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Differences, Not Disabilities April 27, 2017 | Volume 12 | Issue 16 Table of Contents
High Expectations, All Students, No Exceptions
Carrie Lupoli
Before becoming an education consultant, I spent my first 17 years in the field teaching special education. Whenever I shared that I taught students who were disabled, special, exceptional, or different, the reaction I got from well-intentioned people was consistently the same. "Oh," they would always say, with a sad pout or empathetic frown, followed by, "Poor things."
It's true that children with disabilities have unique challenges, making their lives and those of their family members potentially more difficult. Their days can be full of medical and therapy appointments, diagnoses and prognoses, medicines and supplements, evaluations and assessments. It's easy to feel sorry for these children when you see them struggle. As a teacher, it can be difficult to hold a student with challenges accountable for learning progress when you just want to shrug your shoulders and say, "Let's just try again tomorrow." Seeking to be supportive, teachers can subconsciously lower expectations for these students, which can encourage poor behavior or reinforce manipulative behavior. Worst of all, it risks sending the message to the student, "I just don't think you can do it." Even the brightest, typically developing student would fail in such a classroom environment.
To truly have a classroom where children of all abilities thrive, our beliefs and actions make all the difference. Here are some of the ways I coach teachers to be more intentional about their language and practices, so that all students are held to high expectations—no exceptions:
As an educator who visits schools across the United States all year long, I know that the demands on today's teachers are extraordinary. These strategies can not only help teachers manage their classrooms but also allow them to truly change their beliefs about what is possible for all students.
Carrie Lupoli is a CT3 (The Center for Transformative Teacher Training) associate and an experienced special educator in urban districts. She founded and was principal of a school for children with special needs in Singapore and later founded and served as executive director of Live and Learn, the largest educational consulting firm in Singapore. Lupoli also served as the official spokesperson and child development expert for Mattel Fisher-Price. She holds a Master's degree in special education and a Master's degree in educational administration, both from the University of Connecticut.
ASCD Express, Vol. 12, No. 16. Copyright 2017 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.
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