Respond to at least two of your colleagues in one or more of the following ways:

Ask a probing or clarifying question about the specialized instruction at the school.

Offer any suggestions or support for colleagues’ identification of a specialized instructional strategy to support educators.

Reflect on your colleagues’ reflections and offer suggestions or ideas that you came up with that may be similar or different

Replies must be 250 words each

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Response from Paula

School Description and Administration Information

Dr. Ealy is a Program Supervisor for various divisions with the Cobb County School District. Her division is called the HOPE team. She supervises the deaf/head of hearing, vision impaired, orthopedically impaired, and adaptive PE. The grades the students who are included in the HOPE team are from Pre-K to twelfth grade. Within this department, there are unit self-contained teachers and itinerant teachers. Each itinerant teacher under Dr. Ealy’s supervision has a certain section of the county assigned to them. Most of the time if a student has an itinerant teacher the students are in an inclusion classroom. Dr. Ealy has experience in the field of special education which has expanded over 29 years. Dr. Ealy was my supervisor when I was an Orthopedically Impaired Itinerant teacher.

Supporting Specialized Instruction

The strategies of specialized instruction that are provided in the school district are teachers who are fluent with American Sign Language (ASL) to provide instruction to students who are deaf/hard of hearing (DHH). Additionally, there are vision impaired (VI) teachers who are able to teach Braille to students and translate assignments from the teacher into Braille documents so the student will be able to complete the assignment. The Orthopedically Impaired (OI) Teachers help the students with learning about their disability, how to maneuver if in wheelchair or walker, have knowledge of assistive technology to assist the students in completing assignments where paper and pencil do not work, and teach them academics. However, the list of roles all of these teachers provide for their students would be extensive.

Dr. Ealy supports all of the teachers under her supervision. She will provide teacher strategies to help students when you ask her. She will suggest professional learning opportunities when she hears of the opportunities. She provides monthly meetings with each department individually. Additionally, she provides meetings for all departments two times per year. Cobb (2014) reminds us that principals play many parts to “foster inclusive program delivery, staff collaboration, and parental engagement” in the school community. Dr. Ealy is like a principal playing many roles to support all of her staff and students under each program.

Reflections and Recommendations

The challenge in meeting the students needs depends on the students, the student’s teacher(s), and the school. The challenges in meeting the needs of the student could be a physical limitation in completing assignments. The evaluation process is time consuming where about a month has passed before the evaluation for assistive technology could be assigned to the student. For the student’s teacher(s), they might not understand the purpose of us in DHH, VI, or OI teachers. I know for the OI most think we are OT. I have to remind them we are teachers as well.

The challenge in implementing specialized instruction depends on the students and teachers as well. The students in DHH, VI, and OI have various disabilities and various cognitive abilities which will need to be addressed to meet their academic needs. The teachers could provide students with lined paper for writing which they have highlighted the bottom line or wrote the word in highlighter for them to trace over. The DHH teacher must help the student’s teachers know how to use the hearing device so the student hears them too or reiterate the lesson in sign language alongside the teacher. The VI teacher must get the assignments about two weeks in advance to translate it into Braille.

References:

Cobb, C. (2014). Principals play many parts: A review of the research on school principals as Special Education leaders 2001–2011. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 19(3), 213–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2014.916354

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Responses Torie

Section 1: School Description and Administration Information

I chose to interview a former colleague who is currently an Assistant Principal Elementary Instructional Specialist (APEIS). Her school has three special education programs: one multiple disabilities alternate curriculum program with three students, one resource specialist program using the core curriculum with pull-out and push-in services with fifteen students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade, and two special day programs using core curriculum with the primary class being kindergarten to second grade with nine students and an upper class with grades three to five with fourteen students. There are 237 students at the elementary school, with fifty-one receiving special education services.

Section 2: Supporting Specialized Instruction

The APEIS supports special education teachers with paperwork (IEP support), scheduling (all grade levels and IEP meetings), training and supervision of paraprofessionals (including evaluations), collaborating with general education teachers (finding the right fit for classes), and data collection (progress monitoring). She also supports families during IEP meetings and beyond by building rapport and providing additional resources. Instructional strategies may include: small groups or cooperative learning, creating classroom centers/learning centers, blending “the basics” with more specialized instruction, rotating lessons, thematic instruction, and providing various levels of books and supplemental materials.

Section 3: Reflections and Recommendations

There have been challenges to implementing full inclusion. Challenges include shortage of personnel, buy in from general education teachers, and including students with behavioral challenges who are on the alternate curriculum. It seems that all schools are short-staffed. I know schools that are able to work together to support each other are far more successful. When schools bring in any new program, teacher buy in is essential. It will be helpful to have ongoing professional developments and in-person support for teachers as they learn and master the program. Lastly, for students with high needs, meaningful inclusion can be difficult. According to Jimenez and Barron (2019), having educators adequately prepared to support our diverse learners is key. Inclusion is complex and includes physical integration, social integration, and instruction integration (Jimenez & Barron, 2019). I believe that having a learner-centered professional development can help each team member learn their roles and how they can best serve our diverse learners.

References

Jimenez, B. A., & Barron, T. (2019). Learner-centered professional development: A

model to increase inclusion for students with moderate intellectual disability. Inclusion, 7(2), 125–139.

https://doi.org/10.1352/2326-6988-7.2.125