<p>Perhaps the teacher considers this an affirmative action.</p>
<p>I see it your way, missypie. Is there any chance the kids are being graded on a curve? If so, this skews the curve. Even without the curve, wrong things are being “taught” - that physical handicaps = mental ones. </p>
<p>If this were my D, I would probably encourage her to ask the teacher out loud at the time why this girl gets extra info and the rest of the class doesn’t. Or else simply ask him to talk louder because she wants to hear the answers, too. (If it were me, I’d even ask why the teacher liked her better than everyone else.) Make him/her put it into words. </p>
<p>I know I err on the side of trying to fix everything. I have an exaggerated sense of fairness, I think, and it is not my nature to sit idly by. My response would be the same if I thought the teacher was treating her negatively due to her handicap.</p>
<p>[Edit - discussion of foster care on another thread reminded me of the time one of my FC’s teachers was giving her A’s on everything. For example, she would take a spelling test, miss half, and the teacher would send it home for her to correct. Then would return it with a 100% on it. When I confronted the teacher, she treated me like an ogre. It was clear she felt sorry for the child, and thought this was her way of making life easier for her. However, I believe it did not help her in the long run, and this teacher did her no favors. It was misguided pity.]</p>
<p>I’d let it go. My sense is what gets your goat is the unfair advantage issue (hence the title of the thread) than concern about its impact on Wendy or the others about misintrepreting physical disability as mental disability. I think many of us can appreciate that. </p>
<p>But in the big scheme of things, just remember it doesn’t matter. In the big scheme of things, every kid at some point has some good luck and some bad luck on occasion with a course/test/teacher/unfairness so they have an edge/disadvantage/grade doesn’t reflect what they really did/really know. Fortunately there are years of data points so these blips wash out. </p>
<p>If you really feel action should be taken, what about having your D talk to the teacher privately about the issue? Discuss with him what is obvious to her. I personally like pushing problems back to my D to sort out with her teachers. It’s an important skill to learn how to advocate like an adult and resolve conflicts in a mature way. I don’t like the idea of encouraging D to bring it up publicly in class, with Wendy in the middle of it. That’s not a way to resolve such things.</p>
<p>I agree with many others that you really don’t know for sure if Wendy has some accomodations that have been worked out at school academically. That is a distinct possibility. </p>
<p>Also, I am not sure why this really matters to your D unless it seems like an unfair advantage. But if that is the case, and she sits next to Wendy and she knows her pretty well, she can ask Wendy to “share the love.” …“Hey Wendy…Mr. T. gave you what’s gonna be on the test. Do you mind sharing with us? Thanks!”</p>
<p>If by chance the teacher truly is giving Wendy special consideration because she is in a wheelchair that she has NO need for, so be it…what can you do? If Wendy has a problem with it, she can speak up. Or her parents can, if she feels he is condescending to her in terms of thinking she has less up top than able bodied kids. I can’t see any capacity where you would get involved.</p>
<p>I think the idea of having D ask loudly in class to hear what was being said to this girl is poor advice. If the teacher is following an IEP she can’t say anything and if she’s doing it on her own she won’t want to. Either way D gets a dirty look from the teacher.</p>
<p>If Wendy is supposed to get information in advance for what is on the test via IEP, the teacher has made the mistake of giving this information in front of others in the class. This is what has created the feeling that things are not fair for other students. I think this type of accommodation goes on often, but just not in front of the class (ie: after or before school). Perhaps that has to do with the fact that Wendy cannot stay after school or get there early because of special transportation needs. </p>
<p>I can tell you that one of my children had teacher teacher who did something similar to what binx described regarding a foster child. There were a few differences. Every student in the class was offered the same opportunity. The deal was that after each test, one could take the test home and correct it. One could get credit for half of the points missed. This meant that a 70% could become an 85%. This teacher offered this for 1.5 years. It was during the second year that he needed to change his grading policy because of a parent complaint. The parent who complained had a child in this teacher’s class, and the story told was that this child was earning Ds. The Ds magically turned into Bs. The parent wanted his child to get a D if a D was what was representative of the work. That story might or might not be true. It also might have been that a parent of an A student made that complaint (and asked that confidentiality be protected through that story) because they felt that their child was being penalized for having D and C students become B and B+ sudents. I did not care either way about the grading as long as my child was learning and doing his best. I will admit that if I had a top student in that class I would have resented that everyone else’s Ds and Cs became Bs. My son was in the middle of the class in performance, so I was not so heavily invested in the grading procedure.</p>
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<p>As a future teacher, I sincerely hope that all of my students will have been taught to mind their own business. </p>
<p>If their parent has failed to teach them that, I will have to take it upon myself to explain to them that I would never give out private information about them to another student, let alone a classroom full of students, and that I will treat their classmate with the same respect. </p>
<p>Just because it is a classroom setting does not mean that rudeness is acceptable. My goodness…</p>
<p>Pugmadkate, really? </p>
<p>I substitute taught for 6 years in an excellent school district, and my students quickly and comfortably called me out on anything they thought was unfair. But then, I encouraged my kids to ask questions. Certainly there are some teachers who do not like to be challenged. We’ve had some of them, too.</p>
<p>I was offering suggestions to the OP. What I would actually do in the situation would very much depend upon the relationship I had with the teacher, the atmosphere in the classroom, etc. I can easily imagine situations where calling it out would be the best option - perhaps even in a flippant or joking manner, if appropriate. Muttering would be taken, perhaps, as “cheating” during a test. Saying nothing when I see something that seems wrong is not my style. I tend to deal with problems head on. If the teacher says, “none of your business” I will take it as a legitimate answer, but it would let the teacher know that perhaps he needed to be more discrete. </p>
<p>But to think that the teacher can give out test answers to some students and not to me, and think that isn’t my business – well, I guess I disagree.</p>
<p>I bet that quite a few people on this thread have a background in education. Do you think it is ever really on a student’s IEP that they be told exactly what to study for on a test when the other students aren’t? Dismissing all personalities and fact patterns from the equation, is this ever a reasonable accomodation?</p>
<p>As I’ve mentioned, I have a son with Asperger’s, so I’m very senstive to the issue of people arguing that genuine accomodations are “advantages” rather than accomodations. I get ticked when I hear teachers talk about accomodations being taken away because a student is doing “too well.” </p>
<p>But no matter what the disability, is it ever a reasonable accomodation to give that particular student a heads up of exactly what to study, when no one else gets that? If a student is severely dyslexic, for example, is it a reasonable accomodation for the student to be told “you only have to read page 34 because that is all that is on the test” when everyone else reads pages 20-45? Wouldn’t the proper accomodation be to have the reading recorded or something similar?</p>
<p>I am not a teacher, but I found this article. It sounds like there are all kinds of modifications and accommodations are allowed, including but not limited to: open book tests, take home tests, reworking tests for regrading. Check this out, but it does not mean that the school will agree to give a kid all of these things. I guess they allow what they feel is necessary for an individual student:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/fape.accoms.mods.pdf[/url]”>http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/fape.accoms.mods.pdf</a></p>
<p>I do not agree that calling someone out publicly for any reason is ever appropriate (okay I hate to say never-- maybe there are some circumstances I’m not thinking of where it would be a good idea). And kids do it of course, but they are kids so it’s understandable. </p>
<p>But I want my kid to learn to resolve conflict in an adult way. If a teacher has a problem with my kid I want them to discuss it with them privately, not shame them in a group. Likewise if my kid has a problem with a teacher, they should bring it to the teacher’s attention and speak up of course, but not call them out publicly on it. Likewise, I don’t want my kids going into their teams at university or into the workforce, and publicly calling out their peers, subordinates or bosses. If you have a problem with someone or something, a private conversation with those directly responsible is almost always better.</p>
<p>You don’t even say what Wendy’s problem is. If it’s something like spina bifida, she might well have subtle learning disabilities in addition to her glaringly obvious physical disability. You don’t know what’s in her IEP, and it’s not your right to know. I would say to let it go.</p>
<p>binx, Yes, really. Since you do not understand the difference between calling out a question in class that will embarrass a specific member of the class and encouraging class discussion, it’s not surprising to me that you would not expect it of student. I only hope that those children you were the sub for had regular teachers who expected both excellence and basic good manners.</p>
<p>starbright, well said.</p>
<p>missy - I can understand why a fair-minded person would be upset with the perceived unfairness of the situation. But really, let it go … unless of course your D is the one who’s upset. In that case it’s important to let your D know that human behavior is often not what it appears to be, and that unless the behavior is directly harmful, it is often best to give the benefit of the doubt. As you said in an an earlier post, you already have plenty to do in your life.</p>
<p>*As a future teacher, I sincerely hope that all of my students will have been taught to mind their own business. *</p>
<p>Ah, young pugmadkate, did you attend a public school? With so many public school teachers concerned about their personal safety and the safety of their students, I hope you are privileged enough to teach at a school where your greatest concern is the manners of your students.</p>
<p>I think it’s interesting that almost everyone who has posted on this thread assumes that Wendy has an IEP that gives her academic accomodations, just because she can’t walk. It would be interesting for academic accomodations to pop up for the first time now, in the second year of a foreign language. (As I mentioned, Daughter has been in classes with her since Kindergarten.) You may be entirely correct, but hardly anyone seems open to the idea that a high school teacher could be ignorant. He is a terrible teacher in every other way, so I guess I come down on the side of ignorance for that reason alone.</p>
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<p>And if the staff is doing their jobs your daughter should NOT be privy to any required accommodations per a 504 or IEP. These are confidential. And there could be a plan whereby the teacher is required to give this info to Wendy prior to each test. If it’s on an IEP or 504, quite frankly, it’s no one else’s business.</p>
<p>Also, I have to ask…so what if Wendy knows what to study for the test? She still has to study it and get the grades. Don’t the kids actually KNOW what the content of their tests will be…I mean usually they are tested on a recent chapter or unit of study. It’s really not much of a secret.</p>
<p>Also, I have to ask…so what if Wendy knows what to study for the test? She still has to study it and get the grades. Don’t the kids actually KNOW what the content of their tests will be…I mean usually they are tested on a recent chapter or unit of study. It’s really not much of a secret.</p>
<p>In a foreign language test, there might be 60 vocab words, so the rest of the class studies all 60 but Wendy only studies the 20 that are actually going to be on the test. Really doesn’t help Wendy learn the language.</p>
<p>What is the desired outcome of any kind of interference?</p>
<p>missiepie, then if your D knew which 20 words to study, she might not study all 60 words either. Isn’t that counter productive if you want your D to learn the foreign language?</p>
<p>As for assuming that Wendy has an IEP, well, I think that at a minimum she has a 504 plan. There have to be accommodations for a person in a wheelchair to get through their school day. For example, steps, carrying her food to the table, gym class, possible toileting issues, etc. It just is common sense to me.</p>
<p>What is the desired outcome of any kind of interference?</p>
<p>Any interference from daughter or me (which won’t happen)? Since the teacher has no other redeeming qualities, I really think that he thinks that people in wheelchairs = mental deficiency. The best outcome would be if Wendy would let it slip to her mom that the teacher was doing this and the mom went in and told him that her child does not have any type of mental deficiency and doesn’t need the “help” thank you very much.</p>