Belfield,+Cynthia+Modified+Diploma

 Hi, my name is Cynthia! I’m a returning student in the one year MAT program. In June of 2010, I received my bachelor’s degree in mathematics at SOU. I took several years to complete my undergrad courses, about 8 years in fact! My higher education career began at Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, Oregon. At the time, I was driving school bus and I had two younger children at home (I returned to school when my youngest entered school full-time); thus, I went to school part time.

 When I started college, I had thought I had wanted to be an early-childhood education teacher, but it wasn’t long that I changed my mind. About a year into college, I had an awesome math instructor, and the hard work I put into algebra started to pay off-it started coming easy for me! Over time, I fell in love with mathematics: the logic of it, the real-world applications of it, the everything! Five years after starting SOCC I received my AAOT, with honors and Phi Theta Kappa. My degree gave me an awesome feeling of accomplishment because I had not graduated from high school. I knew that I wanted to attend SOU, but I took a year off from school and continued driving school bus. A year later, I transferred my job and began attending SOU.

 It took me three years to obtain my bachelor’s degree and I went through many challenges in the process, both educationally and personally. My first year at SOU I began having serious problems with my teenage daughter. This was a period in my life that I found school most difficult! It was not one subject area or another, it was everything. Math is difficult and challenging at times, but perseverance brings me through. When things got real bad with my daughter, it was like someone slipped the rug out from under my feet and it was hell! Looking back, I’m still not sure how I made it through (my daughter either). I think this experience will help me connect to a variety of students; not only students with learning differences, but students with different life experiences, and in a variety of ways. I’m a very empathetic person, and I believe that having gone through some difficult times in my life will allow me to better “put myself in their shoes.” From my inclusion strategies course, I hope to gain some knowledge of the resources available to help children and their families. Additionally, I hope to begin gathering tools to better provide instruction to students with learning disabilities. One of my biggest fears as a teacher is the challenges that I may face as I try to meet the needs of all my students, and I hope this class will enable me to reach those that I may not have otherwise.

I've created this Wiki for my Inclusion Strategies class, and the topic I have chosen for this class is "modified diploma." I have many reasons for choosing this topic and I believe that finding out more information will benefit both myself and my peers. Thus, stay tuned during the next several weeks as I begin my journey into exactly what a modified diploma is, who qualifies for a modified diploma, and what its implications are. Currently, my understanding of the modified diploma is that students with such a diploma cannot attend University straight out of high school; however, I believe that not all high school students may attend University straight out of high school (modified diploma or not).

1. There is not nearly enough information on modified diplomas (or other alternative diplomas) to inform a common audience, such as parents and guardians of children with special needs.
 * __The Top Five Things I've Learned__**

2. That Oregon modified diplomas have been issued since before 2008 (although I'm not exactly sure when), and that some schools have abused this issuance in order to boost graduation rates. Rules and regulations have since been written to ensure that schools do the right thing by their students.

3. Students with Oregon modified diplomas are not admitted to four-year colleges and univerities.

4. Students with modified diplomas may attend community college, and obtain an associates degree (at which time they may then attend university).

5. Students with a modified diploma may or may not be able to join the U.S. military; this is dependent on several factors: military need and ability to pass (their) ability tests.

6. While this is kind of related to numbers 4 and 5, I felt it was important to add that students with modified diplomas may or may not be eligible for federal financial aid; I think these are "kinks" that are still being worked out.

__**#1**__ I would rate this resource a 5/5 because it is very informative. This document spells out requirements for an Oregon Diploma, a Modified Diploma, and an Extended Diploma. Additionally, this document informs us of the (possible) limitations of each diploma; for instance whether or not a person with a modified diploma can enter into a four-year college or university.

__**#2**__ I rate the following resource a 4/5 because it informs the reader, in more detail, the requirements of a modified diploma; however, this information is not specific to Oregon but to West Virginia. I do believe that Oregon uses the same qualifications, though, when determining if a student is eligible for a modified diploma. When a student reaches the high school age, the IEP team begins looking not only at annual educational goals, but post-high school goals as well when determining which diploma is attainable for the student. A student who is tested using the alternative testing is not eligible to receive a regular diploma, however minor accommodations for the student, such as reteaching, co-teaching, or differentiated instruction may bring the student to the level needed to pass state tests. This document spells out three questions that an IEP team must carefully consider when determining the type of diploma.

__**#3**__ This resource I give a rating of 4/5. This is important information for teachers and students to know when considering a modified diploma for their child/student. A student with an Oregon modified diploma does not meet the high school requirement for Federal student aid eligibility. In order to be found eligible for Federal financial aid, a student with a modified diploma must pass "an independently administered ability-to-benefit test approved by the Department of Education." Examples of such tests are given in this document.

__**#4**__ I give this resource a big 5/5 because the article uses a personal story to talk about the Oregon modified diploma and its possible setbacks to students. It is a very informative article that also give statistics on the number of graduates with a modified diploma (in 2010) as well as the number of those students who had disabilities (not all did). I highly recommend this article!! @http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/More-students-opt-for-Ore-modified-diploma-system-2241439.php?cmpid=emailarticle&cmpid=emailarticle

__**#5**__ This is a wonderful resource, however I give it only a 3/5 because it doesn't really hit the mark as far as my topic of modified diplomas go. The link below brings you to an OPB forum. The forum was opened April 7, 2009 following a "Think Out Loud" program about life after special education. A survey was done by Jackie Burr about what Oregon special education students were doing post-high-school; if students were "actively engaged" in the community. Actively engaged meant either employed in the competitive employment market, or attending college. In this study, it was found that about 72.8% of students coming out of special education programs were actively engaged in their communities; however, success varied widely across the state. For those interested, at the top of the website is an icon to listen to the broadcasting. Forum

__**#6**__ I rate the following resource a 4/5. The following document provides NEA recommendations to states as far as alternative routes to graduating from high school. It is reported that, in 2005-2006, approximately one-quarter of students with disabilities drop out of school and about 15% exited school with a "certificate of attendance," and that this percentage is an increase from 1995-1996. Due to the increasing rates, NEA has made a number of recommendations for alternatives; however the consequences of these alternatives (both positive and negative) are still unclear. It is further recommended that schools (districts) track students who take alternative routes to graduate in order to determine the consequences.

__**#7**__ This document is a modified diploma "agreement." I give this resource a 4/5 and I included it because it's important to understand that the decision of tracking a student to graduate with a modified diploma is one that is made with the IEP team; it is not one that any individual can make. Additionally, a student cannot obtain a modified diploma without an agreement such as the one in this document. I was surprised I found this in my search because of the legalities behind this document.

__**#8**__ I would rate the following resource a 5/5. It is a mother telling a story about her son with autism; her hopes and dreams for him, and the reality of having to let her child make his own choices. She has dreams of being the proud mama watching her son graduate from high school; however, her son comes to her a couple years into high school and tells her that he thinks he needs to get a modified diploma. The mother has a harder time with the decision for a modified diploma than her child; however her dreams are just a little modified too: she will get to see her son walk for graduation and participate in the wonderful ceremony. What a beautiful, but sad story

__**#9**__ I rate the following resource a 4/5. This resource is an article that reports Portland schools abusing the Oregon modified diplomas in order to boost their graduation numbers. I found out that students who do not meet all the requirements for graduation (or fail to pass the state tests) and who are not on track for a modified diploma are basically booted out of school and considered "drop-outs." While I think this is really sad to do to our kids, I believe it is equally sad to abuse the system just to make the numbers look better (or should I say "not so bad."). This article is an interesting read; it was written in 2008 before (current) rules regarding modified diplomas were put into place. Oregonian article

IEP Meeting 1/28/12

 In attendance at the IEP meeting I observed was the student’s mother and father, the Special Education teacher and a general education (Language Arts) teacher. This meeting was both an annual review where goals and objectives are looked at, as well as a three year evaluation to determine if the student continues to be eligible. The Special Education teacher (LS) ran the meeting and had all the paperwork that was needed for review and to determine eligibility to continue services. Before starting the formal meeting, LS had the mother and father sign a form allowing the school nurse to talk to the student’s doctor. This is an eighth grade student and has been receiving services since the third grade.  The main concern about this student is his high absentee rate. So far this year, the student has been absent a third of the school year. The possible reasons were talked about; there is no doubt that student feels ill when he says he feels ill. However, father stated that student will not respond when he tries to wake student up for school (mother is at work). The mother wonders if this lack of response to father is in part due to stress between father and student. Student is symptomatic in the morning and reported ongoing allergies are a concern. The doctor has done blood-work on the student and reports that no chronic illness was found. School nurse will now be in contact with the doctor.  Background on the student was reviewed. In the background was a previous intellectual/cognitive test; it was last taken in 2006 and usually does not change. Additionally, the background included the file review, school psychology report, classroom observations, WISC-IV (Intel. test), OAKS scores, EasyCBM results, and (last year)STAR assessments. It was found, during classroom observations that the student understands concepts and can help other students). Benchmark for OAKS has not been met since the 3rd grade. It is also reported in the speech assessment (language development) that the student was determined to be average on listening, low on spoken word, and borderline low on organizing and syntax.  Overall, this student is a bright student. The student does nice work when he does it. He is resilient, tenacious, and seems to enjoy school when he’s in attendance. The main concern is the lack of instruction that the student is getting due to his high absence. It was found in his review that the student has had a problem with school absence since elementary school. Because the student has a current IEP, it makes it possible to keep the student eligible; everyone in attendance would like to keep serving the student with services when he is in school. The qualification for eligibility was that the student’s written language is not adequate. However, because his issues are directly related to his absentee rate, he may lose services at his next evaluation. Additionally, they will meet again once the school nurse talks with the student’s doctor to explore what health or mental issues are going on with the student.  The goals written in to the student’s IEP are as follows: - student will turn in assignments - when absent, student will find out what the missing assignments are, complete and turn them in (mother stated she will  assist in getting student’s assignments when absent for two or more days at a time) The modifications for the student to succeed are to break large assignments into smaller tasks, make a keyboard available to students, and check for understanding.