Topic “education”

Viewpoint: Integrating ESE students will mean success for all

Posted by Nathan Charlan on May 01 2012

Written by M.J. Ziemba, April 29, 2012, for Pensacola News Journal Our country places a high priority on providing free education for all children, regardless of their race, gender or any other differentiating factor. The civil rights movement for racial equality had, at the center of its struggle, the aim of providing integrated and equal education for children of all races. The champions of civil rights knew beyond a doubt that separating one group of students from the rest and providing sub-standard education in this unequal dynamic was wrong. I propose that educating students with disabilities in separate environments is also wrong since those classrooms may not afford the same quality learning opportunities as the other students receive. The solution to this problem in the idea of inclusion, which seeks to treat stude...

Inclusion: The Right Thing for All Students

Posted by Nathan Charlan on Nov 18 2011

Nov. 11, 2011, 11:34 a.m. [Op-Ed in New York Times] By Cheryl M. Jorgensen Cheryl M. Jorgensen, Ph.D., is a member of the affiliate faculty with the National Center on Inclusive Education at the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. In 2008 she received the National Down Syndrome Congress Education Award for her leadership and pioneering research supporting the inclusion of students with Down syndrome. She has written this open letter to Shael Polakow-Suransky, the chief academic officer for New York City schools. It’s time to restructure all of our schools to become inclusive of all of our children. We have reached the tipping point...

Like every new student — only different

Posted by Nathan Charlan on Sep 10 2011

First day of school for girl with disabilities offers lessons for classmates, parents By Mary Schmich, Chicago Tribune, Sept. 9, 2011 Dominika Tamley started school Tuesday. That morning, despite the fused shoulders that limit the range of her short arms, Dominika managed to shrug her 5-year-old self into her giant new backpack and set out for the brave new territory of kindergarten. The backpack, covered with Disney princesses, was pink and purple, a match for her glasses, her socks and her hearing aids. What are those pink things in your ears? My hearing aids. Why is your face like that? This is the way I was born. Dominika's mother, Karen Tamley, had prepared her daughter to meet such questions in school. Be direct, she counseled, keep it simple, move on. Tamley might have picked up this advice from the Chicago Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, where she is the...

Building 'BRIDGES' to the special needs community

Posted by Nathan Charlan on Sep 26 2010

posted by: Sara Gandy, Ben McKee BROOMFIELD - Legacy High School seems like the perfect fit for Molly Perriman, seeing as she has already written her own legacy. It is not a selfish thing; instead Molly's legacy is all about changing the lives of others through meaningful relationships. Oddly enough, it all started while she was organizing something that, in retrospect, seems a bit superficial: homecoming court. "I was sitting at a table working on nominations, and a kid with special needs walked by. I called him and said, 'Hey, do you want to nominate someone?'" said Molly, one of the 2010 9Kids Who Care. "They were so excited to get a chance to nominate someone for homecoming royalty, I wanted to do more." Molly created BRIDGES (Building Relationships in Different Groups), which integrates mainstreamed students with special needs students at Legacy High School. "I love them so much. It cheers me up and puts me in a good mood every Tuesday morning. Everyone leaves in a good mood on Tuesdays," Molly said. Molly also created the Legacy Royalty Guard, which highlights spe...