- Oct 2019
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Nearly half of those graduates with disabilities received what’s called a local diploma, with requirements that are less rigorous than the norm.
I find this very interesting, especially after reading Douglas Biklen and Jamie Burke's dialogue. Although he was a student who had a disability that impaired his speech, Jamie was still college-bound despite this disability. To me, this means that he was taught throughout his schooling at the same level as other students. It concerns me that there is such a high rate of students who are not taught to this same degree, even when they have an IEP. My takeaway is that these students who are able to learn aren't being taught to the same level as abled students. It also speaks to the length it takes the DOE to categorize these students and give them the help that they need to be in schools. All of this in tandem only increases the learning gap. When these students who have been underserved and have only received half of the knowledge they should have acquired, this causes them only to be able to receive the local diplomas.
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