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Part I - Federal Categories of Special Education Part II - IEP and collaboration

Possible Circumstances that initiate the referral process

If a child is between birth to ages 2.9 and the parent is concerned that he/she is not keeping up with their peers the child can be referred to the Birth-3 system. After the age of three (3) if there are concerns by the parent, caregiver, pediatrician, dentist, etc. the child will be referred to their public school system.

If the child is already enrolled in school and the teacher has concerns he/she will go to the MDT and discuss concerns and a plan moving forward will be developed. That plan may include tiered interventions for the skill(s) that are a concern and meeting again in 6-8 weeks to review the data and make a determination if a full evaluation is necessary.

Who is involved in the IEP process and what are their roles?

The MDT would include the General Education teacher who is able to provide valuable input with regard to the student’s learning, what their day looks like as well as data that has been collected related to the general education curriculum. The Special Education teacher would work collaboratively on the RTI process and may also work directly with the student and have their own data and input with regard to the student’s strengths and weaknesses and learning style. The Special Education teacher would also administer cognitive and academic assessments. The School Psychologist would be the point person for explaining the process to the student’s family as well as administering personal social and behavior assessments and reviewing the existing records. The Speech and Language Pathologist would administer a communication screener and OT and PT would administer fine and gross motor screeners.

Steps to design a comprehensive report

The goal of the evaluation and subsequently the report is to accurately identify a student's patterns of strengths and needs. The evaluation must assess the child in all areas related to the child's suspected disability. The evaluation results will be used to decide the child's eligibility for special education and related services and to make decisions about an appropriate educational program for the child.. ( https://www2.ed.gov/parents/needs/speced/iepguide/index.html ).

The report must include background information provided by the parent/caregiver, a review of the assessment results, classroom observations and a summary and interpretation of the results.

Guide the development of the IEP to the needs of the child

Be sure to include on the modification page student's specific learning needs so that they can become part of the IEP. These learning needs will guide the classroom and special education teachers in providing the student with the appropriate accommodations and modifications during the normal school day as well as during testing. Use of a multisensory curriculum is the best way to assist all learners. You may list the student’s characteristics on page 2 when discussing the student and their present levels of performance with the team so that all members are able to gain a clear picture.

Most goals and objective options are going to be standards based per the curriculum. Remember, you can choose an objective below current grade level as well as create your own. Keep in mind when writing the objectives the goal is mastery in the course of a year.

Essential components of a well-written IEP

-	Current/Present Levels of Performance including but not limited to assessments, testing results and supports if required. This  must include information about how the student’s disability affects his or her involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.

-	Measurable Annual Goals and Objectives - Measurable annual goals are what a student can reasonably be expected to accomplish within a 12 month period with the provision of special education services.

-	Measuring and Reporting Progress - The IEP must contain an explanation of how progress toward annual goals and objectives will be measured. The measurement criteria and procedures must be appropriate for evaluating progress toward the particular goal.

-	Statement of Participation in the Regular Education Classroom - The IEP must specify the amount of time a child will participate in regular education programs and explain the rationale for that decision to show that students are educated in their least restrictive environment (LRE).

-	Participation is State and Districtwide tests - The IEP must state what modifications will be provided to the student during assessments.

-	Program and Testing Modifications - The IEP must describe the types of testing adaptations and modifications that will be used with the student and why they are necessary.

-	Length and Duration of Services - The IEP must include a projected beginning and ending date of services, the frequency of the services, where they will be delivered, and how long they will be provided.

-	Transition Services Statement -  A student that is 16 years old must have a statement in his IEP containing the need for transition services.

Progress Monitoring Tools in the General Education Classroom

Classroom Assessment Techniques are used quite often. These include rating scales, school wide expectations as well as school wide assessment tools including Fountas & Pinnell, DRA, math assessments guided by the curriculum and anecdotal notes. You can also use summative and formative assessments. These tools are used to gain data and drive instruction for all students.

Progress Monitoring Tools in the Special Education Classroom

Rating scales, observation, teacher created assessment techniques relevant to the IEP goals and objectives, review of records, criterion referenced assessments and authentic assessments are all used in the Special Education Classroom. All of these in addition to the data provided by the General Education Teacher will provide you with a comprehensive picture of the student.

Methods for involving parents in the assessment and IEP development process

Make it personal - parents want to know that the team is involved and knows their child. Ask questions about their concerns, about their knowledge of their child’s strengths and weaknesses. If necessary, provide rating scales to the parents and explain that their input counts just as much if not more than the data from the assessments.

Help parents prepare for the meetings - let them know what is going to happen, who will be there so that they are not overwhelmed. Provide evaluation results prior to the meeting so that the parent can review and ask questions and voice concerns if they have any.

Provide meaningful data on the progress reports. Data is personal to educators but parents do not often understand it. When they don’t understand they back away. We want them involved; answer questions and provide relevant feedback.

And always, if you have questions, ask for help. You are not in this alone.

There are several model types for the various classrooms. When planning for placement of a student consider all options but make sure that the option chosen is the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). Part III - PBIS, Differentiated instruction and AT

Roles and skill sets of special education teachers

-	Self-reflection provides opportunities to understand the needs of students and make adjustments in your teaching.

-	Effective communication allows for enhancement of leadership role and providing a model for all team members who play a part in IEPs.

-	Development of relationships is indispensable in order to accomplish tasks and achieve desired     outcomes.

-	Continuous learning as a result of collaborative efforts. Foundations for collaboration include time, training, and nurturing and result in student success

-	Use of a variety of models of service when designing programs to meet needs of students

-	Organizational skills that apply not only to the IEP but the process itself, data and planning.

Essential factors that contribute to a positive learning environment

Safety

Before students can succeed academically, they must feel safe, both physically and mentally. Although schools use a variety of measures to ensure students’ physical safety, certain efforts sometimes have negative effects on students, particularly those who are traditionally underserved. While data shows that the rates that teens experience violent crimes in their schools has declined, issues such as racial bias prevail and impact the effectiveness of school safety measures.

Engagement

Recent Gallup data shows a troubling trend—as students move through the K–12 education system, they become increasingly less engaged. By the time students reach eleventh and twelfth grades, only one-third of students report feeling engaged. In a survey of parents of students from low-income communities, the Alliance for Excellent Education (Alliance) finds the majority expressed concern that students’ individual learning needs are not being met and that students are not learning the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the real world.

Connectedness

Students must feel connected to teachers, staff, and other students. Schools can nurture these connections by focusing on students’ social and emotional learning (SEL). SEL helps students understand and manage their emotions and interactions with others and build the skills necessary to communicate and resolve conflicts. “SEL programs have been shown to improve students’ social competence, self-awareness, connection to school, positive interactions with others, and academic performance,” according to the SDCR. There are specific practices that educators can adopt to embrace SEL in the classroom, which also create a positive school climate and environment that supports students’ deeper learning.

Support

Students must feel supported by all those connected to their learning experience. This includes teachers, classmates, administrators, family, and community members. These parties should share an understanding of what positive school climate at the school and classroom looks like so they can work together toward this common goal. School leaders can engage community members, teachers, students, and parents in school climate improvement work through conversations, meetings, surveys, and creating school-community partnerships. School leaders should gather and incorporate the feedback of all of these groups in any school climate improvement work. A quick guide for district and school leaders, teachers, and other members of the school community on how to initiate, implement, and sustain school climate improvements is available here.

Common techniques and Approaches used in PBIS

Routines - students minds are conditioned by the use of routines. They understand the plan for the day from the moment they enter the room until the moment they step out.

Use of Consequences - student’s understand that certain behaviors may attract positive or negative consequences.

Group Reinforcement - entails encouraging positive action while discouraging misbehavior.

Evidence-based instructional interventions are instructional approach, practice, or methodology that is derived from evidence. Such evidence is often a derivative of empirical research, resulting in reliable, trustworthy, and valid substantiation suggesting that a program or practice is effective and that all proofs or facts that support such a program or practice are scientifically based.

Accommodations and modifications for exceptional students - accommodations are changes to the way your child is expected to learn or how he or she is tested. Modifications are changes to what your child is expected to learn. Accommodations involve many kinds of techniques and support systems. Accommodations help students work around limitations related to their disability. Modifications are changes made to WHAT students students are expected to learn.

AT Tools, resources and their purpose

- text-to-speech is useful to just get something short read to you. Another important use for text to speech is to read back pieces of writing so you can hear their grammatical or spelling mistakes.

Digital books are available to be read electronically on many devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, phones, Amazon’s Kindle, and Android devices.

Audio books offer speech only option, there is no text to accompany the sounds. These books are often read aloud by a human narrator.

Speech-to-Text Software, the user speaks to the device and it types it into written words.

Part IV - Study Skills, Applied Academics & Transitions

Study skills are instrumental in the success of students with learning disabilities. The more we can help them develop skills in note taking, organization, test taking, and memory, the more they will thrive.

A transition plan is the section of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) that outlines transition goals and services for the student. The transition plan is based on a high school student’s individual needs, strengths, skills, and interests. Transition planning is used to identify and develop goals which need to be accomplished during the current school year to assist the student in meeting his post-high school goals.

Applied academics is an approach to learning and teaching that focuses on how academic subjects (communications, mathematics, science, and basic literacy) can apply to the real world. Further, applied academics can be viewed as theoretical knowledge supporting practical applications.

Part 5 - References