
In and Out of Classes with Peers
Mary Herrle has twin 10-year-old sons, Paul and Philip. Paul has autism. Philip has Asperger’s syndrome.
Herrle lives in Saint James, about 40 miles from East Moriches. Her husband works as a carpenter; she stays busy looking after the couple’s four children.
Paul attends Ascent: A School for Individuals with Autism in Deer Park, N.Y. alongside 25 children with severe cognitive impairments. After Paul turned two, Herrle noticed that Philip also wasn’t meeting many of his developmental milestones. Philip later received a diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome, a higher-functioning form of autism.
Since kindergarten, Philip has bounced between self-contained and inclusion classrooms, depending on the year. By the time the Common Core came to Saint James Elementary School in September 2012, Philip was in a fourth-grade inclusion classroom. Five of his classmates had Individualized Education Programs, or I.E.P.s, a requirement for children receiving special-education services.
Philip thrives on repetition, particularly in math. In third grade, he scored a 3 in math (4 is the highest possible score). Then everything changed.
“Suddenly, in fourth grade, they’re giving him math he’s never seen before in his life,” said Herrle.
After failing all subjects, Philip repeated the fourth grade. Looking ahead to fifth-grade math, Herrle saw a curriculum way above her son’s skill level. Come September, Philip will be back in a self-contained classroom, where Herrle hopes he will finally receive the individualized attention he so badly needs.
“I have no problem exposing him to higher standards and to more intense ri