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ARCHIVED POSTS FROM
SPECIAL EDUCATION FOLDER:  MULTI-AGE CLASSROOMS AND SPEC. ED
DECEMBER 12, 1994 - JULY 3, 1995
FILE NAME:  SPEDMAC1.TXT
9 PAGES

Subj:  Multi-age classrooms & LD kids
Date:  94-12-28 02:42:29 EDT
From:  CoTeachNet

Has anyone worked in an elementary multi-age classroom which includes LD or
other special needs children?  Our district is considering implementation of
a few of these classrooms around the district and I need to know what I need
to know as an LD teacher about this situation.  Are the children chosen at
random to participate?  Are LD children clustered and then the LD teacher
works exclusively with this classroom and teacher?  What if other IEP'd
children move into district at that grade level? Or what if children in
"regular" classrooms at those grade levels find and identify another LD
child?  What does the LD teacher do?
Anybody.....?
Candy from CoTeachNetSubj:  How it can work
Date:  95-01-08 22:44:46 EDT
From:  Msimkin

Schools that have multigrade or multiage classrooms can vary a lot in how
they organize themselves and how students are assigned to classrooms.  There
is no "one way" that multigrade schools use.

At my school, we have a multiage primary that includes students from 6 yo 8
years old.  We have intentionally tried to have just as much range and
variety in students in this program as in our regular graded classrooms.  So
LD students are in this program in the same ratio as they would be in the
other classes.  Their IEP's are not written in any special way just because
they are in this program.Subj:  Re:Multi-age classrooms & LD kid
Date:  95-02-02 01:26:42 EDT
From:  DP703

My 5 yr old daughter is in a multiage special ed kindergarden class.  She
was selected based on various tests & developmental/behavior evaluations.
There can be no more than 15 students to 1 teacher 1 aide.  All of the kids
have different learning problems but are functioning at similar levels.
Their
ages are 5-8 yrs.  Other classes are available similarly for kids with
physical as well as behavior problems.  Many parents were upset by this
"labeling" of the children, however I feel this enables my daughter to get
the education that she needs and is entitled too.  All of these groups of
kids have very different special needs that one teacher could not handle
at one time.  I love this class for my daughter.  It is still challanging for
her
but not over her head like the regular class was.  By the way, the kids
love it too.  If you have more questions that I could answer, I'd be happy
to.
                                        Sincerely,
                                              DebbySubj:  To Candy of
Coteachnet
Date:  95-02-02 02:33:19 EDT
From:  Steelurs

I taught in an elementary school multi-aged classroom for two years in Ohio
and I recently moved to Tennessee.  Our classroom consisted of two regular
ed. teachers and one special ed, teacher (me).  We also had different
inclusion programs in our building so all of the identified were involved in
some type of integration program.  All of the identified were clustered in to
about 5 classrooms.  It made it easy in some respects because they were
easier to serve if they were all together.  However, it also made it
difficult because we had too many identified in one class and our class was
no longer heterogeneous.  If new students came in or were identified they had
to go in one of the classrooms that were doing integration.  Our program
worked very well when we could provide a needs based education. Depending on
their abilities some children were in regular classroom 100% and some 10%.
All of the teachers have to take responsibility for all the students and be
willing participants.  Please write if you need more information.
Integration really did make a difference on all of the students academic and
social skills.Subj:  Re:To Candy of Coteachnet
Date:  95-03-03 13:38:52 EDT
From:  LYNBECJAY

our school system is considering this for next year.  My friend was advised
it could be beneficial for her child who has severe hearing handicap  but is
very high on comprehension levels.  can you tell me what type of students
best benfit from this  environment.  it will be for 3rdthrough 5th grades and
go into a normal 6th class.  would this help kids who work a little slower
than others and need extra time to grasp a
concept  before hurrying on to something new.Subj:  Re:To Candy of Coteachnet
Date:  95-03-22 00:26:14 EDT
From:  PamOT

My elementary school is proposing a multi-age preschool kindergarten class.
They want to have a tuition based full day kindergarten program. To do this a
proposal was written to change our integrated preschool program and
integrated kindergarten program. We currently have two half day kindergarten
classes; two half day integrated preschool classes with multi-handicapped
orthopedic preschoolers; and one full day kindergarten/first grade special
education classes that integrates 1/2 day in regular kindergarten.  The
proposal is to place 13 kindergarten students in three seperate classrooms
with three special education kindergarteners. They would than divide the
preschool students by placing two students in each a.m. classs and two
preschool students in each p.m. class.  The preschoolers would only attend
1/2 days four days a week.  The full day kindergarten students must pay $50
tuition for the full day program.  They are trying to get a grant to pay for
the tuition.  This proposal was not a collaborative team approach.  I am an
Occupational Therapist and have strong reservations about placing low
functioning preschool students as well as other preschool students in a
kindergarten class.  Have you had any experience with this.  Please send me
your thoughts or any information.  Thanks PamOTSubj:  spec. ed. ratio in
multi-age
Date:  95-03-26 00:12:08 EDT
From:  Bre5

My son is a 1st grader in one of 6 multi-age (gr 1 & 2) classrooms. He has
ADHD and speech/language problems and he has an IEP (so far just for speech
disorder, but that may soon change). There are about 6 other "special ed."
children in the classroom. They were grouped in this classroom to make
service to them "easier" and the other 5 multi-age classrooms have all
"regular" students (or did at the beginning of the year). The special ed.
teacher and aide visit the classroom at scheduled times to help these
students.

Now that students in the other classrooms have been "identified" it has been
decided that all special ed students who are currently 1st graders will be
moved to one classroom next year (as 2nd graders) and "included" with a few
regular students and some identified new 1st graders in order to "fit in" all
the students who need service.

This is being planned even though the this multi-age program was planned and
promoted as a way for a student to stay with one teacher for two years and
grow at their own pace. My son has already been expecting to stay with the
same teacher and classmates for another year. Now they want to treat him and
a few others differently and move them to make it convenient for the school
district. The students will be moved to a different classroom than the one
they are in because each of the teachers wants "a turn" to work with them, as
it was explained to me. The teachers are deciding between them who will "get"
the special ed. students next year.

I feel that all the regular students are getting the advantage of staying
with their teacher and class as planned,  while the special ed. students will
be moved around and treated differently. Also, is it really inclusion anymore
when they are grouped together in such high proportions? The special ed
teacher said that the Distrcit will not give them another teacher so they
have to work it out by grouping the students. I told the Principal that if
students are supposed to get a certain amount of individual help it could be
illegal. She said that some parents have "agreed" to the IEP being changed to
a lesser service such as a group service (because the school district will
not hire an extra special ed teacher!)

Please give me your opinions! Susan, I would especially like to know what you
think. Should I fight this or is it hopeless?Subj:  Re:spec. ed. ratio in
multi-age
Date:  95-03-26 21:24:56 EDT
From:  SusanS29

"Also, is it really inclusion anymore when they are grouped together in such
high proportions?"

Can you imagine how the few parents whose children haven't been identified as
having problems will feel when their kids are pitched in there???

Complain *now.* Don't wait.Subj:  Sp. Ed OT jobs??? :)
Date:  95-04-04 18:02:10 EDT
From:  BrigettF

TO:  --->anyone involved in Education in the Northern California
area............
  I am wanting to connect and network with people in the field of special
education and / or assistive technology... and am hoping that I can get some
information from this quick 'message for help'.........

Currently I am trying to gather information about schools and educational
environments in the San Francisco Bay area, with a view to possibly
relocating to work in that area.....  .
I am an occupational therapist, working mainly in pediatrics / special
education students (in Illinois for now...), and specializing in educational
and assistive technology.


---->   ANY information about schools, contact names & numbers, employment
possibilities or just school district information would be MOST
APPRECIATED.....   :)

THANK YOU so much......


Bridgette
(BrigettF)
Subj:  caution
Date:  95-04-22 16:24:45 EDT
From:  TJSp

As the parent of an 8 yr. old with ADD and a language disorder, I hope
parents proceed with caution when placing their children in multi-age
situations.  I'm envious of the positive experiences I read about--ours were
very negative.  We were able to work out a solution with our school and
homeschool our son over the summer to make up for the devastating experience
of 1st grade.  Other parents in our district are being encouraged to place
their children in this situation, while the school has blatantly ignored the
serious consequences suffered by our son.  Now we hear that another child had
a similar reaction.  We were not alone.  This may be the best thing to come
along in education in decades -- or it may be just another fad.  I KNOW our
school district has not been honest in its presentation.  I hope others
are.Subj:  Re:caution
Date:  95-04-23 15:49:31 EDT
From:  Bre5

To TJSp: I would like to know why a multi-age classroom did not work for your
child in 1st grade. My son also has a language disorder and ADHD and is in
1st grade in a 1st-2nd multi classroom. What kind of problems did you find
that I should watch out for?Subj:  Re:caution
Date:  95-04-23 18:14:59 EDT
From:  SusanS29

Children with a language disorder may not be the best candidate in the world
for a multi-age classroom, but it would depend on how it was organized
whether it would really make any difference or not. For the *majority* of
children with some kind of learning impairment it could be a very good
environment. My LD daughter was in the same class (multi-age) from 1st - 3rd
grade and it was excellent for her. She could move ahead in her strengths
(such as reading) but had all the time she needed in math.Subj:  Re:caution
Date:  95-04-28 12:16:15 EDT
From:  Bre5

Susan, you said: "Children with a language disorder may not be the best
candidate in the world for a multi-age classroom, but it would depend on how
it was organized whether it would really make any difference or not."

Could you explain why multi-age would not be as good for these students?Subj:
Re:caution
Date:  95-04-28 16:39:22 EDT
From:  SusanS29

The thought I had about it was the content-area subjects, such as science and
social studies. If the teacher planned elaborate units in, say, plant
biology, there would be a lot of new vocabulary and concepts. Most children
could absorb that even if they were a year or two younger, but a child with a
language problem *might* have a lot of difficulty with it -- depending on how
it was done, how much hands-on activities were included, etc. The more
lecturing, the more liklihood of a problem. It would all depend on how it was
done.Subj:  Re:caution
Date:  95-04-29 18:03:26 EDT
From:  TJSp

I'm not a professional, so don't want to discourage anyone if this program
really IS appropriate for their child.

A few of our negative experiences:
An over reliance on what they defined as Developmentally Appropriate Problem
solving didn't involve much assessment as to whether he was really learning
much.  Too much hands on kinds of activities where there weren't really any
right or wrong answers, just "Good Ideas" left him feeling confused and
without direction.

Language therapist worked in the room with all kids who needed her so that
"disabled" would not be stigmatized.  Nice thought, but resulted in my son
getting less intense therapy than he needed.  In my view this nullifies
existing laws of recognizing a disability--if everyone in the class gets
services.

Because of lang dis he didn't speak much, so was identified as shy rather
than disabled.

The constant moving from work station to work station worsened his ADD
symptoms, since he couldn't remember where he should be when.

The method used to teach reading didn't involve direct instruction, so kids
kind of guessed their way through various books using visual cues--My son
needed something a little more structured.

Spelling was taught by guessing to avoid hurting childrens' self-esteem and
he didn't draw a correlation between the printed word "was" and his own word
of "wuz."

He became angry with me because I didn't teach him to read when the other
mom's had taught their kids to read.

He became frightened of many playground activities.  The teacher assigned
other students to accompany him to recess, and ultimately from the school
building to the car in the afternoon.  This peer tutoring as they called it
was very detrimental to his sense of self-confidence.  The teacher kept
saying the other kids loved helping him, it gave them a purpose, etc.  I
heard some of the comments made by the kids to my son.  They were not
enjoying themselves, so the teacher sat them down for a little talk--they
felt guilty, but resented him more.

We were not allowed to take him out of this class during the school year.
We were told that he was reading on par with same age peers.  I insisted on
standardized testing which revealed his reading skills to be typical of a
kindergartener at the end of first semester (he had completed 1st grade.)

On the bright side, after a terrible year, we resolved the misunderstanding
with the school, hired a tutor for the summer, he started 2nd grade in a
traditional classroom with a great deal of structure and pull out language
group.  Last month standardized tests revealed him to be on or above grade
level in all subjects.

He quite a kid. I don't know that my daughter, who does not have a
disability, could pull herself up from an experience like that.  Whatever you
decide is right for your child GOOD LUCK and I'm sorry this took so long.  I
could say much more.Subj:  Re:caution
Date:  95-04-30 09:52:24 EDT
From:  SusanS29

I agree your child was in a terrible placement for him, but I don't think
it's the "multi-age" aspect of it that caused most of the problems. It was
just plain bad teaching. It smacks of "Idea of the Week" teaching, where
whatever cool idea comes along is tried blindly with all, without regard for
what the child really needs.

That said, I would like to comment on the spelling. When a child tests at the
kindergarten level on a standardized reading test, this means that
essentially the child is a non-reader but has learned some or most of the
consonant sounds.

When a child at this level can spell "was" as "wuz," it's a very good sign.
The child understands the use of consonants and vowels, and is able to
manipulate them in his head and get them out in the right order.

It's really not appropriate to teach formal spelling to a child who can't
read yet; learning to spell a word is harder than learning to read a word.
But by allowing him to spell phonetically he develops that crucial skill of
sounding out words efficiently. In this particular instance I think the
teacher did the right thing.Subj:  Re:caution
Date:  95-04-30 21:17:27 EDT
From:  TJSp

Susan, you're in good company when you say that the teacher was teaching
spelling in a good way.  She is highly regarded in the community, has
recieved several awards, and has quite a list of children whose parents want
them placed in her classroom.

I agree that it wasn't the "multi-age" aspect, but don't think of it as "bad"
teaching either. The teacher and the school system made many mistakes in
reading this situation--most of them related to an intense belief that this
method would work if given a chance. It amounted to about the same thing as a
physician prescribing the wrong medication. The difference was that it
occured over a one year period of time, many people observed it but did
nothing, and I begged to have him removed.

It wasn't the multiage aspect, but the teaching methods used within the
context of multiage (developmentally appropriate problem solving?)  Surely
there must be some agreement among educators that while many methods have
value,  not all methods are appropriate for all children.

I think the fact that my son learned to read at all that year is because of
frequent absences due to stress related illness during 2nd semester led to
more involvement with a tutor and the fact that I worked with him a lot.

I don't want to see multiage or DAP done away with, but there usually are two
sides to a story.  I am not a professional, just a parent responding to
someones request to hear experiences.Subj:  Re:caution
Date:  95-05-01 21:52:43 EDT
From:  SusanS29

"The teacher and the school system made many mistakes in reading this
situation."

Yes, I agree with you.

"... while many methods have value,  not all methods are appropriate for all
children."

You agree, and I agree, but some schools really do get swept up in the "idea
of the week." They seem to think that this new idea (whatever it is) will be
the new miracle approach that teaches all children better.

It's not the new approaches here that are the problem but the way they are
applied.

"... and the fact that I worked with him a lot."

I too, have a child who learned to read because I taught her to.

I agree. I don't think multi-age classrooms should be done away with. Bad
teaching is bad teaching no matter what ranges of children are sitting in the
desks.Subj:  asperger syndrome & multiaging
Date:  95-06-04 20:20:15 EDT
From:  AAldrichC

We've been incredibly fortunate with our 3d grader who has Asperger Syndrome
(a PDD).  He is in his third year of multi-aging and this teacher (whom he
will have next year!!!) has been incredibly  supportive.  She's the one who
got us on an ed plan and didn't just chalk up our son's behaviors to
"developmental delays".  I think that multiaging works when the teacher makes
it work AND when the teacher has the support s/he needs to help the children
with special needs.Subj:  Re:Inclusion
Date:  95-07-03 22:11:33 EDT
From:  JEPOHLMAN

I spent the last school year as the collaborating teacher for all special
education students placed in the intermediate grades.  This year was so
awful, that I quit and am no longer in special education.  I was basically a
glorified aid.  I spent a lot of time subbing in other classrooms.  On those
days, my students were served.  I was not allowed to pull out even though I
had 6th graders reading on a 1st grade level.  I was unhappy and so were my
students.  I feel like I failed them this year.  I was supposed to be on a
team of two other teachers, however, these teachers worked together and TOLD
me what was going to be done, even if I said it would not work for my
students.  I hope inclusion works somewhere because it certainly didn"t at my
school.