revised Chapter 11 discussion

In response to my earlier post about chapter 11, I'd like to add a little more. These additional thoughts kind of stem through the "mental fried-ness" I'm feeling right now and also from recent meetings where I work. The thing I want to add deals with questioning in regards to special education placement and/or accomodation. I just sat through a long, but very insightful meeting for new teachers in my district. It was awesome to get a "behind the scenes" look at special education and case studies. I didn't know that it costs around $1,000 to test a child/student for qualifying for special education services, which is a huge deal when so many school districts in the state (around the nation, really) are facing enormous budget cuts and referendums. Something else I didn't realize...well, I knew it before, but didn't realize how big of a role this plays...is that questioning a student and his/her parents, as well as asking questions as a way of reflecting on the interventions that can or might work for a child, not to mention asking questions of our fellow teachers about which strategies work best for them with a particular student is really a key issue/need in dealing with special education students. Then, I kind of got to thinking on my way home tonight after the meeting...shouldn't we really be doing this with ALL our students?!?! Making accomodations as needed and trying to come up with additional strategies for certain kids when "the normal way of doing things" doesn't quite work?!?!