Special Education Stakeholders Interviews
docx
keyboard_arrow_up
School
University of the Cumberlands *
*We aren’t endorsed by this school
Course
530
Subject
Health Science
Date
Feb 20, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
7
Uploaded by BailiffSeahorseMaster1288
Running head: INTERVIEWS
Special Education Stakeholders Interviews
Sarah Mitchem
University of the Cumberlands
2
INTERVIEWS
Special Education Teacher
Michelle Brown is the fifth grade special education teacher at our rural school. She assists thirteen students with a variety of disabilities including: Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Autism, Specific Learning Disability, and Other Health Impairments. Our school year is a little different this year because of COVID-19. It is a hybrid schedule now, with students being virtual
or in-person. The school is only four days a week and five hours instead of the usual seven hours per day. In a normal day for Mrs. Brown, she spends one hour in Math, and two hours in Reading. She is very flexible in those classes and will pull students as needed. With the stricter school rules, small groups are not allowed at this time. She is also expected to write and hold IEP
meetings, 504 meetings, attend staff meetings, and has bus duty in the morning and afternoon. Mrs. Brown graduated from Bluefield College with her undergraduate degree and started her educational career as a general education teacher. After noticing how much pressure was on the general education teacher to provide accommodations for special education students, she decided to continue her education career. Mrs. Brown then went on to Concord University to obtain her Reading Specialist degree, but she did not stop there. After that, she went to Liberty University to get her Education Specialist degree in Special Education and is currently working on her dissertation for Curriculum Instruction with a concentration in Special Education. Along with teaching Special Education in fifth grade, she teaches an online math class at Bluefield College. I first wanted to know how in depth the IEP process was and asked Mrs. Brown to briefly
explain the process to me. She said she starts out with PLOP (present level of performance). This
is the student’s current performance and academic function. Then she gives the student an All About Me Survey, and talks about their transition to high school and college. She then
3
INTERVIEWS
establishes goals for the student both behavior and academic. She goes over MAP assessments, SOL and benchmark assessments. Then she will list the services that are needed for example, 60 minutes of reading, five times a week will take place. An IEP involves describing each individual student’s least restrictive environment, discussing if the student needs extended services, and going over psychiatric evaluations. Then she is able to discuss the results of the IEP
meeting. I did not realize all of the steps that it takes for an IEP and quickly realized developing an IEP does not happen overnight. Mrs. Brown stated that including the parents and support staff in the educational process is very important. According toShe mentioned communication is a key component with parents in the educational process. She says to always start out on a positive note. “This eases everyone’s
nerves and feelings at the beginning of any meeting or conversation.” She says that starting out with a positive experience gives student’s a higher chance of success and parents are more willing to work with the school staff. Of course, working with parents can also be a great challenge. Parents can get frustrated or angry with various aspects and usually the special education is the one that is the first to hear about those. Mrs. Brown says that using a calm voice,
lots of reassurance, and positive reinforcement really helps lower parent frustration levels. She reminds parents that they are a team and everyone working with the student desires the same outcome. The support staff in the school is great for station learning and small groups, she also mentions. A challenging event for Mrs. Brown has been making sure the special education team is on the same page as teachers and other faculty of the school. Our fifth grade group this year is very great at working as a team together. This has not always been the case. Some teachers do not view special education teachers as their partner and do not accept co-teaching very well.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
4
INTERVIEWS
Many teachers feel like Mrs. Brown should be the one doing all of the accommodating for lessons, etc. Just because Mrs. Brown is in the classroom, they feel that they do not have to provide read alouds, shortened assignments, etc. for the students. This year has also made it different as well with a lot of IEP students being online. Even though they are still online, their assignments still have to be accommodated and some teachers feel that it is Mrs. Brown’s job to shorten those assignments. Mrs. Brown talks about her strengths and weaknesses as well. She knows that she is very determined and never gives up on any student. This quality shows in her teaching and interactions with the students on a daily basis inside and outside of the classroom. She does say that a weakness of hers is that she overanalyzing things. We talked about how this was very easy to do in the education field and that you have to calm yourself down somedays before you can go
over the edge. Mrs. Brown always wants to make sure she is doing all she can for each student and they are not being hindered or left out in any way. She loves to see her student’s succeed and
form those positive relationships with them. Since I am continuing my education and obtaining a Master’s degree in School Counseling, I wanted to see how the school counselor could make a positive impact on special education. Mrs. Brown’s school does not have an actual school counselor, only a long term substitute. Because of the shortened school days, the long term sub mostly goes from class to class teaching and does not do a lot of one on one counseling. This leaves Mrs. Brown dealing with a lot of social/emotional issues along with academic issues as well. Being a future school counselor working along with the special education teacher, I will “practice collegially with others who are providing services to individuals with exceptionalities” following the CEC Code of Ethics Standards. She brings up one student who with even modifying and accommodating,
5
INTERVIEWS
nothing seemed to help. He would have many outbursts. Mrs. Brown had to handle the emotional
aspect before any academics could take place. Mrs. Brown is a big believer in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. As a future school counselor, I can “promote meaningful and inclusive participation of individuals with exceptionalities in their schools and communities” according to the CEC standards. Parent
Alison Mosko has a son born with Autism Spectrum Disorder with Speech Language Disability. Autism is a “spectrum” disorder because there is a such a wide variety in type of the disorder and the symptoms vary from person to person. Symptoms that occur in students can include difficulty communicating and interacting with others, repetitive behaviors and restricted interests, and inabilities to function in school and other areas of life properly. Johnathan is Alison’s first child. She became pregnant with Johnathan at the age of twenty-eight. Alison had no reason to suspect Johnathan would be autistic. There is no other cases of autism in her family. She was lucky enough to be a stay at home mother during her pregnancy and after Johnathan was born. She had a healthy pregnancy with no complications and
was very excited for her first born.
As soon as Johnathan was born, no symptoms were evident. When he reached the age of two years old, Alison started noticing something was different. Johnathan was not making eye contact with her or other people and noticed he had trouble letting her know what he wanted. Johnathan was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder at the age of two years old. Alison’s head started becoming filled with many questions. What would come next? She knew that she could really make a difference with Johnathan at home as well. She began to learn different accommodations for Johnathan that really made a difference such as putting headphones on in a
6
INTERVIEWS
noisy store or anywhere that would cause him to loose concentration. Other than the accommodations, she treated him as a normal child. She was very interactive with him, having a daily craft time and reading to him every day. Johnathan was ready for preschool and Alison was
ready to send him. She signed him up for the local preschool in her small town. Johnathan was an excellent, bright student who did not display any behavior issues. Alison always made sure she was in contact with the teachers and only a phone call away if they ever needed her. Alison knew that once Johnathan started Kindergarten at public school, things would be different and maybe not as easy. Once he started Kindergarten, things were not as bad as she had expected, but they were not as easy as she would have liked either. She had multiple meeting with his teacher, and the IEP process started. Alison was very thankful for a great school team and knew that Johnathan would get to where he needed to be. He needed the accommodations she was used to using at home, such as using headphones during sensory triggering moments and
walking down the hallway. The school team knew that Johnathan would not have a problem in class, but wanted those accommodations in place as well. After the IEP process was complete, Johnathan quickly became just like a normal student. He was considered inclusion and the special education would come to his classroom and accommodate as needed. Alison mentions that he loves school and made many friends throughout the years. Alison mentioned a frustration to her was how a couple of his teachers were not very willing to work with her. She said they wanted to act like they knew what was better for him and wanted to tell her what they thought Johnathan needed in the classroom. She said that she just had to stand her ground and make sure that he was getting the education she knew that he needed. Alison eventually got a job in the same primary school as Johnathan, which helped them both knowing that she was close by.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
- Access to all documents
- Unlimited textbook solutions
- 24/7 expert homework help
7
INTERVIEWS
Johnathan is now in the fifth grade. He is reading above grade level and has developed his own Google site. He is very technological savvy and loves to draw. He has also started his own comic book. He is going to be tested in the gifted program and considered dually exceptional. He is a very hard worker and does not have any behavioral issues. If he is shown to be working off task, the teacher just has to cue him back to his worksheet or reading story and he
picks up right where he leaves off. Johnathan is a great example of how parental involvement at home and with the school system makes a huge difference. He shows that students can have a disability, but can be exceptional as well. His mother quoted Johnathan by telling us he says, “I have Autism, but it is just a little bit.” Contact Information for Individuals Interviewed:
Michelle Brown (276) 970-5728
Alison Mosko (276) 971-4164