Interviews with School Counselor and General Teacher about Special Education

---Yanhua Wang

I interviewed a counselor in my school and my son’s head teacher. Before I got a comprehensive understanding of special education, I didn’t ask them extra questions because I have to catch up with the time as spring recess is on the way and there is no school next week the whole county.

Interview with high school counselor Ms. Negron

*How is a student identified for special education referral?

The process will go through by SRBI, scientific research-based interventions.  Students referred by general teachers, parents or special education teachers will be introduced to an interview. Students will be observed and measurements, which establish by SRBI team and general teachers  will be carried on by general teachers. The students will stay in regular classrooms during the implementation process, which lasted  for several weeks. If the students don’t make improvement,  they then will be referred to a test which will identify whether they are qualified to attend special education program or not.

*Who takes responsibility for the progress of the child before and after the referral?

Before the referral,  general classroom teachers are taking responsibility for the progress of the child, while case managers and the SRBI team will take charge of it after the referral.

*What is the school administration's directive for special education?

As far as IDEA is the legal law, every public school administration has to make sure that eligible children with disabilities have the right to receive special services and assistance in school.

Pupil Placement Team(PPT), which includes the school principal, counselor, social worker, psychologist, general teachers, special education teachers, parents, and student holds meeting twice a year to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan annually, developed future plans as needed.  

*What provisions are made for students identified for special education?

It depends on the IEP. Some provisions have to be met before deciding which programs the students to attend and what plans work for the students. According to the IDEA, all students with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education designed to meet their unique needs and at no cost to the parents. Parental safeguards and involvement in the educational process should be included.    Students should be educated in the least restrictive environment(LRE).

*What is the level of parent involvement in referral process and special education?

If the scale goes from one to ten, the level of parent involvement in referral process and special education is the higher the better. Parents can request a test for their child. They can cooperate with the SRBI team by  providing as much background information of the child as possible. The more involvement they offer the more obvious effect the program to the child would be. But as parents, they have the right to decline any special education services for their child. They may cancel special education and related services for their child at any time.It is important to note, however, that if they decline or cancel special education for their child and later change their mind, the evaluation process must be repeated.

Interview with elementary school kindergarten teacher

Ms. Eaton

I interviewed two general teachers in my school to see if they had the experiences to refer students for IEP. But neither of them gave me a yes answer as both of them said 99% of the students identified for special education have been identified in their early ages, so elementary school teachers have a higher probability of referring students for special education. I then turn to interview an elementary school teacher who has over 20 years of working experience as a kindergarten teacher. Here are her answers to special education questions.

*How do you identify a student for special education?

Some students have been diagnosed with a disability by medical providers before they attend school.

Some students have been referred by their parents as early as the first day they go to kindergarten. Parents also inform the teacher how is their child doing at home and what attention they hope to be offered to their child.

Students with physical disabilities have more obvious behavioral performance. For other cases, I will identify whether a student has to be referred for special education or not by their learning abilities in academics. But I consider it very seriously before making any identification by combined the information I got and observation I did.

*What are the signs of a struggling student?

You can tell from his performance when a struggling student find that school becomes much more difficult once he/she wants to build upon previously mastered skills to gather new information. This is especially true if he/she were not able to master some of the foundational skills. For reading difficulty students, they have difficulty in manipulating sounds in words. while they are struggling in writing  when other students have no problem in writing words that contain most of the consonant sounds in a word.

*Are there alternate methods of instruction tried out before referring the student for special education? If yes, what are they?

Yes, I will use alternate methods of instruction according to different students’  demands, so the usual method I use is to offer the students one-on-one teaching method, which I believe is most effective to help students catch up academically.