In this chapter, Edna Thorsen (Lori's general education teacher) finds out that Torey has not been teaching with the provided reading curriculum, and hasn't even been teaching reading at all. This is brought to the principal's attention, who confronts Torey. Torey becomes very frustrated and sarcastic, so the principal decides that he is going to set up a meeting with the special education director. Torey insists the Lori is simply not developmentally ready for reading yet, with her brain injuries, but is excelling at many other subjects and is in fact very bright.
Torey discusses her dislike for the mainstreaming law (which we now implement more and more). I thought that it was interesting to hear her take on it because we are only told of the very positive outcomes of it (because our textbook definitely promotes it). She says:
"To try one's hardest, to constantly be putting out one's best effort and always be the stupidest kid in the class, as in the case of the slow-learning child, was emotionally devastating. And for kids like mine who had skewed perceptions of the world or who needed intense, provocative interactions in the classroom, there was no way this could be given to them with thirty other children and a harried teacher. For them the law could be slow death." (pg. 259).
Although I do agree with a lot of the mainstreaming, I do think that it can make things more difficult for some students IF the wrong sorts of emphasis are being placed on certain skills rather than focusing on their strengths. I think that since this book has been written there have been a lot of improvements made with this law, and that there are more curricula that cater to students with many different needs. It is important that we are utilizing these types of curricula rather than on those that only focus that are performing at grade-level and have no significant trouble with specific skills.
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