What do you think about favoritism in schools?

It is not a competition, and they are not getting paid. It is about education, and if some pupils need more help than others, then that is just how it is. When some kid gets a B, and another a F, does the B really care that the F can have another go? They already passed, so they are where they want to be.

Isn’t this the same discussion, only a slightly different plane, that has been used for decades to giver preferential treatment to blacks, asians, hispanics, and other minorities? That is – they’re somehow disadvantaged and therefore they should have different rules?

Among other things, that’s why the Army and Marines were castigated by the right wing – ‘lowering their standards’ in order to have women and racial minorities in the military.

I understand the issue, believe me, but the Supreme Court has multiple times said that preferences- even if for very good reasons – are somehow ‘woke’ and are discriminatory to others in non-minority groups. So getting special attention for autistic kids is likely to be seen as ‘woke’ and be on the right wing hit list.

@elbanditoroso I wonder if that includes having special facilities and coaches for the privileged few that have unfair athletic abilities.

No one should be getting special treatment in terms of: Things should not be made so easy it puts them at an advantage over other students.

But yes, please take into account neurodivergent students and their needs and allow them equal footing with other kids. No one should have the high ground. Gosh I wish my needs were taken into account. I switched to a “learn your way” charter school and did so much better compared to traditional education. I am very specific in how I need to learn.

I was angry that other students had parents helping out, while I was on my own.

I don’t think of extra test time for a special needs child as “favoritism.”

If a child has a different learning style and doesn’t get extra help, fails out of school, and can’t support his or herself, how is that helpful to the child or to society?

Autistic students don’t get relaxed rules. They can’t hit other people, throw food on the floor, or run out of the room without facing consequences. What they get are accommodations. And they aren’t the only ones. There are so many students who have accommodations based on their specific needs. Autistic kids are just more prominent because their needs are often greater and their accommodations more obvious.

And I have no idea why you are bringing private tutoring into this discussion. That’s something that parents arrange and pay for. Why should a single parent paying for their child to receive tutoring suddenly mean that my school has to draw from its carefully planned budget to give tutoring to every single other student in the school?

Maybe you meant in-school tutoring (aka supplemental instruction)? That’s a lot different, but it’s also distributed by need. Why would you have us waste a reading specialist’s time going over Dick and Jane with someone who’s already reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or ask a math specialist to teach subtraction to someone that’s already well into long division? That just fundamentally misunderstands the role of specialists.

As for test retakes, the best research we have suggests that they should be allowed only within certain ranges. Everyone within that range should be allowed to retake. Everyone outside of it cannot. It’s a rule that applies to everyone.

I agree, I wouldn’t call that favoritism. This depends on the particular schools resources. Schools are a challenge because there’s simply so many kids and not enough space, resources, and time in the day.

It’s a chaotic situation all around. I’m saying this as a troubled kid, too.

I did well on everything except math, and had to go to a separate period (class) where they taught us slower and I eventually got it.

Do you have a specific case in mind?
Schools working with Autistic children is not about relaxing rules. First they need to be assessed or have a diagnosis.
All students, Autistic or not, can be assessed and get an IEP.
The Individualized Education Program (IEP) process involves identifying a child’s needs, evaluating eligibility, developing an IEP, and providing services. The IEP is a plan that outlines a student’s goals and the support they need to achieve them.

Don’t mistake treating everyone fairly with treating everyone the same.

I am on the board of directors of an autism learning center. It’s a center for independent living for neurodivergent people where we support about 50 residents. All of them need special help in different ways, but we get them out of their parents house and living independently.

The mandate of schools is to educate children, not just children who get it on the first try, in the traditional fashion, but all children.

Special kids should get special treatment. That’s not favoritism. That’s common sense.

When I was in 4th grade my teacher (Mrs. Buttler) informed me that she has heard all about me and she will not put up with any of my nonsense. She made me and one other kid (I was white and the other kid was brown) report to school ½ hour early each day to learn how to read. I started reading very rapidly.

Pretty sure that no one thought that I was given preferable treatment or favoritism.

@Yarnlady what is your opinion?

I don’t believe in the “one size fits all” mentality, but schools don’t have the funds to provide personalized education. I have tried regular schools from time to time with my sons and grandsons but I homeschooled them most of the time, with the help of outreach and charter schools.

@YARNLADY What is your actual objection here? First, you framed the issue in terms of favoritism. Now you’re talking about it in terms of funding. Those are very different. I also think that we have to ask what you mean by personalized education. Not all instruction is done through whole group activities. A lot is done in small groups that are determined by both needs and abilities.

At the beginning of every quarter, my co-teacher and I assess where each of our students is relative to the goals and expectations of their grade level. We then plan how we are going to get each student to where they ought to be (or in the case of an advanced student, how to extend their education beyond where they are without overwhelming them).

This means that every single one of our students has their own education plan, regardless of whether or not they receive accommodations. Is this personalized education? I would say that it is, even if they aren’t all getting their own personal teacher. Should we get paid more for what we do? Probably. But I don’t think that’s what you meant when you said “schools don’t have the funds to provide personalized education.”

I remember about ten years ago, New York state came out with a new plan that every child was going to have to pass the Regents tests and every child who graduates high school would do so with a Regents diploma. When I was in high school, many moons ago, the studious kids got a Regents diploma and everyone else got a regular diploma.

It was very ambitious for the state to come out with their new plan ten years ago about every child getting a Regents diploma now. I attended a meeting about it at the school. A mom raisaed her hand and said her child is special needs, and attends school every day, but her child is never going to pass a Regents test. Does this mean that her child will not get a high school diploma? The school administrators were like “ummmmmmm. We’ll get back to you on that.” Shortsighted, at best. Well meaning but very short sighted.

Long story short, the Regents diploma plan was scrapped.

It’s beneficial for society for every child to receive a personalized education. It’s beneficial for society for every child to be educated by the school system. At the very least, this is what people pay their school taxes for.

When my daughter was in elementary school, she needed reading help. There was a teacher at school who was a very sweet, gentle matronly woman, who was the reading teacher. Once or twice a week, my daughter would go with maybe one or two other children, to this woman’s room and get reading help. @YARNLADY under your ideas, would this type of help be eliminated?

Keep in mind that not every parent has the time or the funds to provide personalized tutoring on their own.

The call to fairness the OP implies assumes that education is merely about ranking student achievement. Teachers can and do make accommodations for students all the time, and not just for those who have IEPs or 504 plans. Think of it like a garden. Some plants need more or less water, more or less sun. Some might thrive on a trellis. Some won’t bear fruit if the season is too short. If you want to even the field for kids, support government-subsidized housing, child care and early childhood education.

As far as the diplomas, I don’t think kids who can’t pass the requirements should get the same diploma. I’m fine with having some sort of diploma or certificate that they can be proud of, but not the same diploma. Higher education needs to be able to assess they didn’t reach a minimum standard.

I think we need to be careful about making requirements too difficult though. Probably most people feel we should increase the requirements, but I think a high school diploma should be very basic standards, and of course offer accelerated programs as well and everything in between.

I think all elementary schools should provide extra help to young students who need more attention or time to learn. I don’t want too many assumptions made about very young kids and then track them so they get locked into one level or another. Ideally, not just elementary, but also secondary schools would have extra help available.

When I was in high school I took a child development class and for part of the semester I helped at the elementary school. I didn’t have any special training, but all of my students improved. I worked with kids who were below level or their English (as a second language) was poor and they needed time to improve their language skills. Just the one on one or small group getting attention from me helped them. In my opinion this would be a great opportunity for retired people to help if schools organized it well.

I think high schools should offer study hall to give kids time and help to finish homework.

Help like what @jca2 mentioned I fully support; basically teachers and health professionals who help with some very specific needs that a child is most likely going to overcome. My sister was taken out of class for speech help when she was very young. I think it was a wonderful service provided by the school system. My sister was normal otherwise and you would never know she had a slight speech impediment as a young girl. I don’t even remember it at all, and I was old enough to remember. I was 7 years old when she was in kindergarten and I think it went on through first grade for her.

Children who have severe disabilities that would slow the class down and who will never be beyond a 5th grade level I have a problem with them being mainstreamed, but giving a student more time for a test doesn’t necessarily slow the class down, so I’m completely ok with it.

I had a friend who taught 7th grade math for year. She had retired from the corporate world and wanted to teach. The school was a large public school, mostly middle class students. The 7th grade only taught one math class to all students. If you were below level or should have been in an accelerated class, too bad. That’s ridiculous and almost incompetent to me.

Another thing I was just reminded of, when my daughter was in pre-K, she got speech therapy, and that was paid for by Early Intervention, which is ages 0 to 3, and then when she aged out of that, it is supposed to be paid for by the school system, so you’re at the mercy of the school district. The school district said she was not eligible for it to be paid for by them, because she had no other learning difficulties, so she didn’t qualify for speech. They said in this meeting, when I asked what can I do, “you can pay for it privately.” I was thinking, as I sat there calmly and diplomatically, I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to pay privately when I’m in one of the most affluent districts in the state. So I told the lady I was going to request a hearing. She told me she didn’t even know the process to request a hearing, because nobody had ever requested one before. Yeah, that’s because it’s one of the most affluent districts in the state, so the moms just pay for things like that and don’t bat an eyelash. By the time I was near my job, because I had to go back to work, so maybe 40 minutes later, the lady called me and said they were going to pay for it. She sounded relieved. I was happy. It pays to ask for a hearing when it’s anything to do with the government. @YARNLADY if my daughter didn’t get speech therapy, it would likely result in her getting made fun of by other kids for the way she talked, which then results in a whole host of other problems (for example low self esteem). See how these problems escalate?