Psychoeducational Interviews

The Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development-II was written by Albert H. Brigance & Frances Page Gloscoe. The IED-II was published by Curriculum Associates, Inc. in 1978-2004. The test is administered individually with the age range of birth-7 years old. This test was created to monitor a child’s development. Because it was not a high stakes test, there was more room for error. The IED-II was translated into Spanish. Spanish tests were given to 8.6% of participants but since scores were never compared to the English version of the test, there is no confirmation of reliability or validity (Davis pg 9). Also, the Spanish version of the test is not publicly available. “The purpose of the Brigance Diagnostic IED-II is to determine readiness for school, track developmental progress, provide a range of scores needed for documenting eligibility for special education services, and enable a comparison of children 's skills within and across developmental domains in order to view strengths and weaknesses and to determine entry points for instruction” (Davis 1). It also helps in assisting with program evaluation.

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.

The work of Wright and Wright relates that individuals who have children with special needs are well aware of the requirement that they comprehend the laws relating to those special needs in education and the rights of their children. The parents of special needs children know that testing is the primary factor in determining the educational needs and benefits as well as the advancement or alternatively the lack of advancement of their child in the educational endeavor. Wright and Wright note that decisions concerning the child's education is such that must be formulated on the basis of ""¦objective information and facts" rather than reactions and beliefs that are subjective and emotionally based.

Chapter two of the Spinelli text covers the special education process including assessment for referral, classification, placement, and programming. Spinelli’s text outlines the referral process, the components of a comprehensive educational evaluation, and the components of an IEP. Additionally, chapter two explains parental/guardian rights during the assessment process and the development of the IEP. Finally, Spinelli describes parental/guardian rights to request a mediator or their right to a due process hearing when they are dissatisfied with the educational services their child is receiving.

This paper explores the concept of planning professional development to meet the needs of special education students by examining articles from scholarly journals in the special educational world, psychology in schools, and a case study. Even though teachers are given training on the importance of following a student’s Individualized Educational Program (IEP), there seems to be a gap in training when it comes to the level of instruction that special education students actually receive in the classroom. In analyzing the Texas Academic Performance Report for Timber Creek High School, there might be reason to believe that simply following a student’s IEP might not be enough to ensure the academic success of special education students as defined by results from the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) exam. Far too often, special education students are passed through the system out of fear of litigation yet their test scores reveal that we as educators can and must do better. After reviewing Timber Creek’s Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR), I became interested in examining the professional development opportunities available to educators that focus on how to enhance their current teaching strategies in regards to how they modify their lessons and assignments for their special education students. In my search, it became apparent that beyond initial training or information swapping about the necessary modifications a student needs,

For Psychology of Exceptional Learners, I was given the opportunity to observe in Bishop Dunn Memorial School. This parochial school conveniently located on MSMC’s campus was a huge learning experience for me. I was able to sit in on a first grade general education class. It was a pleasure to get to watch co-teaching in action! The first day posed to be a little difficult because of not knowing which student had a disability so, I was unsure where to focus my attention. Due to FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, the teacher was unable to disclose any information of which student has a disability or what disability that student faces. I was unable to see any work produce by the student, also. I was left to solely depend on my observations.

Miss Banks and Miss Rivera will collect results from the assessment Read Naturally and Paired Reading. Then Miss Banks will observe, and document students’ progress throughout their twelve-week activity. Miss Banks will use observation, and use documented evidence to supply what assessment works better for each student. Surveys will be distributed to parents, and they will comment on what strategy worked for their child. Testing will be done once a week. Miss Banks and Miss Rivera will compare students’ assessments results with older assessments. Miss Banks and Miss Rivera will see if there is a correlation between the students’

Teachers struggle daily to assist students in the classroom to be successful on state mandated tests and comply with any special education guidelines. The high standards of these tests and fear of litigation have left teachers grasping for methods in which to make general education attainable for children with learning difficulties. This focus on standards came about in an effort to ensure that all children received an equivalent level of education. Before standards-based teaching was required by NCLB there was much room for individual teaching strategies. Students in different classrooms in the same school would get a different education. A greater variance could be seen in specific populations as well. Standards were lower for children with cognitive and physical disabilities because less was expected of them (Levy, 2008).

We are committed to serving all students of our community among all ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds, including our ESOL and Special Education population, and recognize that there are students who have abilities and academic aptitudes that differ from their school-aged peers. Therefore, they require special instruction, services, and experiences, which go beyond the general curriculum to further develop their potential. A committee of professionals within the school building will work together to analyze multiple forms of evidence including, but not limited to, assessment scores, referrals, student work samples, and teacher and parent narratives to determine eligibility based on the interactions between

The debate of providing alternate assessments to students with disabilities is not new. People who do not understand or accept the process or meaning of special education will continue to argue that providing alternate assessment is unfair to all other students. First, teachers and parents need to understand the purpose for assessments. The main purpose should be to determine what students know and identify where student is struggling. But, this is not often the case, “high-stakes testing” is used for accountability and does not always follow what is being taught. In early 1990’s, research showed than ten percent or less of students with disabilities participated in statewide assessments. With the reauthorization of IDEA 1997, schools are now required to include all students even those with significant disabilities in state wide assessments. Research has shown that

What constitutes an appropriate assessment in the special education process? To begin, since assessments are essential to the development and success of both students and schools, it is important to be aware that cultural and language differences, family background and life styles, and socio-economic status may all have an effect on the results of assessments (Sacks, 2001). With the responsibility of acquiring valid and accurate data for interpretation, special educators understand how to take these variables into consideration and make any necessary adjustments, if needed, to scheduling or choosing the types of assessments (p.12).

In education assessments are used in a variety of ways. They are used to measure, evaluate, and track the academic standing and progress of individuals. As a tool assessments help to identify academic readiness, strengths and weaknesses, and skill acquisition. They provide educators with data so that they can provide specialized support, if needed. The two articles that will be synthesized for this paper are “The Language of Young Children on Entry to School as Measured by Baseline Assessments. Why Ignore the Evidence From Research?” And “Mental health: Early Intervention and Prevention in Children and Young People.” Both articles are based on assessments used to scaffold how young children learn; however, both differ in approach and

The location of our school sits on the outskirts of Missouri. Our school serves students in the second through fifth (2-5) grades. Over thirty percent of our student population receives special education services and has an individualized education plan (IEP). Our administration team and teachers design instruction and assessments from our state’s standards. We incorporate instruction time and make it applicable to our students’ individualized learning needs. We use different forms of teaching styles to ensure our assessments align and measure adequately to our standards. In effort to ensure

The concern for children with Down syndrome, who may need special education, falls to general education teachers and their parents. Teachers are usually on their own when it comes to figuring out how to modify lessons to help the student with Down syndrome, and evaluating potential interventions to his or

Throughout my career I have always been amazed by how little regular education teachers know about the special education process. On numerous occasions I have had teachers ask me, “Why don’t you just test him, to see if he qualifies?” And when I tried to explain that there was more to the process then just testing, most of the time the teachers would walk away in disgust, without knowing the steps we had to follow in the process.