EQUITY

When I moved up to third grade for two years, I had an epiphany when I had to complete an end-of-year report for my principal.  We had to put a check by every student who had ever been retained in a previous grade.  As I looked over the list of those students who had been retained in first or second grade, I noted that almost all of them were now either considered as having Special Needs, Dyslexia, or in the RTI process for Special Needs or Dyslexia testing.  Now that I am back in first grade, that really makes me think.

I have been Special Ed. Certified for many years, and last year received Dyslexia Identification training.  I currently have several students who are failing.  Before I think about retention, I have been working very hard to find their strengths and weaknesses.  I strongly feel that if you give a child the help they need when they are in the primary grades, they may not need help when they are older.  I believe that was the original intention of RTI/ Response to Intervention.  So I work very hard to find out what my students need to be successful, and try to get them the necessary support.

 Most of us have seen this meme on Equality vs Equity.  In Education, it's obvious that some children need more support than others.  It requires a great deal of extra work on the teacher to provide that equity.  Teachers have to stand up and be vocal about getting support for students who are struggling.

This week while I was working on this very thing, someone thanked me for working hard for a student.  I was a bit surprised by that.  After all, it's my job!  I made a joke about not wanting the next year's teacher to be upset with me for sending ahead students who weren't ready for Second Grade.  But once I thought about it, I realized that not all teachers work so hard for their students.  It should be such an easy process, but it's a long and hard road.  While I can't fix the process, I will continue to work through it, stay on course, and keep an eye out for the best interest of my students.  Every single one of them deserves the best education possible.