"I started a joke...       ...which started the whole world crying." KASP ACTIVITY June luncheon!    BREAKING NEWS...  BREAKING NEWS... KASP is planning an End-of-the-Year Celebration Luncheon for June 4th, 2008.  The details will follow via e-mail ... please save the date!

Hello All,      This is just a friendly reminder that if any student in special education is getting an F, that means one of two things:  either 1) the student has been misdiagnosed and/or misplaced and immediate changes need to occur; or 2) special education interventions aren't working, FAPE is not being provided, and immediate changes need to occur.      See you next month! FREE advice for students... Not that you asked for my free advice, but hey, it's FREE! The next time your teacher tells you, "education is your job," politely respond, "I respectfully disagree, Miss Smith, education isn't my job -- it's my right."  Be sure to remain calm and smile as you speak or else you will get a detention. FREE advice for interns...  Not that you asked for my free advice, but hey, it's FREE! If you are enrolled in an old-school, behaviorally-oriented (RtI/ABA/reward-punishment) graduate program, don't sign up for an internship in a district that utilizes a traditional, cognitive-based (IQ/discrepancy/processing) philosophy or a district that promotes a progressive, success-based, positive psychology (RWOL/humanistic/reciprocal-deterministic) system of care -- for you will become frustrated and confused. If, on the other hand, you are enrolled in a traditional, cognitive-based (IQ/discrepancy/processing) graduate program, don't sign up for an internship in a district that utilizes a progressive, success-based, positive psychology (RWOL/humanistic/reciprocal-deterministic) system of care or a district practicing an old-school, behaviorally-oriented (RtI/ABA/reward-punishment) approach -- for you will become frustrated and confused. Finally, if you are enrolled in a progressive, success-based, positive psychology (RWOL/humanistic/reciprocal-deterministic) graduate program, don't sign up for an internship in a district that utilizes an old-school, behaviorally-oriented (RtI/ABA/reward-punishment) approach or a district that promotes a traditional, cognitive-based (IQ/discrepancy/processing) model -- for you will become frustrated and confused. More Revolutionary Thought Disability Is Natural http://www.disabilityisnatural.com "We do not need to change people with disabilities!  We need to change ourselves and how we think about disability." To become a KASP member... ...contact Traci Taber Rivas directly at:  rivast@gfusd.k12.ca.us

Dear KOG Editor,    Is the KASP activity on the First of May?                Signed, "Planning Ahead" Dear Planning Ahead,    No, it's on June 4th.                Signed, KOG Editor

Dear KOG Editor,    Why has time passed us by?                Signed, "In my 50's" Dear In My 50's,    Don't ask me why.                Signed, KOG Editor NOTES & DISCLAIMERS:  Any opinions expressed in the KOG are opinions only and are not necessarily approved or supported by the KASP organization or anyone else, including the KOG Editor.  On the other hand, any facts expressed or implied are indeed, facts.  Just as is true for everything else in this world, you get to decide what is opinion, what is fact, and what is research based, and if and how they may or may not all go together.  Please note that just because something is research based doesn't necessarily make it a fact;  and not all facts are research based.  Some opinions are facts and research based.  Some opinions are not facts, yet are still research based.  Just because something is research based doesn't necessarily make it a fact, or ethical.  Some facts are facts for some but not facts for others; the same concept holds true for opinions and research.  The same can be said for humor, satire, parody, and serious notes.  Some opinions are just opinions.  However, one thing is always certain...       ...everything is.

The KOG's May BONUS

No Dentist Left Behind (NDLB)
by Bernard Crowley

My dentist is great! He sends me reminders so I don't forget checkups. He uses the latest techniques based on research. He never hurts me, and I've got all my teeth.

When I ran into him the other day, I was eager to see if he'd heard about the new state program. I knew he'd think it was great.

"Did you hear about the new state program to measure effectiveness of dentists with their young patients?" I said.

"No," he said. He didn't seem too thrilled. "How will they do that?"

"It's quite simple," I said. "They will just count the number of cavities each patient has at age 10, 14, and 18 and average that to determine a dentist's rating. Dentists will be rated as excellent, good, average, below average, and unsatisfactory. That way parents will know which are the best dentists. The plan will also encourage the less effective dentists to get better," I said. "Poor dentists who don't improve could lose their licenses to practice."

"That's terrible," he said.

"What? That's not a good attitude," I said. "Don't you think we should try to improve children's dental health in this state?"

"Sure I do," he said, "but that's not a fair way to determine who is practicing good dentistry."

"Why not?" I said. "It makes perfect sense to me."

"Well, it's so obvious," he said. "Don't you see that dentists don't all work with the same clientele, and that much depends on things we can't control? For example, I work in a rural area with a high percentage of patients from deprived homes, while some of my colleagues work in upper middle-class neighborhoods. Many of the parents I work with don't bring their children to see me until there is some kind of problem, and I don't get to do much preventive work.  Also, many of the parents I serve let their kids eat way too much candy from an early age, unlike more educated parents who understand the relationship between sugar and decay. To top it all off, so many of my clients have well water which is untreated and has no fluoride in it. Do you have any idea how much difference early use of fluoride can make?"

"It sounds like you're making excuses," I said. "I can't believe that you, my dentist, would be so defensive. After all, you do a great job, and you needn't fear a little accountability."*

"I am not being defensive!" he said. "My best patients are as good as anyone's, my work is as good as anyone's, but my average cavity count is going to be higher than a lot of other dentists because I chose to work where I am needed most."

"Don't get touchy," I said.

"Touchy?" he said. His face had turned red, and from the way he was clenching and unclenching his jaws, I was afraid he was going to damage his teeth.

"Try furious! In a system like this, I will end up being rated average, below average, or worse. The few educated patients I have who see these ratings may believe this so-called rating is an actual measure of my ability and proficiency as a dentist. They may leave me, and I'll be left with only the most needy patients. And my cavity average score will get even worse. On top of that, how will I attract good dental hygienists and other excellent  entists to my practice if it is labeled below average?"

"I think you are overreacting," I said. "'Complaining, excuse-making, and stonewalling won't improve dental health... I am quoting from a leading member of the DOC," I noted.

"What's the DOC?" he asked.

"It's the Dental Oversight Committee," I said, "a group made up of mostly lay persons to make sure dentistry in this state gets improved."

"Spare me," he said, "I can't believe this. Reasonable people won't buy it," he said hopefully.

The program sounded reasonable to me, so I asked, "How else would you measure good dentistry?"

"Come watch me work," he said. "Observe my processes."

"That's too complicated, expensive and time-consuming," I said.

"Cavities are the bottom line, and you can't argue with the bottom line. It's an absolute measure."

"That's what I'm afraid my parents and prospective patients will think. This can't be happening," he said despairingly.

"Now, now," I said, "don't despair. The state will help you some."

"How?" he asked.

"If you receive a poor rating, they'll send a dentist who is rated excellent to help straighten you out," I said brightly.

"You mean," he said, "they'll send a dentist with a wealthy clientele to show me how to work on severe juvenile dental problems with which I have probably had much more experience? BIG HELP!"

"There you go again," I said. "You aren't acting professionally at all."

"You don't get it," he said. "Doing this would be like grading schools and teachers on an average score made on a test of children's progress with no regard to influences outside the school, the home, the community served and stuff like that. Why would they do something so unfair to dentists? No one would ever think of doing that to schools."

I just shook my head sadly, but he had brightened. "I'm going to write my representatives and senators," he said. "I'll use the school analogy. Surely they will see the point."

He walked off with that look of hope mixed with fear and suppressed anger that I, a professional educator, see in the mirror so often lately.

*Do our educational leaders know the difference between accountability and punishment -- or do they just not care?