Black Education / Schools : Louisiana Schools Teaching Black Males They Are Retarded

[cherryblossom]

@Cherryblossom
Yeah its the same in the UK, though not many schools have programs for the gifted kids over here...
Here there's a distinction between SEN, special educational needs and special schools...
SEN is for kids who are basically of normal intelligence, but who for some reason are falling behind, like kids with dyslexia and so on...
Special schools are for kids who are below normal intelligence, like kids with mental disabilities...
For the SEN kids there's no real stigma outside of school as you go to the same school as everyone else...
But of course inside school where everyone knows who's SEN and who's not you get all sorts of 'pleasant' terms...
Retard, Spaz etc etc...
So you wouldn't want to expose the kid to all that unless it was necessary, cause even if he does need help and makes progress, that will still affect him in some way for a long time in the future.

There is a similar technique in the U.S.....It's called "Mainstreaming." ---The child goes to regular classes with all the other children but many have a "504 Plan" or an "IEP" for the teacher to use with lesson plans, to "modify" instruction for that particular child, in a particular way, that will help/aid that child's academic performance.

And sometimes, that child may also go to a separate classroom for "extra help" outside of their "regular classes."

 

[StefiA]

@Cherryblossom
yeah - sounds pretty much the same - here if you were SEN you'd go to some regular classes like history, science and so on, but the teachers all had instructions on how to help you out - like with some kids everything had to be on blue paper so the letters didn't jump around or you were allowed to do everything on a laptop rather than attempting to write with a pen, or there was an extra assistant there who helped you through the questions. Then for lots of other lessons you'd go off to a part of the school which had classrooms just for SEN where'd you'd have lessons with like 1, 2 or 3 of you per teacher - that would be for all sorts of stuff like maths, english, keyboard skills, co-ordination skills, handwriting and reading lessons etc etc. Then come exam time you'd take your exams seperately - and some of us had a person who would read you the questions off the paper then you'd tell them the answers and they'd write that on the paper for you. Sounds like maybe the UK system copied a lot off the US one.

 

[cherryblossom]

@Cherryblossom
yeah - sounds pretty much the same - here if you were SEN you'd go to some regular classes like history, science and so on, but the teachers all had instructions on how to help you out - like with some kids everything had to be on blue paper so the letters didn't jump around or you were allowed to do everything on a laptop rather than attempting to write with a pen, or there was an extra assistant there who helped you through the questions. Then for lots of other lessons you'd go off to a part of the school which had classrooms just for SEN where'd you'd have lessons with like 1, 2 or 3 of you per teacher - that would be for all sorts of stuff like maths, english, keyboard skills, co-ordination skills, handwriting and reading lessons etc etc. Then come exam time you'd take your exams seperately - and some of us had a person who would read you the questions off the paper then you'd tell them the answers and they'd write that on the paper for you. Sounds like maybe the UK system copied a lot off the US one.

Yep....Those are very similar/same "Modifications" used in the U.S.

But, this little boy Hyperkill spoke about MAY be "Special Needs" and he may NOT.

It is historically true that the White-controlled educational systems in the U.S. have consistently tried to place as many Black children as possible in "Special Ed." ---(Also, many "learning disabilities" were not identified back then and many children were labeled "Retarded" when they were not.)

So, Hyperkill does have a point and a base.

I just believe ALL avenues should be explored before we say that "all" or "MOST" Black children in "Special Ed" don't need to be there.

If they truly NEED those aids/modifications, then they NEED to be in "Special Ed" or be "504."

But nothing beats a child being "mis-labeled" more than a PARENT who is INVOLVED and INVESTED in their child's education.

 

[HyperKill]

I guess what bothers me is the qouta grants they get and the fact that some educators are so switched in an out that many kids dont get schooled by the same teacher all year and don't care too much rather or not if their students learn. I believe black kids learn differently. Lousiana has one of the lowwest graduation rates inthe country. 39% for black male students and as low as 28% in some parishes. These boys are gonna be ripe for the prison system and open to very little oppurtunity in the future.- it similar to what the dad on the old movie The Ditch Digger's Daughters" talked about some schools where the teachers actually care if the kid learns or not

 

[cherryblossom]

I guess what bothers me is the qouta grants they get and the fact that some educators are so switched in an out that many kids dont get schooled by the same teacher all year and don't care too much rather or not if their students learn. I believe black kids learn differently. Lousiana has one of the lowwest graduation rates inthe country. 39% for black male students and as low as 28% in some parishes. These boys are gonna be ripe for the prison system and open to very little oppurtunity in the future.- it similar to what the dad on the old movie The Ditch Digger's Daughters" talked about some schools where the teachers actually care if the kid learns or not

Wait a minute....What do the "quota grants" have to do with the teachers being "switched out?"