Evaluation Of Competency Test For Students With Special Needs

After completing the learning assessments for each of the classes I chose to meet National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration’s (NASPAA) five core competencies, I feel as though I have a much more complete vision of what the MPA program is set out to accomplish for me in my academic and professional lives. The various assignments included in this portfolio were included because I feel they best represent my best work in the MPA program. NAASPA’s core competencies, I believe, are the living heartbeat of the MPA program. They include the ability to lead and manage in public governance, the ability to participate in and contribute to the policy process, to analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems, and make decisions, the ability to articulate and apply a public service perspective, and the ability to communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry. All five of these competencies are crucial to thinking and planning strategically, manage services, understanding the complexities in, managing, and applying effective administration in all aspects of government.

The two options for identifying students with disabilities are RTI model and the IQ-Achievement discrepancy model. The RTI model is a multi-tiered approach to identifying students with disabilities. With this approach the amount of students who are identified as having a learning disability has decreased because of the support students receive at different tiers and it eliminates inadequate instruction as the reason for reading problems. Universal screening and high quality teaching is done for all students. Students who show that they need additional help receive tier 1 services where frequency and intensity increases. Students are monitored and receive research based instruction in the general education classroom. Some students may still struggle and have to receive more intensive and frequent service. Those students will receive supplemental support from an educational professional. Tier 3 services are provided to students who still struggle and need even more intensive service. Students may also qualify for special education services. The IQ-Achievement discrepancy model is used to determine if a disability is present. Standardized tests are used to eliminate low intellectual ablity as a determining cause for reading problems. With this model, a professional assess whether there is a discrepancy between a student’s scores on an iq test and scores obtained from areas

Wilson, Faggella-Luby, & Wei (2013) present a cogent plan for Tier 3 Response to Intervention (RTI) for secondary students with reading disabilities, content, and pedagogy planning tools, content instruction, and instructional method implementation. Both research application lacks concerning Tier 3 RTI in high schools (Wilson et. al). RTI is curriculum that addresses the learning needs of all students that also includes screening and monitoring progress. Continuing, Wilson et. al define Tier 1 RTI, core curriculum for all students serving the needs of 80% of students, Tier 2 RTI, small group instructional intervention, serving the needs of 15% of students, and Tier 3 RTI, an intense one to one intervention for students who continue to struggle beyond Tiers 1 and 2, serving 5% of students. Wilson et al. provides information the reader needs to understand in the article without clutter, expressing their writing with economy (Zinsser, 2013). The article is unified in theme, gives enough information without giving too much, and follows a clear progression (Zinsser). “More simple, than complex” (Henson, 1999, p. 58), Wilson et. al’s article is an example of good writing.

Reason for referral: Currently struggling to read fluently and apply content of text to correctly answer reading comprehension questions.

Analyzed below are the two journal articles about special education assessments entitled, Predictors of Assessment Accommodations Use for Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing from the Journal of Educational Research & Policy Studies (Cawthon & WurtzBest, 2010) and A Methodology for Assessing the Functions of Emerging Speech in Children with Developmental Disabilities from the Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis (Parten, et al, 2005). The analysis revolves around the following areas: nature of research, summary, critique, personnel, future practice, and future research.

Common Core State Standards define expectations for students in four strands under English Language Arts: reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language. The goal is that all students will demonstrate mastery in these areas as they become college or career ready. Further, the Common Core highlights the capacities of the literate individual. In the world of special education, too many students in high school struggle with literacy. There are Intensive Reading Clinic courses available to students with mild to moderate disabilities in Long Beach Unified School district. Of the various curriculums used in these classes, the LindaMood Bell Visualizing and Verbalizing program has gotten positive feedback from students and teachers.

In the educational world, there are countless programs, curricula, strategies, manipulates, and resources for teachers to pull from in order to aide in the teaching of concepts and learning of students. Whatever method(s) a school or district has deemed best practice, or adopted as their curriculum, tend to be the instructional practices or resources utilized the most by those teachers. Additionally, teachers will also have preference to teaching styles, resources, and materials they use for their students. While autonomy in any classroom is important to students’ academic growth, one must also be careful to select and implement instructional with great intention and purpose. Consideration to students needs is equally important as the mandate of teaching standards and demonstrating proficiency amongst students. Even when teaching non-disabled students, it can be time consuming and overwhelming to plan lessons so just how much more is involved when planning for students with significant disabilities (SD)? Better yet, what are appropriate instructional strategies to use for students with SD? Regardless of the instructional setting, these are considerations that must be given when teaching students with SD in order to maximize their learning opportunities to learn

According to the Georgia Department of Education, the Georgia State School Board of Education adopted a new set of standards known as the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts. Since the Common Core Standards State Standards assess the same English Language Arts standards as the Georgia Performance Standards, Georgia’s curriculum is called Common Core Georgia Performance Standards. Of the ELA standards for first grade, one requires that students be able to ask and answer questions based on the details in a text. This standard also requires that the student be able to retell stories, including details, and demonstrate comprehension. This could be an issue for special needs students. Students with a learning disability in reading often have difficulty comprehending texts in books and other reading material that is written at their grade level. However, there are many strategies to use to improve reading comprehension in struggling readers. With the increase use of technology, my review is written to determine if pre-recordings readings are more effective than teacher-led read aloud in improving comprehension skills of students with disabilities.

High Stakes Testing has been overly integrated in the education systems. High-stakes testing are used to determine grade retention, school curriculum, and whether or not students will receive a high school diploma (Myers, 2015). Since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001, high stakes testing has become the norm and mandating that students must pass a standardized test before moving up in grade. As a special education director, the focus is to ensure the student’s accommodations are being followed. Accommodations help increase students’ academic performance. “Both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) call for students with disabilities to participate in the general education curriculum and in testing programs to the maximum extent possible for each student (Luke and Schwartz, 2010).” Throughout the years, high stakes testing is becoming more common than ever before. The reality is high stakes testing is one indicator in evaluating children with specific needs. This paper will discuss, the violation of the statutory language regarding assessment based on IDEA, the strategies and goals of a remediation, staff training, common Core and PARCC assessment, and funding for the remediation plan under IDEA.

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2015) states that all nurses should be competent at carrying out an accurate assessment on patients of all ages safely using invasive and non-invasive procedures. Benner (1982) formed the stages of competency: Novice; this is where I started in year one, I had never done a manual blood pressure before and lacked confidence. Advanced beginner; this is where I feel I am at present, I can take a manual blood pressure with occasional supportive cues, I am more confident than the first time and my knowledge is improving. Competent; this is the stage I expect to be at when I qualify, I would like to feel confident and I intend to know exactly what I am doing and why. Proficient; this is where I expect to be

I chose this team and this topic because I am a nurse who recently started working in a CCU. We take care of cardiac patients, and we have to closely monitor their heart rhythms. So, I would like to learn to better identify dysrhythmias, to improve competency assessments, and to better implement current evidence-based practices.

In the article, A Common-Core Challenge: Learners with Special Needs, the article outlines the proposed plans and conflicts associated with a common core assessment in education. The article highlights the struggles of reaching students within a regular classroom with diversity, then divides into the accommodations and modifications needed to give the same assessment to a student with a disability. With the introduction of Common Core and Smarter Balance, general assessments have become the norm to track a student and a teacher’s progress. Many teachers are struggling with the accommodations needed and not compromising the assessment. Some accommodations questioned in the article are communication devices and being able to read portions to a visually impaired student. Both sides believe that the accommodations can compromise

Students with disabilities are at a higher at-risk for dropping out of high school at a greater rate than typically developing peers (Pyle & Wexler, 2012). Students with identified disabilities are required to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) according to law, and these students have unique needs that general education curriculum cannot meet on its own. However, there is abundant research that discusses various literacy interventions and strategies that can be effective. These interventions can be used in a school setting by any certified teacher (regular education or special education). This literature review will discuss some of the various reading and writing strategies as well as best practices for literacy in order to ensure students with disabilities are given the best chance for success. By providing timely interventions, monitoring progress, and analyzing data, it can be possible to increase achievement for those students with identified disabilities.

In today’s educational environment, all students expect to receive the same level of instruction from schools and all students must meet the same set of standards. Expectations for students with learning disabilities are the same as students without any learning difficulties. It is now unacceptable for schools or teachers to expect less from one segment of students because they have physical disabilities, learning disabilities, discipline problems, or come from poor backgrounds. Standardize testing has resulted in making every student count as much as their peers and the most positive impact has been seen with the lowest ability students. Schools have developed new approaches to reach these previously underserved students while

Many students around the United States have reading difficulties, which can be due to a variety of reason such as: low socioeconomic status, family history of learning disabilities, a neurological disorder, limited exposure, etc. Reading difficulties can lead to further problems with education and learning, therefore the struggles should be addressed and intervention techniques should be implemented promptly. The interventions need to be individualized for the student based on their needs in order to improve the student’s reading to the best of their abilities.