15 May When working with students with exceptionalities, it is important to understand the roles of various members of the special education team. Admini
When working with students with exceptionalities, it is important to understand the roles of various members of the special education team. Administrators, paraprofessionals, service providers (such as a speech, occupational, and physical therapists), teachers, and school nurses can all be members of this group, depending on the individual needs of the student. Understanding the role of each person during the IEP process and providing students with services in an educational setting is an integral part of instructing students with disabilities. This ensures their needs are being met within the requirements of the law and that the students and families are receiving appropriate support and resources.
Allocate up to 2 hours in the field to support this field experience.
Because this course does not require you to have a fingerprint clearance card, your field experience must be completed before or after school, or during another designated time when students are not present.
In person or via phone, interview two individuals who each represent a different role on the special education team specific to a grade range relevant to your program of study. Potential interviewees could include a school administrator, paraprofessional, school psychologist, service providers such as a speech, occupational, or physical therapists, or a school nurse. Do not interview a special education or general education teacher for this assignment, as those individuals will be interviewed in later field experiences. Be prepared to take notes, as these will be submitted as part of the assignment deliverable.
In the interview, address the following.
- Discuss the characteristics of individuals with exceptionalities whom you serve, including gifted as well as those with disabilities.
- Describe the educational, developmental, and medical services available for individuals with disabilities in your district.
- Describe the specific steps in the IEP process.
- Explain how special education and general education teachers are supported in the IEP process.
- Describe how you collaborate with members of the IEP team. List other stakeholders you collaborate with as part of the IEP process and describe this collaboration.
- Describe what you do to support families of individuals with disabilities.
- Explain the process of addressing behavioral issues for students with disabilities.
- Discuss the professional development that is available to you regarding special education policies, services, and educational strategies. Discuss whether there is specific training related to confidentiality, including who leads the training and how often it is required.
- Discuss what you do to stay current on special education law.
In 250-500 words, consider what you learned from the two interviews and discuss the following:
- Describe the similarities you noted in the responses of both interviewees. Include discussion of why you think that, regardless of their unique roles on the special education team, these commonalities exist.
- Describe what made the role of each of your interviewees unique on the special education team. Include discussion of the key responsibilities each has in ensuring the needs of individuals with disabilities are being met in the educational setting.
- Discuss what you learned about the significance of collaboration between members of the special education team. Include discussion of why collaborative professional practice is essential to meeting the needs of students with disabilities in the educational setting.
- Explain how you will apply what you have learned from the interviews in your future professional practice related to using collaboration and other best practices to meet the needs of students with disabilities in the educational setting. Provide specific examples of ways that you can collaborate with individuals in the roles of the interviewees.
Submit your interview notes and reflection.
Edinburg
· Discuss the characteristics of individuals with exceptionalities whom you serve, including gifted as well as those with disabilities.
We mainly serve students with Emotional Disabilities and Other Health Impairments for ADHD. We also have students with Autism, ID and many also meet for speech. We also have some students who are twice exceptional with a disability and gifted as well.
· Describe the educational, developmental, and medical services available for individuals with disabilities in your district.
There is a continuum of services available for our students ranging from accommodations/goals, inclusion support or self-contained classroom and a range of combination of services. These services can include educational, developmental, behavioral and/or medical services.
· Describe the specific steps in the IEP process.
For a student who does not receive services, the student receives interventions and data is collected to determine if progress is being made. If adequate progress is not being made and a disability is suspected, a full and individual evaluation is recommended. Once the evaluation is completed, a staffing is held to review the results of the evaluation. If meeting eligibility for a disability and there is an educational need for services, a plaafp is developed addressing strengths and weaknesses. A draft IEP is developed based on student needs, including measurable goals, accommodations, academic services, related services and functional services. A meeting is scheduled to meet with parent to share results and recommendations prior to ARD to see if parent has any questions or any additional input. An ARD meeting is scheduled to review the recommendations and put services in place.
· Explain how special education and general education teachers are supported in the IEP process.
A staffing is held with all educational members to discuss student data and to make recommendations for students. All special education teachers are trained in the Instructional Cycle. They also have access to Instructional Specialists to collaborate on IEP writing.
· Describe how you collaborate with members of the IEP team. List other stakeholders you collaborate with as part of the IEP process and describe this collaboration.
Staffings are scheduled at least two weeks prior to ARD to review data and collaborate to make recommendations. Staff are also expected to reach out to parents to discuss data/recommendations and get parent input. If student is old enough, they are also encouraged to participate in their educational plan. Stakeholders include general education and special education teachers, administration, related services, instructional services and anyone who may provided services to a student. Outside service providers can also provide information based on parent requests.
· Describe what you do to support families of individuals with disabilities.
Teachers have conferences with families to support the family with training. This can be parent training or in-home training. Families can also have support to social work services and are provided with community resource information when applicable. Families are also included in the IEP process to support the students.
· Explain the process of addressing behavioral issues for students with disabilities.
Interventions are recommended and data is collected to support the student with behavior needs. A student that meets eligibility as a student with a disability and has a behavior need can receive a range of services from accommodations, BIP, goals and behavior support that may be social skills training, in-class support, PASS program to self-contained services.
· Discuss the professional development that is available to you regarding special education policies, services, and educational strategies. Discuss whether there is specific training related to confidentiality, including who leads the training and how often it is required.
Staff are trained each year on special education policies, services and educational strategies and confidentiality at the beginning of the year. Throughout the year training is available as well as individual technical assistance .
· Discuss what you do to stay current on special education law.
The district provides updates on special education law and has it available in the virtual platform for review. Also, being part of a professional special education organization helps remaining current on special education law.
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Hamm
· Discuss the characteristics of individuals with exceptionalities whom you serve, including gifted as well as those with disabilities.
In the special education program we work with students of many abilities and disabilities. We serve students who have physical disabilities. They may be wheel chair bound, require tube feedings, or need assistance to physically access their school environment. We service students who cognitive disabilities who are working at a prerequisite level and need a completely different environment to access the curriculum. We serve students who have speech impairments and only receive speech therapy. We have students who require assistance with behavioral or emotional regulations. We also serve students who have specific learning disabilities. These students require more help than can be provided solely in the general education setting. Amongst these students, we can see students who are also participating in the gifted and talented program. To have a disability in one area does not impair you in all areas.
· Describe the educational, developmental, and medical services available for individuals with disabilities in your district.
Within our district you will find many different programs to serve the special education population. We begin providing service at the age of 3, and for some students lasts until they are 22. Essentially whatever the IEP team deems necessary, either medically or educationally, we provide. That can mean:
A self-contained class for students working on a prerequisite level
In class support
Resource classes
Speech Therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, music therapy, Orientation and Mobility training, Vision Instruction, Deaf instruction…
A self-contained class for students who are unable to regulate the behaviors and emotions
Tube feedings are provided when necessary
One on one nursing on the rare occasion it is deemed medically necessary
· Describe the specific steps in the IEP process.
The IEP process is a continuous cycle. Case managers should constantly collecting data, collaborating with general education teachers and service providers. They should also always be working parents to hear any concerns or celebrations. Prior to every ARD there is a staffing where all staff that work with the student come to together and share their data. They use this time to draft recommendations for the new ARD. The case manager communicates with the parents to review recommendations prior to the ARD meeting. I have attached the specific steps and timelines the district expects to prepare for an ARD.
· Explain how special education and general education teachers are supported in the IEP process.
On our campus each student is assigned a case manager. This is the first point of contact for a general education teacher when they need support for a student. They work together to create recommendations for the student and to set goals for the IEP year. Our district also has instructional specialist to support both the general and special education teacher to provide resources and support.
· Describe how you collaborate with members of the IEP team. List other stakeholders you collaborate with as part of the IEP process and describe this collaboration.
Prior to every ARD we hold a staffing that allows all staff involved with the student to come together and work together. With some students instructional specialist and administration are involved. General education teachers are supposed to reach out to the case manager with any concerns. If it’s something that cannot be solved between the two of them a staffing will be scheduled.
· Describe what you do to support families of individuals with disabilities.
Our district has a Family resource center specifically for our special population. Classes are held through out the year based on the needs of the communities. Parents also work with teachers as much as they can. When a parent has a need or a concern they will hopefully bring it to myself or their case manager and they can direct them to the support that they need. It is not isolated to special education support. All students are general education students first.
· Explain the process of addressing behavioral issues for students with disabilities.
Our district has many support staff to address behavior concerns with our population of students. AS with any intervention we want to try the least restrictive first. Can the problem be addressed with accommodations in the classroom. If the problem cannot be supported with accommodations we can begin to work with our behavior instructional specialist or our ABA staff. A functional behavior assessment can be done to develop a Behavior intervention plan. More restrictive environments can be recommended when all other interventions have been exhausted.
· Discuss the professional development that is available to you regarding special education policies, services, and educational strategies. Discuss whether there is specific training related to confidentiality, including who leads the training and how often it is required.
There are teacher development days that are built into the district calendar. These trainings are developed based on the needs of the staff. The staff is asked what they want training in, allowing the teachers to be trained in areas of need. There are district wide confidentiality trainings at the beginning of each year, but it is not isolated to SPED. It is for all staff.
