Teachers today have to meet a diverse set of student needs. Teaching Assistants are being used in some, but not all classrooms to help teachers support student learning.
Nicole K. said on January 12, 2012:
“I also think that it is important for each class to have the option of an EA for support. Many early education classrooms (preschool, head start program) have multiple adults in the class. This allows for added support, as well as team teaching, and flexibility.”
and
Kelsey said on January 7, 2012:
“If a teacher is lucky there may be one EA there throughout the day or for an hour or so. This is my experience in the classroom… teachers will do what they can with the time and resources available but it is challenging… I believe that most teachers in BC want to teach to individual needs but just cannot manage with the help at the moment.”
How could teaching assistants and other supports be used so teachers can spend more time focused on teaching?
Summary to date:
Here’s a summary of what you’ve said so far. Click on the links beside each theme to read supporting examples.
- Teaching assistants play an important role (1, 2)
- Provide more full time dedicated teaching assistants (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- Provide more training for teaching assistants (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- Provide more planning time for teachers and teaching assistants (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- Hire more teachers, particularly specialists (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- Reduce class sizes and special needs limits (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- Re-evaluate the integration of special needs students (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
- Provide more funding (1, 2, 3)
- Help the kids who are falling through the cracks (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
- Reduce assessment waiting times (1, 2, 3, 4)
Please leave a comment below if you’d like to contribute to this topic.
TA’s need to be trained in the subject area to effectively assist both teacher and student at the high school level. Since this may not always be possible I believe that teacher’s should have at least one teacher bound TA that could train with the teacher, learn material along the way as well as adjust to the routines that teacher sets in the classroom. This will be particularly useful when it comes to assisting with project based learning where many students are working on various tasks at a time. A TA who knows where to find items in the classroom and knows what lessons the teacher is teaching can assist with the prep work that accompanies hands on learning. If teachers are to move into the direction of being facilitators, then I believe that TA’s who are trained to work as partners with teachers will greatly assist students in the experiential learning process.
I would like parents to understand the seriousness of removing class composition restrictions. George Abbott has put a positive spin on this that makes it sound as though it is all about giving kids with special needs equal opportunities. But he neglects to make it clear to parents that their children (both with and without special needs) will no longer be in classes with manageable numbers of SPED students. Adding teacher assistants is NOT the same as having adequate teacher time. Teacher assistants are not trained the same way and do not have the specialized education that teachers do.
o I am a new teacher and just finished my practicum in BC. I feel very underprepared to deal with students who are designated with any learning/physical disabilities. This is partly because of 2 reasons: I have had very little training (university) in dealing with kids with any of the numerous disabilities that I will have to teach in the future. Second, in schools there seems to be little information about student’s condition (maximum 1 page reports) and there seems to be even less (in some cases no) staff support to help teachers during class time to deal with the sometimes large numbers of special education students. This is not the result of Resource Teachers who do not care (in my case, they truly do care), it is the result of having 1 resource teacher with a load of over 100 designated students. During my practicum I taught several kids with various disabilities requiring extra help. There were only a few SA’s for the entire school and they spent the most time with the students that MOST needed them. Students who need them just a bit less are being put at a huge disadvantage because instead of seeing an SA a bit less, they do not see one at all. I think that this prioritizing on who needs an SA the most is unfair, especially detrimental to students who have great potential but end up getting no help because they are not “the most needy of help”. I hope that in the future, new teachers will be better educated (theoretically) about common disabilities of students which they will often face within their classrooms. I also hope that this new proposed PLAN will let schools start thinking of ways to allocate money across the different areas of need (such as support staff) instead spending countless hours of figuring out what program to cut out because they cannot afford it.
SEAs are great additions to the class, only if they are well trained in the subject area. When I taught Science 10, I quickly learned that my SEA had little to no science background. Although she hoped to help my exceptional students, how could she when she was unsure of the course material as well?
In most classes an extras set of hands and eyes is a good thing. I think that there should be someone there to help with the teaching as well as the social problems. You can have a support worker that is there to deal with problem behaviors in the class, but they can also be helping the students who need extra help understanding what is being taught or even just what they are supposed to be doing at any given time. They could be used as extra help for the children performing below grade level. The highest authority in the class must always be the teacher.
The Ministry of Education Special Education Guidelines give quite thorough directions regarding the role of the teacher and the role of a special education teaching assistant. This may be different for a “teacher assistant” given some general instructions for supporting an entire class. The challenge is that the classroom teacher is explicitly responsible for the curriculum, the measurement, the outcomes for each child they teach. To do that, in classes that have up to “3 designated students with special needs” and, often several with what is considered “low incidence” learning and behavioural challenges, might be quite impossible.
I agree many dedicated teachers likely do work many hours over the 25 they are required to “teach” but others do not. I also suspect that many are discouraged and disheartened and wonder if they can do anything. That said, unless there are significant changes in the structure, beliefs, and values of our current public education system, parents with resources will continue to opt for independent schooling.
One only need look to the growth of the private tutoring agencies to know that people other than “certified teachers” can teach students. Teaching “assistants” do not have the authority to be the teacher which puts increased demands on the classroom teacher, particularly where a student requires an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) or unique adaptations. What is actually happening is that many children are being taught by special education teaching assistants. In some cases, they are also selecting the curriculum. The teacher simply does not have the knowledge, skill or time to teach grade level curriculum AND know all that is needed to be known about the children with special needs.
So, to ensure teaching assistants are used so teachers can spend time focused on teaching, send children into their classes with the prerequisite skills for the curriculum they are teaching. Provide alternative classrooms/schools where the curriculum can be appropriate for the children with learning differences. Change the criteria for class size with differential classes determined by student needs. Develop models that teach valuing diversity and creating “inclusion” in ways other than babysitting an student who is unprepared to learn the curriculum of a classroom simply so they “look included”. Do measurement of student progress and satisfaction nd reward schools for their creativity in organizing and teaching.
Teaching Assistants are so valuable, IF they are employed usefully in the classroom to actually assist in learning, and if they are trained to be worth their salt. They can be an excellent partner in education. I know I could certainly use one in a full time capacity in my own classroom! (if only there was more funding for one!!!)
How true! “…IF they are employed usefully in the classroom…”. I am an Education Assistant (EA). I often provide more of a “babysitting” service than assisting academically. There are lots of education assistants who cannot handle the academics of grades 6 and up! So it is useless (largely) putting them in a truly academic situation. In our school district an Academic EA gets paid less than one who provides personal care (sometimes includes toiletting). When it comes to placing an EA in a classroom it is based on Seniority, not skill or knowledge, and this is a big problem. There needs to be an assessment based on knowledge and ability for placing an EA in an academic situation, not based solely on seniority. I have seen EA s who are more of a liability in the classroom rather than helping in a classroom.
TA’s provide additional support for the students who need it by, scribing, discussing, working one-on-one with problems, helping students who do not have an opportunity to complete homework at home for various reasons. They are essential.
Teacher assistants and other learning supports could be used in the classroom for
*Extra supervision in addition to the teacher
*One-on-one support for extra learning
*Support for special needs
*Prep social stories and other visuals for special needs students
*Social/emotional support and comfort for students
*Provide the teacher with valuable feedback on special needs students (or students in class)
The Early Childhood Educators of B.C. have an iniative they call a “Community Plan for a Public System of Integrated Early Care and Learning”, and I see that on page 15, kindergarten is mentioned in their plan.
I thinking about how to get more adult attention for the younger children at our elementary schools. (Kindergarten) Better ratios of kids to adults, for the following reasons:
(1) supervision purposes
(2) safety and comfort in a new environment for the children as young as 4 years old and shy or anxious children.
(3) early literacy
(4) teaching of prosocial behaviors and
(5) better school culture: increased engagment of students early on (school is fun and I have many adults around to support me).
Assumption for the purpose of explanation: Lets say there are 3 classes of 22 kids in kindergarten in a school.
NEW STAFFING ARRANGEMENT: The staffing could be 1 teacher to oversee all classes, design the program, and do the assessments,& other administrative work. Then each class could have 1 EA and 1 Early Childhood Educator, plus 1 more ECE to “float” between the classes. I’m thinking the EA and ECE could work well together to deliver the material and guide the students. (Lead dramatic play, read stories, lead discussions, writing activities, early math activities, safe eating at school, etc.- everthing done in Kindergarten)
I believe the ECE’s are very good at promoting the pro-social behaviors (respect, sharing, kindness, using words not actions to express yourself, etc). The competencies (strengths) of the EA and ECE might complement each other nicely, to make an effective team in Kindergarten classrooms.
ECE wages are around $20/ hour, so looking at ECE’s possible contribution makes good financial sense for the School District.
teaching assistants and other supports could be used in each class with children with any type of special needs, for the full day so the teacher focus on teaching. This be best for all concerned.
The “school based team” model suggests that one person cannot meet all students needs. Probably true, but every person on that team needs to have up to date knowledge of what works for the particular learning need.
Teachers and EAs need to work together with what will move and benefit the student the most. The same ProD, clear boundaries in job description, shared philosophy.
To the Moderators: I have seen another comment here to this regard, is there anything that can be done with the formatting? The last comments are getting too narrow and very hard to read. Thanks
Thanks Judy for your comment. This is an issue that makes following the discussions a challenge. It is being looked into.
Perhaps the right column could be removed? The content could be placed in an expanding box at the top of the page, and wouldn’t hinder anyone’s need to that information. Being a web designer, and graphic artist, I know that implementing that change wouldn’t be difficult.
Thank you for your comment, we are aware of the constraint on the blog comments. We are working on producing a new website in the coming weeks that should alleviate this problem.
EA must be trained, supported and supervised. If you add more EA’s who is supervising and evaluating their performance. How is their ProD developed? When do teachers and EA collaborate? How is the EA included and supported at High School when typically students do not want to be ‘identified’ as different? Is the EA model the best at secondary? AND your questions states ‘teaching assistants”..I thought they were ‘educational assistants’ and their duties focused on students not “helping teachers”…is the model changing? will the EA now photocopy for the teacher to free up my time to spend with students etc…
The model at the high school level is far from perfect. Quite often, LD students are paraded out of the classroom to work elsewhere, and needless to say, that kind of exclusion and attention is not what any student or human being would want.
Whether we call them EA’s or TA’s, I think their role should be integrated to working with the teacher, in the classroom and in assisting all students (whether they have an IEP or not). That method would help to remove some of the stigma associated with LD’s and allow them to learn without feeling ostracized.
This is in response to a discussion where the thread has grown so long and narrow that the reply button has almost disappeared…
In my opinion, debating “who’s more important; the teacher or the child”, is hardly constructive in light of the overall situation.
The fact is, they are equally important, and should be valued as such. Without one, you don’t have the other. Without teachers, children cannot learn. Without children, teachers cannot teach. Why do we need to regard one over the other?
Perhaps we need to look at this from a different perspective, and think about who has the most to gain or lose.
Yes, teachers have rights, and should be treated fairly, but they should also be setting an example to those they teach. How often do teachers have to impose a “cooling off period” for students? It’s hypocritical, to reject a cooling off period or to defy laws, regardless of whether teachers agree or not. How do you expect kids to understand the “do as I say, not as I do” rationale? We expect children to follow rules, and I believe teachers can settle their differences with the government in the same fashion. Calling the government a “bully” and coming across as uncooperative is also counterproductive and not demonstrating a good example to follow.
That being said, please don’t assume that I have sided with the government because I have not. I am on the side of the students.
Lets not forget that children have rights and should also be treated fairly. In my opinion, children have the most to lose, and shouldn’t always be caught in the middle. Having gone through all of this when I was in school, I find it sad that little seems to have changed. We lost many days of school due to “job action” and missed out on a lot due to a “withdrawal of services”. It’s time that cannot be given back.
If the conflict was between two children, we would separate them and allow them time to cool off. Then we would act as a mediator and work towards a solution. Why can’t both sides agree to do the same? If tax payers are either unable or unwilling to pay more for education, then solutions need to be found with whats available. That’s how most households have to manage, and we wouldn’t accept a family member who became defiant and argued that they wanted sometime the family could not afford.
If both sides can agree that the needs of students are the most important, then both sides should make every effort to fulfill those needs, and make compromises, without putting students in the middle.
I’m wondering why my comments are not being posted? Are there only certain perspectives allowed on here?
Hello Kristen, We will search and review your comments. Our apologies if there has been an error in not posting when we should have. We welcome all perspectives as long as they meet the moderation policy.
From teachers’ comments it sounds like more than 20% of all students in their classes are Special Needs students. Where did they all come from? Where were they when I went to school? Has mainstreaming gone too far? There must be some level of capability and stability that hurts the group education more than the merit of simultaneously caring and socially integrating many of these individuals. We are asking teachers to perform a social service that is outside of their training or their career aspirations.
That number represents a broad range of “special needs”. There are ESL students as a result of immigration, as well as more diagnosed “learning disabilities” and other conditions that existed but were previously unidentified. When I was in school there were no ADD or ADHD kids. They were just hyper, fidgety children that needed more recess and P.E. class time. There were also students that were labeled as either lazy or unintelligent, when they may have had a learning disability. That being said, not all “special needs” kids require the same amount of time or intervention, nor do I think there’s necessarily more of them than in the past. We’ve just come to identify them, and see that they should have more support than they would have received in the past. With that in mind, teaching assistants are required, but should be based on the actual needs of the students, instead of deciding those students are outside the scope of education.
There aren’t enough psychologists to administer the diagnostic tests in growing districts where there is a lot of movement of students. Some psychologists don’t seem happy to lose their work and don’t want to train learning disabilities teachers who are quite capable of administering the tests or could use a little training. IF and that is the BIG if government wants to make a big difference is first allow quick diagnostic by having one person per school capable of doing diagnostics in growing districts (give them an extra $50 for doing it or more LD time per school at the end of the month. Diagnostics should be done in other common languages out there too for ESL beginner students. Interpreters could be present. I am convinced that many LD students are actually hampered by a spelling system that is completely bonkers, but if people want to pay more because who would want to reform the spelling system or there is not desire to go there, so be it. I think there could be huge cost savings. More info at http://reforming-english.blogspot.ca/
You’re right. The current system of calling in a Provincial Psychologist is inefficient. In our case, we waited over a year before testing was conducted, and that was 7 years ago. Getting re-tested is also another hurdle to overcome, and “rules” suggest that students must wait. The only reason we even got where we are today was through the keen eye of an elementary teacher and her efforts to get the ball rolling. I can only imagine how many other students in similar circumstances “fall through the cracks” and are never identified.
At the very least, there should be one educator at every school who can be qualified to administer the testing. At that point if the tests need to be assessed by someone more qualified, then so be it. Doing so would be a step forward.
For all those unidentified LD students, I wonder how many go on to displaying behavioural problems and defiance, simply out of frustration? I know the PsychoEd report on my son stated this could happen if he was not helped, so it stands to reason there are other students with “behavioural problems” in the Education System that we have failed.
Ya! It is a mess out there! It is so frustrating as a teacher, as a parent, as a kid, … Getting more teaching assistants is not going to do the trick!
BTW, they are not provincial (at least in Surrey), but district based (they have a few schools that they service). Yes! One teacher in a school should be capable to do this. I am sure lots of them would love to be trained and compensate them for doing so. Not hard!
I find it ironic and arrogant that you say “Some psychologists don’t seem happy to lose their work” and that is exactly what the whole issue is, teachers don’t want to loose their work. Again, given that this is a union setting you simply cannot have unqualified persons doing duties they are not qualified to do so you cannot have “one educator at every school who can be qualified to administer the testing”. A core issue in all this is who is qualified to do what and we don’t have enough qualified people. You cannot say that a teacher’s job can’t be done by an assistant, but a teacher can do the psychologists job. What does that say about the psychologists qualifications. On a purely practical level, to attempt this would open up the school boards to all sorts of liability issues and battles simply because the test must be administered by qualified persons and after all we are dealing with a union here. You can imagine the complaints: my little Johnny would have done better if we had a real psychologist, our school never gets equal treatment,that teacher wasn’t qualified, etc. It is not possible. Teachers are trained to be just that, if they want to administer psychological tests , then back to school they go become psychologists. Maybe having a staff psychologist in each school district could be there specifically to test and then, the students could be directed in a more meaningful and accommodating manner way and we don’t have to fill the classrooms with adults supporting each and every child.
Good point! I think I did mention in another post that training would be needed. Those tests are not at all hard to administer or to assess, given proper training (albeit light). This could be done EASILY by the learning disabilities teachers whose understanding of kids would be even more enhanced. The ministry could give a few credits towards a master or a PB+15 for those or make it free as in-service with no credit. A test could be given at the end, if necessary so that everyone’s backside is covered AND, in a legitimate way, that the service is adequate. I just wanted to stress that this problem could easily be solved. These tests are not that hard! The assessment is a bit more tricky, I will grant you that, but nothing a training session or a few could not solve.
BTW, learning disability teachers have training in diagnostic testing and do some of those routinely. The don’t have the training in administering the more extensive ones that the psychologists give. For public disclosure-sake, are you a psychologist?
I’ll let Peter Mare speak for himself, but in regards to your comments that “you cannot have “one educator at every school who can be qualified to administer the testing”” is untrue. Much of the testing is done by the student and doesn’t require more than a proctor. I also noted that the tests could be assessed by a Psychologist. In which case, it would be no different than having a P.E. teacher proctor an exam in Math. The testing doesn’t become inferior just because a P.E. teacher “administered” the test, when the Math teacher is “assessing” the results. I also find it a pathetic excuse to use the “union” as rationale to dismiss a change that would benefit more students than the current system addresses.
The subject of who is qualified to assess and identify student’s with specific needs within the education system is an interesting one. I am curious about how the process is being facilitated in different schools and districts across BC right now. Can anyone comment from a parent’s point of view?
Oh! That’s interesting! There doesn’t seem to be ONE universal protocol across all districts on this matter! YOU would think that this would be the case! I guess every district has been reinventing the wheel! There is a another good case for amalgamation! In any case, in Surrey, a school-based team (made up of specialists, the teacher, and administration) determines if a test is needed. Then, the paper work is done to do so. A psychologist –IF the paper work is approved and WHEN his or her schedule allows– tests the student. From what I have seen, this is a one-on-one interactive test that involves objects and pictures being shown to students and questions being asked. How the questions are asked and how things are presented could affect the outcome of the test, I suppose. I don’t think it would take much training to have a LD teacher (I am suggesting an LD teacher because I think most already have some training with diagnostic tests) could do this. Of course, there is the issue of impartiality and integrity that might come into play. Maybe a parent could veto the administrator of the test, if there is a potential conflict. The assessment/analysis is done by the psychologist as it requires measuring where a kid falls on scales which might involve some intricate calculations (although I know of some tests that have some simple software that could help in that regard). A debriefing meeting with all parties involved is held afterwards with the outcome to give or not a designation. This is the way this was done in a few schools I have been in my district.
Rebekah, I commented earlier in this thread about the process our family went through (03-23-12 3:09pm). Although my son was tested and identified with an LD; that was 7 years ago, and getting re-tested is just as important. Their IEP’s are created with consideration to the PsychoEd report. There is no benefit or baseline in writing an education plan with data gathered on a 10 year old, to be used on a high school student who’s now 17.
In regards to a universal approach, its my perception that either a parent or a teacher will be the first to suspect a learning disability, but until a test is conducted, there is no way to know for sure if, or what the problem may be. Signs can sometimes be very subtle, as in our case, where my son exhibited at par/above intelligence, and had extremely poor penmanship. His diagnosis, was facilitated by the efforts of a teacher he had, who has a son with the same condition (similar to dyslexia). Without her efforts, my son may never have been identified as LD. That being said, I think we need a general, standardized test that could be given to any student where a learning disability is suspected. The tests could then be evaluated by a Psychologist, and from there, more comprehensive testing by the Psychologist could be done.
My suggestions are not to cause a rift among professions, or cause tensions. They are to find solutions for students in need and hopefully get them identified sooner. As I had also pointed out earlier, the PsychoEd report on my son specifically stated that behavioral problems and defiance are possibilities when an LD student is not helped. I’m not suggesting that all children with behavioral problems are LD, but if some are, it would make sense to have them evaluated. With the right kind of support, some of those students may not be such a “problem” anymore.
I’m not sure if you understand what happens if a carpenter changes a light switch in a union position. It is a greivable issue, yo cannot do what you are not qualified to. Pathetic or not, that’s life in a union. You are not allowed to take do someone else’s work or the employer could just have the lower paid employee do the same job for less IE: let’s fire all the teachers and let the TA’s do the job, they may not be qualified but they can probably do it and it would be a lot cheaper. There are liability issues as well, whether you or I like it or not.
BTW, I don’t see any problems having psychologists in each school, but I think this might be an overkill. But, maybe I was not clear on this point. There are not enough psychologists, apparently! Now, I am not too sure what psych graduates do. Maybe they go in HR or work as an independent, which might be more lucrative. Not sure about the whole dynamic of the profession. Is not well advertised that there is a need for school psychologists? Are boards not hiring because they are costly? I suspect the latter! This is why I am suggesting that LD teachers do this, but then you would need to hire more LD teachers. I mean this whole mess is due to this whole neo-liberal notions that efficiency has to be at 100% all the time. Sometimes efficiency means hiring fewer employees so it SEEMS that all is efficient, until the train crashes at which time we blame the driver, not the bosses that asked them to drive 12 hours straight in winter time, if you get the bad analogy! I am all for more psychologists being hired! I am sorry of I gave another impression. I guess I was trying to fix the problem of not having enough of them (so it seems)!
Finally, I found your comment about how some might challenge the testing that could be done by someone who does not have the official credentials to give it (unless of course a few courses could do). So, on the one hand we have parents who want the BEST for their kids, but we have a number of people who want to get by with the least possible. A first rate hotel doesn’t come cheap! As a result of cuts, French Immersion teachers (at least in my district) are mostly English teachers since they are required to teach English! Not to say that they are not bilingual teachers around, but it is also true that great bilingual teachers proficient in both languages as much as a native speaker in both languages are much rarer than an anglophone speaking French (often not like a native speaker). But, who cares! Not many parents can distinguish the native-speaker from the anglophone speaker, so the board knew that they could skimp there. In some ways, many want the best system, but don’t want to pay for it! It is hard to have an inexpensive world-class system if you are not prepared to pay for it! Now, you know my point of view on reforming English spelling as a way to reduce cost, but we agree that this is not going to solve the immediate problem.
FYI: Canadian Dyslexic Association’s website says that 10-15% of people are dyslexic.
That’s one learning disability, then add in ADHD, ESL, Autism, deaf, blind, developmental disabilities, and I would imagine the percentage may be higher.
And my contention is that this prevalence of dyslexia (term that has taken on many meanings) is language based MOSTLY. Sure, reversal of letters is language based (it is completely arbitrary and difficult to memorize that a loop to the left is a “d” and one to the right is a “b”) as is differentiating between voiceless and voiced letters. It is prevalent in all languages. But, in its more generalized meaning, dyslexia is a reading disability that is exacerbated by a spelling system that is unsystematic! I know a few posters don’t like me to re-post this, but I think that this is a problem that needs to be addressed. Maybe not now (as there are many other issues to address), but surely someone will at sometimes see the light and understand that the language is disabled and disabling! For more info, go to http://reforming-english.blogspot.ca/ .
I’m not going to engage in a debate over the structure of the English Language, but I do want to comment about your perception of Dyslexia. I referenced the term because my son’s diagnosis does not have a specific name, but the Psychologist suggested its much like Dyslexia. The problem he has is also not language based. Its a processing aspect within his brain that doesn’t translate an accurate relationship between shapes, space and size. This could be seen with copying a drawing of various objects. His recognition of how those objects interact are flawed. That exercise is a way to appreciate how written input can be a problem for students with this type of problem.
English is a messy language (but no one wants to do anything about it), but to master the current code (reading) one must memorize all words as units (a bit like Chinese) because one cannot relie on the a letter being a specific phoneme! I am a linguist and I belong to a group led by a PhD in the matter, so I think I know what I am talking about! In any case, it could be that your child has processing issues, but I am sure that the compete irregular nature of the spelling system makes it really tough for kids who really on patterns. So, either we tap into his ability to memorize and forget about seeing any patterns! Basically, mastery reading exercises and then build on the rest. It would be nice to find a program that starts with the words that fit the patterns, but the most common sight words are usually irregular, so they need to be memorized, but then go with the mat/mate words to build confidence. Not sure what the whole problem is. One post is not enough, but I am sure the pro. at your school know what they are doing.
I’m not suggesting you don’t know what you’re talking about, nor am I debating if there’s an issue with the English language. I merely wanted to point out that not all LD students have problems with the English language or reading. My son is an avid reader and doesn’t have difficulty with comprehension or spelling (unlike a true Dyslexic). His issue is simply with written output. I also wanted to make that clarification, as I didn’t intend to use the term Dyslexic as a euphemism for a flawed language structure.
Lots of interesting dialogue here but back to the question: How could teaching assistants and other supports be used so teachers can spend more time focused on teaching?
Last comment on this, if I may, his difficulties with written output might have to do with how much effort he needs to use to write something, to spell words correctly,… But, if he is not “dyslexic” then it could be some other issue. Maybe you should see if speech recognition software could work! That would be my first recommendation as an LD teacher to a kid who does not like to write. Maybe the topics are not interesting to him. I hate to write about my life when asked to, for instance, but loved to write adventure stories! It might depend what he is asked to write about! Best of luck!
That may be true, but it doesn’t translate into a conclusion that 10-15% of all school aged children are dyslexic. I would be willing to accept that 20% of all school aged children have some form of “special needs”, but that number is also collective. There are many schools in this province, where there are very few kids with any LD’s or other diagnosis, and others with an overabundance. That imbalance is where additional supports are needed to facilitate learning and support teachers that are overwhelmed.
I believe that dyslexia is much less common among Chinese, not because of race but because their reading format is top to bottom rather than left to right. To examine our difficulties in another way, try reading from a mirror, then get some print that is oriented vertically and observe that while still more difficult than normal, you can more readily read the mirror image. Another visual issue affecting reading is that a person cannot see what they cannot visualize. This is fundamental to the way infants learn. Only after the scrambled patterns reaching our brain become associated with familiar organizations of shapes, sizes and then colour, do we “see”. Lastly recall that only our central eye receptors link to parts of the brain that can be organized into recognizable patterns. For example, you can easily “see” letters in your periferal vision, but stare as you might, you will not be able to recognize what letters they are. Amazing, simple test! Many people (children) may only be able “see” as we do in our periferal vision, to which disability we ascribe various acronyms.
Not sure if that is the difference, as Chinese has signs that do not have small differences like the loops of the b and d letter that make a relationship to its sound difficult! Voiced and voiceless issues are related to the same problem: small differences that are not associated with the proper sound! I am talking about dyslexic dysgraphia here!
The citizens of the province need to know that the government has not supported the desperate need for more teacher assistants, particularly those who support teachers who have students with special needs in their classrooms. The situation is deplorable, no matter what the ads that our province are now putting out, ads that you and I have to pay for.
Many people confuse learning disabilities teachers and teacher assistants. TAs are not teachers. LD teachers are specialized teachers with higher specialization in LD and ESL, although having the skills and knowledge to do both is rare, but districts wanted people who could be surgeons and dermatologists to give them more flexibility. Personally, there are few teachers who can do both ESL and LD work. I think there is a lack of people who can do the diagnostics and then the TAs will come or the LD hours will come. Maybe! Let’s train the LD teachers to give those tests.
Go to Khan Academy on the web for excellent tutorials for most subjects.
Excellent tutor for math, science etc. and for grades 3 and up!!
Best of all it’s free and you can do/watch as many times until you understand.
Love it!! Great resource for parents and kids!!!!
This is the future of education.
Watch Sal Khan on 60 minutes website about the Khan Academy
Computer learning is ok for kids with access. Cheryl.
But the fact is in most crowded schools students get 40 minutes of access to computers only twice a week. Only half my class have access to the internet at home. Only 1/4 have functioning printers. Universal Education must be equitable.
I get that Chris and maybe that’s a big piece of what this plan needs to incorporate is computer access. And maybe that is where staggered schedules will apply ie: 20 computers accommodating 40 students, morning and afternoon shifts if you will. Computers are part of life and we need to get students working on them to be able to compete in the work force. If we put the money into the computers a lot of the problem of the gifted and the challenged can be mitigated of not solved. Hardly comparable but we had the SRA reading lab, a box of color (grade) coded stories on cards and questions that got harder as you went along. If you were doing well in the tests you could go on to the new level while others worked at their pace. Reading through alot of this forum is starts to sound like there is a need for each student to have some sort of personal support, soon there will be more adults than students. We have to change the traditional “classroom” format. I think Cheryl is right on in that we can’t keep hiring people for every possible issue or challenge that comes up. Maybe we need a Sylvan math tutor for the grade sevens who need help, etc, There are very effective resources out there and we need to use them.There is no equitable universal education right now in BC and that is the problem.
I used the SRA program, but my new administrator wanted something more current! SHe was an air-head in some many ways and that was another example of her lack of judgment. The thing is I did what I want. I had autonomy! And, the kids loved it because they could quickly see how well they were doing and how rewarding it was to move ahead. Even my most reading disabled kids loved it, even though the stories looked a little too baby-like (bad design there). This was perfect since I had 6 kids at 6 different reading levels in my class! Many kids really got a whole lot out of it! As you can see folks, teachers do try hard, but there are so many people telling them what to do.
Our support workers are very important. All to often many have little use to the students with academic issues in the class. Our support workers are hired to assist the most at risk students we have in our classrooms. Though they spend little if any time with my IEP students. My support worker has to be in hands length at all times with one of my students. If not, this student would bolt from the class,hurt other students or myself…i can not utilize my support worker to benefit of working with students who have learning issues. Teachers need more support for severe behavior students and that would free up our support workers to work with our students who have academic issues, not behavior issues. This child unfortunetly steals away any educational time from my other students. Thus my students with fetal alcohol, learning disabilities, and slow learners remain waiting for me to assist them.. As for my students with no learning difficulties, who need their teacher’s attention as much as everyone else…well they wait and wait..while i do my best getting around to everyone.
I cannot comprehend the logic of allowing a student like that in the classroom. If their behavior is so severe to consume all the time of a support worker for the safety of others then that student shouldn’t be there. A teaching assistant should not be reduced to the role of a warden, at the expense of other children in need.
Although I find what you’ve said appalling, I’m glad you’ve brought this to everyone’s attention. Perhaps someone with the capacity to change this situation will do so immediately. There is no benefit for taxpayers to fund a support worker’s salary to cater to the needs of one at the expense of many.
What is the social development teacher doing?
I am trying to “Engage in the conversation”, and I agree that this layout is problematic, as is the advertising for this website on the tv commercial. I am a parent, and I support the teachers in their requests for increased pay. The commercial states that teachers think they should get funding for wage increases and then says that the government has better ideas (more or less). How about BOTH? We do need additional funding for creative solutions to meet students changing needs, AND the teachers need a generous wage increase. Further, the commercial says that Pro-D days will be used to ensure that teachers are actually getting more training (as if to suggest they do no professional development, and frolic around on current pro-d days?). When I see the government taking cheap shots at teachers with biased ads I feel sick. We are all products of a system that places teachers in our lives to guide us in our journey towards adult life. They inspire us, they can develop curiosity and passion towards learning and growth. It is rare that anyone goes through life without having been influenced in some significant way by a teacher. Why not send a message that they are VALUED?
The layout of this website does not have a space for me to say that as a parent, I believe our teachers are undervalued, and we depend on them to assist us in rearing our children, so they are an extension of all our families. Teacher’s wages have needed to be addressed and increased for a very long time; they deserve to be able to raise their own families (even in a ingle parent household) without constant financial strain.I have compassion for the teachers, and for their passion to make a difference in the lives of OUR children. I am not alone, the children in my daughter’s high school are passionate about standing with their teachers, other parents in the community are posting their support on Facebook, and opening up discussions in the evenings, my colleagues (in the mental health field) are also like-minded. Where is there space for our perspectives in this “ten question” dialogue? I am posting it here and will be extremely disappointed if it is not put forward!
You might be interested in related discussion here, here and here.
Best practice teaching & learning environments change with grade level. Traditional schoolrooms do not fit with current best practice styles, but we are not going to change every school in the province over night. I hope we have a practical vision of how to build the new ones. In the 70′s our oldest child started in a Washington State elementary that consisted of quads around a central open core. Five spaces allowed teachers and E.A’s to group children by activity and state of learning. It was advanced, but then they screwed it up by funding only by local votes. Nobody wanted to pay taxes for anything, and they regressed to cut-rate education. We got transferred back to Canada just in time!
This is similar to an issue with nurses. You can’t just replace and RN with three much less trained LPN’s. In the same way, you cannot just replace teachers with education assistants and expect the same quality of education you had before. This is jwust another snarky way the government is trying to save money and push out teachers.
I don’t see the parallel there. I have not read anywhere that anyone wants to replace teachers with EA’s, the EA’s are supplemental only, like apprentices. The question as I see it is exactly what the qualifications of those EA’s should be and I think that is fair. There’s a huge difference calling yourself an electrician because haven’t electrocuted yourself or hurt anybody: and calling yourself an electrician becasue you hold your trades qualification ticket and you know what you are doing becasue of your eductaion. I’m sure a lot of people could walk into a classroom and hold their own or even excel as an EA with other unaccredited life experience but it’s not fair to students to check them out at the student’s expense during their school experience. I am concerned as to why this is just being discussed now, how long have EA’s and all the other players been involved and how have they been hired to this point? I am no fan of the current government but I want a government that tries to save money. It is very naive to believe that teachers will be around very much longer in the capacity that they are today. The more technology gets into the classroom students will be able to do self paced studies with a core group of mentors assisting them online. I highly doubt that the school house itself will be a reality in the next 30 years. There simply will be no need. I’m sure this will upset many but I feel some apprehension here that there is too much emotional focus on saving the “teachers” role as it existed yesterday instead of transitioning and redefining it to be viable today and again, going forward. I don’t intend to offend anybody, but what courses can’t you take online today? That’s not going to go away tomorrow. With web cams, iPads and skype why would you build a school?
How is cutting 700 resource and support teachers and replacing them with EAs going to help students with unique learning needs? EAs don’t plan programs, implement them, or evaluate students. They have no preparation time, so this falls onto the teacher overseeing the program. In the last round of cuts, our school had its resource teacher time cut in half. Sure, a variety of EAs work with students all day in their classrooms, but can a single teacher realistically run programs for 42 special needs students spread out into 14 classrooms? This “cost-saving measure” doesn’t make sense. It falls instead on the classroom teachers, who usually have 2-3 students (with diagnoses, mind you, not to mention those awaiting testing) to plan meaningful programs, create new materials, and evaluate these students–all within an overcrowded class with an increasing number of students with these different and complex needs.
We need more psychologists or psychologists or others to train LD teachers to give them (in growing districts). They are not that hard to master.
As the previous person indicated, the reduction of special ed teacher numbers has had a detrimental effect on our public school system — our wonderful system where we welcome all children.
As a support teacher myself, I love my job. I love supporting classroom teachers so that they are better able to help all their students — so that they feel comfortable/ feel capable of supporting all children. And, I love watching children grow and thrive in these environments. I wish I was able to spend more time with the students but there aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the paper work mandated from the ministry and/ or school district in order to justify bringing new resources into our school or reallocating existing resources. These resources include SEAs (as we call them in our district) but are not limited to these, often talented and hard-working people.
Every school, classroom, support teacher vies for the time of the district speech & language pathologist, counselor, ESL teacher, hard-of-hearing teacher, occupational therapist, physical therapist, behaviour team, to name a few.
By vie, I mean more forms to fill out and more anecdotal information to attach (filling out the form no longer is persuasive enough) to plead for the case of a needy child — what in fact I am having to do is make the case of my child so compelling that s/he will receive the assistance/ resource, as opposed to the next child — someone else’s child in another school’ someone else’s child in another classroom.
The support teacher also spends much time on the telephone making arrangements with outside agencies to provide support for the children outside of school, then back to parent, and so on. Some would say that this is the parents’ responsibility. Perhaps it is, but it comes down to a necessity to keep funding in the system coming directly to child. No outside agency involvement + no outside agency meeting with parents and school + no additional paperwork = no funding.
I could go on and on about a support teacher’s job but I won’t. I am merely trying to illustrate how much time we spend advocating for resources as opposed to running reading groups, math groups, social groups, etc.
Now that there are some many fewer special ed/ support/ resource/ learning assistance teachers in the system, the # of special needs students that one of these teachers has on his/ her caseload has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. These numbers coupled with the increase in paperwork demands = less time with kids = less joy in the position. Working directly with these kids is what brings the joy!
I want to clarify something. There are people qualified to be support teachers; we have 2 in our little school of 9 teachers. The rate of support teachers returning to classrooms has seen a real increase in the past decade. There may be a few variables at play for individuals, but for the most part, teachers tell us that they leave because the joy of supporting the special learners has diminished.
Filling out forms and writing grants and writing persuasive essays, leaves little time for helping ministry coded children and at-risk children learn their own reading and writing skills. And, this is not fun.
An SEA, however wonderful, cannot take the place of a support teacher. They haven’t the experience, skills, training to do so. Adding more EAs to the system cannot undo the way in which the system has been undermined. According to the Minister’s comments, the addition of EAs is the prime focus of the “Learning Enhancement Fund.” This is why special ed and classroom teachers are concerned.
Great comment! I think all this ties in with the model of efficiency that the neo-liberals espouse: the more bang for the buck notion. Adding 200 TAs or EAs is more compelling than hiring 100 LST teachers in the ads! IT LOOKS GOOD! No! it looks much better. NOW ELECT ME! On the other hand, we’ve got people with masters degree in education (who have never taught and who will never have to) sitting in a little office dictating what the system should be, re-inventing the wheel, generating more work to substantiate their role, or not dictating at all, I suppose. I am all for change, but increasing efficiency to the degree that it has is ill-advised. In any case, they know what they are doing. They reduce services. They reduce services and wait until people say enough, then they know the breaking point! It is all in their little MBA courses.
I think beginner ESL students should be FIRST tested in their languages to see where they are academically. Second, they should be taught as a group (same language first 1 or 2 weeks) and then for 1 month or so the basic of the language in a larger classroom full of the same kids and THEN integrated, providing with more than 1 hour a day of LST service. Why do I know? I was ONE! At the time, I was put in a normal classroom in high school and expected to “learn” English magically! My parents and I did go to night classes and that helped, but there was nothing, no one who was designed to pick up the pieces in the school, although there were a few teachers who did spend extra time after school to help. It took me years to figure out things. Things are better now, but in some districts it is still the sink-or-swim method! I guess immigrants don’t complain a lot. They cannot!
I agree that the filling of the form jig has gotten ridiculous, but civil servants are used to that! The ones at the top echelon always want to protect their backside. The funny thing is that most of these demands of filling forms are so inefficient it is not funny. Every time we fill a form, we must waste our time filling in addresses. WHY? Can’t the person look it up if they want to? Often the address is on other forms, BTW. Phone numbers? Same thing! Designation, student numbers,… I mean the list goes on! You would think that this info would be readily available. Maybe it is, but a bureaucrat hasn’t had a chance or the willingness to change the system!
And, you are right about support teachers giving up! I quit! The difference about the one-on-one support that I should be providing and “how many kids can you take approach” because the teacher has too many hard cases in his or her classroom made the job less and less compelling. But, hey, it is about efficiency. I guess the neo-liberals will say. Hey, if someone is willing to take that job on (hopefully a less expensive, new teacher), then we have maximized the service.
I for one would love to see parents and children be more accountable. Teachers write report cards, but parents and/or kids do not have to (although the teacher could ask the kids to) follow up with a plan following a report card. Notice that the government NEVER makes any demands on the parents. Do parents understand that they are being manipulated? And, teachers are reluctant in increasing expectations from parents since they c/should be advocating for their kids (and teachers, indirectly). There is a lot of car-selling going on here.
I’m a student and in my experience online learning is lame-sorry. I tried some courses and i only finished one. I felt lonely and without teacher guidance. I missed learning with my friends. And there were no little discussions as we have in class to make things more interesting, you know when the teacher goes on a tangent and it’s different from just book book and workbook.
So yes it didn’t work for me. And I personally don’t know anyone among my friends who liked it.you do it because you must, but it’s not much fun.
Yeah I read that some people say its the future of education but maybe you think that because you’re adults and you can do it(my dad did!)
And just in case you start thinking that I’m a weak unmotivated student and That’s Why I Didn’t Finish, it’s not true, I have only A in my real classes:-)
I like learning a lot.
But online learning frankly it’s too dry. And sorry to tell you but a video doesn’t make it all of a sudden interesting.
If schools had money they should send us abroad more:-)
(I know it’s not going to happen, but it’s nice to dream.)
Keep up the board, it’s interesting. Although adults have no clue sometimes…sorry again!
I think you have offered a first hand account of what online learning looks like for many. I think there is potential in online classes but only with opportunities for interaction with other students, teachers and sophisticated multimedia. Right now, most public school online classes don’t offer this. Moderators, I know the success rates of online course completion have come up before and I know, due to intensive ministry auditing over the last several years, we have the numbers of how many students successfully complete an online class. Can you find and post what percent of school aged students (adult students upgrading are another conversation) successfully complete online courses? If this is where we are moving, we need to know how successful it is and how to improve.
Students in DL courses enrol for a variety of reasons. Learners can enter the course at multiple times over the year and work to complete the course within individualized timelines. DL schools and the Ministry are working on ways to communicate provincial course completion and success rates in ways that consider these differences. In the mean time we encourage you to visit the BC Ministry of Education Reporting on K-12 site and contrast some of the school data from both DL and neighbourhood schools.
It concerns me that we are making decisions about online education without data. I think it is crucial for transparent information on DL attrition rates so we can make informed decisions as a province, educators and parents. If we are going to encourage students to take online classes, we need to know what factors are required for student success. Do we know when this data will be available?
That was interesting, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t do well online, but a huge part of this discussion is the fact that people have different learning styles and capabilities.It might not work for you but it does for many others. If you can stretch your imagination here a bit to the concept, perhaps you can shed some light on why it is that 4 teenagers in the same room, at the same table are texting each other rather than speaking to each other? How is that different from online learning? I’m not sure where videos entered the conversation but why would you use video’s when you can “face to face” voice or video conferencing. In my organization, we don’t have large meetings, we call in from home or the office or Starbucks if that’s where we happen to be and participate without the financial burden of travel and need for a physical space. These conferences create some very passionate discussion and because the conference is moderated, all get to participate, not just the dominant personalities. Also, it’s much harder to bully someone when you can’t find them.
I’m not sure what courses you took online but I haven’t found then dry or lonely because we always have chat session capabilities. Just an FYI “adults” are not a static entity, we are actually diverse thinking individual beings. I think some day students may be sent abroad more, like sending people up north to get jobs, you just won’t be brought back. I’d love to hear your thoughts in about 15 years when 30% of your hard earned pay goes straight to taxes. You’re right, adults don’t have a clue, we have the whole picture. : )
Looking for older comments regarding this question?
Just click the “« Older Comments” link near the top left corner of the first comment on each webpage, or in this case you can simply click here.
Hi Mike,
It’s not so much trouble finding them but just stepping in a couple weeks ago it feels very disjointed to me. Seems there are several threads and some of them are starting to stray way off topic and come across as emotional rants that are not productive or relevant, maybe I missed the good stuff but I would know where to look for it and I won’t be scrolling through 538 comments. Is everything supposed to follow from Nicole K and Kelsey’s questions above? It would be great if it were sectionalized into categories like”private schools’,”teachers assistants”. It seems to be a wondering thread really leading nowhere. probably not the answer you wanted : ).
I believe your comment was in reference to the conversation we were having earlier here. The very fact I had to dig around to find that and then provide you with the link kind of proves your point that this conversation can take many twists and turns and that if you aren’t following it regularly, it can be, well, hard to follow.
We are, I suppose, a “victim of our own success” in that a lot of people are commenting on this site. The challenge, as you’ve pointed out, is that a lot of people are going on tangents while others are commenting on things in new threads that it would be nice to connect in one neat package in one place. This blog platform makes it difficult to do that.
Let me tell you what we are doing, though. Similar to the Snapshots that I was telling you about earlier, we are going through each of the questions in its entirety and trying to synthesize what has been said under key themes with specific examples. On a site of 3500+ comments you can probably imagine how time consuming this is — but so important! Perhaps what we should look at is doing this at regular intervals within each thread while it’s still active (like this one) so people can easily find things, rather than having to scroll through the whole post to find the comments that resonate the most with them. Kind of a here’s what you’ve said so far, keep commenting under these threads approach. We’ll do some more thinking around that to see how it might work. If anyone has any great suggestions, fire away!
It maybe a sign of my age but I’m not attached to my computer or phone so no, a blog is not a useful tool to me. Apparently there were 10 questions when this launched but when I signed I was got the message that one ” is closed”, etc. I don’t think “questions” are the best criteria because that gets the respondent in to an “I agree” , “I disagree” mind set rather than `what about this“. What we have are issues: Class size, certification, etc. I keep seeing acronyms that I don`t understand. I have been caught up in engaging with the tangents and it distracted me from the real issues….seriously, waiting for the `Commonwealth`to `update `the English language is doing what for this situation today. I think at this point we can see the main concerns. The blog(tweet) format is not the most efficient path becasue we are all busy people.
Just like the education system I think this site needs an overhaul. Who`s ten questions are defining tomorrows education here in BC…..
Here are some suggestions that I have already submitted:
1. Bring back page number links.
2. Fix website search function (examples here).
3. Post each summary report in its own forum and turn on commenting.
4. Create new forums as needed, re-open all previously closed forums and turn commenting on, enable users to post AND respond to survey questions.