Technical Education

A new study shows that children with autism spectrum disorder may be the perfect target for bullies. The study, unveiled this week at the International Society for Autism Research’s national meeting in San Diego, compared the experiences of bullying and victimization in a group of 11- to 18-year-olds with Asperger’s syndrome or High Functioning Autism to children the same age who had a learning disability or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Go here and look for the abstract on page 514 of the 2011 booklet.)

The study also included a control group of kids without any diagnosed disability.

The 70 students filled out a questionnaire to assess their experiences with being a victim and bullying others. Parents were also asked to report the frequency and types of bullying behavior experienced by their child that they knew about.

Among other things, the study found that the adolescents with some form of autism were bullied more than typical adolescents or adolescents with a learning disability or ADHD.

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Last night I testified before the Primary and Secondary Finance Subcommittee regarding the proposed education budget, HB 153. I didn’t really delve into the funding side of the budget, because when there’s no money, there’s no money. You can argue how reductions should be made, but Ohio must balance its budget. No, I focused primarily on policy language in the budget bill.
I talked about the importance of effective instruction, how crucial it is to have quality educators not only in every classroom, but as principals in every school. My testimony spoke to raising expectations for every part of our K-12 system and getting serious about intervening in struggling (or worse, persistently failing) schools — something Ohio has been unable or unwilling do accomplish to any great extent. I said that I thought perhaps Ohio was finally going to move away from the one-size-fits-all, lockstep factory model of education that we know just doesn’t work. Read the full post…

A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute that looks at how special education students and the people who work with them have changed during the last decade concludes that the field needs to change dramatically.

Among what’s needed, the Washington think tank says, is better, more consistent data about students with disabilities and uniform definitions of different types of disabilities; a better handle on spending; an exploration of why some types of disabilities seem to be declining; and a fresh approach to teaching all students, all of whom have unique needs.

The authors find the way special education works—or doesn’t—is in part because it hasn’t changed enough since the creation of laws that require students with disabilities be taught. And that’s a disservice to those students as well as their peers.

“Special education, like general education, needs a makeover for the 21st century. Its

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Big surprise. Students taking tougher courses score better on standardized tests.
Education Week reports on the NAEP 2009 High School Transcript Study.

Graduates earn more credits and complete higher curriculum levels

• In 2009, graduates earned over three credits more than their 1990 counterparts, or about 400 additional hours of instruction during their high school careers.
• In 2009, a greater percentage of graduates completed higher curriculum levels with greater course requirements than 1990 or 2005 graduates.

• Graduates who completed an Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) mathematics or science course, a higher level mathematics or science course in ninth grade, or a rigorous curriculum had average NAEP scores at the Proficient level in both mathematics and science.
• Graduates earning higher GPAs in mathematics and science earned higher average NAEP scores in both mathematics and science.

Comparisons by gender

• Both male and female graduates earned more credits in 2009 than in 1990 or 2005.
• In 2009, a larger percentage of female than male graduates completed a midlevel or rigorous curriculum.
• In 2009, male graduates generally had higher NAEP mathematics and science scores than female graduates completing the same curriculum level.

Comparisons by race/ethnicity

• From 1990 to 2009, the percentage of White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander graduates completing at least a standard curriculum increased.

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The United Way has long been committed to both improving education and mobilizing the power of communities. In that vein, they recently released several reports on public feelings about education, and one specifically focuses on the role of volunteer mentors in boosting students’ academic achievement.

In conjunction with publishing these findings on mentorship, the United Way is issuing a national call to action. They are seeking to recruit one million volunteers to act as readers, tutors, and mentors for students over the next three years. S

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