RKenyon721 at aol.com wrote:
Will you please share information with us about your program for 
students with LD in Vermont?

I'm a special education teacher for the Community High School of Vermont 
CHSVT. The school is an independent school created by the state 
legislature to provide education to individuals involved with the state 
correctional system. We have school sites at every correctional facility 
and at many probation and parole offices.

The school provides special education services to students who need 
them. We follow the same special education laws and regulations that all 
schools in the state follow. Almost half of the school's students have 
prior histories of special education and they are monitored closely when 
they attend classes at CHSVT.

Our legal mandate is to provide education to youth in corrections under 
the age of 22 who do not have a diploma, but we also encourage older 
offenders to engage in school. We will assist all students in obtaining 
a high school diploma. Alternatively we will assist in GED testing if 
that is what the student wishes. Many students start work on a GED but 
then change their goals and begin work on a diploma, sometimes earning 
both a GED and a diploma before they are finished.

A great many of our students were once diagnosed with learning 
disabilities or emotional disturbance. A smaller number may be learning 
impaired. The school has developed a model of instruction that includes 
self-paced individualized instruction. Courses do not have grades or 
passing and failing. Instead there will be a set of course requirements. 
A student may work on them at an individual pace. High school credit is 
awarded based strictly on what the student knows and can do, and not on 
the basis of seat time spent in class. This model is what we have found 
to be most beneficial to all our students whether or not they have 
disabilities.

In determining whether a student is eligible for special education, a 
Vermont student must pass through three gates: there must be a 
disability, there must be an adverse effect on one's education due to 
the disability, and there must be a need for special education. Although 
the majority of our students pass the first two gates, only a small 
minority of the most needy students pass through the third gate  and 
receive special education services. This is because, in the vast 
majority of cases, the student's needs are met through the regular 
education program because it is self-paced and individualized.

There is more information about CHSVT in the recent issue of Focus on 
Basics that addressed corrections education. A Google search for "chsvt" 
will point to the school's web site, the FOB article and other pages 
that discuss the school. I will also try to answer any specific 
questions you may have.

Tom Woods
Community High School of Vermont