From the Muskegon [MI] Chronicle

A change in state law is forcing Michigan school districts to halt their practice of awarding diplomas to students with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

A handful of districts statewide, including Muskegon and Muskegon Heights, had been awarding diplomas to students who had completed an “adaptive curriculum” in the special education program. Those students will now receive a “certificate of completion.”

“It’s telling school boards they can’t do what they’ve been doing,” said Linda Riepma, executive director of secondary education for Muskegon Public Schools.

Some educators have raised concerns about the new state requirements, calling them too rigid and overly focused on academics. Detractors fear the new standards may drive up dropout rates among students who know they can’t make the grade.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A Chicago study has found that high absence rates among students with disabilities are the largest factor explaining the difference in their academic performance when compared with nondisabled peers.

The report, by the Consortium on Chicago School Research, found that students with disabilities missed on average 5 to 11 days more days per semester than students who had not been diagnosed with a disability. It was not clear whether the drop in attendance caused poor performance, or whether low performance caused frustration that prompted students to miss school.

The Chicago Public Schools reports that 70 percent of ninth grade students without identified disabilities go on to graduate. Only 50 percent of students with disabilities graduate; of students diagnosed with emotional disturbances, only 25 percent graduate.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

California’s budget deal includes a provision to overturn a two-year-old policy that requires students with disabilities to pass the state exit exam for graduation. Gov. Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the pact.

State education officials are still sifting through the agreement to figure out how the new policy would apply to the potentially tens of thousands of students with disabilities who were denied their diplomas over the past two years.

Critics of the exam said the new legislation was the right course of action, albeit belated.

The exit exam “has been an unmitigated disaster for thousands of children with disabilities,” said Sid Wolinsky, Disability Rights Advocates’ director of litigation. “They’ve earned (a diploma) by every possible measure except this one-size-fits-all standardized exam.”

Wolinsky’s organization says 16,000 disabled students fail to pass the exit exam each year. Many of them met all other requirements for graduation.

Earlier posts here.

From the Chicago Tribune:

On graduation day this weekend, one Illinois graduate with Down syndrome will part ways with the one-on-one classroom aide who has been by her side for the past 12 years.

Linda Hammer, 53, has served as an instructional aide to Julie Halfen, 19, since the teenager was in first grade. The unique pairing based on mutual respect has helped Halfen to thrive in a regular education program and earn her diploma.

However, some educators discourage such longstanding relationships, fearing an unhealthy dependence could develop.

[Halfen's] relationship with Hammer runs deeper than academics. The two finish each other’s sentences, are bluntly honest with each other and recognize when the other is feeling down.

Excited about media coverage of her graduation, [Halfen] stepped off the school bus and greeted Hammer by saying: “I’m stoked. I’m excited. Hammer! Your outfit. It’s boring.”

(Photo from Chicago Tribune)

From the Chicago Tribune:

For students with disabilities, the prom and graduation at the Blue Cap Instructional Center in Blue Island are bittersweet events.

Once they turn 22, these students will no longer be eligible for public education, and will find few adult services available. Many will end up staying at home all day, and will likely lose the educational gains they worked so hard to achieve.

“Thinking about it puts a cold chill up my spine,” says Carl Wanzung, whose daughter Vianey will age out of the Blue Cap program in a few months. She’s been on a waiting list for adult programming for more than two years. If she doesn’t get in, her parents must decide between hiring a day-time aide on their own or one of them quitting work to care for her.

Preparing for his daughter’s high school graduation, Cincinnati Enquirer sportswriter Paul Daugherty pens a poignant message to parents of all children with disabilities: “Expect. Don’t accept.”

Daugherty says daughter Jillian has “maxed-out her potential”, defying expectations by riding a two-wheeled bike, joining the high school dance team, graduating from high school. Jillian has Down syndrome.

An excerpt:

Don’t allow your hope to be tethered to the perceptions of others. All we’ve done for Jillian is fight for her right to be Jillian. She has done the rest. The proof is Saturday, when the seas part, the world stills and she flips the tassel.

… With Jillian, it’s been a joy, a wonder, a pain, a pleasure, infinite sadness salved by timeless hope. A patience with some, a fight with others, a full-time yearn that, someday, everyone will not simply look at her, but will see her as well.

Maybe beginning today. Graduation Day.

Earlier post here.

From the Arizona Republic:

Kevyn Barton, a student with disabilities in surburban Phoenix, Arizona, will be able to march in the graduation ceremony with his classmates thanks to a decision by his high school principal.

Friends and family have been advocating on Barton’s behalf for months, prompting a change in the school district’s graduation requirements. Until now, students in the Gilbert Public Schools have been barred from graduation ceremonies if they planned to continue receiving special education services after high school. A recent decision by the district’s governing board now allows individual principals to make the decision.

Earlier post here.

(Arizona Republic photo)