Education Law

School of One - How does it work legally?

As we start to consider a lot of different models of education, one that is getting a lot of play is the NYC School of One initiative. I have had superintendents bring it up to me and it is getting attention in the blogosphere. Here is their overview video:

Program Overview from NYCDOE Teacher Development on Vimeo.

So, lawyers, what stood out to you? For me, it was this phrase "Individualized Learning Platform."

So, when I was teaching fresh out of undergrad I remember talking to one of the senior special education teachers in my building. We were talking about various issues and at some point I mentioned that I liked the IEP concept in special education and thought one day it will probably become the norm across all of education (remember, I was young and naive - okay, I still sort of am). Anyway, I was not prepared for the scolding that ensued. I got a 10 minute lecture on why that would be a horrible idea, that we would all be swimming in paperwork, that it would be utter chaos. So, I sort of dropped the idea. She made some good points and I was already swimming in paperwork just teaching under Title I, so I sort of resolved to agree with her for the time being. Then in law school, as I worked with the State of Illinois on special education issues, I remember thinking how impossible it would be to implement this for all children. We were barely, and I mean barely, keeping an handle on the special education system as it was, it would have literally shut the system down to add 10 times more students to that kind of system.

So, all this talk about the School of One has sort of brought me back to this issue, especially when they use language like an "Individualized Learning Platform." I want to be able to consider the idea and I want to like it, just like I wanted to like it fresh out of college. But, having now seen the stacks of paperwork and hours of due process for some students, I just can't wrap my head around how implementation of such a system would be possible, realistically. From the video they say technology is helping to bridge the gap, but what I saw was a gaping chasm, is technology really going to bridge that? Even if it does and we have electronic student records and we don't do IEP meetings and whatnot, how are we legally going to deal with a separate curriculum for each kid? I don't even know if it is physically possible, let alone practicable. 

So, help me out here. How are we going to do this? Or can we?

Full post as published by Edjurist on April 29, 2010 (boomark / email).