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DEL.ICIO.USInside a Psychoed Center
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For years I’ve heard horror stories about psychoeducational centers, often from lawyers who represent students assigned to them. Psychoed centers are for students with behavior and emotional problems someone has deemed too challenging for a traditional school.
I had heard these schools were dumping grounds filled with black boys and indifferent teachers.
I once mistakenly showed up at such a center, which had no sign anywhere indicating what it was, and the secretary basically freaked out at the sight of me. This year, when DeKalb named its teacher of the year, I was surprised to see she works at Shadow Rock Center, a psychoed center serving students in DeKalb, Decatur and Rockdale.
When I pursued an interview with Michele Evon Jones, the school district’s public relations officer first suggested, at the suggestion of Shadow Rock’s principal, that we meet off campus. Things are done differently at Shadow Rock, he said. I said I would rather meet Jones at the school and noted that I would not expect to speak with or photograph students. This satisfied everyone and on Monday I drove out to the center, which is located in a subdivision of upscale homes next to an elementary school known for high test scores. Here’s the story I wrote about Jones.
She’s an amazing, intelligent teacher, a woman with a calling. That didn’t surprise me. After all, she’s teacher of the year. What did surprise me is what I saw, and didn’t see, at Shadow Rock Center.
First off, it looks just like any other school inside and out, and there was a sign over the front entrance. The first few classrooms I passed on my way to Jones’ office (She was promoted to administrator this year), contained very few students, two or three, with their desks at opposite corners. They were hunched over their work, and their teacher was saying encouraging things to them, like “I know you can do it.”
While in Jones’ office, I heard some commotion, but nothing that caused me pause. Jones and I talked about stereotypes about psychoeducational centers. She said the issue that most often causes concern is the school’s use of restraints with some students.
Another common complaint is that teachers there don’t teach, they just try to get the kids to behave. Jones gave me a tour, and we were able to watch classes from observation rooms. In one class, about seven kids were working from a math textbook. The teacher was calling them up to work out a problem on the whiteboard. The problem involved multiplying numbers with decimals. “It isn’t 2 + 2,” Jones said.
Inside the next class, a parent volunteer was leading the students and teacher in yoga exercises. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the class. In both classes, I saw several girls and several white students. Then we ventured to the hall with the younger students, including one kindergartner. The kids were up, moving around. No one was out of control.
I was struck by the range of kids. Some were visibly disabled, nonverbal, autistic etc. Others showed no outward signs of behavior or emotional problems. Jones said she works hard to convince parents that a referral to Shadow Rock isn’t a prison sentence. Many students will return to traditional school, though Jones said some will need for the rest of their lives the structure a place like Shadow Rock can provide.
I left Shadow Rock with a positive impression, that it’s a school providing a needed service in a compassionate way. I don’t doubt for a second students are sometimes inappropriately referred to psychoed centers by teachers and administrators who are out of patience with them. Nor do I believe all psychoed centers are like Shadow Rock.
But at that school on that day, teachers were teaching and kids were learning. I saw it with my own eyes.
Comments
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By SET
November 10, 2005 04:13 PM | Link to this
I was a teacher once. A Sub - following a post graduate degree. One of the schools I was sent to was an “alternative” high school. A whole school devoted to students who couldn’t function in a normal school. It was interesting. Some progress was made.
It’s important that students be segregated. Mixing up all students with radically different performances drags education down to the lowest common demoninator. I went to academically demanding elementry and secondary schools - then to the University of CA. All my life I’d seen those of all races who couldn’t or wouldn’t keep up dissapear.
I’m not talking about racial segregation although that may come depending what population and region you are working with. The alternative school I saw was dominated by poor whites who couldn’t behave or fit in with more academically aggressive whites and asians. And they could smoke at the alternative school.
The non-performing blacks - there were few at that time and place - quickly wound up in jail, dead or just gone away somewhere. They didn’t like the normal school and they didn’t like the “alternative” school. They (non-perming blacks) had other interests. than school.
The regular teachers seems to work hard. They had to do several jobs from School Nurse (didn’t exist anymore so the teachers did what they could) to counselor and social worker. This was true at all the schools in the district I saw.
What bothered me the most was that the darker kids, the Mexican and the Black students, were not confronted or challenged. Everybody wanted them to stay in their comfort zone so they’d not riot or something. They were allowed to just exist without anybody shaking them up and making them learn. The overriding point from administration is that the minority students have “their ways” and we shouldn’t try to change them or make them uncomfortable in any way - like correcting their grammar. Well I did correct their grammar and I did shake them up (called on them in class - a lot). But I was a temp and moved on. Wonder if any of it was remembered?
I got out of this in 1981.
By Ernest
November 11, 2005 09:26 AM | Link to this
Congratulations to Ms. Jones and a good article. Who would have thought that a TOTY would come from a psychoed center?
IMO, there will be another story breaking soon about special ed teachers in general. It ‘seems’ that due to the provisions of NCLB, many of these teachers have been deemed ‘not highly qualified’, even though they’ve been teaching for years. I’m still trying to get more information on this however I know there are MANY upset special ed teachers out there.
While I initially supported the principles of NCLB, it seems we learning more about the ‘fine details’ that make it seem somewhat counter productive.
By ginger
November 11, 2005 09:40 AM | Link to this
This is the kind of school needed for NCLB to succeed. You can not throw kids of severely different abliities into 1 common pool and expect that they will learn to the highest potential. The teachers at these special schools are making a difference-whether it is reaching a child that needs a little extra help- or by taking a severely disruptive child out of the main area so that those who want to learn can. To these special people, I take my hat off in deep respect for you. Thank you.
By RF
November 11, 2005 10:41 AM | Link to this
Ernest- go to pageinc.org and look for the October update. It outlines what the PSC has done to special ed. teachers.
By SpedTCHR
November 11, 2005 11:25 AM | Link to this
I have been a special ed teacher here in Atlanta for 3 yrs now. Within those 3 years I have sent 1 student to a psycho-ed center. Everything in this article is completely true. The last thing a teacher in these situations does is “collect a check”. They work their butts off not only by making sure the students are getting exactly what they need but also keeping up with the extremely large amounts of paperwork that is necessary for each students individual education plan (IEP). What is really a shame is that the new legislation for NCLB has deemed many educators who are willing to help out children with special needs not qualified enough to teach them. There already is a lack of teachers willing to take on these extremely stressfull jobs, whether it be in a psycho-ed center or the school down the street from where you live. I, luckily, am considered highly qualified. To be honest, I think that if I wasn’t I might actually consider this a good time to leave the teaching profession. Why? One reason is that I am held legally responsible for IEP’s. If something is wrong, even thought I did not write the paperwork, I can be sued. Another is that my professionalism is constantly being questioned, from administrators all the way up to the federal government. There is no other industry where college educated employees are scrutinized more than the teaching industry. Special Education teachers need a UNION!
By Ernest
November 11, 2005 12:00 PM | Link to this
Thanks for the referral, RF. I spoke with a special ed teacher (20+ years) who was concerned they might lose their jobs. I think part of the concern is those teachers don’t have enough information yet about the new requirements.
Whenver you hear about ‘high demand’ areas in teaching, you always hear of math/science along with special ed teachers. I’m surprised to hear of those who last longer than 10 years because it can be extremely stressful. On the flip side, it is probably extremely rewarding for them.
By Lynn
November 11, 2005 01:18 PM | Link to this
RF - thanks for that site. I just applied for (have an interview Wed) a paraprofessional job in special ed at our local high school. My thought is to see how I like the department, and then go back to school for a degree in spec-ed. I have a business degree. Any advice or thoughts from bloggers on this? Am I crazy to consider it? I know spec-ed is a critical need area, but it also seems to be one of the more criticized & watched areas.
By Shirley
November 11, 2005 02:22 PM | Link to this
Lynn - Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit! I am a third year special education teacher, and will earn a M.Ed. with a major in learning disabilities in May. If I knew then what I know now, I would have never gone into the profession.
I also started my career as a special ed. paraprofessional. I was much happier in my job in that position than I am as the teacher. Parapros are notoriously underpaid, and I could not feed my family on my salary, hence I finished an undergrad degree and became a TAPP teacher.
At my school, there is NO team collaboration within the sp.ed. department, administrators are not supportive at all, general ed. teachers refuse to take our students, parents are non-existent, and most of the students are in need of medication that they don’t take for ADD, ADHD, and bipolar disorder. I have headaches everyday by lunchtime.
I receive the HOPE grant/loan to pay for my grad classes. I have to teach in a special ed. class for 3 years after I graduate in order to get loan forgiveness. I am seriously considering chucking everything and just resigning myself to paying the money back so I don’t have to teach special ed. for 3 additional years under these conditions.