Teach Effectively!

Although he had previously reported doubts about the functioning of special education in New York (NY, US) schools, New York Times writer Michael Winerip now reports that he has seen multiple examples of general and special educators teaching collaboratively. In an earlier article in the Times, Mr. Winerip described concerns about collaborative teaching, but he reports his view has changed.

In a column…I mentioned troubles at a P.S. 75 kindergarten last year and soon after got an angry email from the principal, Robert O’Brien. While Mr. O’Brien acknowledged problems, he said that they were the exception; he had nine effective classes, he said, and he invited me to see them.

I visited and agree, the model seems to work well at P.S. 75. I saw a good deal of hope and much skilled teaching. In first grade, while Ms. Lopez taught a math lesson, Ms. Martindale sat beside the most distracted girl and boy and with a few whispered words, kept them on task. When a boy who has retardation couldn’t answer a question, Ms. Martindale had the child call on a helper for the answer, and the class moved along briskly.

Mr. Winerip reports that, although the percentage of children with disabilities scoring at the proficient level statewide is 15%, for the school he visited 19% of children with disabilities reached the proficient level. I don’t know what the standard deviation is for the statewide percentage, so it’s hard to say whether that difference just reflects (1) normal variation around the mean, (2) characteristics of the population attending the school, or (3) benefits from the special education program.

Link to Mr. Winerip’s story (free registration may be required; charge for access after a copule of weeks).