ESSA: Now is the time to get involved

One-third of classroom teachers believe learning and attention issues are signs of laziness.

That stat is from the National Center for Learning Disabilities’ 2017 The State of Learning Disabilities report, which also found 70% of students with specific learning disabilities spend 80% of their time in general education classrooms. But with teachers today forced to play the role of educator, classroom manager, social worker, and researcher on a daily basis, there is genuine concern they aren’t fully prepared to accommodate students with learning challenges.

My family lived this firsthand.

Eight years ago, my oldest son was identified with auditory processing disorder. I had never heard of this diagnosis, so I was completely in the dark about how it would impact him in school, and what kind of help he would need to be successful. I started researching and began to understand what he needed, but I had to jump through many hoops with the school so he could begin getting the support he required.

Auditory processing disorder was not well-understood at this time and still isn’t today. It is often misdiagnosed as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), so many of his teachers didn’t know how to help. It took a tremendous amount of effort as a parent to help my son learn and grow, but we worked with the school and now my son is making good progress, and I’ve even helped other parents navigate the special education system to help their own children.

While I had the knowledge, time, and resources to help my son’s school learn how best to help teachers, not all parents do. We can’t expect teachers to know everything, but we must expect schools and districts to provide supports to help teachers continue to improve.

With the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaces No Child Left Behind, it’s required by law that districts and schools support teacher development with Title II funds for teacher training. ESSA is our country’s flagship education law, and it governs a lot of what happens in schools, including professional development opportunities for teachers. ESSA emphasizes state and local education planning, which means more decisions about our schools will be made by local stakeholders. It also requires that states develop systems to ensure schools are responsible for providing all students, including those with disabilities, with an appropriately ambitious education.

Georgia is submitting its plan to implement ESSA to the U.S. Department of Education in September, and is required to engage with parents to make sure the plan meets their needs. Parents and school districts must also work together to implement their local ESSA plans. This means that now is the time to get involved, to ask questions, and to provide constructive feedback to the state, district and school about what you’d like to see happen for your child and their peers.

Schools and districts need to provide more training and resources for teachers to recognize and support students with learning and attention issues. Write a letter or email to the Georgia Department of Education asking how Georgia’s ESSA plan will help teachers work with children who have learning and attention issues. Ask your child’s principal about how your school supports teacher learning and development, and how that may change this school year as a result of ESSA. Ask other parents if they’ve heard of ESSA, and if they have ideas about how it can be used to help schools support all students.

Getting involved helped me make sure my son was successful, and weighing in on ESSA is an opportunity for parents to make sure our schools and teachers get the support they need so they can help all kids learn, including those with learning and attention issues. For more ideas on how to get involved, you can review Understood.org’s toolkit on ESSA advocacy.

Karen Robins is an Understood.org Parent Fellow for the National Center for Learning Disabilities (ncld.org).