Lisa A. Ruff: Inclusive classroom and gifted students
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Steamboat Springs — The inclusion model has come under recent scrutiny in our district. What, exactly, does the term "inclusion" mean, and how does it affect advanced students? To answer that question, we need to return to the classrooms of the 1980s, where students with special needs were separated from their peers and educated in what were called "self-contained" classrooms in "pull-out" programs.
However, with the passage of the Exceptional Children's Education Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, educators began the push to get children with special needs out of their segregated environment and back into the regular classroom. Special educators entered the regular classroom to accommodate their students, and the classroom reflected the larger, more diverse world outside the classroom. The result was that the "inclusive" classroom represented democracy at its best; all students were treated as equals.
However, the fact remained that not all students are the same, and classroom teachers were faced with meeting the needs of students with special needs, ranging from language barriers and learning differences to physical and emotional disabilities. Teachers needed additional training in meeting the needs of different learners. The term "differentiation" began to be used to describe how teachers used multiple strategies to help students master curriculum.
The Steamboat Springs School District was slow to embrace the inclusion model. In fact, as late as 1992, I taught "accelerated" language arts classes, labeled 9X and 10X, at the high school, and my husband taught the equivalent social studies classes at the middle school. Eventually, leaders in the field of gifted education - Joseph Renzulli, Susan Winebrenner and Carol Ann Tomlinson - published research that concluded that the regular classroom was the best environment for providing services for all students and that exclusionary environments were detrimental for advanced students as well.
This year, the Colorado State Legislature passed House Bill 1244, which mandated that every school district in the state of Colorado identify and serve gifted students. The legislation does not mandate, however, how those services are rendered. Fortunately, it leaves the decision for designing and implementing services to the local professionals who best understand their populations.
Many of the parents of today's students were educated under the exclusionary model of the 1980s, and some are calling for a return to that model. Parents are again using words such as "honors classes" and "pull-out programs." As a 25-year educator and member of this community, and as one of the Steamboat Springs School District's Gifted Education Specialists, I know that a return to the exclusionary classroom is wrong. All students are capable of learning more than is expected. To segregate a population based on ability or disability harkens to a violation of the rights all children have to a quality education, every day, in every classroom.
Our district must embrace a model, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, for delivering a continuum of services to meet the needs of diverse learners, and it must support its teachers in doing so. It must provide training in the researched, best practices for meeting the needs of all students. It must provide ongoing assessment of those strategies to determine their efficiency. And finally, this district must align itself with the Colorado Department of Education's recommendations for meeting the needs of today's students for tomorrow's world.
Steamboat Springs High School has begun this hard work. It currently is exploring ways to implement the state's Response to Intervention, or RTI model, which articulates strategies to address students' strengths and weaknesses and monitors their progress. It is not an easy road. But one thing is certain: We all bring strengths and weaknesses to our workplace, to our community, to our families. Helping children explore their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses is the noble profession of which I am proud to be a member.
Lisa A. Ruff is a gifted education specialist at Steamboat Springs High School.
Comments
Vince arroyo 5 years, 1 month ago
Thank You Lisa " delivering a continuum of services to meet the needs of diverse learners " hits the nail on the head .
elk2 5 years, 1 month ago
when my kid's had Lisa they were offended by the way she excluded many kids who were not in her "gifted and talented program".
handyman 5 years, 1 month ago
How can a teacher be expected to educate students with IQs ranging from 60 to 180 in the same classroom? A friend with personal experience stated the following: A student with a lower IQ can be taught a new concept on one day and come back the next day, need to review it and then learn the next step. A student with an average IQ can be taught a new concept and come back the next day and move on to the next step. A student with a higher IQ can be taught a new concept and come back the next day and have already figured out the next step and is ready to skip up the the next concept. How can a teacher effectively challenge all students when there needs to be more repetition for some students than others?
MtnWarlock 5 years, 1 month ago
elk2, Awe come on now, taking jabs at former fellow educators! Let your kids speak! You know as well as I do that public education is heading in the direction that "every" kid will have an IEP! Integrating those kids with special needs into classrooms was an idea that was implemented to give the child a since of belonging with the main stream, instead of being social isolates! Lisa ruff has had a hard time and many challenges with her job at the high school, like many have! Public education is not what it used to be and is changing at epic levels annually! With Knezzy, Dr D, Cindy Simms, etc., I think we've had enough smearing the district, don't you think! I can speculate why "your" kids would of been offended! Lets not let this blog trash the good things that are going on at our schools! Thanks! Hang in there Lisa.
elk2 5 years, 1 month ago
didn't say they didn't like Lisa or respond to her, just that she made it very clear who was and wasn't in the g&t program.
MtnWarlock 5 years, 1 month ago
Ok. Then there is a political aspect of the haves and haves and have not's in the program! That is "A-typical" of the high school, the jobs we have, and life we live, in general! Thanks for clarification!
beagle 5 years, 1 month ago
Maybe it's best not to separate students into entirely different classrooms for the whole day, but let's be realistic: there has to be some sort of separation in order for every child to have their needs met. (as handyman points out)
Lisa, your letter seems to contradict itself. On the one hand, you say, "To segregate a population based on ability or disability harkens to a violation of the rights all children have to a quality education, every day, in every classroom." And yet you clearly see the diverse needs of students in the same classroom. What do you mean by "segregate?" Because I can say from six years volunteering in my kids' classrooms that without some "segregation" neither the advanced nor the special needs kids are getting what they need and the advanced kids are likely to be bored and tuning out. You use the term "pull-out programs" in a negative way and yet small groups are pulled out all the time in the elementary schools and I don't see how it could be any other way.
I guess I'm not sure what you are trying to say exactly. I do think the GT teachers seem to have done a great job this year and I know it's made a big difference at Strawberry Park.
ybul 5 years, 1 month ago
I think that the montessori model should be used more as it espouses inclusion, facilitates better learning by utilizing students as teachers, and by focusing on each students needs and allowing them to progress as fast as they can. This model also inspires the children to want to learn as they see older kids doing more advanced work and they want to be there also.
The district should look into expanding their Montessori program and adhering to its principles. Though the program needs to start pre-k as it teaches the children not only how to read and write, but how to interact with one another in a respectful manner, which is lacking in society today.
Sunspot 5 years, 1 month ago
I'm with handyman and beagle.
It's hard to tell from Lisa's wandering thoughts, but it sounds like she is trying come up with an excuse to skirt the provisions of House Bill 1244. Lots of jargon, but no conclusive thoughts. How can a G&T teacher do their job without pulling the G&T kids aside?
MtnWarlock 5 years, 1 month ago
beagle, As a valued classroom volunteer of our district, you speak form the trench of public education. It is easy to get confused in a environment that's curriculum, accountability, and standards are changing rapidly year to year! There's even more to understanding the changes! Public education is not what it used to be! More complexities, more demands, like everything in the new millennium! One cannot discount the energy used to properly parent the kids and accommodate their needs, to back up such a demanding system.
ybul, Why is it that the schools are the ones burdened to solve the issues and problems that should of be taught at home? Respect starts in the home with parents! The schools should only have to elaborate on the good qualities we instill in them! Maybe we should look at ourselves as parents and the negative influences of our children first, before we slam our schools with another problem "we" as parents should be more proactive with, in the first place! Like I've stated before; schools are only as good as the parents that back them! Our schools say a lot about our parents! That's a good thing here in Steamboat!
gracestripes 5 years, 1 month ago
I am a student at Steamboat Springs High School and I am also on the Steamboat Springs Speech team.
I would also like to point out to those who are bashing Mrs. Ruff personally need to think before they talk. If those who bashed Mrs. Ruff heard those stories from their kids, then it is hearsay. Trusting your children is good; however, unless you have worked with Mrs. Ruff personally then you can not bash her. This is because people only remember what they want to remember and people also jump to conclusions.
The article is about a different way to educate students. Everyone has their own view of how students should be educated; however, it is the student who knows how they learn best. Each student is different. School is a place to educate people so they can function better in society. If a student learns a different way then the teacher has to accommodate that student so that the student can learn better. I personally have had trouble in certain subjects, but i did something about it. I asked the teacher for some assistance. If a student works hard and asks for assistance, then it is the teacher's job to help the student find the best way for the student to learn. Mrs. Ruff has had an enormous amount of experience teaching in and out of the classroom. This plan that she is presenting allows all students to get the best opportunity they can get with the public school system. Equal opportunity is what all students need to succeed. The school can only provide an equal opportunity at the school. Outside of school students have to use personal responsibility to get work done.
Not all students want to learn. If a person does not want to learn then no one can force that person to learn. The school can open the door to learning opportunity, but the person needs to actually go through the door.
Parker Stegmaier Steamboat Springs High School Junior
MtnWarlock 5 years, 1 month ago
Parker, Your a great student and a good kid. Good job on the commentary! This is not an friendly place to be in debate at times! You are a lot like your sister whom was a good student as well! That says a lot about your parents! Keep up the good work!
elk2 5 years, 1 month ago
Parker, I didn't hear anyone attacking Mrs. Ruff personally. Simply stating something I think Lisa doesn't realize, she makes big distinctions of her students that she possibly should not.
beagle 5 years, 1 month ago
I think she and the whole GT program sound wonderful. I'm just trying to figure out what she means to say in this letter.
barkingschedule 5 years, 1 month ago
To quote elk2:
"when my kid's had Lisa they were offended by the way she excluded many kids who were not in her "gifted and talented program".
elk2, That's exactly the point of my article. Exclusion, for any reason, is offensive. I sincerely apologize to you and your children for appearing to promote an exclusionary attitude. I am hoping to create a better vision for our district--one that meets the needs of all kids. Thank you for your comment. Feel free to contact me to discuss how, together, we can make that happen. You know how to reach me :)
Lisa
Scott Wedel 5 years, 1 month ago
One big flaw with the exclusionary model of organizing classes is that students have a remarkable ability to do as expected so if a teacher is told the class is brilliant then they do so much than if the teacher was told that same class was remedial. Study after study has shown that.
The other big flaw is that students have strengths and weaknesses. A kid could be great at math, but have weak language skills and the appropriate class gets would switch back and forth when math has word problems or english class has a section on grammar.
And IQ or whatever metric is way too simple a measurement compared to the varied complexities of learning. In high school I could do geometric proofs as fast as I could write them done, but barely passed conic sections and then devoured calculus as an epiphany of everything taught in math class for all these years now makes sense.
It should not be that hard for a teacher to keep all of the students challenged. Sometimes the best thing for super talented kids is to be given an advanced textbook and see how far they can go on their own. Kids that bright rather quickly exceed their teachers and so to advance they need to learn how to learn with only modest help from a teacher.
beagle 5 years, 1 month ago
Wedel, no one is talking about putting kids in different classes and labeling them 'smart' and 'remedial.' What you're not getting is that in the elementary schools there can be kids in one class whose math levels cover a range of four grade levels. You can't teach them all at once; it doesn't work. And there are always several reading groups in every class. Just handing a kid 'an advanced textbook' is not meeting his/her needs.
Lisa, I wish you would explain better what you're saying because, as is, your letter creates more confusion than clarity.
ybul 5 years, 1 month ago
Respect starts in the home with parents!
yep respect does start at home. However, throwing a student into a gifted class or idiot class, shows respect for society. All people are different and need to learn to that all have strengths and weakness'.
To start segregating children by academic ability, shouts of the caste system. I know personally that when I have taught someone a concept that it stayed with me longer than if I breezed through it. By breaking down the age barrier in the classroom, allow the children to motivate themselves by wanting to be like the older children, you get a better educational product, as long as the older children are good models (which the teacher oversees).
It is the only educational model which has been shown scientifically superior (scientific american 2006 i think is the source)
It also breeds better behavior in addition to more creative and better educated children.
beagle 5 years, 1 month ago
ybul, I'm glad you love Montessori but not everyone wants to go that way and I doubt if the whole district is going to switch to Montessori. "Scientifically superior?" That sounds dubious at best. You also might want to proof your post next time. And again, no one is talking about "throwing a student into a gifted class or idiot class."
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