It was an 8-0 unanimous verdict by the Supreme Court in favor of a special education student who was not given a fair and appropriate education. Too often in the schools we see teachers “dumming down” curriculum because a student has learning challenges. In some cases, the school refuses to provide the support needed to help these students realize their potential. But now the Supreme Court has rendered a historic verdict: “School districts must give students with disabilities the chance to make meaningful, “appropriately ambitious” progress.”
What does “appropriately ambitious” mean?
This means that schools who integrate special ed students into general ed classrooms need to help students achieve grade-level work. They cannot just pass them on to the next grade by making the curriculum less rigorous. The Supreme Court ruling was a case for a student who has autism and ADHD. When he was not making good progress in public school his parents put him into private school where he did much better. The parents then sued the school for cost of tuition, saying that the public school should have provided more rigorous support to help the student improve.
Public schools often keep the bar very low for students in special education. Why this is so could have many reasons, but now this can no longer be the standard. Many students with IEPs and 504s are twice exceptional, which means they have learning challenges but they are also gifted or very bright in some areas. Dumming down curriculum to keep these students moving forward not only does a disservice to the student, but also robs society of people who can make big contributions. I am so thrilled to see the Supreme Court make this ruling. Now our job is to make the schools abide by it.
Read the full article: The Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of A Special Education Student
