By Sara Finegan 

          There’s a misconception among many in the field of education about special education.  To many, “learning disabled” means “unable to learn” or “limited learning capacity.”  The focus is on the “dis” part of “disability” instead of the ability part.  They ask the wrong questions:  “how smart is he?” rather than “how is he smart?”   

          We’re all guilty of this to some extent, and the result is that in more cases than not, the special education classroom is one where the learning is “dumbed down” and expectations are too low to inspire growth.

          When this happens, our students become dependent on us for learning and information rather than independent thinkers.  When we lower our expectations because of assumptions about learning capacity or processing strengths, the kids learn not to think hard, think deeply, or use their strengths. 

         When kids aren’t taught to rigorous standards and to use and master important skills, they begin to abdicate responsibility for learning.  We cripple them  by modifying our expectations when what we should really be doing is  strengthening them by modifying our instruction to move them forward.

           Over the course of the last decade, I’ve taught all kinds of students, from those with emotional disabilities to language deficits, cognitive and processing deficits, autism, and everything in between.  My long-time aide, whose three children are in  general education classes, informs me regularly that our classroom goes deeper and works kids harder than many general education classes in our district.  Certainly, we don’t require less than they do in terms of the quality and quantity of work from our students. 

          My students work hard, and I expect them to meet the State standards in every subject area.  My job is to figure out for each student how to get them there.

         When I talk about having a demanding classroom, I’m not referring to the students.  I’m referring to my teaching.  

         This blog is intended to share the instructional strategies and practices that we use in our classroom, and to demonstrate how running a demanding classroom promotes the kind of intellectual growth and development of skills that students with mild to moderate learning disabilities need in order to be successful independent learners. 

         Your comments and questions are welcome as we embark on this journey.

demanding classroom, high expectations, learning disabled, rigor, rigorous instruction, special education, standards