15th August 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A parent has complained that her son wasn’t learning quickly enough because of the number of special needs students in his class. The student concerned attends Kingston Middle School, and according to the Kitsap Sun website, the complaint has led to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction ordering the school to provide additional tuition for its special needs students.
There were three French classes in Kingston Middle School for a particular year group, one was classed as containing ‘high achievers’, while the other two were considered to contain students of mixed ability. However, one of these mixed ability classes contained 16 special needs students from a total of 27 in the class. Despite the class being taught by two teachers, one who was specially trained to teach students with learning difficulties, the OSPI found this to be unfair to both the students with learning difficulties, and those asked to learn alongside them.
Kingston Middle School has resolved to provide extra special education training for its teachers in the forthcoming academic year in an effort to cope with the high number of students requiring that kind of teaching. It has also offered private tuition to each student with learning difficulties. However, so far, only three students have accepted that offer at a cost of $1,900 to the education authority.