As I prepare to become a public school teacher in Pennsylvania, it is imperative that I understand the process by which we refer and educate special education students within our schools.
It was my experience growing up in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, that few "special education" students attended school in "general education" classrooms. This was before the days of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Act) which guarantees special education students accommodations in the LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) possible.
What that means is that I will likely have special education students in my classes, and that I may also need to refer students for special education services throughout my teaching career.
I experienced this when I taught in a public school in California. What I saw were students who were able (with the help of an instructional aide) to join the classroom did, and those who had severe, multiple disabilities were taught in a separate Resource Center. However, I never witnessed the referrals and IEP processes of those students, so I learned a great deal when I interviewed two teachers and a special education teacher in our school district (Quaker Valley) to better learn what the procedure is for ensuring that special education students are identified and accommodated.
(I am not using the teachers' names, since this blog is public. And they were all three exceptionally nice to be interviewed during the very busy month of May.)
Interview with a special education teacher
I interviewed the 4th and 5th grade support teacher at a local elementary school. The students she teachers primarily have learning disabilities and some of her students are on the (autism) spectrum. She provides support in the regular education classroom and also teaches classes in her resource room. She works hard to use the general education curriculum and modify it as needed for her students. She also create supplemental materials so that her students can practice in-class information repeatedly. (Side note: Wow, she works hard!)
In my interview, I learned that Quaker Valley implements what they call a "Multi-Tiered System of Support" (MTSS) for every student, which helps them to identify special education students as early as possible. With this system, they can follow every students' progress, which they track at least three times during the school year.
When I asked how parents are involved in the referral and accommodation process, she explained that parents are involved from the moment the teacher feels that the current classroom supports are not enough for the child. That is when a child is referred to MTSS, goals are created and accommodations and modifications are put in place to meet the child's needs.
The special education teacher holds parent meetings throughout the year to discuss how things are going with the interventions in place. If the progress toward a child's goals are not met, then she would ask parents to sign off on a permission to do a full academic or behavioral evaluation. If they agree, and the testing results indicate that special education is needed, then she would move ahead with creating an Individualized Education Program (IEP).
The final part of the procedure is a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NOREP) that parents need to sign before special education can begin.
Speaking of the parents' needing to sign the NOREP, she explained that it is up to the parents what level support, if any, that their child received. "They can deny support at any step of the referral process," she said. Regardless, the child's teacher can continue to do the things they typically do in the classroom to support students' needs.
Finally, I asked her whether there was a classroom dedicated to students with more severe disabilities, and I learned it's called "Life Skills," which comports with my earlier research about special education facilities that modify their curriculum to teach life skills to students with severe disabilities rather than more academic topics. She explained that the resource classroom is for students who are generally 1-2 years behind their peers academically, and she uses it to provide small group instruction in hopes of closing the gap between her learning support students and their peers.
Second Grade Teacher
Next, I interviewed another hard-working teacher in a general education classroom. She explained that they have benchmarks they use to measure students' progress. These include the DIBELS reading fluency test and the MAZE reading comprehension test. She also gathers assessment through informal and formal observations during reading and math classes. She says that in second grade it can be difficult because "attention issues (off-task behavior and responses) interfere with responses and performance on assessments." She says that tests like DIBELS help with that discrepancy.
Second grade teachers also have fewer "highly identifiable" special education students because they generally get picked up for special education classes before they reach second grade. The classic indicators she looks for are inability to perform up to level on tasks and to act appropriately in the classroom.
She has had success bringing some student up to level without the formal assistance from the Special Education teacher by working at small group or individually with the student. Sometimes she has a class reduction teacher who can give their time to her class, a "Generation Together" volunteer, or an upper level student who volunteers their time during the day.
Parents can also help make the difference by working closely with their students. In addition, the school has a Title 1 program that helps identify and assist students who are specifically failing in reading. And students can also visit the reading specialist in a small group for 30 minutes a day.
And finally, I asked her what her specific tipping point is for referring a student for MTSS. "When what you are doing is not making a dent," it's time to talk with the parents and the special education staff about further testing.
Third Grade Teacher
I asked the third grade teacher what the signs are, to her, of a struggling student. "There could be few or many," she said. "Sometimes kids begin to withdraw when they are struggling. They don't participate, are reluctant to answer, look to other students in the class to lead discussions, and they are reluctant to try and take risks."
I was surprised to learn that students who are dealing with a learning disability will also exhibit bad behavior to distract from their issues. According to this teacher, "Sometimes a struggling student acts out to take away from the fact that something is hard or they don't understand it." In addition, they may obfuscate the real reason they haven't completed an assignment. "They may offer excuses for why it wasn't completed, and seek negative attention so that the focus is no longer on the academics, but on the behaviors."
How does she start to identify a student who needs extra help? "The easiest identifiers are seen in the work or progress completed by the student on a daily basis. If the majority of the class demonstrates that they understand a concept, (you may want) to meet with the student and see the misconception or misunderstanding."
In addition, she takes the speed of learning into consideration when evaluating her students. "(I) also consider how quickly a student grasps a concept." In general, she continues to gather data to determine where the student is.
Before she refers a student for special education, she tries as many adaptations of a lesson that she is aware of. She could do "chunking," which is breaking down a text into smaller parts. She also marks page numbers so students can quickly find information from a page. She tries putting more white space on a page to help students focus, she reads it aloud, and reduces the number of questions that a student must answer.
If, from that point, a student isn't making gains, she moves to the referral process. She can work with the special education team who may have some additional suggestions and set goals for the student. And then finally they will complete a screening to help the team make a decision about moving to the MTSS process.
Conclusions
Students seem very well supported at this school district, and I noticed that the teachers work hard with students before moving on to a a referral for special education.
These are all very hard working educators who know well how to negotiate a complicated process for these equally complicated students.
References
Personal Communication, May 11, 2017, Special Education Teacher, Second Grade Teacher and Third Grade Teacher
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