Kelly Medley, High
School English (Public School)
Summary: To determine whether or not a student has a
learning disability, this teacher takes notes through in class and out of class
observation. She also uses data analysis to determine how they fall on the
scale of having a learning disability to just “being a kid”. Kelly uses a
myriad of examples from which she draws data. They are including, but not
limited to, test performance, behavior in the classroom, and behavior in social
situations, like lunch or free periods.
Kelly identifies a struggling student with the possibility
of a learning disability as one that has, “usual work avoidance, inability to stay
on task despite multiple prompts, frustration with ‘easy’ assignments, behavior
issues, and complications with social interactions.” She also states that a student
may have a learning disability if that student is withdrawn or avoids
participating due to discomfort in the classroom.
To refer a student, Kelly contacts the guidance office and
performs the referral as dictated by the district; however, before she even
does that, she lets the parents know her plans. After confirming with the
student’s parents and the student, she turns to guidance and any offered
special services.
Steven
Zimmerman, 5th Grade (Private School)
Summary: Steven used
a direct example of his referral of a student that has undiagnosed mild Asperger’s
Syndrome. Firstly, he said that he was told by the mother of the child that
this was a possibility due to the child’s past behavior and routines at home.
Steven believed that identifying Asperger’s can be based upon obsession with
routine and overreactions to small commonplace occurrences. He also reported
that other learning disabilities like dyslexia or dysgraphia will show up in
the student’s work as opposed to in their behavior. His recommendation is, “[i]f
a child is incredibly far behind his classmates with regard to certain skills
(handwriting, spelling, page layout, sentence structure, etc.), it can give the
teacher a clue that the child should probably undergo more vigorous testing to
properly identify their particular disability.”
Steven identifies a struggling
student with the possibility of a learning disability as a child that hands in
low quality work and gets low quality grades, but is actually trying quite hard
to achieve better. This student perhaps doesn’t understand the key concepts,
which in turn do not translate over to the assessment, and allow for low
performance. As a result of this performance, confidence is lowered and they
begin to believe that they are “stupid”.
Steven’s solution for this is, “[t]hese students
needs to be identified and their specific problems with the material addressed so
they can see a positive result from their effort and hard work.”
Before referring a
student for special education, Steven tries every other possibility first. He
notes that the entire premise of special education is to keep the classroom as
normal and least restrictive as possible; therefore, he wants to keep the
students in question in a “normal” classroom as long as can be. In response to
the student with Asperger’s Syndrome, he recognized what caused the child
frustration and set him up with helpful peers, and markedly less incidents occurred.
This allowed the avoidance of sending him to a special education setting. For
his students with dyslexia and dysgraphia, they weren’t penalized for
handwriting or spelling, but instead were assessed for the content of the
material. Steven noted afterwards, that while he has had a positive experience
with these learning disabled children, it is not a crime to send them to a
special education class especially if they continue to struggle in a more
normalized classroom setting. It isn’t fair to them to deprive them of
resources when they are to be had.
Kelly Sunmer, Guidance Counselor, Current Dean of Upper School
(Private School)
Summary: Kelly
informed me first off that a student could be identified for special education
by a physiological education evaluation or through the state’s college
guidelines. It is important to note that no special education program has
previously, or in the future, will likely be put into effect; however, the
school is searching for a learning specialist to aid students in any academic
or social matters in which growth is needed. Kelly expressed to me that out of
305 students only 26 have reported having learning disabilities. Due to the
small number of students with these conditions, she said that it was more
responsible for the private school’s tuition to be placed elsewhere. She also
told me that because parents are paying for an education, they already
understand that services are limited as the school does not fall under public
school laws. If their child can make it work, then great, but if not, then
Kelly and the child’s personal academic advisor will see to finding extra help,
tutoring, or another school that is just as mentally rigorous, but with a
better array of special education options.
The student’s academic advisor, who is assigned at the start
of 7th grade, as well as the guidance counselor and the Dean of the
Upper School are those responsible for referral for a learning disability.
Kelly, being the administrative piece of this whole arrangement, informed me
that formal written plans are offered to the student and the family when a
child is being referred. As the student willingly pays tuition to the school
and understands the lack of program, only certain aspects are offered to him or
her such as additional time on assessments, isolation for the purpose of
concentration in assessments, and one on one individual aid at least twice a
week or more when needed. Other provisions for the student include preferential
seating in the classroom, being placed in a classroom with minimal
distractions, receiving notes or PowerPoint slides ahead of schedule for
preparation, and differently executed assessments according to learning
preference (e.g. oral quizzes over written ones).
Lastly, Kelly informed me that parental involvement shifted
in importance and involvement as the learning disabled student matured in age
and stature. Grades 7th-9th were still being closely
monitored by the teachers and the academic advisor with features like checking
the assignment book or compiling and delivering notes for lessons to come;
however, as the student reaches grades 10th-12th, the
goal is that the student recognizes the fact that he or she needs to ask for
what he or she needs to excel. The goal is for the child to be aware of his or
her condition and to learn to control it and conquer it to the best of their
ability. As a result of this independence, the child will be more prepared to
tackle that learning curve or lack thereof better in higher education.
Reflection
As I interviewed two out of three faculty members that work
in a private school with no special education program, my knowledge of the
referral process is based mostly off the fact that if there is a “problem”, it
must be reported to the student and the parents. The public school faculty
member told me that in a formal referral in the district, paperwork must be filed
and parents must be contacted as it is state law. Jointly, the guidance office
and special services must be notified. Between the two situations in the
private and public schools, the only difference that I understood, regarding the
referral, is the fact that the state requires paperwork to be processed whereas
in the private sector, it is not as pressing. However, even though the
paperwork was the first step according to Kelly, it was not the most important
part. Both schools made the point to note that the most important aspect of
these kinds of situations is the educational welfare of the child in question.
As far as the future of special education in schools,
private and public, I think the most valuable thing to consider is the
educational development of the child. From what I garnered, I happen to think
that the how of education is not as important as the what of education. As long
as a child is learning and participating as fully as he or she is able, then I
think the basic goal of schooling is being met. Education doesn’t have to be
formal, nor does it even have to be metered.
My
favorite college professor was one that lectured about American History three
times a week for two semesters. He never gave homework or papers or tests.
Instead, he graded us on how interested we were in the classroom discussion,
how much we put forth, how much we put in. How much we put in wasn’t based on
the fact that we needed a good grade, but rather it was based on the fact that
we were paying attention and spinning our wheels, no tests or quizzes necessary
to record that information. We were learning because we wanted to be learning. My thought is this, as long as a child puts
his or her everything into the classroom, though not in the way expected, then
they are learning, they are thriving. It doesn’t take assessment to see that.
