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Welcome to this week's edition of Mississippi Happenings.

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We are a progressive podcast and we want to get the message out to all Mississippians.

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I am your co-host, Jim Newman, uh our co-host is out today.

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He's, as many of you know, he's recovering from a broken arm and he had uh physical
therapy today.

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So he won't be joining us.

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My guess is he's.

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in his easy chair asleep where he needs to be.

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ah But if Jim was here, I know there's two things that he would share with us.

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Number one, Trump wants to rename or is going to rename the Department of Defense to the
Department of War.

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How's that for Trump being Trump?

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And also what really scares me, and as you notice, I do look uh at my laptop quite a bit.

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ah We do know that Florida plans to scrap kid vaccine mandates.

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uh And also the Health and Human Services employees demand RFK Jr.

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So in Florida, will soon be a not, you can opt out of the vaccines and quite frankly, that
is a scary thought.

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And my fear would be Mississippi would uh could also do that as well.

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Now we're going to talk about uh a topic that's very important to me.

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It affects my life, oh my son's.

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life and also my grandson's health and well-being.

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In August of 22, there was a report out, a federal report, and this is from Mississippi
Today, August 22nd.

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Mississippi fails to ensure special ed students get services.

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And we know that

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Trump wants to get rid of the Department of Education.

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We've talked a little bit about that before and what that's going to be doing.

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I love the article and today joining us is Danita Munday.

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Danita is, she's a graduate of Delta State, bachelor's of arts.

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She's a, has her master of education in school psychology and also she's got postgraduate
hours toward a

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Education Specialist degree in School Psychology.

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uh She is an advocate uh for children with special needs and their families.

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Danita, welcome and it's so good to uh have you with us.

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Thank you for having me.

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Good.

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OK.

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uh I love this article.

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I love it.

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And I love, I love, you just call it like you see it, don't you, Danita?

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Good.

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Good.

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uh In this report, ah you're quoted as saying, people working within the system have been
concerned Mississippi is not compliant.

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uh

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And this is a validation of what we have been saying for years.

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You go on to say, this is, I just love this, and this is one of the reasons why I wanted
to talk to you.

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You said, without that system, Munday said the State Education Department is taking a
band-aid approach to

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special education violations.

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They're stepping on bugs.

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oh They've been found out our non-compliance through complaints and writing corrective
action plans to fix it for one child.

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So, Danita, once again, thank you for being here and let's talk about children with
special needs and their families.

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So talk to us about this article.

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okay.

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um So we have been writing to the United States Department of Education for years.

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And when I say we, I mean advocates and um attorneys and families because we've been
concerned that when we get correction of our compliance for one child, it doesn't

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translate into systemic correction.

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So that's where the stepping on bugs comes from.

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I said that it's like your house is overrun with roaches instead of finding out where
they're coming from, fixing that root cause, getting exterminator, they're just stepping

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on bugs.

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And it's that idea that it's kind of whack-a-mole is what we say too, is we get this one
fixed and then, you know, something else pops up.

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So we can fix the same thing in one district for one kid.

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And the next day I go to a meeting and it's that same violations are occurring.

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So it doesn't make sense to us because it's a lot of, it's time, it's energy, it's money,
it's other resources that are being utilized to fix one problem at a time when the whole

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thing is unraveling.

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Gotcha.

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uh So uh do you feel like with this report, I get the impression that this is something
that you've been fighting for years.

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so this is, does this give you, I guess you get a validation that yes, this is something
that you guys have been preaching.

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and teaching and fighting for years.

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Is that a fair statement?

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That is a fair statement.

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And so yes, I was very excited when the report came out.

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I was afraid that we would not see it because they were here for their monitoring visit.

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The USDE was here for their monitoring visit in 2004.

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And then we had change of administration and upheaval at the US Department of Education.

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And so we were very concerned that we were never going to see this report, that it just
got lost in the shuffle.

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So when it came out,

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people were texting me excitedly, did you see the report?

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Did you see the report?

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And I was like, I can't wait to see this report.

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And so I did, I delved into it and I was very excited about it.

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I was like, oh, they got that.

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Oh, they got that.

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I was really excited to see the things that they oh cited the state for because they're
the big issues.

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uh

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They're not little issues.

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They're not band-aid issues.

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They're not bug issues.

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They are big overarching issues to the root.

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Why can't y'all get in compliance in Mississippi?

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Gotcha.

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Where, and I tried to Google it, where, do you know the website that I could find that
report, the 47 page report we're talking about?

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You can, if you Google part B IDEA USDE DMS 2004 Mississippi.

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It will take you, you'll get a link that will take you to the US Department of Education
to the the monitoring division and they have the

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reports on there by years by part and by state.

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So you can, when you get to the part that says part B or part C, you click on part B, you
scroll down past the list and go further down until you see the big letters Mississippi.

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Got it.

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Okay.

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Okay, we're good.

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That's I'm sorry, go ahead.

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No, it's okay.

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There are 10 issues that they identified and that's a lot.

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I looked at all the other reports that I believe there were 19 reports for 2009, 2024.

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so it's 19, so they split it up.

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It's a cycle.

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19 states and territories were in the cycle for 2024.

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So I did a comparison between

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our report and other reports.

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And New York's report was pretty bad.

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It rivaled ours.

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But there were other states that had very few violations noted.

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I think Utah's report was four pages long, whereas ours is 47.

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I didn't disagree with anything that they found.

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I was a little surprised that they found some things to the detail that they found them,
like the data.

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I sort of thought they would not be able to pinpoint the problems with the data, but they
did and made it clear that they're going to have to make some changes to collect the right

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data and to interpret that data and to send it to USDE so it's meaningful.

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Got it.

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Okay, yeah, I'm bringing it up now.

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So there was, ours was 47 pages and you said there was 19 issues that, okay.

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10, I believe there are 10 citations.

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Okay.

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If you scroll down in that report for Mississippi, you'll see a chart.

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After the letter, there's a chart.

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And it lists the violations on the left side and it gives details on the right.

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Wow.

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Jim and I always, we talk about the grassroots issues facing all Mississippians.

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And education is so important.

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uh And it appears that, you know,

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And we know that Donald Trump and uh Linda McMahon want to dismantle and uh eliminate the
Department of Education.

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And my thoughts and people I've talked to and we will be, we've had one conversation with
Nancy Loom and we've got another one lined up with her as well.

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And Danita, I know that you're not an expert on

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this, but what would you kind of foresee some of the things happening in Mississippi if
the Department of Education is eliminated?

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Well, David, here's my biggest concern.

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As you look at this report and you see the violations that they found in our state, those
are violations that they found.

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when we were in charge, right?

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So without that next tier of general supervision and monitoring, what would happen?

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This is a report based on our state making decisions.

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This is the decisions that they make that are out of compliance with IDA that don't
properly implement the regulations.

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the statute, the best practices, and it's this messy now with no oversight.

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What in the world?

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That's what we're worried about.

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The other thing that people don't really understand about the Department of Ed is that
there are so many programs and offices in the USDE.

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One of them,

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One of the most important ones that we hear about all the time is the National Center for
Educational Statistics.

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They are the people that are responsible for the nation's report card.

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So we hear about the NAICS scores all the time.

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We hear about the nation's report card.

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We're making decisions.

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you know, we're judging how we're doing as a state based on the national report card.

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Well, that's

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housed.

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All that work is done in the National Center for Educational Statistics.

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So what's going to happen to that office?

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What's going to happen to that program?

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Where are our stats going to be?

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Where's that historical data going to be housed?

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And that's just one.

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It is just one issue, but it's a big one.

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The other program that is the funds flow through the department, the US Department of
Education.

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is for training and technical assistance and research.

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Who's going to be doing that research?

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Who's going to be collecting that information about best practices?

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Who's going to be collecting information about our schools, disproportionality, about kids
with disabilities, about seclusion and restraints?

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uh I don't have answers to those questions.

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uh The common thing we hear is it's going to help them.

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in human services.

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And that's very concerning to me.

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Where's the expertise gonna go?

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Where's it gonna come from if it gets moved to health and human services?

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Where's that data gonna go?

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We're the experts that know how to look at that data and to draw conclusions from that
data.

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We don't have those answers.

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So I don't like the unknown.

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I'm afraid of the unknown.

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I'm with you.

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I'm with you and on that, you know, and, know, if we're, mean, Mississippi is still
suffering and I'm glad you brought up about the statistics because it appears to me, my

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perception is that Governor Reeves likes to quote those statistics and how Mississippi was
49th in education and now we're

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whatever, you know, 34th or 29th, I don't know.

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either.

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says, but I don't know if that's where we really are.

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One of the reasons we went up in rankings this year is that a lot of states regressed.

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They lost points.

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We didn't necessarily move up a lot of points.

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We moved up, I think, two points in reading, which is far better.

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Let me give credit there.

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It's far better than losing points, for sure.

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uh But it's a 500-point scale, and we moved up two points.

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and I keep hearing that that's meteoric.

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Two points on a 500 point scale.

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Just not that many points to me.

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But other states did lose.

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I think the state that was just above us in the previous uh NAEP results fell five points.

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Or they fell three points and we rose two.

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So now we're five points above them.

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That's not so much about our growth as somebody else's failure.

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Gotcha.

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Gotcha.

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You gotta see where, you know, what's the relevance there.

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The other thing that happens when I hear about next scores is that I hear comparisons
between percentages.

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You just can't compare percentage of growth versus for your state against somebody else's
percentage of growth.

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Mathematically, you can't do that.

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But it gets you.

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It does get uh used and it does get reported.

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We had the highest percentage of gain than any other state.

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So here's my brief analogy.

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I have a dollar and you have a hundred dollars and I make a hundred percent gain.

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Now I have two dollars.

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You make fifty percent gain but you have a hundred and fifty dollars.

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Now, do I want to be the person that has $1 in my pocket and doubled it to $2?

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Or do I want to be the person that has $100 in my pocket and raised by 50 % and has $150?

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I'd rather be that person with $150 in my pocket than to double my growth.

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So it's not meaningful in context.

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I'm out context.

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It's not meaningful unless you're using the correct context.

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And sometimes I see numbers getting compared uh and I think, that's apples to oranges.

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You really can't do that either.

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uh My number that I looked at to see if it's improving is what is our literacy rate?

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Our literacy rate for fourth graders, and I hope I'm not saying this wrong,

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from the 2024 NAIC.

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It's 36%.

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36 % of our fourth graders are literate.

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That means 64 % of our fourth graders are functionally illiterate, which means that if
they read a story, they would not be able to draw accurate conclusions.

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They can read basic words, but they don't read with understanding.

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They're not able to write from what they learned.

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And that is, to me,

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the statistic that we need to look at.

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Now nobody talks about eighth grade.

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So if you look at the eighth grade literacy rate, last year I believe it was 22%.

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My question that no one's been able to answer for me is how do we teach kids to read at
fourth grade and then they get to eighth grade and they lose their literacy skills?

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There may be a.

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Very valid explanation and maybe it is comparing apples to oranges.

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But aren't we more concerned about the literacy rate for our eighth graders as they enter
high school?

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I mean, we absolutely should be worried about our fourth graders.

228
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,281
I'm not trying to prioritize eighth graders over fourth graders.

229
00:20:29,281 --> 00:20:36,052
But while we're celebrating those fourth graders, it's not translating to eighth grade.

230
00:20:36,052 --> 00:20:42,613
eighth grade scores to me are super important because those kids are about to go into high
school.

231
00:20:42,974 --> 00:20:55,497
And when you're looking at a 22 % literacy rate in eighth grade, realistically, how many
of those kids are going to be prepared to go to college or some other post-secondary

232
00:20:55,997 --> 00:21:00,578
setting, a work, a community college program, a trade school?

233
00:21:00,578 --> 00:21:10,678
if you are 22 % of your population is literate, that does not translate to successful
education system to me.

234
00:21:11,739 --> 00:21:21,186
And I'm so glad that, know, it's with, and a lot of times Jim and I learned these when we
did the podcast.

235
00:21:21,186 --> 00:21:29,772
and to quote Paul Harvey, rest his soul we get the rest of the story.

236
00:21:29,873 --> 00:21:33,275
So that's greatly appreciated.

237
00:21:33,275 --> 00:21:38,599
You know, this is a 500 point scale and we move up two

238
00:21:39,347 --> 00:21:44,899
And no, we're not going to hear that from the Republican lawmakers.

239
00:21:44,899 --> 00:21:52,613
And like you say, and Nancy Loomis mentioned it before, there has been some improvement.

240
00:21:53,113 --> 00:21:58,455
But a literacy rate of 36%.

241
00:21:58,455 --> 00:22:05,598
And one of the things that we talk about, and maybe you could expand on this as well.

242
00:22:05,598 --> 00:22:07,639
uh

243
00:22:08,815 --> 00:22:15,497
is that, and we see it happen all the time.

244
00:22:15,998 --> 00:22:25,842
We know that the state of Mississippi is wanting to do school vouchers.

245
00:22:26,442 --> 00:22:36,946
We know that they are wanting to take away money from the public school systems and give
it to private schools.

246
00:22:39,443 --> 00:22:41,264
don't understand that.

247
00:22:41,264 --> 00:22:54,731
I had a conversation with the gentleman and he made the comment, well, look, I paid my
taxes oh and I should be able to send my child where I want him to go.

248
00:22:54,731 --> 00:22:56,452
Well, you know, that's great.

249
00:22:56,452 --> 00:23:05,207
oh At the same time, I pay my taxes to fix your streets that I never drive on.

250
00:23:05,207 --> 00:23:09,499
So oh just...

251
00:23:09,512 --> 00:23:10,192
I get it.

252
00:23:10,192 --> 00:23:11,773
And here's the reality.

253
00:23:11,773 --> 00:23:13,855
I grew up in the Mississippi Delta.

254
00:23:13,855 --> 00:23:19,579
I worked in the Mississippi Delta in Indianola School District for five years.

255
00:23:19,940 --> 00:23:23,137
It's you know, it was and they're doing great now.

256
00:23:23,137 --> 00:23:33,692
I like to say I did keep up with them and they have they really moved up in their
accreditation rating and I'm impressed with the work that they have done there.

257
00:23:33,692 --> 00:23:35,312
But it's difficult.

258
00:23:35,393 --> 00:23:38,000
We all know it's difficult and we know what that looks

259
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:47,443
you know what that looks like, uh know, poverty and people struggling and you know, moms
working at night was my biggest problem.

260
00:23:47,564 --> 00:23:52,125
When I worked in the school district is that my moms worked at night.

261
00:23:52,125 --> 00:23:55,487
They worked in the catfish industry and they slept during the day.

262
00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:03,570
So, I mean, there's so many problems that are related to the economy and other factors.

263
00:24:03,570 --> 00:24:07,031
uh But

264
00:24:07,075 --> 00:24:18,844
When you have a poor school district and you live in a place like the Delta, offering a
voucher to a family is meaningless because there's no place for them to take that voucher.

265
00:24:19,065 --> 00:24:21,666
Where are they going to go with that voucher?

266
00:24:21,667 --> 00:24:27,241
And then when you start talking about kids with disabilities and kids that are struggling.

267
00:24:28,805 --> 00:24:33,180
Those programs, those private programs can just say, we don't have a program for you.

268
00:24:33,180 --> 00:24:35,241
They don't have to take your voucher.

269
00:24:35,903 --> 00:24:47,225
So who, it feels to me, this is my opinion, it feels to me like the people that are going
to benefit from the voucher are not the people that really need it.

270
00:24:48,349 --> 00:24:49,219
Yeah.

271
00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:57,644
And we have to educate, yeah, we have to educate the entire workforce.

272
00:24:57,644 --> 00:25:02,717
We can't just, okay, we're going to educate your kids because your kids are in DeSoto
County.

273
00:25:02,717 --> 00:25:13,473
We're going to educate your kids because you're in Lee County, but we're not going to
educate your kids because they're in Cleveland, Mississippi or in Denola or in the Delta.

274
00:25:13,893 --> 00:25:17,585
And I know, and that's a whole nother.

275
00:25:19,438 --> 00:25:27,178
a whole other issue as far as we talk about that because yeah, and I don't want to take,
yes ma'am.

276
00:25:27,178 --> 00:25:43,289
I was just going to say because I am advocate of children with disabilities and their
families that I am partly in favor of those vouchers because when a school district is

277
00:25:43,289 --> 00:25:56,678
failing that child with a disability so significantly and they can get that ESA, it's uh
sort of a voucher system, to go to a program to meet their needs.

278
00:25:56,697 --> 00:26:01,950
And people say, well, kids in general ed should have that same opportunity.

279
00:26:01,971 --> 00:26:09,476
Kids in general ed already have, you know, much better resources around them.

280
00:26:09,476 --> 00:26:12,768
They don't have the struggles of having a disability.

281
00:26:12,768 --> 00:26:14,949
They don't need accommodations, modifications.

282
00:26:14,949 --> 00:26:17,621
They don't need specially designed instruction.

283
00:26:17,621 --> 00:26:23,064
They don't need related services like OTPT, language speech therapy.

284
00:26:23,865 --> 00:26:25,746
So, uh

285
00:26:25,764 --> 00:26:32,127
do support vouchers, but it is the same problem for kids with disabilities.

286
00:26:32,127 --> 00:26:40,840
Because if I'm in Indianola and I have a disability and I get a voucher, I still don't
have a place to go that will meet my needs.

287
00:26:42,381 --> 00:26:50,345
I would like to see money being spent on improving the resources, uh increasing teacher
pay.

288
00:26:50,345 --> 00:26:54,326
And people think I'm a teacher voucher, I'm not.

289
00:26:54,326 --> 00:26:55,667
I love a good teacher.

290
00:26:55,667 --> 00:26:58,860
ah What would we do without teachers?

291
00:26:58,860 --> 00:26:59,931
I mean, they're amazing.

292
00:26:59,931 --> 00:27:01,712
uh I didn't want to teach.

293
00:27:01,712 --> 00:27:04,895
I got a degree in education, but I knew I could not sit in a classroom.

294
00:27:04,895 --> 00:27:06,106
That was not my calling.

295
00:27:06,106 --> 00:27:11,951
It's a gift to be a teacher, but we don't treat our teachers like they're valuable.

296
00:27:11,951 --> 00:27:14,463
And again, that's another subject.

297
00:27:14,463 --> 00:27:22,317
But while we're on the vouchers, I just wanted to say I do support vouchers because I've
seen my clients benefit from it.

298
00:27:22,317 --> 00:27:34,856
where they're in a school, they are nonverbal, they have autism, and they wander off
campus and nobody knows they're missing until somebody finds them and brings them back or

299
00:27:34,856 --> 00:27:35,927
they do a head count.

300
00:27:35,927 --> 00:27:37,608
That's just dangerous.

301
00:27:37,608 --> 00:27:41,671
ah Forget reading, writing, arithmetic.

302
00:27:41,732 --> 00:27:43,233
Those kids aren't safe.

303
00:27:43,233 --> 00:27:44,514
They're being restrained.

304
00:27:44,514 --> 00:27:49,177
They're being secluded because the school doesn't have the resources.

305
00:27:50,234 --> 00:27:52,794
to provide the right services in the right way.

306
00:27:52,794 --> 00:27:54,834
And that's very concerning.

307
00:27:54,954 --> 00:27:56,594
And so it goes back to that.

308
00:27:56,594 --> 00:28:07,994
If we're taking money from public school and putting it in private school, who's going to
benefit the most and who's going to be hurt the most?

309
00:28:08,594 --> 00:28:15,314
And I'm vested in my kids and families with disabilities.

310
00:28:15,314 --> 00:28:19,981
And so I would like to see that money, those resources go.

311
00:28:19,981 --> 00:28:28,453
back to the school to address those very real safety functional needs.

312
00:28:30,081 --> 00:28:30,681
Understood.

313
00:28:30,681 --> 00:28:35,404
uh On a personal note, I'll share this with you.

314
00:28:35,404 --> 00:28:47,452
ah And you can uh help me with this and tell our listeners and our viewers some
information on what they need and what they can do.

315
00:28:47,452 --> 00:28:53,115
uh I have a grandson who has special needs.

316
00:28:53,115 --> 00:28:56,477
ah

317
00:28:58,665 --> 00:29:03,810
And ah he's in the fourth grade.

318
00:29:03,810 --> 00:29:05,371
He just started the fourth grade.

319
00:29:05,371 --> 00:29:20,235
ah And they recently did, and I want to make sure I'm saying this right, an IEP, if that's
an Individual Education Plan, is that?

320
00:29:21,146 --> 00:29:23,126
Yes, that's right.

321
00:29:24,547 --> 00:29:43,542
one of the other things that they are doing, and yes, he's in DeSoto County and we have an
excellent school system here, oh is, and I don't recall what I was told, but is it like

322
00:29:44,483 --> 00:29:47,004
someone helping him,

323
00:29:48,438 --> 00:29:54,508
or next to him while he's in class or what is one on one is that.

324
00:29:54,847 --> 00:29:59,387
One on one aid, paraprofessional, someone to assist them.

325
00:29:59,647 --> 00:30:02,307
And paraprofessionals are very important.

326
00:30:03,347 --> 00:30:05,547
They don't get paid a lot.

327
00:30:05,547 --> 00:30:06,427
They're not credentialed.

328
00:30:06,427 --> 00:30:15,547
Well, they may have a credential, but not a degree, not a licensed educator by any means.

329
00:30:15,547 --> 00:30:20,187
But they're very important to keep kids safe, to help them with their daily.

330
00:30:21,434 --> 00:30:28,857
activities, know, self-care, those kind of things, to get them to the right place so we
don't lose them.

331
00:30:28,857 --> 00:30:33,639
um So they're very important, but they don't get paid very much.

332
00:30:33,639 --> 00:30:35,139
They're hard to recruit.

333
00:30:35,139 --> 00:30:37,960
They're hard to keep, just like teachers.

334
00:30:38,020 --> 00:30:43,302
The same issues that affect a teacher affects those that support people.

335
00:30:46,277 --> 00:30:47,057
Hmm.

336
00:30:47,338 --> 00:30:56,484
I would assume that, uh with a, and you said, and make sure I said, quote, right.

337
00:30:56,484 --> 00:31:00,347
Para professional or the one-on-one.

338
00:31:00,347 --> 00:31:15,237
Um, I'm assuming also that yes, they're there for this child, but at the same time, they
could also be a good support person for a teacher.

339
00:31:15,555 --> 00:31:22,189
who's in a classroom with 25 or 30 kids maybe could help out.

340
00:31:22,189 --> 00:31:22,670
I don't know.

341
00:31:22,670 --> 00:31:26,810
I'm just speculating as far as that.

342
00:31:26,810 --> 00:31:34,673
David, this is what needs to happen when you're having an IEP meeting and the school has
agreed that your child needs a one-on-one aid.

343
00:31:34,833 --> 00:31:46,528
You need to be having that discussion about how will their time be used because there was
a lot of unnecessary discombobulation between parents and schools about the expectation.

344
00:31:46,528 --> 00:31:54,301
And so those conversations about expectations, is that one-on-one aid just for my child?

345
00:31:54,301 --> 00:31:57,561
Or will they be assisting with other children?

346
00:31:57,561 --> 00:32:05,281
Because once you say, okay, they're going to be assisting with a whole class, that doesn't
sound like 101, what are we talking about?

347
00:32:05,481 --> 00:32:14,361
And so I think the way it should be done is to talk about services that that person will
provide.

348
00:32:14,361 --> 00:32:16,401
Instead of talking about it's a person.

349
00:32:16,421 --> 00:32:18,681
A person's not a service.

350
00:32:19,201 --> 00:32:23,041
We need to know what service that person's providing.

351
00:32:23,399 --> 00:32:25,190
to address what need.

352
00:32:25,571 --> 00:32:37,561
So if you've got an aide in there that's there really for toileting and activities of
daily living, then that needs to be spelled out.

353
00:32:37,561 --> 00:32:46,819
And to say in there, she's not technically one-on-one, there's an aide in the classroom
that will assist your child with activities of daily living.

354
00:32:48,615 --> 00:32:54,850
So then we are not having that expectation or that misunderstanding that this person was
hired just for my child.

355
00:32:54,850 --> 00:32:55,741
Can you do that?

356
00:32:55,741 --> 00:32:57,582
Can you hire somebody for just one child?

357
00:32:57,582 --> 00:33:01,215
And is it possible that one child would need a full-time aid?

358
00:33:01,215 --> 00:33:02,195
Sure.

359
00:33:03,417 --> 00:33:07,320
So the conversation is to take place about, well, what is their function?

360
00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:08,272
What is their role?

361
00:33:08,272 --> 00:33:14,395
How much time are they going to spend with my child to avoid conflict with your school?

362
00:33:15,942 --> 00:33:16,332
Good.

363
00:33:16,332 --> 00:33:20,295
oh That's good to know.

364
00:33:20,295 --> 00:33:29,782
I think also earlier you mentioned that the first, I guess I got two questions.

365
00:33:29,782 --> 00:33:34,065
So the first step would be the testing.

366
00:33:34,265 --> 00:33:41,991
And I'm assuming like in the third grade or maybe there's been some difficulties learning.

367
00:33:41,991 --> 00:33:43,892
oh

368
00:33:44,196 --> 00:33:51,192
So I guess at the third grade, I guess it's like, when do they start, when do they do the
testing?

369
00:33:52,114 --> 00:34:01,734
Okay, so just like that definition of what's a 101, what's an A, you have to understand
the different terminology about testing.

370
00:34:01,734 --> 00:34:05,554
There's a ton of different kind of testing for different purposes.

371
00:34:05,714 --> 00:34:11,194
So I think that there is a, the MCAS is at kindergarten.

372
00:34:11,194 --> 00:34:21,574
Now, I don't want to try to talk about statewide testing because it's never been part of
my job description, but this is what I see when I see results.

373
00:34:22,514 --> 00:34:29,774
So we have statewide testing, have district-wide testing, we have progress monitoring, we
have benchmark testing.

374
00:34:29,774 --> 00:34:42,294
You'll hear all of these words around testing and it's because they all have a different
purpose and they use different instruments and my biggest concern is that the data are not

375
00:34:42,294 --> 00:34:43,774
written clearly for parents.

376
00:34:43,774 --> 00:34:50,267
There's not one scale that all of those tests could have different scales and different
standards.

377
00:34:50,267 --> 00:34:55,049
And so you're trying to explain to families, oh, your child grew.

378
00:34:55,270 --> 00:34:58,231
This is a good example on iReady.

379
00:34:58,551 --> 00:35:06,575
That is a progress monitoring tool that schools use three times a year in the fall, in the
winter, and in the spring.

380
00:35:06,895 --> 00:35:10,897
And so you'll get a report that your child has grown.

381
00:35:11,278 --> 00:35:20,292
The problem is it looks great on paper because the graph, you know, from this testing to
the last testing is like this, and you're like,

382
00:35:20,292 --> 00:35:21,483
It's growth.

383
00:35:21,483 --> 00:35:32,651
When you break it down and you get into what that growth means, what you really want to
know is that growth the same as the average kid?

384
00:35:32,831 --> 00:35:35,993
Is that growth better than the average kid?

385
00:35:35,993 --> 00:35:41,718
Is that growth average or is that growth not up to standards?

386
00:35:41,718 --> 00:35:43,209
So I gained five points.

387
00:35:43,209 --> 00:35:45,120
It of goes back to the nape.

388
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,060
You know, we made up tonight's plays.

389
00:35:48,060 --> 00:35:51,011
But it's a two point gain on a 500 point scale.

390
00:35:51,011 --> 00:35:56,433
It's the same concept of are we closing the gap?

391
00:35:56,433 --> 00:36:01,915
Are we making actual progress to grade standards?

392
00:36:02,356 --> 00:36:04,396
To grade level standards?

393
00:36:04,396 --> 00:36:06,518
Am I learning the skills?

394
00:36:06,518 --> 00:36:11,599
And those kinds of scores on tests very seldom tell us that.

395
00:36:11,740 --> 00:36:16,041
If you don't know how to analyze them, if you can't break them down, you don't know.

396
00:36:16,041 --> 00:36:17,542
So I've said in meetings where

397
00:36:17,542 --> 00:36:18,074
Yeah.

398
00:36:18,074 --> 00:36:20,834
have been told, your child made so much progress.

399
00:36:20,834 --> 00:36:21,294
Look at this.

400
00:36:21,294 --> 00:36:22,434
Look how many points it came up.

401
00:36:22,434 --> 00:36:30,154
And I'm over there figuring and saying, oh, compared to the average kid, he made 50 %
progress.

402
00:36:30,154 --> 00:36:33,734
50 % of what the average kid, so he's never going to catch up.

403
00:36:33,814 --> 00:36:37,874
If you don't make average progress, you're never going to catch up.

404
00:36:37,874 --> 00:36:39,454
You're just going to get further behind.

405
00:36:39,454 --> 00:36:41,174
And that's what happens.

406
00:36:41,174 --> 00:36:44,174
And our families don't realize that's what's happening.

407
00:36:44,174 --> 00:36:46,114
They never get that picture.

408
00:36:46,118 --> 00:36:48,880
they get the picture, oh look, he's growing.

409
00:36:48,941 --> 00:36:50,522
Well, what does growth mean?

410
00:36:50,522 --> 00:36:52,894
I question, what does growth mean?

411
00:36:52,894 --> 00:36:54,485
What does data mean?

412
00:36:54,485 --> 00:36:56,166
What does score mean?

413
00:36:56,167 --> 00:36:57,488
I question everything.

414
00:36:57,488 --> 00:37:00,350
What is the real meaning of that information?

415
00:37:00,550 --> 00:37:04,093
But David, to go back to your uh talk about testing.

416
00:37:04,093 --> 00:37:08,997
So when we're talking about special education, we are talking about an initial evaluation.

417
00:37:08,997 --> 00:37:14,001
That's the first step to get your child evaluated for special education.

418
00:37:14,642 --> 00:37:20,902
Those assessments are very specific and they have to be given by people with specific
qualifications.

419
00:37:20,902 --> 00:37:22,442
They're not group tests.

420
00:37:22,442 --> 00:37:24,602
They're individual tests.

421
00:37:24,602 --> 00:37:28,042
And not only that, they're chosen for individuals.

422
00:37:28,182 --> 00:37:35,522
So I just have to parent write a letter this morning asking for a comprehensive evaluation
for a child who's never been identified.

423
00:37:35,522 --> 00:37:37,702
And he's in the fourth grade and can't read.

424
00:37:38,782 --> 00:37:43,582
so we went through, tell me what he's doing in this area.

425
00:37:43,582 --> 00:37:44,592
Tell me his...

426
00:37:44,592 --> 00:37:46,302
struggles in paying attention.

427
00:37:46,302 --> 00:37:48,143
Tell me it struggles with math.

428
00:37:48,143 --> 00:37:49,563
Tell me it struggles with reading.

429
00:37:49,563 --> 00:37:54,764
So that we could ask for specific kinds of tests.

430
00:37:54,764 --> 00:37:59,626
oh one problem is that a parent say, I my kid tested for special ed.

431
00:37:59,626 --> 00:38:02,986
And then they go and the school just greets to test.

432
00:38:02,986 --> 00:38:07,558
But the parent doesn't even understand what the tests are for or what their area of the
testing.

433
00:38:07,558 --> 00:38:09,888
And then they come back and say it's not eligible.

434
00:38:10,388 --> 00:38:11,699
Well, why not?

435
00:38:11,699 --> 00:38:13,159
I mean, what are they looking at?

436
00:38:13,159 --> 00:38:14,179
What is this?

437
00:38:14,211 --> 00:38:16,363
Again, what is the criteria?

438
00:38:16,363 --> 00:38:18,064
What is the standard?

439
00:38:18,064 --> 00:38:20,867
And why exactly would they say that they're not eligible?

440
00:38:20,867 --> 00:38:25,670
uh know, assessment is, that's my thing.

441
00:38:25,751 --> 00:38:32,436
That's what I did, primarily when I was working in, all I did when I was working in the
public school system.

442
00:38:32,437 --> 00:38:36,160
If you don't have that knowledge and that expertise to say, did they give the right test?

443
00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:37,311
Did they interpret it right?

444
00:38:37,311 --> 00:38:38,582
Did they score it right?

445
00:38:38,582 --> 00:38:42,779
uh You know, is this a test that's viable?

446
00:38:42,779 --> 00:38:45,430
for your child that we need to drop back.

447
00:38:46,270 --> 00:38:50,161
I keep seeing baselines on a piece of zero.

448
00:38:50,161 --> 00:39:02,395
Well, if you have a zero baseline, and I asked in a meeting a couple of weeks ago, so what
does a zero baseline tell us about what he can do right now?

449
00:39:02,395 --> 00:39:08,436
What can he do right now in oral communication?

450
00:39:08,476 --> 00:39:10,777
And they tell me, he can't do anything.

451
00:39:11,793 --> 00:39:13,673
And then I said, well, what about Steph Carey?

452
00:39:13,673 --> 00:39:15,173
He can't do anything.

453
00:39:16,473 --> 00:39:17,893
And we went down the list.

454
00:39:17,893 --> 00:39:19,673
I know it was a zero and everything.

455
00:39:19,673 --> 00:39:21,333
He can't do anything.

456
00:39:21,493 --> 00:39:24,653
So my question was, is he alive?

457
00:39:25,273 --> 00:39:26,253
Is he breathing?

458
00:39:26,253 --> 00:39:29,173
Nobody does, can't do anything.

459
00:39:30,562 --> 00:39:32,912
you

460
00:39:32,912 --> 00:39:35,943
know to look for that kind of thing, right?

461
00:39:35,943 --> 00:39:37,644
And that's why they need an advocate.

462
00:39:37,644 --> 00:39:39,204
It's a shame.

463
00:39:39,741 --> 00:39:44,686
I would love to live long enough to see the day when parents don't need an advocate.

464
00:39:45,967 --> 00:39:47,967
Unfortunately, they will.

465
00:39:48,508 --> 00:39:59,362
If they have a kid with a disability, at some point, they're gonna have to consult with
somebody who has deeper knowledge and more technical knowledge than they do.

466
00:39:59,362 --> 00:40:00,392
And that's...

467
00:40:00,558 --> 00:40:03,381
That's where we, I'm a reluctant advocate.

468
00:40:03,381 --> 00:40:05,713
I did not intend to be an advocate.

469
00:40:05,874 --> 00:40:09,738
I intended to retire and work in a garden and play with my dog.

470
00:40:10,039 --> 00:40:13,563
But my phone just kept ringing.

471
00:40:14,428 --> 00:40:17,888
At one point I had over 200 clients in a year.

472
00:40:19,438 --> 00:40:26,531
That's not even manageable, but it's also tells the story of what's happening.

473
00:40:26,551 --> 00:40:30,152
Why does why did this mean parents need an advocate?

474
00:40:30,152 --> 00:40:40,617
And I don't know exact numbers, but maybe 1 % of those didn't need an advocate and what
they were asking for was not something they were guaranteed under IDA.

475
00:40:40,617 --> 00:40:42,167
It was not something they were entitled to.

476
00:40:42,167 --> 00:40:46,279
It's not something that the school district had to do or was violating their rights over.

477
00:40:46,279 --> 00:40:49,160
And I tell them that and I say you don't need me.

478
00:40:49,252 --> 00:40:53,395
That's a personnel issue or that's something to take up with your school board.

479
00:40:53,395 --> 00:40:54,996
That's something to take up with your principal.

480
00:40:54,996 --> 00:41:02,781
But all the others, all the others uh really did need an advocate and not a little bit.

481
00:41:03,662 --> 00:41:11,848
The problem was huge when I would look at it and the older the kids were, you know, the
bigger the problem was and the harder it is to fix.

482
00:41:13,323 --> 00:41:22,868
And we talked earlier about the fourth grade reading level.

483
00:41:23,609 --> 00:41:40,238
So ah how would a child with special needs, because in most cases, his reading level is
going to be much lower than the average.

484
00:41:40,238 --> 00:41:42,739
ah

485
00:41:43,301 --> 00:41:57,136
How would his numbers or his reading level figure into statewide numbers as far as reading
level or reading literacy or whatever?

486
00:41:57,136 --> 00:42:02,578
uh Okay, go ahead.

487
00:42:02,578 --> 00:42:05,474
Does that affect the state's numbers?

488
00:42:05,474 --> 00:42:06,284
Yes, it does.

489
00:42:06,284 --> 00:42:07,395
That was a good question.

490
00:42:07,395 --> 00:42:08,366
That one I can answer.

491
00:42:08,366 --> 00:42:14,139
Is that they do have to factor in what those results are for kids with IEPs.

492
00:42:14,199 --> 00:42:23,435
And there's a limited number of kids, it's a percentage that can take the alternate
assessment.

493
00:42:23,435 --> 00:42:26,947
They're taught to alternate standards and they take the alternate assessments.

494
00:42:26,947 --> 00:42:31,890
uh One of the things that I worry about, the...

495
00:42:31,890 --> 00:42:32,398
uh

496
00:42:32,398 --> 00:42:43,238
Superintendent of Education, I have not heard the whole thing yet, so I don't really want
to speak about having listened to it, but what I understand is that he did say, well,

497
00:42:43,238 --> 00:42:44,838
we're not doing well.

498
00:42:44,958 --> 00:42:46,898
Our scores dropped this year.

499
00:42:47,558 --> 00:42:49,858
You know, we're going to have to figure this out.

500
00:42:50,458 --> 00:43:01,038
But somebody said that really it was about raising the standards for the people that could
take the test, and I didn't understand that, so I need to do

501
00:43:01,089 --> 00:43:02,710
some more work on that.

502
00:43:03,070 --> 00:43:09,395
if somebody else knows about that and understands that, that'd be great to have them on
and explain all of that.

503
00:43:09,395 --> 00:43:22,329
But going back to the NAPES course, David, our uh kids with disabilities, their literacy
rate is 8%.

504
00:43:22,329 --> 00:43:27,227
92 % of our students with disabilities are functionally illiterate.

505
00:43:27,227 --> 00:43:30,765
And people will say because of

506
00:43:30,765 --> 00:43:35,365
ableism that well that's what you would expect for a kid with a disability.

507
00:43:35,365 --> 00:43:43,085
No, because only 5 % of kids somewhere between 3 and 5 % of kids have low incidence
handicapping conditions.

508
00:43:43,085 --> 00:43:48,885
Those are the kids that have the most specialized and sometimes most significant needs.

509
00:43:48,885 --> 00:43:53,225
So not every kid with a disability has that level of need.

510
00:43:53,225 --> 00:43:58,005
We're talking about kids with average IQ who don't read on grade level.

511
00:43:58,005 --> 00:43:59,717
They have dyslexia.

512
00:43:59,831 --> 00:44:10,965
We're talking about kids um with, um I'm sorry, uh language speech kids, that was the
other part.

513
00:44:10,965 --> 00:44:15,486
Yeah, some of them are, they're only getting language speech services.

514
00:44:16,107 --> 00:44:18,508
They should be capable of reading.

515
00:44:18,508 --> 00:44:23,189
So when we talk about kids with disabilities, we're talking about all the kids that have
an IP.

516
00:44:23,711 --> 00:44:25,022
We're talking about the average kids.

517
00:44:25,022 --> 00:44:26,763
We're talking about the kids with ADHD.

518
00:44:26,763 --> 00:44:30,186
We're talking about the kids with a language disability.

519
00:44:30,386 --> 00:44:39,794
Why are 88 % of our kids with disabilities reading at grade level proficiently?

520
00:44:39,794 --> 00:44:42,726
uh I will tell you this.

521
00:44:42,726 --> 00:44:46,799
This is part of what I worry about, David, and it ties back to what you were saying.

522
00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:52,716
It's that one time our goal for kids with

523
00:44:52,716 --> 00:44:59,756
disabilities was to be for 8 % of our kids to be functionally literate.

524
00:45:00,136 --> 00:45:02,176
That's what we were, that was our goal.

525
00:45:02,236 --> 00:45:11,356
Let's see if we get our kids with disabilities up to 8 % of them to be literate, which is
troubling.

526
00:45:12,096 --> 00:45:16,376
And we were at 5 % or 4%.

527
00:45:16,376 --> 00:45:18,430
It was lower than 8%.

528
00:45:18,430 --> 00:45:23,444
And so what the state decided to do was lower our goal.

529
00:45:23,804 --> 00:45:28,958
We lowered our goal to 5 % because that was achievable.

530
00:45:30,624 --> 00:45:36,887
So I caution everybody when you're hearing all of these numbers and things like, we met
our goal.

531
00:45:36,887 --> 00:45:40,809
Oh, we corrected noncompliance.

532
00:45:41,110 --> 00:45:43,150
But what does that mean?

533
00:45:44,231 --> 00:45:45,912
What does that mean?

534
00:45:45,912 --> 00:45:49,094
And again, I am very suspicious.

535
00:45:49,334 --> 00:45:50,775
I love numbers.

536
00:45:50,915 --> 00:45:52,106
I take those numbers.

537
00:45:52,106 --> 00:45:56,378
I get that NAEP report card and I tear it apart.

538
00:45:56,678 --> 00:46:00,652
I analyze it from every point of view to see, is this real progress?

539
00:46:00,652 --> 00:46:02,332
Is this really progress?

540
00:46:02,492 --> 00:46:04,212
What are we talking about when we talk about progress?

541
00:46:04,212 --> 00:46:05,672
Is it progress for everybody?

542
00:46:05,672 --> 00:46:08,452
it progress for our children of color?

543
00:46:08,452 --> 00:46:11,592
Is it progress for our children with disabilities?

544
00:46:11,592 --> 00:46:14,532
And if it's not, why not?

545
00:46:15,432 --> 00:46:17,872
But nobody's looking at the root cause of that.

546
00:46:17,872 --> 00:46:20,592
Nobody's looking at the solution for that.

547
00:46:21,432 --> 00:46:23,072
Why do we have that?

548
00:46:23,072 --> 00:46:25,492
Why do we have that discrepancy?

549
00:46:29,214 --> 00:46:31,295
uh I love your passion.

550
00:46:31,956 --> 00:46:33,837
I love your passion.

551
00:46:33,837 --> 00:46:35,438
I mean, it shows.

552
00:46:35,438 --> 00:46:38,189
And it shows in your mannerisms.

553
00:46:38,189 --> 00:46:40,581
It shows in your voice.

554
00:46:40,581 --> 00:46:42,281
It shows in your eyes.

555
00:46:42,302 --> 00:46:44,132
And that means a lot.

556
00:46:44,132 --> 00:46:49,325
And you mentioned, I think you mentioned the superintendent of education.

557
00:46:49,326 --> 00:46:51,867
And that is Lance Evans.

558
00:46:51,867 --> 00:46:55,729
ah We have uh invited him.

559
00:46:55,729 --> 00:46:57,640
ah

560
00:46:57,640 --> 00:47:16,389
to meet with us and we will continue to ask him because there were several things during
the 2025 legislation, legislation, yeah, session ah that we wanted to get his comments on

561
00:47:16,389 --> 00:47:18,100
and get his thoughts.

562
00:47:18,561 --> 00:47:22,012
I know that he did write a letter.

563
00:47:22,270 --> 00:47:36,938
to Linda McMahon asking that I think there was a hundred and oh my number may be wrong
about $137 million that Mississippi had been promised ah and then she took away.

564
00:47:36,938 --> 00:47:48,945
I think, oh and once again, I don't wanna misquote anything or anybody, I think that we've
Mississippi finally got that money.

565
00:47:50,557 --> 00:47:54,430
Was that money that was COVID recovery funds?

566
00:47:54,430 --> 00:47:55,514
Correct.

567
00:47:56,246 --> 00:47:56,813
Yes.

568
00:47:56,813 --> 00:48:00,413
Okay, yeah, I think I heard that too.

569
00:48:01,213 --> 00:48:06,448
Go ahead, I'm sorry, I had a thought and I'm very ADHD, it just went away.

570
00:48:06,448 --> 00:48:11,862
No, no, no, but hey, me too.

571
00:48:11,862 --> 00:48:21,288
And I wished I had known about Adderall when I was in college, I would have been a much
better student.

572
00:48:21,429 --> 00:48:22,809
That's for sure.

573
00:48:22,930 --> 00:48:23,945
But, um,

574
00:48:23,945 --> 00:48:26,627
David, we are of a certain age.

575
00:48:27,168 --> 00:48:32,599
you know, that memory tends to be in his sheet.

576
00:48:32,599 --> 00:48:33,570
and get through it.

577
00:48:33,570 --> 00:48:46,718
Um, and then for our, and I know for my kids, you know, that was, that was, you know, if
they were ADHD, there was something wrong with them.

578
00:48:47,059 --> 00:48:49,471
I mean, there was something, let me rephrase that.

579
00:48:49,471 --> 00:48:57,510
There was something wrong with the parents because we just didn't know how to, you know,
correct our children.

580
00:48:57,510 --> 00:49:06,993
Now, either one of mine are like that, but as I do, I do have a grandson with some special
needs issues.

581
00:49:07,372 --> 00:49:10,555
do still hear that.

582
00:49:10,555 --> 00:49:15,600
Blame the parent gain is very strong still.

583
00:49:15,761 --> 00:49:21,607
And now we're just not gonna, we're gonna ignore science and we're gonna ignore research.

584
00:49:21,607 --> 00:49:23,499
So it's just gonna get worse.

585
00:49:25,175 --> 00:49:27,185
like an easy out, blame the parents.

586
00:49:27,185 --> 00:49:37,218
they should have used James Dobson's, oh "Parent of the Strong-Willed Child" or something,
I don't know.

587
00:49:37,218 --> 00:49:40,239
I don't know where I just pulled his name out of my hat.

588
00:49:40,421 --> 00:49:41,165
Mm-mm.

589
00:49:41,165 --> 00:49:41,609
Go ahead.

590
00:49:41,609 --> 00:49:59,725
are winding down, what final comments, suggestions would you like to tell our parents ah
with uh kids with special needs?

591
00:49:59,725 --> 00:50:01,146
Any advice?

592
00:50:01,227 --> 00:50:03,228
What do they need to be doing?

593
00:50:04,235 --> 00:50:06,045
They need to question everything.

594
00:50:06,045 --> 00:50:09,870
Of course, you've heard me say this whole podcast.

595
00:50:09,870 --> 00:50:13,173
I don't believe any of numbers until I look at it myself.

596
00:50:13,173 --> 00:50:14,534
So question everything.

597
00:50:14,534 --> 00:50:25,623
One thing that we hear all the time, and you said it yourself, David, and you said it
about your grandson, is that we have a great school district and we have a great IEP.

598
00:50:25,963 --> 00:50:28,145
And I hope you do.

599
00:50:28,145 --> 00:50:33,129
And I do, I have a great relationship with the people.

600
00:50:33,163 --> 00:50:36,204
that are in the special eds, you know, the special ed staff at Deskota.

601
00:50:36,204 --> 00:50:37,954
And I do think they do a great job.

602
00:50:37,954 --> 00:50:42,075
uh But you need to question everything.

603
00:50:42,075 --> 00:50:49,357
You think your IEP looks good because somebody with authority told you it was.

604
00:50:50,158 --> 00:50:51,278
But is it really?

605
00:50:51,278 --> 00:50:53,599
Is your child making real progress?

606
00:50:53,599 --> 00:50:56,019
Is your child having all of their needs met?

607
00:50:56,019 --> 00:50:57,880
Are we having behavior problems?

608
00:50:57,880 --> 00:51:00,080
Are we having school refusal?

609
00:51:01,221 --> 00:51:03,328
Is the work that they're getting

610
00:51:03,328 --> 00:51:04,848
rigorous.

611
00:51:05,428 --> 00:51:14,088
you know, are we keeping to academic standards that are the same for everybody and is your
child achieving similarly to those kids?

612
00:51:14,088 --> 00:51:22,268
And if the answer is no, or if you don't know if that's true, don't believe it just
because somebody said it.

613
00:51:22,268 --> 00:51:29,228
They may not be saying it to lie to you, but they may not understand what those scores
mean either.

614
00:51:29,288 --> 00:51:31,249
The other thing that we use

615
00:51:31,249 --> 00:51:33,803
and parents, so important for them is grades.

616
00:51:33,803 --> 00:51:38,950
uh So, I've used a trumpism.

617
00:51:39,051 --> 00:51:44,349
I say that um grades equal fake news.

618
00:51:45,907 --> 00:51:47,468
Don't worry about grades.

619
00:51:47,529 --> 00:51:49,211
Do not worry about those grades.

620
00:51:49,211 --> 00:51:51,854
What you need to be worrying about is skills.

621
00:51:51,854 --> 00:52:05,529
I would love to see a grading system at some point where we base kids' and the decisions
we make for them, not on grades, but on skill development.

622
00:52:05,589 --> 00:52:07,471
What skills do they have?

623
00:52:09,638 --> 00:52:10,648
Gotcha.

624
00:52:13,153 --> 00:52:16,914
That's a great, I'm so glad you brought that up.

625
00:52:18,994 --> 00:52:24,934
So basically, let me tell you what I heard and make sure that I'm right on this.

626
00:52:24,934 --> 00:52:32,454
So basically, the grades is not the main issue.

627
00:52:32,754 --> 00:52:36,374
The main issue is their skills.

628
00:52:36,374 --> 00:52:38,394
Where are they at now?

629
00:52:39,034 --> 00:52:45,761
And maybe, I guess, would one of those skills be what reading level they're at?

630
00:52:45,761 --> 00:52:58,714
What skills should a special needs parent, uh what skills should they be looking for as
their child grows and improves?

631
00:52:59,454 --> 00:53:08,852
So your IP should have goals uh on the areas and the domains that your child has
weaknesses on.

632
00:53:08,852 --> 00:53:11,894
So you're always looking to see, they making progress toward goals?

633
00:53:11,894 --> 00:53:15,657
They're supposed to give you a progress report every nine weeks.

634
00:53:15,657 --> 00:53:22,001
uh But what you're looking for is curriculum-based assessment.

635
00:53:22,202 --> 00:53:25,104
Are they measuring that skill?

636
00:53:25,289 --> 00:53:32,881
So if your skill is to increase your oral reading fluency, then you're looking for an
evaluation of oral reading fluency.

637
00:53:32,881 --> 00:53:35,815
It's the only way to tell if you've made any progress.

638
00:53:37,190 --> 00:53:39,281
Great, great.

639
00:53:39,281 --> 00:53:53,171
Well, is there anything else ah that you want to share with us ah that you think our
viewers need to or anything that we need to act on?

640
00:53:53,171 --> 00:54:01,466
And what can we do uh as Mississippians uh to help our special needs students?

641
00:54:02,591 --> 00:54:07,652
Our parents always say, just treat our kids like typical kids.

642
00:54:07,652 --> 00:54:10,873
They have the same needs as every other kid.

643
00:54:10,873 --> 00:54:12,163
They need to have fun.

644
00:54:12,163 --> 00:54:14,034
They need to have friends.

645
00:54:14,034 --> 00:54:16,164
need the same thing.

646
00:54:16,164 --> 00:54:17,034
They need to play.

647
00:54:17,034 --> 00:54:21,666
uh And their special needs are primarily around learning.

648
00:54:21,666 --> 00:54:28,397
Unless you're trying to teach them, then what you need to do is teach your kids they're
just different.

649
00:54:29,017 --> 00:54:30,498
They're fun, just like you.

650
00:54:30,498 --> 00:54:31,238
They're funny.

651
00:54:31,238 --> 00:54:32,125
They like to help.

652
00:54:32,125 --> 00:54:34,860
to play, they like to have friends.

653
00:54:34,860 --> 00:54:38,907
And so just treat them the way you treat other kids.

654
00:54:38,907 --> 00:54:41,430
Kids actually do better with it than the adults.

655
00:54:44,568 --> 00:54:46,959
Gotcha, gotcha.

656
00:54:47,060 --> 00:54:54,007
Well, uh one other thing you had mentioned and I'm so happy that you mentioned this.

657
00:54:54,007 --> 00:54:59,367
In Mississippi on the performance and this is the nation's report card.

658
00:54:59,467 --> 00:55:06,867
You talked about that the score was, you know, 500.

659
00:55:07,727 --> 00:55:11,227
And let me go back to this.

660
00:55:14,240 --> 00:55:18,285
In the fourth grade, Mississippi scored 219.

661
00:55:18,285 --> 00:55:27,059
So, and I'm so glad that you brought up, but the high score is a 500.

662
00:55:27,477 --> 00:55:32,893
And so in Mississippi, we're not even, I'm sorry.

663
00:55:32,913 --> 00:55:39,433
I said nobody scores 500, but that is the scale.

664
00:55:40,073 --> 00:55:41,933
It's a 500-point scale.

665
00:55:42,593 --> 00:55:44,673
You know who always does the best?

666
00:55:44,673 --> 00:55:46,493
Department of Defense schools.

667
00:55:46,553 --> 00:55:47,973
Look at their scores.

668
00:55:48,213 --> 00:55:49,533
They're amazing.

669
00:55:50,111 --> 00:55:54,431
The Department of Principles.

670
00:55:55,731 --> 00:55:59,311
I would, Defense, okay, I'm sorry.

671
00:55:59,991 --> 00:56:03,871
Which may become the Department of War, but that's a whole different story.

672
00:56:03,871 --> 00:56:05,631
We've mentioned that earlier.

673
00:56:09,131 --> 00:56:20,291
So good, and in eighth grade reading, Mississippi scored a 253 once again out of

674
00:56:21,216 --> 00:56:22,296
of 500.

675
00:56:22,796 --> 00:56:24,616
Those are different scales.

676
00:56:25,156 --> 00:56:28,776
So yeah, it's hard to compare the fourth grade.

677
00:56:28,776 --> 00:56:32,036
This is why I don't like scale scores, because they're deceptive.

678
00:56:32,036 --> 00:56:35,256
So it sounds like the eighth graders did better than the fourth graders.

679
00:56:35,816 --> 00:56:37,636
They did not.

680
00:56:37,776 --> 00:56:43,476
The score that I look at is how many kids score proficient and above.

681
00:56:43,476 --> 00:56:46,256
And you can find that on our snapshot.

682
00:56:48,159 --> 00:56:53,499
And that I just had a minute ago and it's 32%.

683
00:56:53,499 --> 00:56:56,099
Now I'm.

684
00:56:56,099 --> 00:56:57,159
Yes, ma'am.

685
00:56:57,948 --> 00:57:01,524
typical kids, it's 32%.

686
00:57:01,851 --> 00:57:04,754
Now, what you need to do is add the two categories together.

687
00:57:04,754 --> 00:57:08,337
So there's one that's proficient and one that's proficient and above.

688
00:57:08,337 --> 00:57:11,479
So when we're talking about literacy, we add them together.

689
00:57:13,745 --> 00:57:14,623
Okay.

690
00:57:14,623 --> 00:57:20,363
And so when you add them together, think they're closer to 36%.

691
00:57:20,363 --> 00:57:21,662
Got that pulled up.

692
00:57:21,662 --> 00:57:22,541
Okay.

693
00:57:22,904 --> 00:57:24,486
yeah, that's good.

694
00:57:24,486 --> 00:57:28,409
And that's good information for all of us to have.

695
00:57:28,409 --> 00:57:30,231
And I do appreciate it.

696
00:57:30,231 --> 00:57:41,842
I do want to give out as we close up, I do want to give out the oh Mississippi FAPE
Defense League.

697
00:57:41,842 --> 00:57:45,765
oh And you can reach them at Mississippi.

698
00:58:06,962 --> 00:58:08,845
Yes.

699
00:58:08,845 --> 00:58:09,475
resource.

700
00:58:09,475 --> 00:58:14,089
So Danita any, any final comments?

701
00:58:15,896 --> 00:58:18,477
David, how much time do you have?

702
00:58:20,917 --> 00:58:25,557
I said you're going to have have them back with a specific topic and we'll try to stay on
topic.

703
00:58:25,557 --> 00:58:26,257
Yeah, it's okay.

704
00:58:26,257 --> 00:58:26,957
That's fine.

705
00:58:26,957 --> 00:58:29,117
This is, this is what Jim and I do.

706
00:58:29,117 --> 00:58:32,077
We, will go off into the, to the weeds a little bit.

707
00:58:32,077 --> 00:58:33,137
Then we'll come back.

708
00:58:33,137 --> 00:58:35,037
But we go into the weeds.

709
00:58:35,557 --> 00:58:45,377
We found out, we find out some interesting things and this was very good because you know,
oh, yeah, we scored a 216.

710
00:58:45,377 --> 00:58:50,297
Well, yeah, you scored a 216 or 19, whatever it was out of 500.

711
00:58:50,297 --> 00:58:52,157
So, but, this is good.

712
00:58:52,157 --> 00:58:53,457
And I do.

713
00:58:54,338 --> 00:58:56,099
I love your analogy.

714
00:58:56,099 --> 00:59:02,492
I love your band-aid analogy and stepping on, what was it?

715
00:59:02,492 --> 00:59:04,864
Stepping on bugs.

716
00:59:04,864 --> 00:59:05,784
Stepping on bugs.

717
00:59:05,784 --> 00:59:09,266
I was going to say frogs, but that's totally different.

718
00:59:10,447 --> 00:59:13,578
so, Danita, once again, thank you so much.

719
00:59:13,578 --> 00:59:15,940
We look forward to meeting with you again.

720
00:59:15,940 --> 00:59:21,112
And if there's anything that we could do, please let us know.

721
00:59:21,112 --> 00:59:21,693
We'd love to.

722
00:59:21,693 --> 00:59:22,301
uh

723
00:59:22,301 --> 00:59:28,943
love to get involved with this because uh we're talking about the Mississippi workforce.

724
00:59:28,943 --> 00:59:30,583
So thank you for being with us.

725
00:59:30,583 --> 00:59:38,725
uh And also, uh Jim, hopefully uh you've recovered.

726
00:59:38,725 --> 00:59:40,406
uh Jim, we did miss you.

727
00:59:40,406 --> 00:59:45,597
ah And as always, yes, we need subscribers.

728
00:59:45,597 --> 00:59:51,099
So if you like this episode, send it to your friends, please subscribe.

729
00:59:51,099 --> 00:59:52,449
It is free.

730
00:59:52,661 --> 01:00:03,621
And if you learn something from this, and I'm confident that you did, I know that I did.

731
01:00:04,121 --> 01:00:08,661
And it's good to have conversations like this.

732
01:00:08,661 --> 01:00:16,321
But also I will become Jim here a minute and say, we need donations.

733
01:00:16,881 --> 01:00:19,201
We need donations.

734
01:00:19,221 --> 01:00:21,141
We need sponsors.

735
01:00:21,350 --> 01:00:23,201
So please consider it.

736
01:00:23,201 --> 01:00:31,926
uh We are at uh Cash App, which is the dollar sign, Mississippi Happenings.

737
01:00:31,926 --> 01:00:36,509
uh PayPal, we are at Mississippi Happenings.

738
01:00:36,509 --> 01:00:45,894
ah Yes, we want to hear from you, so please, comments, good, bad, indifferent, who we need
to talk to, who do you want to hear from?

739
01:00:45,894 --> 01:00:51,057
And you can reach that at MS Happenings.

740
01:00:51,057 --> 01:01:08,217
one at gmail.com that's mshappening to the number one at gmail.com and as always may we
never become indifferent to the suffering of others thanks have a good week take care bye