Testing Students with Disabilities in Kentucky Schools Essays

Students with disabilities are increasingly being included in large scale, high-stakes testing programs despite inadequate accommodations. In recent years, the school system has increased pressure on students in regards to testing. In the past, Kentucky has done a poor job of including impaired students in its statewide assessments; mainly in failing to provide the mandated accommodations for disabled students. In order to help these students with their learning skills, test scores, appropriate testing accommodations and the performance of students with disabilities. Results indicate that most Kentucky students have been included in the CATS assessment, but many the scores obtained from disabled students may not be reliable due to†¦show more content†¦However, Kentucky did not collect information on the use of two other common accommodations: separate settings and different testing schedules (e.g., shorter periods and more frequent breaks). Guidelines for Testing Disabled Students Guidelines provided by The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) state that accommodations: †¢ Must be part of the student’s ongoing instructional program. †¢ May not be introduced for the first time during assessment. †¢ Must be â€Å"based on the individual needs of the students and not on a disability category.† †¢ Shall not â€Å"inappropriately impact the content being measured.† Table X lists the types of accommodations provided and their appropriate use. The problem is not necessarily a lack available accommodations improper use of them. Table X. Accommodations allowed in Kentucky’s accountability tests. Source: Journal of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. As noted in the table above, there is a wide range of possible accommodations and situations where they may be employed. It is important to note that some accommodations are not restricted to students with disabilities; however, the more obtrusive ones are. For example, paraphrasing was common, but the guidelines for its use are specific, restrictiveShow MoreRelatedResponse To Intervention Essay810 Words   |  4 PagesThe Effectiveness of Response to Intervention on Student Achievement in Mathematics and English in a Rural Kentucky High School Student achievement is one of the driving factors in education and, quite possibly, the most important. Educators strive to help students improve achievement through quality instructional practices and safe and effective learning environments, but this does not always correlate to adequate performance on standardized testing used to evaluate college or career readiness. Read MoreSchool Safety And Student Safety2351 Words   |  10 Pages During the past decade, school safety has been at the forefront of many school districts safety polices and plans. With recent high profile school shootings, the question school districts continue to ask is how do we keep our schools safe? 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The No child Left Behind Statute Free Essays

string(87) " within the parameters of elementary education set by the state \(Jim Donlevy, 2002\)\." The â€Å"No child Left Behind† statute introduced by President Bush and passed by the congress has created a number of problems for the educational programs intended for adolescents in elementary and secondary schools. The financial situation of the elementary and secondary schools is extremely poor because the states governments have been eliminating vital elementary educational programs. The school administrations have been reluctant to provide extended courses to the students. We will write a custom essay sample on The No child Left Behind Statute or any similar topic only for you Order Now Furthermore, the textbooks are not being printed consistently, making not only the students but also the teachers extremely vulnerable and helpless. The funding disparity has also created huge gaps between the education being provided to the children belonging to the rich families and those belonging to the poor ones. The shortcomings and the rhetoric behind â€Å"No child left behind† act needs to be exposed so that effective measures can be taken to curtail the damage (Susan, 2003). The consistent lack of attention being given to elementary and secondary education, particularly to adolescent literacy is posing a grave threat to the future of the American education system. The purpose of this thesis is to reveal the shortcomings of â€Å"No child left behind† law by first understanding the basic details of the act related to adolescent literacy programs and then persuasively assessing the loopholes in it. Lastly, the thesis gives carefully crafted recommendations aimed at not only the federal and state governments but also the school districts, parents and the educators. The aim is to create an understanding of the present and future needs for those educational programs that are aimed at adolescents and identifying the present gaps in the federal educational law. The American value of education emphasizes that all children, regardless of their gender, religion ethnicity should be able to acquire the basic skills of education and then carry those basic skills through to the elementary, secondary and high level education. Unfortunately, research has shown that the reality of the present education system is on the contrary. In a recent study, conducted by â€Å"National Assessment of Educational Progress† (NAEP, 2002), it has been noted that as much as 26% of the students are unable to read their textbooks fluently and almost half cannot comprehend the meaning of the text (Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler, 2003). It is worth noting that the legislators and government officials realize the gravity of the situation but have been unable to cope with it. If nearly half of the students in the elementary schools are unable to effectively read their course books, then, these students will find higher education very difficult. The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† act has made things even more difficult because the focus has been on a long-term solution, whereas, it is imperative that the needs of the present generations are addressed immediately. This is because millions of students will be unable to cope with the demands of the future workplace needs if their basic educative skills are not enhanced at the right time (Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler, 2003). The challenge for the present legislators, teachers, parents and school administrations is to counter the threat of adolescent illiteracy by introducing effective programs, backed by appropriate amount of government funds. The difficultly lies in the ineffectiveness of the present educational law to cater the needs of adolescents as the most problematical educational dilemma to deal with has been the deficiency in the reading, writing and speaking skills of adolescents. The present educational and political leadership need to create and implement productive adolescent educational programs, which are feasible in the present schooling environment (Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler, 2003). Dough Mesecar, who is currently a senior policy adviser to the secretary of Education, while giving his comments on the present status of the NCLB act asserts in an interview, â€Å"The achievement scores are up, and we’re very pleased to see both the achievement gap starting to close, kids are learning more, a very positive report in the sense that the Center for Education Policy report is a self-survey, so these are states and districts reporting on their own to the center that their scores are up, achievement gaps are closing. So we feel very positive that this is yet another report showing the trends are definitely heading in a positive direction. † Contrary to the above statement, many experts believe that the â€Å"No Child Left Behind† act presents a grave threat to the American values. But, before revealing the shortcomings of the â€Å"No Child Left Behind† law, it is imperative that the basic features of the law that are related to elementary education are clearly understood. It is important to note that at least four areas of the act have been considered to have severe repercussions on the adolescent literacy. These four features are as follows: The â€Å"No child left behind† (NCLB) act encourages superior standards. The law makes it imperative that those schools, which are being supported by the government through funds, align their endeavors with the standards set by the local state. Furthermore, the law makes it imperative for these schools to employ only skilled and qualified workforce and only work on evidence-founded programs that are time-oriented and result-oriented. It is believed that these measures will enhance the level of education because it will not only minimize the inadequacy of unqualified teachers but also enhance learning as only scientifically verified teaching initiatives will be offered to the adolescents (Jim Donlevy, 2002). The law asserts that the annual progress of all the schools will be noted in relation to the competence achieved by the students in subjects such as mathematics and science, and in skills such as reading, writing and speaking. Standardized procedures and methods will be drafted to evaluate the progress of each district, school, as well as every group within each school. It is important to note that these â€Å"assessments† have put a great deal of added stress on all elementary schools because they have to align their educational endeavors within the parameters of elementary education set by the state (Jim Donlevy, 2002). You read "The No child Left Behind Statute" in category "Papers" The NCLB act has set very high standards for elementary schools all over America. If a particular school fails to meet the standards of the state for 2 successive years then that particular school will have to craft counteractive programs. Should the school fail to meet the State†s requirements for the 3RD consecutive year, tougher measures will be introduced, which may include replacements in the school workforce, complete modification of the school syllabus and maybe even state takeover (Jim Donlevy, 2002). The law allows parents to send their children to a school located in another district should their present school fail to meet the standards set by the State. The cost for this transfer of school along with the daily cost of transportation will be met by the local government. Furthermore, if the students attending these low-performing schools need home-tutoring or any other measure to augment their children†s achievements, then the local government will provide funds for those measures as well. The primary objective of the NCLB law is to enhance the possibility of success in elementary education for all Americans. This is being done by placing specific standards and then taking effective measures to make sure that these requirements are being met (Jim Donlevy, 2002). The most severe negative outcome for the elementary schools will be that they will loose their freedom to experiment with the instructional methods. While scientifically proven methods offer a great deal of benefits to the students, the creativity and progress in discovering newer and more effective instructional methods will be lost. Furthermore, while numerous research studies about effective reading methods have been conducted, very little research exists on other educative areas, such as speaking, writing and learning. Therefore, elementary teachers and schools will be finding it very difficult to meet the standards of the State (Jim Donlevy, 2002). Another major loophole in the NCLB act is that the â€Å"counteractive measures† for schools will be extremely costly. It is important to note that the measures set forth for under-performing schools are unfeasible to implement. If the number of schools that fail to comply with the standards set by the State for 2 successive years increases substantially, then the funds required to bring the necessary changes in the workforce, syllabus and structures of the schools or a complete State takeover will be extremely difficult to manage as the funds for education are being slashed every year by the Bush Administration (Jim Donlevy, 2002). The condition laid out by the NCLP to only employ specialized, qualified and licensed teachers is posing severe problems for struggling schools. It is vital to note that those schools that have either failed to or are struggling to comply with the standards set by the local government consistently employ replacement-teachers from far-off areas and are bound to face shortages of licensed teachers. Furthermore, many experts believe that this tendency will increase in the coming years and the struggling schools will face tougher challenges to meet this condition, while those schools that have been meeting the State†s standards of initiatives have been consistently employing certified teachers. Therefore, the persistence of the NCLB act to employ only licensed and specialized teachers has made it unrealistic for low-performing schools to meet this condition (Jim Donlevy, 2002). Additional troubling features of the NCLB Act The funds allocated for the successful implementation of NCLB are not only limited but also very poorly directed. While the NCLP act lays clear emphasis and provides adequate funds for crafting accountability structures and carrying out transformations for schools that fail to comply with the Standards of the State, it fails to provide adequate funds for conducting research on equally important academic areas for adolescents† literacy, namely, educator training and constant learning, the needs and interests of adolescents and framework for educating and learning in subject areas. This misdirection of funds will further hamper the progress of low-performing schools (Mark W. Conley and Kathleen A. Hinchman, 2004). Furthermore, NCLB gives very little consideration to the framework of literacy strategies. The three areas cited in the NCLB act are alphabetic acquaintance, fluency, and comprehension strategies. While the adolescents have been able to develop the first two categories (alphabetic knowledge and fluency), they have found the last category (comprehension strategies) to be extremely difficult. This is mainly due to the fact that new frameworks for subject-contents are being developed, which create the need for the development of newer comprehension strategies. Nevertheless, several studies have asserted that NCLB mirrors very limited research on this issue and sets a very restricted standard on strategies related to the development of newer comprehension strategies (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000; Snow, Burns, Griffin, 1998; Alexander Jetton, 2000). It is important to note that adolescents do not come prepared for the challenges they will face in their elementary and secondary education. One cannot wait for newer laws to be enacted or school reforms to be initiated. Immediate strategies have to be developed so that the present threats emerging from the NCLB act can be turned into an opportunity for all schools. The federal and local State governments should reflect on the following strategies for immediate and quick-fix actions: Firstly, recognizing those strategies that have been successfully implemented by high-performing schools and then enforcing the low-performing schools to adopt those strategies (Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler, 2003). In order to present those successful strategies to low-performing schools and ensuring that they have comprehensively understood all the aspects of the strategies, the government ought to set up presentation-places to illustrate those plans and achievements (Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler, 2003). Encourage programs that educate teachers on scientifically verified instructional methods. Despite the fact that confusion about the proper definition of adolescent literacy still prevails, modern research has been able to give some direction to the dilemma. These directions should be used as a framework to allocate funds for teacher training programs that have been clinically verified to be productive (Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler, 2003). Increased consideration should be given to literacy instruction because no current teacher training programs inform the teachers about the difficulties they will face while dealing with the literacy instructions in their teaching careers (Michael F. Hock and Donald D. Deshler, 2003). These recommendations should be implemented with immediate affect because we are all aware that schools are very multifaceted and therefore manifold characteristics and strategies have got to be adopted (Darling-Hammond, 1997; Marzano, 2003). It is important for the government officials to note that neither the adolescents nor the teachers can be ignored because they both are the pillars for growth and development of any society (e. g. , Pressley, 2001; Strickland Morrow, 2000; Stronge, 2002) (Margaret Taylor, 2004) The â€Å"No Child Left Behind† act can be considered to be more idealistic than realistic because while the aims are very noble, the funds required to achieve these noble aims are very limited and a number of vital issues have been ignored. The State governments have been busy in establishing high standards of achievements for all schools without making efforts to really understand the complexities of the present system and the repercussions of their policies on the schools, parents, teachers and the students. Therefore, a proper reaction to the present threats being posed by the NCLB act should be thorough, carefully directed, and all-inclusive if across-the-board transformations are desired. Lastly, endeavors to bridge the differences amid the objectives and the present capabilities have got to be the most important concern if the aim is for adolescents to productively challenge the needs of the business and the society. How to cite The No child Left Behind Statute, Papers

Common Features and Future Challenges †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Common Features and Future Challenges. Answer: Introduction Investigation can be referred to as the act of investigating someone or something in a formal way or through research work and systematic examination. The main aim of investigation is getting all the facts in order to achieve a solution to a situation or complaint (Drupsteen and Guldenmund 2014). The main objective of this essay is to highlight the investigation methods and the Occupational Health Safety issues associated with the Burketown Queensland, Air crash which occurred today at 10 am. Occupational Health Safety refers to the health, safety and the welfare of people who are involved with some work (Purser and McAllister 2016). The essay throws light on the OHS issues related to the Air Crash and the risk management, preventive methods and regulations in order to control the hazards. It further discusses the personal preparations to be made before going to the accident scene, the actions to be undertaken, the equipments to be taken along and the investigation skills required. An air crash occurred in the morning, close to Burketown Queensland, Australia, which departed from Perth for Lenora. The Air traffic control contacted the pilot of the aircraft, whose speech became significantly impaired and as a result he couldnt respond to and follow the instructions of the official. As an investigator of the accident, it is very important to keep certain things in mind and undertake several preparations (Drupsteen and Guldenmund 2014). The actions to be undertaken An investigator must always accomplish his/her task with integrity, impartiality, respect and fairness. He/she needs to be well aware of all the company policies and communicate those to his/her team members. He/she should summarize the whole incident to the team members in a chronological manner. It is important to make a list of all the names associated with the incident, their background and the possible witnesses (Silei 2014). An investigator must be well aware of the Occupational Health Safety issues in the site where the accident took place. The probable hazards at the accident site are classified into several categories. It can be environmental, biological, physical, psychological and material. Firstly, being an investigator, he/she needs to deal with certain physical hazards like flammable substances, fire, pressurized gases and others. Secondly, contaminated dead bodies can lead to biological hazards. Thirdly, metal oxides, radioactive materials and chemical components of the crashed aircraft can also lead to health hazard (Purser and McAllister 2016). The investigator must wear fire protective clothes and suits in order to prevent physical hazards. He/she must have self contained respiratory apparatus for breathing as prolonged exposure can cause respiratory issues and skin problems as well. In order to prevent biological hazards, he/she should be fully covered with protective suit, work gloves and latex, goggles, face masks, boot and shoe covers, and have a disposal bag of biological hazards and disinfectants (Quinlan, Hampson and Gregson 2013). Undertaking these measures will help in preventing the virus from entering the body of the investigating personnel. The clothing and personal equipments which are used at the spot should be discarded properly. Portions of skin which are exposed and the equipments must be washed thoroughly with soap and water or with chlorine solution, in order to minimize the risk of health hazard (Moser and Kalton 2017). Necessary items to be taken The investigating personnel must be fully equipped when entering any accident sites in order to prevent the probable health hazards. Several precautions must be undertaken such as carrying personal equipments for protection. Equipments like fully covered body protection suit, work gloves and latex, along with face masks and goggles, boot and shoe covers. Accident areas are covered with dead bodies and blood which may result in airborne diseases, therefore covering the face with mask is a must (Jianyong et al. 2012). Carrying disinfectants is necessary, as an investigator can directly come in contact with the dead bodies. Equipments must also include breathing apparatus, full face canister respirators and fire extinguishers. Proper medicines and ointments must be carried the accident spot in order to stay safe from any kind of health issues or skin problems. Camera with recording capability with a memory card, voice recorder, tablet or laptop, flashlight, writing pad and pen, tape mea sures and other basic things must be carried to the spot (Okstad, Jersin and Tinmannsvik 2012). An investigator must consider his/her and the teams safety, by conducting a risk assessment. Firstly, an investigator needs to be well aware of all the company policies and communicate those to his/her team members. Secondly, a complete research work must be done beforehand, regarding the incident. Thirdly, an investigator should be able to identify the goal of an investigation that is carried out, to get the desired results. Along with that, identification of factual and legal issues is important before carrying out the investigation. He/she must not miss out any important piece of evidence. An investigator should have an open mind with an urge to know more and capacity to work in tough conditions (Jianyong et al. 2012). An investigator must always be well prepared beforehand, so that the investigation can begin without any delay. The longer he/she waits; the situation is more likely to get out of hand. Evidences may get lost or tampered, contaminated or washed away. For example, the marks of the tyre may get washed away. The investigator can request for the data list of the people who are directly or indirectly involved with the incident. Witnesses evidence plays a vital role in such kinds of incidents, to establish the investigation. The medical reports of the affected ones can also bring in new facts (Moser and Kalton 2017). Conclusion Investigators should always stay prepared to visit an accident spot at a very short notice. They must always keep their bag packed with equipments and personal items so that they can proceed and participate in any kind of investigation. Moreover, they must have strong presence of mind and perseverance, to achieve the goal. The working condition at times, are too risky, therefore personal safety measures must be undertaken. He/she must not hide or conceal facts from his/her team members. An open mind with an urge to know more can help an investigator on a long run. Last but not the least; an investigator must always collect all the important evidences as fast as possible because time is the greatest enemy in such cases. References Chambliss, D.F. and Schutt, R.K., 2012.Making sense of the social world: Methods of investigation. Sage. Drupsteen, L. and Guldenmund, F.W., 2014. What is learning? A review of the safety literature to define learning from incidents, accidents and disasters.Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 22(2), pp.81-96.Retrieved on 28 July 2017 at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Linda_Drupsteen/publication/269098708 Jianyong, Z.H.O.U., Jianping, Z.H.O.U., Jiang, Z. and Haiyang, L.I., 2012. Investigation into pilot handling qualities in teleoperation rendezvous and docking with time delay.Chinese Journal of Aeronautics,25(4), pp.622-630. Moser, C.A. and Kalton, G., 2017.Survey methods in social investigation. Routledge. Okstad, E., Jersin, E. and Tinmannsvik, R.K., 2012. Accident investigation in the Norwegian petroleum industryCommon features and future challenges.Safety science,50(6), pp.1408-1414. Purser, D.A. and McAllister, J.L., 2016.Assessment of hazards to occupants from smoke, toxic gases, and heat.InSFPE handbook of fire protection engineering(pp. 2308-2428).Springer New York. Quinlan, M., Hampson, I. and Gregson, S., 2013. Outsourcing and offshoring aircraft maintenance in the US: Implications for safety.Safety Science,57, pp.283-292.Retrieved on 28 July 2017 at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925753513000593 Silei, G., 2014. Technological hazards, disasters and accidents. InThe Basic Environmental History(pp. 227-253).Springer International Publishing.New York.