Teach Effectively!

Henri E. Cauvin of the Washington Post (DC, US) reported about efforts to provide alternative schooling opportunities for children in the Washington, DC, area. Cauvin focused on the case of a 15-year old boy who has CP and mental retardation, but the story is one often encountered elsewhere by others, too. It reflects the tension between school funding and the educational needs of individuals with disabilities.

For years, the D.C. school system has defended its special-education programs and gone to great lengths to keep Shawn and students like him, rather than send them off to outside schools, at the city’s expense. On the other side, some parents and advocates have contended that the public schools were unable to handle some of the most demanding cases.

The boy, identified as Shawn, apparently has made some progress since enrolling in a special school following a court finding that he had been denied appropriate services. One has to wonder whether the DC schools knew what they could do for Shawn, what evidence-based practices they might employ when he was under their care. One has to wonder whether the school folks now know about those practices, too.

Link to Cauvin’s story.