Is this someone with a learning disability or someone who's lazy?
At times I have students who I think may have a learning disability, but have not acnowledged this fact. To ask them is a sign of disrespect if I am wrong. I know that by doing nothing, I may be doing them a disservice. My hands are tied by privacy laws.
I have a remediation plan with my students. When someone fails a test, they are required to review every question and identify why they got that question wrong. They must choose between content, question style, misreading key words or phrases, etch. The remediation form further breakdowns possible reasons for answering incorrectly. Through this method, the students can identify common problems with test taking and identify where they need to focus their studies.
I agree with you Chuck, I know that in our school we have many different programs and some are almost impossible to go into with a disability. In the program that I teach, dental assisting, the individual must be able to have good balance, multi-task and also move quickly. I have experienced this dilema with a student who was struggling due to her disability and I met with him and was completely honest about her success in this field. I explained to him that although we cannot discriminate against him that she should think if she would be able to handle this demanding career at a rate of speed that would be needed to be hired. He was very happy that I was honest with him and said that he may be better off switching to another program. I didn't want to wait until she paid for the schooling and they could not get hired in the profession. Although it was hard to tell him the brutal truth; he was better off knowing up front.
I wonder if after a failed quiz or test it would be okay to discuss with them if they can think of a reason why they may have been unsuccessful in passing the test. Is it appropriate to read some of the questions they missed giving them the opportunity to answer to discern if they indeed know the information? Has anyone used this technique to open dialogue?
This is so true! I think that spending time on an individual basis with the student works best. If they are having issues with a certain subject, they are more likely to discuss the problem when they know they can trust you. There may be some cases where the student is just plain lazy, but as educators, we can't take that chance.
