Heartbreaking

It seems that the atmosphere around and in my school is positively correlated with the weather, and lately it has been dismal outside. In perfect parallel with the downpour and lightning yesterday, I received today a thunderous package of IEPs. For those that are unfamiliar, an IEP is an Individualized Education Plan, mandated by the state for those students who demonstrate learning, input, or output deficiency. Simply put, a student with an IEP has at least one basic academic skill (reading, writing, comprehension, decoding, math, etc...) that is more than one level below the student's current grade. The IEPs that I received today are only for middle school students, grades six through eight. After reading through them, I've decided to provide some statistics which are, in correspondence with the title, heartbreaking:

Percentage of my middle school students with IEPs: 23.3%

Total weight of IEP package: 4 pounds

Average writing level: 4.2 (mid-level fourth grade)

Average reading comprehension level: 3.9 (high level third grade)

Average math level: 4.9 (high level fourth grade)

Lowest level (decoding): 1.7 (high level first grade)

Number of IEPs with at least 1 skill at grade level: 2


This is perhaps maybe the most sobering post I've ever written, but I don't see any sense in hiding the reality of the situation urban educators are faced with.

I hope the weather improves soon.