More Teacher Training Isn't Always the Answer — Some Students Need a Specialized Environment

I don't think more teacher training is always the answer when a student is not being successful.

I think sometimes there are students who just need a different setting.

And that's true both for students who struggle with behavior and academics and may need kind of an alternative school setting.

And it's true for students with IEPs who may need a more specialized program.

And by law in the United States, students are entitled to an education in their least restrictive environment, which may not be a fully inclusive general education setting.

And this has become kind of an unpopular idea recently because the potential for full inclusion to meet the needs of every single student is really appealing.

Like it sounds nice to have everybody together, to have nobody in a specialized program.

And frankly, it's probably a lot cheaper.

I think there are sometimes cases where people will have to have one-on-one aids and that can be more expensive.

but generally it's cheaper to do full inclusion.

And we resort to solving problems with additional teacher training, but I don't think that's always the solution.

I think some students genuinely need smaller, more supportive environments.

They need less stimulating environments where there's just less going on, maybe a slower pace, maybe more adults to spend more time with them, working with them individually.

I mean, that is just what some of our students need.

And it's precisely the kind of work that many educators want to do.

So if you are an alternative school teacher or if you're in a specialized program, you have my full respect for the work that you do.

It does take a special kind of person and it's great work.

It's rewarding work to be able to make a difference for kids who without that support, without that specialized environment, would not be able to learn and to be safe and to grow the way they can in that more specialized environment.

And I think we have to be very, very careful not to fall for excuses to do the cheap thing when we know students need something other than that.

You know, the reality is we need many more specialized programs and alternative schools and things like that than we have.

And the reason we don't have them is because they cost money, right?

They often cost more per student and it's a whole separate thing for a school district to have to offer.

And if the school district doesn't offer it, they have to pay somebody else provide it, you know, if they have to make arrangements with some other organization.

But if that's what our students need, that is what our students need.

And I've just seen so many cases where a learning environment does not work.

It becomes unsafe.

It becomes dysfunctional.

It becomes unable to remain staffed.

because it is full of students who need something else.

It is full of students who need not teachers in the same environment with more training, but who need a different environment.

And maybe the teachers there do need specialized training.

I'm not opposed to that at all.

But I am opposed to this idea that every problem can just be fixed with more training for gen ed teachers.

Sometimes the environment needs to be different.

The ratios need to be different.

The way that students and teachers work together needs to be different for some students.

And if we try to cram everybody in a one size fits all program and fix everything with training, well, what's going to happen is we're just going to churn through people and we won't be able to train them fast enough to keep up.

And the training is not the solution anyway.

So let me know what you think.