Separate Schools for People with Disabilities?

A WebQuest for American Studies Social Studies

AHTC Summer Institute 2008

Designed by

Mark Freedman

Introduction

In an effort to reduce education costs, the Illinois State Legislature has passed a law requiring all school districts to create separate schools to be used exclusively by students requiring wheelchair accessibility. The state calculated savings of hundreds of millions of dollars in building costs by focusing accessibility modifications on a select few rather than all the schools in each district. The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) brought a lawsuit against the State of Illinois arguing that this law violated their constitutional rights. You are an internationally acclaimed lawyer who has been asked by both sides of the case to represent them. After careful consideration you choose one side (either the State of Illinois or the AAPD) and prepare arguments to support your case.

The question to be decided is this: Does the 14^th Amendment apply to people with disabilities?

Roles

You and your teammates will assume the roles of either the lawyers for the state of Illinois or lawyers for AAPD

The Task

Your legal team will be in charge of presenting a persuasive speech of between 500-750 words to the Supreme Court arguing your position. Your Speech must include:

1. INTRODUCTION (100-150 words) This includes:
1. Grabber—interesting event, situation, or phenomenon that dramatizes your position
2. Background Information—provide some relevant information that will help your audience better understand the issues
3. Thesis--stating both your side’s position and why it is the correct position
4. Preview—list here the three major points your side will make in order to prove your thesis

2. BODY (300-450 words) This includes Three Major Points

that demonstrate your thesis (100-150 each). Every major

point must both

1. refer to specific evidence (e.g. Constitution, previous court cases, etc.)
2. explain how that evidence supports your major point

3. CONCLUSION (100-150 words) This includes:
1. Summary—list again your three major points (similar to preview in introduction)
2. Acknowledgement of Opponent—note here the other side’s legitimate concerns (“Although our opponents…”)
3. Restatement of Thesis—after acknowledging your opponents’ concerns, reiterate your thesis concluding that your position is still the better case
4. Clincher statement—provide a powerful ending that firmly puts your position in the right

The Process

1. First, you will be assigned to groups of 3-4 people

2. Next, You will choose the side you wish to argue: State of Illinois or AAPD

3. You will spend three days in the computer lab looking up the following resources and filling out a learning log on information you have used and how you will use it

4. After completing your learning logs, you will have some collaboration time to work together on your presentations. During this time you will compose your speech according to the directions and assign different parts of the speech to each group member. Make sure that each of you is clear on what part(s) of the speech he or she is giving and the order of the speakers. Fill in your speakers below:

Introduction _________________________________

Major Point #1 _________________________________

Major Point #2 _________________________________

Major Point #3 _________________________________

Conclusion _________________________________

5. Practice giving your speech with each other

6. Present your speech to the class

Resources

http://www.il.gov/news/NewsBudget.cfm

http://www.americanradioworks.org/features/remembering

http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/pubs/A5/wolff.html

http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/opinion1.html

http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/home.html

http://www.aapd.com/index.php

Evaluation

Each group member will be scored according to his or her own work and section of the speech. You will all receive a common group preparation grade (see second row).

Activity	Exceptional 4	Proficient 3	Developing 2	Needs Improvement 1	Score
Individual Preparation (20 Points)	Learning Log complete and well-organized; resources utilized effectively.	Learning Log complete; resources utilized.	Learning Log partially complete; evidence of some resources utilized.	Learning Log is lacking or not done; little evidence of resources.
Group Preparation (10 Points)	High level of cooperation and coordination in group	Group cooperates and coordinates work	Group partially cooperates and coordinates work	Group work has little or no cooperation or coordination
Contribution to Group (20 Points)	Performs all duties of assigned team role. Completes all tasks on time.	Performs nearly all duties. Completes most tasks on time.	Performs very little duties and/or completes tasks late.	Does not perform any duties of assigned team role and/or does not complete any tasks.
Presentation Delivery (10 Points)	Speaker presents dynamically with excellent volume, rate, tone, fluency, and eye contact	Speaker presents competently with good volume, rate, tone, fluency, and eye contact	Speaker presents fairly with mediocre volume, rate, tone, fluency, and/or eye contact	Speaker presents poorly with insufficient volume, rate, tone, fluency, and/or eye contact.
Presentation Content (40 Points)	Speech demonstrates excellent understanding of topic, effective argumentation, and control of language	Speech demonstrates adequate understanding of topic, effective argumentation, and control of language.	Speech demonstrates partial understanding of topic, effective argumentation, and/or control of language	Speech demonstrates poor understanding of topic, effective argumentation, and/or control of language
Total Points	90-100	80-89	60-79	0-59