Stanley L. Swartz, Ph.D.

Discussion 3

Chris West — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:30:56 GMT

I would start by offering a program with musch more interpesonal and individualized care and learning designs/programs. Each student is a very special and fragile amd without the proper guidance on interaction, they will not benefit to the maximum extent or their full potential. I would even go the route of implementing a program where the students, parents, and teachers can be involved in on an ongoing basis to ensure that the students receive the proper support and guidance in all areas of thier lives. Some people send their children to school in hopes it will better them, but do nothing or do not know how to work with the student at home, so the students often stay behing because they have no outside reinforcement outside of school.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Discussion 2

Chris West — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:24:35 GMT

accountability should be held to a standard in special education based on individual capacities. each student should have a set of daily goals and weekly/monthly accomplishments that they must achieve either alone or with direct personal assistance by a certain deadline. in this way special education students can learn about self=reliance, learn to take responsibility for their actions and most importantly learn the basic principles of personal accountability. when students learn to adapt to their ever-changing environments when they learn to become more and more independent they will need to know the basic foundations of accountability.
I beleive that depending on the students level of impairment or nature of their disability, is when it should be determined to include special education students in the process of standardized testing.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Discussion 1

Chris West — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:14:58 GMT

1. Many regular classroom teachers feel overwhelmed by their current duties. It is reasonable to expect them to provide for the needs of a child with disabilities in their classroom?

Many teachers do feel overwhelmed by their current duties, but this should not take away from the instruction to any student in their general classroom setting, disabled song or not. Just because a child has a disability does not mean that they cannot benefit from general education in the traditional classroom setting. A child learning in a traditional setting will not make them feel different from any of their peers or other students, thought they know they are physically. A mental burden is often more challenging than a physical burden for a child while on school. If a disabled student is included and allowed to success under normal circumstances chances are more likely that they will succeed. If the teacher feels overwhelmed and demonstrates this in the classroom, they students will recognize this instability and respond negatively to their environment and this would not be a fair setting for the teacher or the students. It was expected for the teachers to have an understanding of their expectations before they began their teaching career. This would include the understanding that they would be teaching students of various backgrounds, ethnicities, disabilities, and learning styles and disabilities. A teacher is employeed as a teacher because they want to help all students achieve their full potential in school and apply that knowledge to the outside world. If a teacher has dificulty inside their classroomn, they should learn to utilize outside resources and the help from students as well as fellow peers and instructors to create the best learning environment possible for the equality of all students.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Online Discussion #1

Andrea Nunez — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:53:17 GMT

1. Many regular classroom teachers feel overwhelmed by their current duties. It is reasonable to expect them to provide for the needs of a child with disabilities in their classroom?

Tell me what individual does NOT feel overwhelmed by their current duties? All I do during the day is sit at an office, perform my daily data entry functions, deal with the other 60 individuals in the office who believe their job and time is of more importance than mine, answer the same stupid questions day in and day out. How can I say Im overwhelmed when this is all I do?

Nonsense; every employed individual can feel overwhelmed with what little they do. The thing we have to keep in mind is that WE chose the profession we are performing, no? I chose to work in the clerical arena so Im stuck with taking orders from the clerical bosses. Teachers chose to educate children so they are stuck with providing for the needs of all children they are blessed to instruct, even a child with disabilities if included in their classroom.

I continuously dialog with one of my bosses, Why do teachers complain over every little incident? Didnt they take the classes to become an educator? These classes should have given them the perspective of what was to be expected of them once they became full-fledged teachers? So, why complain now about what they are being asked to do? They knew darn well it was not going to be a walk in the park, so why then put excuses in order to avoid any additional tacked on duties?

I guess I will soon enough find out what real teachers have to deal with. I hope I dont become one of the many complainers currently in the education field. I hope to be one of the few that will seize the opportunity of helping all children regardless of disability or not.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Online Discussion #2

Andrea Nunez — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:50:44 GMT

I am of the ones that is pro standardized testing for all. In fact, I feel that every child needs to be held to the same high standards. Therefore, if we keep talking about the inclusion model, mainstreaming, etc, then we must also include children with disabilities in standardized testing.

My district in particular continues to look for ways of getting around the federal requirements regarding meeting set standards either because we have too many ELLs or migrants or disabled children in the mix which make it impossible to attain national scores. I believe they continue to make up excuses for inadequate teachers and administrators. The people in charge need to do just that. Hold people, even the very own children, accountable for where they fall in the testing spectrum.

The only way we can continue manufacturing productive individuals is through accountability. We have this distorted vision that we must entertain the children in school in order to keep them coming but of what benefit is it to have the body present but not the brain? I know administrators are determined to have high ADAs in order to secure the most funding for their pockets and school but administrators need to know that it is of utmost importance that the children be important to us because we want to educate them and not because they provide us job security.

I have also noticed that many children with disabilities use their disabilities as a weapon against school staff to get out of taking tests or completing other simple activities because they are limited, but I have to say that if they are smart enough to get away with not performing to the best of their abilities, they are definitely smart enough to join in the standardized testing program.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Online Discussion #3

Andrea Nunez — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 08:48:54 GMT

3. If you could change the way we provide services to children with disabilities, what would you recommend?

The first thing I would recommend is that the children ACTUALLY be put in first place. I keep hearing this children first theme all over the place yet I continue to see how everyone (teachers, aides, school staff, classmates, school administrators, district administrators and even their own parents) continuously place themselves before the child with disabilities.

The saddest part of it all is that when the child is old enough to reason, he/she begins to resent everyone around him and thus his life becomes a living hell. Its easier to misbehave and receive attention than it is to be a well-behaved and ignored individual.

From the classes I have taken to date, I have learned that the most difficult component of the equation is not the child with disabilities but the people having to deal with the child. It is imperative that all individuals take the time to become skilled at instructing every child that could enter their door.

For this reason, I would have the top administrators join the band wagon. I believe that any change, if it is to be successful, must disseminate from the top down. Once administrators buy into the change, school site administrators need to be told that all children are to be treated equally and dealt with as well. Teachers, especially the seasoned/tenured ones will need to have the inclusion model added to their yearly evaluations and if they are not able to conform, then they are to rescind their yearly contracts or, if that seems a bit extreme, a written complaint must be placed in the employee personnel file.

I have attempted many times to get teachers pay cut for failure of completing IEP paperwork properly so you must know that I would definitely recommend that teachers failing to comply with the proposal of educating all children equally would certainly fall in the pay-cut category. We must do all that we can to insure that every child is given the opportunity to enjoy the learning environment in order to produce fruitful individuals.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Question 3

Brooke Hollinger — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:52:35 GMT

If I could change the way services were provided to children with disabilities I would recommend three things. First, lets ensure that there is funding to keep what is working. I teach a group of first through third grade SH students. They are in a separate classroom, but have PE, music, lunch, recess, and library with regular classes. I have five instructional aides/paraeducators. We have Professional Learning Community meetings with the other special education teachers on campus and the school psychologist to share ideas and concerns. We participate in state testing, the CAPA. All of these things are helping my students to achieve and need to have the funding to continue.

This being said, the second thing I would do, would be to refine the division of students. One of the other discussants mentioned this and I agree. In my room I have a group of higher functioning students who are working on learning their letters, numbers, are already potty trained, and very verbal. The other half of my class is non-verbal, not potty trained, and needs extensive work on such basic skills as imitation and matching. My colleague down the hall teaches the mild/moderate class and has shared the same concern. Part of her group is just below the threshold of entering the general classroom, while the other part is still working on basic letters and shapes. Hence, rather than having just two categories, mild/moderate and moderate/severe, I think there needs to be three categories: mild, moderate, and severe. Moreover, I would try to put like disability groups together. Our school has a large Autistic population and having these students in one class would greatly help the teacher tailor lessons for this group.

Finally, I would mandate meeting times for staff. More than anything else this year I wish I had had more time to meet with my instructional aides. These essential members of the team are often undertrained and underpaid. Many want to learn more but are not given the training by the school districts. Many would like to stay after school and discuss issues and strategies with the special education teacher, but simply do not have the time or motivation to do so because they are not being paid for that extra time. Team work is key to student success and having little if no time to collaborate with instructional aides is hurting the students.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Discussion #3

Crystal Escobar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:23:23 GMT

I think the services that special needs students are getting need improvement. I'm not talking about the quality I'm talking about the quantity. I know that funds are limited in education. and that we are trying to get services for those children that really need them. However for some children i don't think that seeing a specialist once a week is enough. What is the point of providing services to children in order to better themselves when we are only providing mediocre services? By which i mean seeing a specialist once a week when twice a week would be better. Honestly, how much work can a specialist get done for an hour once a week with a child? I'm not saying that we should either improve our services or get rid of them completely either. I would simply like the state or the federal government which implements that the school districts provide these services to provide more financing for them as well.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Discussion #2

Crystal Escobar — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:01:13 GMT

I do believe in the inclusion of special needs children in the general education classroom. I also believe that the least restrictive environment is best in most cases. I also believe there are some exceptions to this inclusion when children are getting hurt because a child with special needs sometimes doesnt know how to keep his hands to himself, I am only mentioning this exception because a class I was volunteering at has a child with autism in it. He was a very nice boy usually but some times he would break out into fits of anger. A lot of the children were scared and you could feel the tension in the room as he got riled up. The boy had already grabbed and shaken two students violently before and the students were terrified in their classroom environment. The example of this boy is just one of many I have also noticed that some children with disabilities can function well in the general classroom.

I have also noticed other children with ADHD do wonderfully in a general education classroom. This girl with ADHD made wonderful strides socially and at home. The childs mother was thrilled. That her child could control herself better and not be so impulsive around students. This student really flourished in the general education setting. She was a ball monitor and quite popular with the other children. In the end, I really feel the least restrictive environment of a general education classroom works for most students.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Discussions 3 revised

Sheliea Simmons — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:32:25 GMT

I think that I would recommend that students should not be segregate. When I did my observations I noticed how students with disabilities, they had an lunch period by themselves without the other students around this could be an advantage but it could also be an disadvantage such as them not having friends and the advantage would be is that they dont have to worry about people running over them.

I would also recommend that students with disabilities to be assigned to a friend to develop that support and that friendship. In school, it is important for students that have a disability to have friends so they will not feel like a loner. Having friends it makes them feel secure and they feel accepted by others and society. The more we make students enable their disability the more they look down on themselves if we implement the buddy system in schools then students with disability will not focus so much on their disability. Students with disability are fun to be around and talk with we, as people sometimes just have to develop patience.

Special education teachers should have more than just one aide in the classroom to be able to provide high quality to students that need help and for students who require that extra attention.

Special education teachers are on a budget, because of the funding that is available. Not all special education gets the amount of funds that they need in order to provide good services to disable students. I would recommend that the special education department receive more funding so the children would be getting the services that they need and the students would feel comfortable in learning more and meeting their IEP requirements. Children with disabilities make up a small percent in public schools they receive the least amount of funding.

I think that by me recommending this change, we as a society would look at people with disabilities in a different way. We all want to be loved and accepted no matter what, and it starts in the home and then at school.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Discussions 2 revised

Sheliea Simmons — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:30:59 GMT

Yes, accountability should be extended to special education students because there is an criteria that teachers must meet, but then again it all depends on what level the student is, such as Resource special program student, special day class learning disability or special day class severely handicap. Disability students are capable of doing the work, the problem is teaching them the lesson in many different ways so that they can understand, and grasp the information that have been given to them. Accountability falls under the category of expectations; the standards should be set to what they are capable of doing. Special education students have an Individual Education Plan; they are required to meet the standards based upon the IEP meeting. If the students are not meeting the requirements, teachers are aware of that and students should be help in meeting their requirement and standards.

Once again, depending on the level of the student with the disability the students according to what they know and understand should take standard testing. All students have taken standardized testing, except for disable students. Disable students should not be consider into the category as regular students. The standardized test should be adjust just for special education students it would be different from the other students the test for the special education should be based on disable students standards and the progress that they have made. The test should be design for special education students, they should be able to understand the test and comprehend the questions. If we are talking about the regular standardized testing then no, disable students should not be require taking the standardized test because of how difficult it is and not all students have the same disabilities.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Discussions 1 revised

Sheliea Simmons — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:28:06 GMT

I do believe that it is reasonable for teachers to accommodate and meet the needs of a child with a disability. In my opinion, I do believe so because students with disabilities tend not like to be treated differently and they do not like to use their disability to their disadvantage. As a teacher, I would speak with the student to see how I can meet their needs. Different disabilities have different needs, some require that extra attention and if they need that extra attention, special education assistance would provide the help that I may need in the classroom. There are expectations and requirements that students with disabilities must meet, there are needs that teachers must provide in order for students to feel comfortable in the class as much as possible. Providing needs to students with disabilities is logic and a respectful. To provide for the needs of the students means not having students in inappropriate classes, put them in the classes that they need to be in because they will not be successful. Teachers should be aware of students having trouble in their classes and have them tested, to see their level of disability. Meeting the childs need in an appropriate ways is reasonable. Making the child comfortable is reasonable. There are things that are reasonable to accommodate the students. If you were an awesome teacher then meeting each student needs that is in your class and making them feel like they belong would be reasonable. Things that we ask of special education teachers to do with their students is reasonable some teachers even go above, and beyond, and that is excellent. Treating all the students, the same as far as discipline rewards and tone of voice is reasonable.

Teachers feel overwhelmed all the time, because they do not have the funding that they need in order to run their class successful they have to use what they have already. They also feel overwhelmed because they have to make sure that each of their students are at where their progress is suppose to be at and that they are meeting their standards. Teachers are also overwhelmed because they are not able to have the aides that they need in order to provide adequate services to the students. Teachers are overwhelm by teaching because, they have to make sure that each student understands the concept that was taught, and then go to each individual to make sure that they are doing the work correctly and they understand it. It becomes frustrating at times trying to be superhero in the class. It can be overwhelming especially if the teacher does not have patience and they have students in their class with all different levels of physical disabilities.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Question #2

Broke Hollinger — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:01:27 GMT

I disagree with Jessica and Maryjo for two reasons. The first stems from my own recent experience with standard testing. My second and third grade SH students just took the CAPA a few weeks ago. At first I thought it was going to set them up for failure. To be honest I was afraid it would me look like a bad teacher if they did not do well. I had a lot of questions about the test. What was going to be tested? How would the test be administered? Would my students have to take the whole thing in one sitting? I was advised to look on the California State Education Departments website to get the CAPA standards. I saw the pictures and manipulatives used during the test. I noticed my students were able to take a section at one time and another section later in the day. This is my first year and I was pleased with the test. Yes it was nerve racking, but knowing how they did on the test was really helpful in assessing their mastery of things we had been working on in class. After all if they could perform in front of others in a different room with similar, but not exact replicas of the materials we use in class then they have successfully generalized those skills. The test was a bit tough for some of my lower students, but overall it asked responsible questions.

Going beyond personal experience, I support standardized testing for special education students for a handful of other reasons. First it makes teachers accountable. Second, it adds a bit of normalcy to the special education world. Just as general education students have to be tested, so too do special students. Third, it provides a bit of norm based testing to compare students with. Finally, because there are three levels of tests, it is fair. Because my students are SH they take the CAPA. Regular education children take CST. Students in between those two groups are now able to take a middle of the road test, which is more like the CST, but with modifications in reading and other subjects. So, while at first I was apprehensive about standardized tests for special students, because of my own experience with the CAPA and the four reasons listed above, I have to disagree with Maryjo and Jessica.

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Question #1

Brooke Hollinger — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:38:01 GMT

I completely agree with Bonita's comments on question #, with one slight modification.

.I agree that regular classroom teachers do have about thirty children to one teacher and the behavior management is challenging with general education students. More than that, especially in the elementary grades, general education teachers are faced with a steady stream of distractions. Phone calls from the office. Broken pencils and pencil sharpeners, children walking in late, announcements over the loud speaker, fire drills, assemblies, and the list goes on. All of these are not necessarily behavioral issues but they do disrupt routine. Routine is something many if not most special education students must have. To add to the large class size, already existent behavior problems, and steady disruption is a lack of funding. It is idealistic to think the at the state has the funding to provide paraeducators let alone resource and special educators to assist the special students in the general education classroom. At best these support people would only be in the classroom for part of the day. When they leave to assist another teacher and special child, the ones they leave behind must adjust their teaching and learning styles to accommodate the absence. One argument made in favor or the collaboration model is that by having the student in his or her own classroom all day it eliminates the confusion the child develops by having to miss his class and adapt to two different teaching styles. However the same is likely to occur in the regular classroom when the paraeducator comes and goes. One might point to the Collaborative Model DVD as proof that having regular teachers teach special children is in fact working and not overwhelming as many are suggesting. However, the classes in the film are small, free of behavior problems, adequately staffed, and are not having the interruptions that many other classes have on a daily basis.

That being said, I also agree with Bonita that if it is the most appropriate placement of the child then he or she should be placed within the regular classroom. I do not think it is the most appropriate placement for emotionally disturbed children, severely disabled children, or some moderately disabled students.

I disagree with Bonita about her comment regarding Educating Peter. I did not think the teacher had everything under control. I found myself asking, Where is the teacher? I thought the average children were put in harms way many times. If I were the parent of the child who was kicked in the face several times by Peter or the mother of the child who was pinned on the floor I would be very upset. Moreover, I would also object to the idea that my third grade girl was obliged to be a mother/babysitter to a boy in her class instead of having that time to receive instruction. Yes, eventually Peter did calm down, but not completely and not until the majority of the school year had gone by. If regular education teachers were to have all special children in their class there would undoubtedly be more than one Peter in each room. Will that be possible?

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals

Question #1

Jillian Aschenbrenner — Thur, 12 Jun 2008 15:35:24 GMT

Many regular classroom teachers feel overwhelmed by their currrent duties. It is reasonable to expect them to provide for the needs of a child with disabilities in their classroom?

As a person who has had the opportunity to work with a collaborative model in special education I feel that there is a middle ground to this question; that the answer is neither yes or no. For seven years I have worked as the "mainstream" teacher who works collaboratively with an RSP teacher in the classroom. There have been years that were more successful than others, it all depends on the mentality and compatibility of the educators in the classroom. I think that any teacher can provide for a student that has mild to moderate physical disabilities but that a child with severe life threating issues should be cared for by individuals that have had special training with regards to that child's particular needs. However, I honestly believe that the success of a child not only begins with the child's attitudes but teacher's attitudes as well. If a teacher does not want to teach a child with chronic special needs, then that teacher is providing a disservice to the child in that the teacher is instilling a negative social image of that child in himself.
To answer the question directly- yes it is reasonable to expect a teacher to teach... but what they teach a child with disabilities is just as important as what they choose to omit from their classroom due to personal bias. If a teacher cannot remove them self from their preconceived ideas of achievement levels then I believe that that individual should find another profession(let's face it there are a lot of bad teachers out there that just do their "job").

Forum: ESPE 530 - Psychology and Education of Exceptional Individuals