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We've all heard the saying, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." That saying always seems to make sense on the surface, but it doesn't always make sense when we are faced with the day-to-day reality of educating students. We can't just do what we want to do today because we have to make sure that students are at a certain point by the end of the quarter, or by the end of the year, or by the end of their school careers.
You have probably heard the phrase, "all students can learn." Many schools, districts, and states have this as part of their mission statements. More and more often, this phrase is now being followed by the phrase, "all means all." And, federal law and state and district policies are clarifying that the "all" in "all means all" includes students with disabilities, as well as students with limited English proficiency. These are both groups that for some time were excluded from assessments and accountability systems. No longer! Recent changes in federal and state laws make it quite clear that education is for all students, particularly students with disabilities. The way it is being made clear is by requiring that students with disabilities be included in state and district wide assessments, and that their performance is reported. How these students are performing must be put right out there for all to see. More than ever before, educators need to attend to how to ensure that these students are learning the most they can learn, and that they are demonstrating all that they know and can do.
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