Michael Woods

RE: Week 4 DB1

The process for identifying and maintaining IEPs is a unique process to each district. Depending upon the district that you teach in, the process can be more or less detailed.. the most common process that teachers go through is The process to establish a student's eligibility.I have participated in every aspect of the IEP pre-referral process. The very first part of this process is meeting with the parents to discuss the struggles that students are having this needs to be done as soon as the student falls at least one year behind levels in reading or math. if a major medical or physical disability is not identified early it could take years before the need for special help is identified. in my district it takes approximately three years to qualify a student to even be tested for RSP needs. After meeting with the parents if the student does not show Improvement the next stage is a student study team. the teacher, principal, RSP teacher, and other specialists meet and discuss the students test scores grades and behavior. this team of Specialists is called our cost team, and at that point, we place the student on a Response to Intervention tier system. the three levels in our RTI include Tier 1 watch and monitor, tier 2 strategic, And tier 3 intensive. watch and monitor students are kept a close eye on and documentation of scores are held on a regular basis progress monitoring observations without specific intervention. the watch and monitor tier-one is for students that are starting to show signs of struggling. Our tier 2 students receive small group interventions on a regular basis two to three times a week for 15 minutes. When students do not show academic Improvement after documented intervention they will be placed into tier 3 and receive intensive intervention for 30 minutes a day.

Or the parent can request that their child be tested, although it is in the Educational Code most teachers and districts do not really pass that information on although at my site we inform parents early

The pre-referral process goes very smoothly at our site all of our staff work together and are very familiar with each and every student. when you have a student body of only 220 students, you get to know their individual personalities and characteristics behaviors and needs before they actually come to you, at least at my level.

Although I do believe the pre IEP process is long and arduous, it is a system that we all have to go through for the bureaucracy of our educational system. I do not look at it as a chore but just as part of what I do. The part of the IEP process that I actually love to be a part in is preparing for the review of students who have IEPs who come to me as their teacher, I am able to add subtract or modify things according to my suggestions. Most of the students that come to me with IEPs, I believe that teachers have only thought about what has been easiest for themselves and not the student. As a parent of a special-needs student, being part of the IEP process for my own child and having to be his advocate for teachers who did not think of my child as their responsibility to teach but to just deliver lesson too, It is in extremely important to document everything that the student can benefit from.in chapter 14, Dell emphasizes the importance of making sure assistive technology is listed under the accommodations and modifications. Ever since I started teaching I have modified and accommodated individuals who do not have IEP or 504 s. I feel it's the teacher's responsibility to differentiate the instruction according to the students needs no matter what their legal designation is. But of course, this would be almost impossible for teachers at large schools. When I meet with the RSP teacher to talk about strengths weaknesses and needs, we have extensive conversations about how this student would benefit from either certain services techniques or strategies, and we work together to design an IEP that will actually meet the students' needs. too many times have I sat in an IEP and have not agreed with the goals put forward by my child's teacher thinking that one that does not mean the standard required for that grade level and two you don't want to put the work in to help my child get there.

Knowing that most teachers dread the IEP process and think of it as a burden, I do not view it that way! I believe that is the teacher's job to take that student for whatever amount of time that that teacher has and develop a personal relationship and help that student to learn. If a teacher thinks that their only job is to teach a lesson, and not to help the student learn a concept, they can be replaced by a computer.

Reference

Dell, A. G., Newton, D. A., & Petroff, J. G. (2017). Assistive technology in the classroom: Enhancing the school experiences of students with disabilities(3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson.

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Students must master all levels of Blooms to survive in this world.

Not all students have access to the internet, and this needs to be remedied.