Series follows “the children left behind”

The first-day chaos starts to fade long before the last bus pulls up to Orange Ridge Elementary in Bradenton, Florida. Teacher Lynne Eash stands outside cooling herself with a makeshift fan, watching students disappear from the breezeways. Most of her fellow teachers follow the children inside, but Eash stays behind, waiting for her students. They are always the last to arrive. Her new students all come to her because the school system deems they cannot learn like other children. They are in third, fourth and fifth grades but function like kindergartners because of mental retardation, brain damage or autism. Eash’s job for the school year: Find some way to teach them.

The Herald-Tribune spent the 2006-07 school year tracking a group of children with mental disabilities—students excluded from the high-stakes testing that has transformed public education. During more than 100 hours of unrestricted classroom visits, a reporter documented their year of learning. Read part one of the four-part series that began Monday in The Herald-Tribune.