Some Kids Need MORE

Are you a parent? Can you say that you always provide equally for all of your children? Is that even your goal? Or is your goal to provide them each with what they need and hope that in the end you've been fair and given them the tools to succeed?

Why does school have to be different?

Over and over again, we fight the assumption that providing academic and social-emotional supports for students who are struggling the most means that they somehow will receive an unequal - hence, unfair and somehow lesser - education...

When we talk about struggling students, we are speaking of students who spend more time in ISS, out-of-school suspension, wandering the halls or who are not participating in their education in an academically meaningful way.

We do not mean...

Students with IEPs whose behavior results from their disability

Students who are below grade level

Students who occasionally misbehave

The students we are speaking of are those who - for all intents and purposes - are not receiving an education now.

This needs to change!

We want ALL STUDENTS to have an education!

We want to level the playing field for ALL STUDENTS!

We want ALL STUDENTS to have an equal shot in life, not just in school!

So, some kids may need extra support to get to that point. In a perfect world, those supports would be delivered in traditional school settings, with as little disruption as possible to the student receiving the supports. There may be times when it is not possible to stay in the traditional setting - either because supports cannot be delivered there or because that may not be the best setting for the individual student. So... even in those situations, the goal is always to bring the students back into the traditional classroom as quickly as possible.

Is it equal? Maybe not. But unequal doesn't have to mean less... Some kids need MORE. And if we refuse to consider that point, we will continue to give them less. All in the name of being equal...