#1. Makini Owusu – Activist, Educator, former
Principal, Tutor, Educational Consultant
She does not currently hold a
position in a school. Her responses are
from the perspective of a veteran educator with 20 years of experience with
special needs students in private and charter school settings. For 8
years, she served as Principal of Sunrise Academy, a special education institution
for at-risk boys in Washington, DC.
Q. How is a student
identified for special education referral?
A.
Teachers or
parent request testing based on classroom performance or questionable behavior
in the home or school environment. Once the testing is completed (psychological,
speech/language, occupational therapy evals often after a child study team
observes the child at school), a meeting is held to discuss the findings and
share the determination.
Q. Who takes responsibility
for the progress of the child before and after the referral?
A.
The parent,
child (depending upon age), and teachers/school should take responsibility
prior to and after the referral. The school has the greatest
responsibility after the referral especially if the behavior impacts the child's
ability to learn or if there is a learning disability. But the parent
should be in constant communication with the school in general and the teacher
specifically.
Q. What is the school
administration’s directive for special education?
A.
The directive
should be to provide the best learning environment for a special needs child.
But often, because these children are in the minority, their needs are
considered secondarily or only when lawyers are involved.
Q. What provisions are made for students identified
for special education?
A.
In a private
special education school, the total environment is designed to meet the needs
of the student. There are more staff, scheduling takes into consideration
needs for time out, therapy (whether in class or pull outs), more classroom
technology to enhance/support multi-sensory teaching, etc.
In a general education setting, some of the same
provisions are provided, but more recently "inclusion" allows for two
teachers in the classroom to help address the sped (special education) student's
needs without pulling him/her out.
Regardless of the educational setting, a student's IEP
determines what provisions are needed. The school often determines how to
establish the provisions.
Q. What is the level of
parent involvement in referral process and special education?
A. In the referral process, parents had to be
involved or their children would not receive services.
Once the child is identified as having special needs,
parental involvement in both of the settings mentioned here started out
minimal, but increased as staffing designed to reach out to sped parents
increased enabling more/better communication with parents. The private
school went so far as to offer transportation, provide dinner, door prizes, and
child care.
#2. Nkenge Cunningham – M.Ed. Special Education
Nkenge Cunningham has a
Master’s Degree in Special Education from the University of the District of
Columbia. She has been teaching for
several years. For the past 4 years, she
has been teaching AP English at
Roosevelt High School, a DC Public School. A wife and mother of four, she is devoted
to building family and community.
Q. How is a student identified for special
education referral?
A. A student is identified primarily through
observations and student’s performance in the class. Typically a teacher will
be the first to recommend the student for testing to see if they require
special education services based on the student’s performance in his/her class.
Q. Who takes responsibility for the progress of
the child before and after the referral?
A. Before the
referral the responsibility is primarily taken by the teacher and parent of the
student. After the referral the responsibility falls in the hands of a team led
by a psychologist whose focus is now assessing the child.
Q. What is the school administration’s directive
for special education?
A. Inclusion is a big
push by the administration. Ensuring that all students learn in their least
restrictive environment is key.
Q. What
provisions are made for students identified for special education?
A. Students who
are identified as special needs students are provided services that assist
their learning in the school setting. Services are very specific to each
student’s need. If necessary a student can receive services in Speech and
Language, physical therapy, counseling with a social worker, occupational
therapy, special accommodations and modifications during instruction or during
testing, and more.
Q. What is the level of parent involvement in
referral process and special education?
A. Parents are fully involved in the referral process and
in special educations. Parents consent to every step in the identification
process. A child cannot be tested without parental consent.
From a teacher prospective:
Q. How do you
identify a student for special education?
A. A teacher identifies a student for special education
by closely monitoring their performance in the classroom. This is done by
collecting work samples, assessments, and keeping anecdotal notes.
Q. What are the
signs of a struggling student?
A. Social withdrawal and behavior issues are signs that a
student may not be able to do the work. In these ways a child may “act out” to
cover up his learning difficulties.
Q. Are there
alternate methods of instruction tried out before referring the student for
special education? If yes, what are
they?
A. Yes. Understanding that every child learns in their own
unique way, it is important that teachers use multiple modalities to teach.
Some students learn better with visuals while other may have auditory
preferences. It becomes essential that a teacher uses multiple ways of
delivering instructions to meet each child’s learning capacity.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I find that Mrs. Owusu’s and Mrs.
Cunningham’s responses to the interview questions are completely aligned with
the resource materials we have reviewed in Teach-Now. Mrs.
Cunningham’s final response reminds me of the videos about Finland and New York’s
School of One. Each child learns best
via specific modalities. Teachers are
responsible for so much more than presenting the material and conducting periodic
assessments. As global education systems
evolve, the individual learner is taken more and more into account. Another good thing about the clear alignment
of their responses is the evidence that standards are set across the
board. In other words, no matter where
they are working, teachers are expected to follow the same protocols.
The unfortunate difference is in
reference to the question of Administration’s directive for special education: “The directive should be to provide the best learning environment
for a special needs child. But often, because these children are in the
minority, their needs are considered secondarily or only when lawyers are
involved.” In these cases, how long does
it actually take for students to be properly identified and diagnosed to receive
the help they need?
I learned a lot from this
activity. Looking toward the future, I
am hopeful that special education will continue to evolve to the point where
every school will see every student as a complex individual. Though some need more monitoring than others,
everybody needs an IEP!
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