LD Interviews and Reflection

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 She also states that a student may have a learning disability if that student is withdrawn or avoids participating due to discomfort in the classroom.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, 5^th 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 7^th 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 7^th-9^th 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 10^th-12^th, 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.