Posted by Hannah Cleveland on Mon, Feb 15, 2010
Educational consulting is not a science in the literal sense of the word. There are a myriad of factors to consider when placing a client; therefore the more tools we have, the better equipped we are to ensure that we provide families with the most viable options.
One such tool is the Goldberg Educational Placement Inventory (GEPI)TM. The GEPITM is a proprietary assessment tool developed by Adam Goldberg, M.Ed. in conjunction with Boston-area neuropsychologists and special education administrators for use by professionals consulting on school and special needs program placement.
This particular tool can be useful even before a family has engaged our services. The GEPITM results provide insight into the general types of programs which would benefit the student, for example: Public or Private? Traditional or Non-traditional? Day or Boarding? LD or Therapeutic? This basic information can be extremely useful in laying the groundwork for the direction of the initial conversation between family and consultant. In most cases this would allow them to start off on the same page and at least have a solid basis for discussion.
If you think the GEPITM could be of use to a student you know, click here. If you complete the form and return it to me I would be happy to score it and share the results with you.
Posted by Adam R. Goldberg, M.Ed. on Wed, Jun 24, 2009
Considering our growth in international markets, I wanted to bring to our readership an important posting from guest-blogger Jon Hodge, Ph.D., Founder & Owner of Strictly English. Jon's firm enlists a unique tutoring methodology for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and remains laser-focused by specializing exclusively in TOEFL tutoring. While we cannot officially endorse Jon and his company, I can objectively report very strong results from my vantage point. Without further ado...
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By: Jon Hodge, Ph.D. of Strictly English
Although most students understand that preparing for the TOEFL exam will require many weeks (if not months) of study, most students do not realize that in addition to their study time, they also have to account for the time they will have to wait for an open test date as well as the time they will have to wait before receiving their scores. For example, at the time of this writing (June 24), there is only one July date available (July 27) in the Boston area. The next test date after that is August 1, which is 5 weeks away. In addition, students who take the August 1 TOEFL will not receive their scores until August 21, which is 8 weeks and 2 days from today.
So often, these two lengthy waiting periods surprise students. They think that they can just sign up two days in advance for the TOEFL and then receive their scores the following week. As you can see, this is not the case.
Therefore, it is best to plan the timeline for your TOEFL study and test date by working backward from your admissions deadline. Here's how.
Let's say you're applying Early Action to UMass Amherst.
ADMISSION DEADLINE: NOV 1.
It will take 3 weeks for TOEFL test results to arrive at UMass, so, TAKE TOEFL: OCT 10.
Because test centers often fill up 3-6 weeks before the test date, SIGN UP FOR OCT 10th TOEFL by AUG 29.
Plan to Study at least 12 weeks for the test, which means you should BEGIN TOEFL CLASSES NO LATER THAN JULY 18.
Beginning study in July for an October test at first seems premature, but it's actually just enough time.
To complicate matters more, there is the strong possibility that you will want to take more than one TOEFL. Maybe this is because you want to take a TOEFL before you begin studying so that you know what sections you're weak in and which sections you're strong in. Maybe it is because you're afraid that if your first TOEFL score is bad, you want the safety net of being able to take it again. For every additional TOEFL that you'll want to take, plan on adding an additional three weeks to your timeline. This is the length of time it will take to receive your score report.
If you add two more tests to the above timeline (one test before you begin studying, and one extra test at the end of study), that's an additional 6 weeks, which means you would want to begin the TOEFL process on June 6, a full five months before your Early Action Deadline.
The good news is that you could begin studying even before you get your test results back from the TOEFL you took before beginning TOEFL classes. Most likely, when you leave the exam, you'll have a good idea of what was your weakest section and you can begin working on that while you wait for the result to arrive three weeks later.
Strictly English has many other helpful TOEFL Tips on our blog and on our Twitter feed.
Posted by Joshua C. Doyle, M.Ed. on Thu, Jun 11, 2009
During my years directing Admissions at a boarding school for adolescents with Learning Differences (LD), I received hundreds of frantic calls from parents whose children had just been diagnosed with LD and were looking for an immediate school placement. Yet, as I started to ask more questions, I often found that a good portion of these children also presented with clinical levels of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and behavioral problems.
It was with a heavy heart that I had to tell the parents of these students that, although the school that I represented was designed to assist adolescents with LD, but due to their child's additional emotional/behavioral issues, I could not offer admission.
These parents would immediately respond...
"You don't understand, Mr. Doyle!!!! The Psychologists told us that our child's situation is a direct result from the frustration suffered from not getting the help needed to deal with their LD. If we get our child into your school, they will get the help that they need and everything will be fine."
Knowing the raw emotions behind their pleas, it would have been of no help to engage them in a spirited debate. I had to stay firm and explain that we, as a school, would be doing a disservice to their family if we enrolled their child because we did not have the expertise, nor the appropriate resources, to address all of their child's needs. Despite my best efforts, the phone calls often ended with tearful, enraged, defeated-feeling parents.
Countless studies have shown that individuals with LD are at an elevated risk for substance abuse, depression, and delinquency in comparison with their non-LD peers. In more cases than not, many of these LD individuals in crisis did not know they had LD until they were backed into some corner.
When a student acknowledges the existence of LD, it can bring to light a lot of the frustrations experienced over the years. Unfortunately, this new realization cannot turn back the clock and immediately provide relief from other coexisting issues. The emotional/behavioral problems have migrated to the forefront one way or another and now need to become the primary focus of treatment.
Private boarding and day schools for students with LD offer a supportive and nurturing environment that can often help a "fragile" child or adolescent to remain emotionally and behavioral intact. However, this nature and intensity of support and nurturance is not enough to address emergent emotional/behavioral issues. In most of these types of cases, LD Boarding and Day schools for adolescents with co-morbid issues are often not appropriate settings.
Therapeutic Boarding Schools and Residential Treatment Centers can often make academic accommodations for students with LD. However, these accommodations are often not nearly as effective as the academic programming in LD school settings. In some cases, students who attend these therapeutic settings can later attend a specialized school in order to then address the underlying LD issues, but by then they have typically lost a lot of opportunity in the developmental cycle.
So, where does this leave you as a concerned parent? Damned if you do, damned if you don't? Fear not, there are steps you can take; they just need to be more deliberate, more calculated at this stage. You don't have much room for error.
Some Suggestions:
1. If at all possible, do not wait to intervene. Time is not on your side. There are resources you should access whether or not you are planning on changing schools. All research studies show that the earlier the intervention, the better. LD issues do NOT go away on their own.
2. Evaluate or re-evaluate your child ASAP, so you can distill the extent of the emotional/behavioral issues that have manifested alongside the LD. You will need to have a testing practitioner (neuropsychologist/psychologist) administer specific assessments that probe for emotional/behavioral issues.
3. Stop blaming one set of issues on the other. The bottom line is that both exist and need to be addressed as soon as possible.
4. If you are even considering changing schools, make sure you open your scope to those that can work effectively within both issues - the LD and emotional/behavioral struggles. BUT, you also want to keep the balance in check so as to avoid the "catchall" options that claim to treat anything and everything. There are some wonderfully targeted options that achieve the right balance for you.
Posted by Leslie S. Goldberg, M.Ed., CEP on Wed, Apr 08, 2009
A generation or two ago dads went to work, moms stayed home and kids lived in fear of adult reprimands and punishments. Today, with so many fragmented families, both parents working, and the expectation of immediate gratification, the parents have become more enmeshed with their children's lives. At the same time, we, as specialized educational consultants, see more teenagers acting out as well as in and needing structure rather than "stuff" like electronics, the latest fashions, and attitudes.
Perhaps out of guilt, perhaps due to giving their children what they feel they didn't have, the parents are joining in on their children's games, social life, even drugs. Today's teens are often called "entitled" and feel as if they can have whatever they wish and it is the parents' job to get it for them. As a specialized educational consultant for nearly a quarter century, I have watched parenting trends come and go along with the "diagnosis du jour" whether it is ADHD, Bipolar, borderline, or Aspergers. Parents are looking for answers, diagnoses, medications, quick fixes when very often if they just said no it could work miracles!
Therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers allow minimal amounts of clothing, electronics, and "stuff" and the students' rooms are kept tidy every day. There are clear rules and consequences around academics, residential life, and extracurricular activities. As parents we could learn some lessons from this by setting very clear rules, boundaries, and expectations with clear and consistent consequences when the teens do not step up to the plate. Of course, in a perfect world, all of this should start when the children are toddlers.
As specialized educational consultants, we often have to tell it straight - befriending your kids now can ironically alienate them in the future... and for a considerably longer duration. You need to specialize as a parent, not a friend.
Leave a comment - let us know your thoughts, your observations, your insights.
Posted by Joshua C. Doyle, M.Ed. on Wed, Feb 18, 2009
In an ever-changing educational environment, students and families are more often than ever considering options for special education schools to help address learning and attention issues. But what do you need to know about specialized day and boarding private schools from an admissions standpoint? As a former admissions director in LD schools and now as an educational consultant, I spend considerable time demystifying the admissions process for parents and professionals making decisions in the face of student struggles.
The following are my top tips for navigating the admissions process for special education schools:
1) Assessment: It is vital that, before embarking on a search, your child has received updated cognitive and achievement testing. Most schools will not consider a student unless the testing has been performed in the past 2-3 years. In more cases than not, a school will require the submission of a full Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC- IV).
2) Research: The admissions process for you and your child can prove to be overwhelming and emotionally exhausting. Nevertheless, it is important that you all do a significant amount of research on the schools before applying. All special education schools cater to different students in varying ways and it is up to you to understand the realm of possibilities.
A few key questions for initial admissions inquiries:
-To which other schools are your applicants most likely to apply as well?
-What types of teaching methodologies and technologies does your school use?
-Are organizational and study skills taught as core curricular disciplines or treated as peripheral?
3) Retention of Students: It is important to know how many students decided not to return to their school. If the number is higher than 10%, ask why that percentage of students didn't return.
Examples of questions to ask about retention:
-What has been your retention rate for students over the past 3 years?
-factoring out economic variables, why was the retention rate low relative to other schools?
-How many students have transitioned back into a more traditional school environment?
-How many students have been dismissed in the past 2 years? For what reasons?
4) Outcomes Studies: Ask a school if they have performed outcome studies on their students' progress. Many special education schools have done clinical studies that will give specific data on the reading gains their students have made since they have been attending the school. Note that anecdotal information is not a good substitute for hard data. Also, find out where students go, on a percentage basis, when they graduate from the school. How many move on to a four-year college? A two-year college? Take time off? Jump right into industry?
5) Special Education Schools vs. Traditional Prep Schools / Private Schools: In order to meet enrollment goals, many traditional schools are choosing to admit students with learning differences these days. It is very tempting for families to consider these schools because they have a more traditional private school setting and culture. However, not all of these schools have the expertise and/or proven methodologies "in-house" to academically assist these students. It is important to be cautious and ask detailed questions when considering traditional private schools for your child with specialized needs if the school does not have a proven history of working effectively with this sub-population.
A few questions that can open up a discussion about supports for your child:
-Are the teachers trained in special education and what credentials do they carry?
-Is my child going to be pulled out of class or an after school activity to receive help?
-Will my child have to go to a resource room to get additional support?
6) Always ask the school for at least 3 parent references and, in doing so, make sure each has had their child attend the school for at least one full academic year. It may also be helpful to request parent references that are from the same geographical area in order to be able to control comparisons in relating to local school decisions, requirements, etc.