“Fair isn’t everyone getting the same thing, it is everyone getting what they need in order to be successful.”

Nothing disgusts me more than kids who make fun of kids in the SDC classroom. But there is something out there even worse than that, and thats parents who use SDC as a hypothetical punishment for their kids.

There is nothing wrong with being in an SDC or RSP class. No parent wants to admit that their child might need extra help or may have special needs. I have plenty of parents here at my Middle School who even refuse testing for the possibility that they might find something wrong.  Personally, I feel that not only are SDC and RSP classes useful, but they are the best option for kids who need extra help.

During the second semester of grad school, my 2 main instructors were gung-ho Inclusion Nuts (I use the Nut term lightheartedly of course). They believed that every child, regardless of their abilities, could be in a general education classroom. While a beautiful thought, in today’s world, this is not plausible. Problems that stem from lack of training of GE teachers on disabilities, differentiation, and behavior management as well as lack of aide support and one on one attention those kids need is killing the Inclusion debate. And for good reasons. I wouldn’t want my child, who might be 4-5 reading levels behind his or her classmates or has a behavior problem to be stuck in a room with 33 other children and one teacher. That teacher has 33 other kids with their own issues, my child would learn very little, if anything in a GE classroom besides social skills, which while important for life, will not help them learn how to read.   In the SDC and RSP room students and parents have access to highly trained teachers who know exactly how to teach a child with a specific processing disorder, or how to provide sensory options to a child with ADHD. To be honest, most general education is not ready for most special needs students.

I am not saying that special needs kids should not be included. Definitely not. I try to get my kids into as many GE classes as their schedules can allow, while ALSO making sure that they will be successful in those classes. Whats the point in having your 12 year old in general education social studies if they don’t know how to read the book? If they are falling behind, getting poor grades, being disruptive to the rest of class. Isn’t that just as ostracizing socially as being in a resource room for that one period, learning at their own pace and getting good grades, gaining confidence with the materials?

Back to my original point. I had a parent say to the team during an IEP recently that she told her 12 year old that “If he did not do well in Social Studies, that he would have to go back to SDC”. . . . . . . Luckily for my job, it was after a 4 hour meeting so I was too exhausted to say anything too explosive.  By using the SDC as punishment, you are perpetuating to your child that there is something wrong with them. That they are different and that being in SDC is ‘bad’, a place where you go when you fail. And this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Resource and SDC rooms are places you go because you have a need that other teachers can’t fill. They are full of highly trained teachers and underpaid aides who go to hundreds of trainings to make sure you get the most up to date, high tech, research backed support possible. We work with you to find what works best, we work with your other teachers to make sure you are successful. We find your learning style, create resources for you, create accommodations, and modify curriculum just so your child can be a successful student. Parents are often more afraid of their child failing than their child is, and SDC/Resource is the most underutilized way to have your child keep up with the increasing demands of the school system.

The SDC is not a bad place. The children who are here are not bad children. You will not go to SDC if you fail. But if you want to be successful, maybe you should.