Interview Focus Question Paper

The IEP is created by a group of individuals who play an important role in the student’s success. Those that should be involved in the creation of the IEP are the parents of the students, at least one regular education teacher of the student, at least one special education teacher, a representative of the LEA who is able to supervise the plans, someone who is able to interpret evaluation results (may be someone already on the team), any other person who has knowledge about the student, and whenever possible, the student with the disability (Gibb & Dyches, 2016). The evaluation results will be used to decide the child’s eligibility for special education and related services and to make decisions about an appropriate educational program for the child. Once the student is tested and determined eligible for services the IEP must be written.

Several students have IEP (individualized education plans) at my school. An IEP puts into writing the specific, individualized requirements for the child's education that must be fulfilled for that child to have an education which is commensurate with

The special education teacher is in charge of informing the family on when and where the Individualized Education Program will take place. The family of the student will discuss the necessary content of the individual’s program, how reports will be received to express the child’s progress, and who will be included within the Individualized Education Program team. There will also be considerations in the development of the program, the specific role of the regular education teacher, and the requests of review and revision of the Individualized Education Program. Overall, the family plays a huge role in developing the Individualized Education Program and the parent’s consent must be obtained in order for the IEP to go forward or even be altered.

Parents complain about not given enough time and are not invited to the IEP meeting earlier enough to make sure that they can attend the meeting. Parents say that if they are given enough time to prepare in advance for their child’s IEP appointment they can’t arrange their work schedule. Parents think that IEP meeting participation would be higher if parents were told way in advance. Parents need to be able to go get resources and obtain information on their rights and responsibilities from IEP information center, booklets, website hubs and a pre-meeting before the original meeting with the IEP team. Parents complain that they feel pressure and do not know if they can ask questions, make suggestions or dispute information they hear in the IEP meeting. Parents feel if they know some of the issues that will come up they will be better prepared to help their child and are more aware of what will happen in the meeting. Some parents complain that they don’t understand everything that happens during the IEP meeting and sometimes they need a translator or interpreter who is on their side to help. Parents do not want someone who will just translate or interpreter information not understanding what the parents really wanted to advocate on behalf of their child. Parents feel that because it’s

For my In-Depth Interview paper, I chose to Interview my co-worker Senada Cufurovic whom I work with at Bank of the West. Senada finds herself culturally diverse as being from another country and culture. As long as I have known Senada from working with her for the past two years, I have never been able to get to know her background from where she came from until this opportunity to interview her came up.

CW is a 49-year-old female who lives in Kingston, PA. She currently lives with her husband and two children. She is employed as nurse at First Hospital, in Kingston, PA. CW recently began a new job in a different department of the hospital. CW expressed that throughout her adult life, raising her family is most important to her. She is focused on accomplishing her roles of being a wife, mother, nurse, and daughter. She likes to be social and meet new people. CW values her independence and finds every job that she is involved in to be important. She dislikes people who put other people down. Overall CW values her family and hard work ethic.

Brady about her IEP experiences she first explained to me how her role in the IEP process changed drastically when she stopped teaching in New Jersey and began teaching in Pennsylvania. In New Jersey, she said he role was more of just a participant in the IEP meeting and that was it. Here in Pennsylvania, she says she plays the role of “case manager,” and must help to organize the IEP meeting. Thus, she found herself understand the IEP increasingly, specifically, understanding the student and their needs more. The reoccurring issues that she saw occurring in IEP meetings that conflict an or tension were parents not wanting to use labels and problems with students not meeting expected goals. Something that she stressed was that an IEP is meant to be “living,” and should be changed as often as necessary to keep it “fresh,” and effective. Another key point that she stressed was involving parents. She told me that she makes 5 to 6 calls home a year about a student’s IEP and that these phone calls were usually positive and to let a parent know that their child had met a goal set in their IEP. She said that her colleagues were a great with helping her to get in touch with the parent of the child discussed earlier, helping her to communicate effectively with his mother who does not speak much

It is important that these trusted adults work with students, and the student’s parents, and the student’s teacher to ensure the child’s physical, emotional, and academic needs are met. It is important for the student and the student’s parents build a trusting relationship with the teacher and school, so they believe that the child’s best interests are in mind when additional testing for learning disabilities or behavioral issues. Students who have consistent adult support in the classroom and at home are most likely to stay on track

I totally agree with the parents either being involve and not involve because that can have a drastic change in the student’s success. However, all the points you made regarding an IEP and parents because that is very important to approach it having their opinion throughout the process.

Parents have the right to look at the records relating to their child and participate in meetings that involve the placement of their child. Safeguard systems ensures that any educational decision regarding the student with a disability are fair and just. In some cases the parents of the students and the local educational agency may not come to an agreement so a hearing will have to be called. If that occurs a mediation is called to help resolve the dispute. The mediator must be qualified and be know about special education law. If the dispute is resolved a written settlement agreement is produced in which the parents and the representative of the agency have to sign.

The students’ parents have the right to continue to monitor their children's progress, for example, assessments, tests, etc. Parents should receive notifications from the school regarding IEP changes and they are entitled to receive assistance from special education attorneys.

This assignment helped me to show what items are included in a IEP and in a IFSP. This assignment helped me to learn how hard it can be to communicate with families if the school does not have the same view. I found this very useful because when it is time for me to be part of an IEP, I could then use this knowledge. I learned so much from my group though we were split half of us were the school and half of us were the family we ended up working together and I learned a lot of interesting facts and most importantly I learned creative ways to better help a child in this case we read about. I wonder how hard this can be for a parent who doesn’t have this knowledge?

In the case of students who do not have parents that can advocate for them, this video demonstrates the importance of student input when the boy said, "Ask me what I need and want… Most of the time I know what will help" (IEP Video). Sometimes this is an overlooked part of the process, but it is a vital part. Students have the best understanding of themselves and their needs and so we want to include their voice in the IEP.

Subject A was the only person to talk about their parents and their plans for their parents when they become older and may possibly need help.

The referral process for a student needing special education services in my school district is as follows. First, the teacher, parent or legal guardian has to put in writing that they want the student to be referred for special services. If it is the parent who has submitted the written request, the school has 5 days to respond. Second, a Request for Assistance form must be filled out by the teacher and is required for the referral to move forward. Next, a referral committee sits down to determine if the student should receive special services or if an evaluation must be done. If testing is required it will be performed and if the student qualifies for special education services the IEP committee will come together to create an IEP that works best for their needs. Finally, services can begin.