Individual Transition Paper

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) an Individualized Education Program (IEP), address the following 7 steps about the student. The first step begins with a statement of the student’s present level of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP). This is a summary of the student's present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, including (a) how the disability affects the student's involvement and progress in the general education curriculum; and (b) for students who

Teachers should advocate for all students’ backgrounds and cultures to better their students’ learning. To accomplish this, teachers should be informed about their students’ home lives, be conscious of how and what they should be taught, and ultimately make their education a priority. Students from poverty in a multicultural classroom need the correct tools and teaching approaches from their teachers.

Today’s classrooms are becoming more and more diverse with students that have disabilities and those that come from different cultures. It is important for educators to ensure that their teaching strategies are appropriate for all of the children in their classroom. When it comes to the classroom there can be many cultural challenges that educators will have to address to ensure that all students are growing and developing appropriately. Educators need to make sure that they are capable of addressing each of their

Mrs. Alice McLoughlin-Doro is a Special Education teacher at Downers Grove South High School in Downers Grove, Illinois. The community is known for its excellent school districts. According to the 2010 census there were 47, 833 people living in Downers Grove with approximately 19,000 households and 13,000 families. The racial makeup of the school was reported to be 88% White, 3% African American, 5% Hispanic, 0.2% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 5% Asian, and 1.6% from two or more races. About 1.7% of families were below the poverty line. The school district report card reports the following racial/ethnic background for the school: 68.1% White, 10.3 African American, 11% Hispanic, 7.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, and 3.2% two or more races. The elementary schools, middle schools, and high school all perform very well academically receiving above state average scores on standardized tests. She has been working there for 10 years and is currently a Case Manager of 17 students, all with an IEP, all with different needs and goals in the LD department. She co-teaches two general education classes in English intervention, all freshman. Although she is a Special Education teacher, she works with all the students. She also teaches a READ 180, Tier 3 reading and english intervention. This is where we will be focusing on for this

Currently, general education classrooms have increasingly become diverse with both disable students and students from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. In order for educators to ensure that they effectively teach these classrooms, meet the needs of each student both successfully and individually, effective research that is based on strategies need to be implemented. The U.S. Department of Education suggest that, the current school-age population is becoming more diverse as time passes, yet, majority of the teachers in these schools are white non-Hispanic women. According to another report by The Condition of Education in 2006, American schools are portraying increased diversity and growth. The report suggested that, forty two percent of students in public schools were ethnic or racial minorities in the year 2003; this increased from twenty two percent since 1972. Owing to these reasons, teachers in these schools are expected to educate a diversified class of students including those that come from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Teachers are therefore, required to implement a number of key strategies that will ensure that every student in specific classroom feels that he or she belongs there (Worrell, 2010).

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) of 2004 has several different procedure and document that are to be followed when assessing individuals for a special education program. In Guiberson's (2009) research he suggests that some educators may be unprepared to work with diverse student populations. In a 200 participant survey of speech pathologist a study found that a third of the participants did not have sufficient training in multicultural issues (Guiberson, 2009). Studies have shown that students that learn in educational environment that reflect their cultural background tend to achieve more academically, which make multicultural instruction important in school with diverse populations (Ornstein & Levine, 2007). Guiberson's

Throughout our lifetime we go undergo many transition, however the move from high school to the adult world is considered the most important. During this transition we are able to explore many things such as our interests, abilities, and talents. We feel more independent since we are able to set goals and make certain decisions regarding our future. When a child reach certain age, a transition plan will play an important role in his or her IEP, during the meeting this plan will develop, rationalized, and reviewed annually. The transition plan must derive from transition assessments that are proper for the student’s age as stated under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act.

This novel was a 4 year long research in culturally diverse school district that examines the inconsistency of placement of African American and Hispanic students in special education. This author Beth Harry and Janette Klingner present research - based stories that represent culturally and linguistically diverse students who fall short and are perceived to have impairments. Throughout the book Harry and Klingner studies / observes the children’s experiences,

The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.

The textbook states that, “the learning community cannot rely solely on informal approaches to diversity and equity; a concerted effort should also be put forth to address these issues” (Roberts & Pruitt, 2009 p.168). This statement speaks volumes, we fail as a school to address the issues of diversity within the staff and community because we do not actively bring awareness to the issues at hand. Improvement in regards to staff relations can be made by engaging the staff in activities that encourage staff to open up about their beliefs on education and their views on how other cultures should learn. Staff discussions are vital because “teachers may have unconscious assumptions about students who come from different backgrounds in relation to their schooling” (Roberts & Pruitt, 2009 p.170). Conversations like these can clear up teacher misconceptions and misunderstandings. Family and community relations can be improved by utilizing parents of ethnic background to act as translators and classroom volunteers, additionally the school can host a multicultural event in which parents are invited to the school to share their culture or ethnicity with members of the school

The students in this category come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Because they are the first they might not be aware of what life is like on campus and would have to get use to the language and environment of the school life. Counselors dealing with this particular group have to take into consideration the family support and the role it plays in the student completing their degree. Also from various backgrounds are the Minority culture students. They are predominantly African American, Native American, Hispanic/Latino or multiethnic. In counseling Minority culture students, counselors need to first help the student to identify their individuality and ethnic pride by encouraging them to be a part of associations and groups that foster’s such activities. However, if they are to create an impact they first need to change all aspect of the campus life that would be in support of the different ethnic

The first step for me to become a culturally responsive teacher is to learn not to judge others. Working with students from diverse backgrounds requires us to question our reactions to families and students. We need to stop judging different as “abnormal” and embrace what the differences can teach us (Rosenberg, Westling, & McLeskey, 2011). Embracing the differences

When analyzing the causes of why minorities are often over placed in special education, there were several factors involved. One factor includes assumptions made about other cultures and minority groups by teachers and administrators. Teacher preparation programs are not adequately training teachers when it comes cultural diversity and differentiating teaching methods. The excessive writing of behavior referrals led to assumptions about minority students and behavior. The excessive writing of referrals often led to minority students being constantly removed from the general education curriculum and setting. School districts lacked academic interventions for minority students experiencing difficulties academically. The general education setting lacked adequate teaching resources. Also, high stakes, biased testing often labeled minority students as incapable of learning and led to retention.

Laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) allows for teachers and schools to enhance the academic curriculum for all learners. However, this inclusion mandate, proves more challenges for individuals with disabilities who are also CLD. Most educators do not reside in the areas that they teach, so this disconnectedness between the schools and the students, has little resemblance and these students are not represented properly (Ford et al., 2014). This is why these educators and professionals need to be trained in diversity and be well educated on the subject. If they are, then they can represent the students well and provide a level of relationality that the students and families can trust. Once the educators reach that level of trust, then they can truly help create the best program for the students. The students’ cultural and linguistic diversity can definitely affect instructional practices. The professionals working with the families must be sensitive to their situations and cultural differences. Children with ASD already have difficulty communicating, so for them to already have a different language spoken at home, it adds another challenge. Teachers need to get to know their students and

The current state of inclusivity and diversity in a self-contained environment is equal and fair treatment for all students. The class population consists of eight male students. Six of the students are Caucasians while the other two students are African Americans. The students have varied disabilities to include autism, multiple disabilities, speech impairment, and intellectual disabilities. Each student receive instruction based on their instructional needs and each student has access to the resources that are available to them. Moreover, each student participates in two electives and join the general population for lunch.