Post by bobotron3000 on Aug 30, 2014 9:04:10 GMT -5
I just got a text from my friend that they took in their neighbor boy bc he was being mistreated by his grandma (don't know all the details on that part yet). He is 19 and just graduated. She thought they would give him a place to live for the time being and help him get his drivers license and a job. But as she's helping him fill out applications, she discovers that he can only read and write at an elementary school level! She is as at a loss as to what to do now bc he at this point in time he can't pass the written portion of the test to even get his temps. So, I'm looking for advice, programs/materials/classes to help get him up to speed on his reading and writing. And until then, what kind of jobs should they be looking for for him that he could get without having to read and write right now?
I'm so mad that the school obvsiouly just kept passing him along even though he obviously needed help! Totally just set this kid up for failure.
Post by bobotron3000 on Aug 30, 2014 9:25:06 GMT -5
Thanks! I will look into those. I don't know the whole story behind the situation yet, but I do know that he has kind of grown up with them over the years and they've taken him in before. I just wanted to present some options to her bc she's pretty frustrated right now.
Post by W.T.Faulkner on Aug 30, 2014 9:50:46 GMT -5
Look up adult literacy programs in your area, like other people said.
As for the school just "passing him along," do you know what happens when a teacher says, "Hey, parent, I noticed your kid is behind, and we'd like to evaluate him to see if he qualifies for special education services" and the parent says, "No, we're good?"
I didn't say it was all the schools fault. He obviously did not get help at home either. I find it hard to believe that he could legitimately pass his classes if he can only read and write at an elementary level. Thanks for the helpful comment.
I always wondered about this...can a school forceably keep a child back? I never understood if the parents had to agree or not.
The rule at schools where I've worked is that if a kid fails 1 or 2 classes, they go to summer school, but if they fail 3 classes, they repeat a grade, regardless of parent input.
This is high school, though, and urban high schools at that, where most kids come in a year or two behind anyway.
Look up adult literacy programs in your area, like other people said.
As for the school just "passing him along," do you know what happens when a teacher says, "Hey, parent, I noticed your kid is behind, and we'd like to evaluate him to see if he qualifies for special education services" and the parent says, "No, we're good?"
Nothing. Fucking nothing happens.
And I'm sure that is what happened with this kid - it doesn't sound like his grandma wanted much to do with him or cared about him at all. So do they not fail kids or hold them back or whatever now? Do kids that are struggling just keep getting passed through until they graduate? I'm genuinely curious how this works.
I have several friends who are awesome teachers and I know what kinds of obstacles they face so I'm not blaming them - just having a hard time understanding how it happens.
Look up adult literacy programs in your area, like other people said.
As for the school just "passing him along," do you know what happens when a teacher says, "Hey, parent, I noticed your kid is behind, and we'd like to evaluate him to see if he qualifies for special education services" and the parent says, "No, we're good?"
Nothing. Fucking nothing happens.
And I'm sure that is what happened with this kid - it doesn't sound like his grandma wanted much to do with him or cared about him at all. So do they not fail kids or hold them back or whatever now? Do kids that are struggling just keep getting passed through until they graduate? I'm genuinely curious how this works.
I have several friends who are awesome teachers and I know what kinds of obstacles they face so I'm not blaming them - just having a hard time understanding how it happens.
Sometimes a bright kid with an LD (like dyslexia) can fake their way through with multiple choice tests being the norm if you work hard enough and memorize the key words it's not that hard to guess your way through a test and pass even if barely. Add in an uninterested/uninvolved guardian and yep it can happen. they should check out adult literacy programs and go from there.
Look up adult literacy programs in your area, like other people said.
As for the school just "passing him along," do you know what happens when a teacher says, "Hey, parent, I noticed your kid is behind, and we'd like to evaluate him to see if he qualifies for special education services" and the parent says, "No, we're good?"
Nothing. Fucking nothing happens.
And I'm sure that is what happened with this kid - it doesn't sound like his grandma wanted much to do with him or cared about him at all. So do they not fail kids or hold them back or whatever now? Do kids that are struggling just keep getting passed through until they graduate? I'm genuinely curious how this works.
I have several friends who are awesome teachers and I know what kinds of obstacles they face so I'm not blaming them - just having a hard time understanding how it happens.
It is absolutely hard to believe that kids can graduate with limited literacy skills, but it does happen all the time.
Like I said in above posts, schools do hold kids back. The problem is that, especially with high school kids, that strategy often does more harm than it does good.
It's REALLY hard to catch up to grade level with reading and writing by a certain point. By 4th grade, most kids are "reading to learn" rather than learning to read, and it's often then that struggling readers will find themselves falling further behind.
Kids have the capability in amazing classrooms to grow two years' worth of reading levels in one year. But if you were on a 4th grade level by the time you reached 10th grade, and now you're on a 6th grade level in 11th grade, you're still really behind, regardless of how hard you worked and the progress you made. And who wants to fail a kid who grew two years' worth in one year?
Post by bobotron3000 on Aug 30, 2014 10:13:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the info whatthefaulkner and to everyone else for helping me gain a better understanding and for the great info. I will direct them to an adult literacy program - there are many in our area. I'm currently mentoring a 9 year old boy through the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and he's really behind on his literacy skills so this is definitely a push for me to work with him to get caught up so he doesn't end up in this same situation down the road.
Also, I don't know how involved or how much help they are willing to give him. If they have a Community College in the area, he should get some sort of financial aid and they might have reading classes that will be at a level to help him. If school isn't his goal they should have some sort of trade classes he could look at. This might help him out to the point he will have a solid foundation for his future.
Post by Monica Geller on Aug 30, 2014 11:08:32 GMT -5
In my state, at the MS level, we can make the recommendation for repeating a grade, but parents get final say. No matter if the kid has failed one class or all, no matter what their attendance rate was, we can only recommend. Their records will say "placed" in grade X instead of "promoted" and that's how we know if it was recommended to be retained.
I know there's a lot of controversy over the effectiveness of retention. I just don't think its fair to blame the school 100%.
In my state, at the MS level, we can make the recommendation for repeating a grade, but parents get final say. No matter if the kid has failed one class or all, no matter what their attendance rate was, we can only recommend. Their records will say "placed" in grade X instead of "promoted" and that's how we know if it was recommended to be retained.
I know there's a lot of controversy over the effectiveness of retention. I just don't think its fair to blame the school 100%.
This whole conversation has been so eye-opening for me. I had no idea parents had the final say. I was a youth services librarian up until a couple months ago and I definitely saw the difference it made with kids who had involved parents vs. kids that were on their own. I agree that the school isn't entirely at fault; I was just shocked that a kid could graduate being that far behind. I also worked as a career counselor in a program that prepped adults to take the GED so I've seen what kind of hurdles people face when they aren't 100% equipped for the working world. It's a long, uphill battle for them. I really want this kid to have a chance.
Look up adult literacy programs in your area, like other people said.
As for the school just "passing him along," do you know what happens when a teacher says, "Hey, parent, I noticed your kid is behind, and we'd like to evaluate him to see if he qualifies for special education services" and the parent says, "No, we're good?"
Nothing. Fucking nothing happens.
Yes!!! So much this! I have a new student who the school has been trying to test and place in SpEd but his Grandma won't sign the papers (or return contact from the school.) So now he is in my 5th grade class and can't even read at the Kinder level. I am not "allowed" to do any type of curriculum/instructional modifications for him since he is not getting any services. Services the school wants to provide to help him but his family will not allow. So this kid loses. It infuriates me.
Sure you can. If they say anything about it, you're legitimately differentiating instruction.