Last semester I had an inclusion child in my geometry class. The boy was one of the most motivated kids I ever came in contact with. He worked hard, studied all the time and had a good handle on the material. He made me want to go on teaching forever.
Unfortunately, this young man did not pass the regents. He only scored a 55 although his knowledge of the course was close to 100 percent. I am no special education expert but I could see that he wasn't able to get what he knew from his brain to his hand. He had no trouble getting it out his mouth. I passed him regardless, he deserved to pass more than almost every other kid in the class, but then the problem came.
My supervisor did not want this boy to take trigonometry. He felt he would not pass. The child wanted to take the class and his parents wanted him to take it as well. My supervisor was quite adamant in his refusal to let this child go ahead. I suggested grading him differently from the other kids in the class. He didn't need the regents to graduate, so why stress over it? Again, my supervisor was not so agreeable. He asked me if I wanted this young man in my class, should I be teaching trig. I told him definitely. He told me he would hold me accountable for this student's passing. I said "fine" and then he started yelling at me, repeating the same question. Again, I answered "fine." Then, he said "You couldn't even get him to pass geometry, how can you get him through trig?" I just said "There is more to learning than the numbers show" and I got up and walked out.
This inclusion child learned quite a bit this year. While his grades didn't say mastery, his words did. He only got a 55 on the English regents, yet his English teacher made him student of the month every month and thought he was the class star. His American History teacher had the same glowing things to say about him.
This student will probably not be able to pass the trig regents, but that doesn't mean he can't benefit from being in the class. Differentiated learning should mean evaluating what kids know and tests do not always show that. Besides, all the kids in the class benefit from being around this young man.
I just found out he isn't taking any math this semester. He was told he fulfilled his requirement in that subject so there was no need for him to continue. (Why teach him something extra?) It is just so sad to see statistics take over for education and seeing statistics determine who goes ahead and who stays behind.