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Educators urge earlier intervention and diploma parity for students with disabilities
Summary
Two Brockton educators told the school committee that students are arriving in middle school without basic decoding and numeracy skills and urged the district to expand early intervention and to ensure students completing alternative portfolios receive full diplomas rather than certificates of attainment.
At the start of the Aug. 4 meeting, Dr. Jennifer Owen, a middle-school special-education and math teacher, told the committee she was seeing students who "lacked prerequisite decoding literacy and numeracy skills" and who struggled to access grade-level curriculum without additional supports.
"I am respectfully asking the committee to examine the district's policy regarding intervention, promotion, and retention, so we can ensure that students receive the support they need during the years when learning is most critical," Owen said, urging targeted interventions, smaller classes and additional instructional time rather than blanket retention.
Peter Vuano, a longtime Brockton special-education teacher, asked the committee to address how the district treats students who complete alternative assessment portfolios. He told the committee that in the early 2000s students who completed such portfolios received "a certificate of attainment" rather than a diploma, which he said stigmatized graduates and denied them parity with peers.
Vuano asked the committee to consider a resolution to award a bona fide diploma to any special-needs student who completes an approved alternative portfolio. "I think what we have now holds this self esteem back," he said, adding that the change would help normalize students' outcomes and avoid a label that can limit opportunities.
The committee did not take immediate action on either request at the meeting; both items are the kind of policy matters the committee said it expects to address during the coming school-year discussions and budget planning.
