calling all gen. ed teachers

I was just taking a look at the website and saw your questions. It is quite interesting that you ask these questions as I am just beginning my Dissertation on the amount of pre-service training and professional development for teachers in relation to working with disabled students in the regualr classroom. As of right now in California, the only formal training for the regular teacher that is required is the mainstreaming class required to receive the PRofessional Clear Credential. Some districts and county offices offer additional workshops in working with special needs children, but it is not consistant throughout the state. As the need for preparing our teachers grows, more of us in the Professional Development “world” are turning our attention to offering these opportunities. Worshops on Differentiating the curriculum are picking up speed.

I think you will find that as the awareness and the concern grow, so will the the professionl development opportunities. But as of right now, these opportunities are not abundant.

Most teachers report that they have on the average 2 to 3 students with an IEP or 504 plan in their classroom. This is an average. The cum records indicate information about modifications and speical services required but do not fully educate the teacher on the disability (physical or learning) and do not offer details on assessment strategies, teaching strategies, or learning styles that offer equal access to knowledge but take into account the limitations and the strengths of the individual student. Most teachers feel incredibly overwhelmed and want to offer these children as much as they can, but once again, the opportunities for helping them with this task are limited.

I’d be happy to respond to your questions, however, I am in Canada and all provinces in Canada, and all states in the U.S. vary I’m sure, so you can’t take everything I say literally.

In Teacher’s College, special ed. training was 1 1/2 days. It was completely useless. I then took an extra spec. ed. part I course on my own in the summer which cost me $1000 Cdn. so I don’t think some teachers would choose to take it unless they were being made to. It was 4 weeks, 5 days/week. It gave me a basic level of understanding for the most common exceptionalities, and gave me basic ideas for programming modification. All education districts would offer those courses, or similar short term workshops, and they can be somewhat helpful, but won’t render the gen. ed. teacher an expert.
Since I have begun teaching, I have not been able to implement many of the ideas I learned in the spec. ed. course for special needs children for these reasons….a) time (both during the school day and outside of it), b) I can’t give the one-on-one or small group instruction which is recommended, and c) resources (I can no longer keep paying out of my own pocket for all of the resources, and the school isn’t prepared to purchase these items for me).

Since I have been teaching it would seem that the average number of IEP’s in the classroom is about 6, and spec. ed. support is decreasing every year. Classroom size is also increasing (there are 32 students in my gr. 5 class). You asked if that is reasonable and my answer is no. I would say 1-3 is a more reasonable number depending on the degree of exceptionality.

Personally I have 14 IEP’s, 1 ESL (she speaks no english), and 3 severe behaviours (remember many of the “non-IEP population” can be behaviour problems which will take up a lot of teaching time). My own personal experience shows that as Principals and V.P.’s have become overloaded themselves, sending behaviour problems out of the class solves nothing, because within 10 min. the children are right back in your room again. So you must factor in the discipline issues which eat away at the time a teacher has to dedicate to each student in a day.

It is an awful experience, and one I experience a lot, when we sit down in a meeting with the parents of special needs students. The Spec. Ed. team and Administrators will not speak up to say this reality loudly and clearly so there is no misunderstanding on the parents’ part… “In the regular classroom your child’s specific needs cannot be met, unless there has been an extra support person hired to assist that student. It is next to impossible for a reg. ed. teacher to deal with any student’s particular special needs. It is a time and logistics issue and not an issue of a negative attitude or reluctance of the teacher”. Why they won’t say this is because the funding simply doesn’t exist to meet the needs of all education (not just spec. ed.), yet their employers (the Superintendents and the Board) may discipline them for making such a bold statement.

As one parent to another I must tell you, if you want your child to have small group instruction or one-on-one assistance you’re going to have to consider a private school. Something else educators will never say to parents for fear of being disciplined. However, I have heard that the class sizes in private schools are going up as well, and are no longer 15 but more like 20-25 in a class.

By the time the lesson is taught, the questions are answered, the teacher has circulated to ensure the majority of the students are on track with understanding the assignment, and dealt with a materials/resources/discipline issue, the period is over, and it is now time for the next subject. This happens all day long, until, at the end of the day, the bell rings, the children leave, and the teacher then sits down to prepare the next day’s lesson, call parents, organize, meet with other staff, etc.

I have tried to be frank, which will give you the answers you are looking for. I am saddened by the fact that you probably did not like to hear the answers as I wouldn’t it it were my own child. I wish you luck with your search to get your child the help that they need to succeed. However, I don’t think the education system can do the job, I think ultimately it will come down to you. How much will you do at home? Will you pay for a private tutor or perhaps private school? If I had a special needs child, that is the avenue I would be looking at.

Canada and the United States don’t seem too far apart in practice. So from your assessment, which is very accurate, is inclusion settings the best place for students with learning disabilities? The smaller classes and more one-on-one assistance is available in resource settings, right? You’ve made the case we as special educators continue to state - you can not recreate a resource class in the physical setting of a general education classroom. Why does this seem so difficult to understand?

Why would we want our kids in regular classes? Because they live in the regular world. Sped, at least here doesn’t teach science, history how does anyone know a kid in that class may not have a strength in those areas.

The problem isn’t sped verses inclusion the problem is classes should be small 20, each class should have an aid so when they see a kid having trouble they are there.

I am the reg ed teacher in a 6th grade math inclusion class, originally with a certified sp ed teacher. (When our # of identified students in our school increased, we were allotted another sp ed position but it was filled with a lateral-entry person with no education experience. My original partner and I were seeing progress with our 25 students—7 LD, 1 BED and 1 VI; 4 ADHD–half of our class identified with some type of disability! Now I am essentially on my own because the powers-that-be did not want this new ‘teacher’ to have the self-contained class.) I also teach science to these same students entirely on my own.
I guess I have an advantage in that I have a son who is AG-ADHD-LD and now 24. I learned so much about how kids learn through watching and trying to help my son. After he was identified as being LD and having ADHD, my school sent me to numerous in-service workshops on ADHD, 504, and teaching strategies for differentiating instruction.
My original teacher training did not include anything on helping students with special needs. I can say that my youngest son, who is a PE major, is currently taking a required class in exceptionalities. Teacher training IS improving.
The identified students in my class were recommended for the inclusion class by their feeder school and teachers. It was felt that this would be the least restrictive environment for them. Resource classes with less than 12 students is also available. We are also able to change an IEP if we see that a child is having too much difficulty in the inclusion class. (Originally there were two more LD students in this class. They required so much individual attention that it was recommended that they be moved to a resource class.) I still think these inclusion classes should be smaller with fewer identified students. Also, it should be mandatory that a certified sp ed teacher with enough experience to enhance the teaching of the regular ed teacher, be placed in these inclusion settings.
The training that has helped me the most was one on teaching through the use of the MI theory. My LD kids are SO creative and by tapping into that, they have really blossomed and become more selfconfident in their abilitiy to learn new material. The non-identified students regularly look to the LD kids to come up with some “cool” way of understanding a concept. This has helped everyone involved!

Dear Diane,

Thank you for your reply. As a parent I have come to the “temporary” conclusion that teachers are trying their best to accomodate so many different kinds of kids but they are just not prepared and more times than not they are overwhelmed. I happen to be a parent who does believes that inclusion is appropriate for every child with learning differences. I think it is a big mistake to assume that these kids can handle a regular classroom especially if there are several things wrong with them. My son’s teacher seems highly irritated with him even though we have been over it, and over it again as to what his differences/disabilities are. The SPED director’s response is that expectations for disabled children are not the same as the “average” child. Who believes that? I believe that my child with learning differences can achieve just as much and maybe even more than his classmates if he is taught in the way that he understands. He just needs the key to unlock that treasure chest up in his head and I would gladly sacrafice anything I had to to hire that special teacher in our school district or even privately. You are so right that these kids are usually extremely creative and they can help the non-identified kids with their own way of doing things. Unfortunately though, many of the identified kids do not get these cool ways of understanding concepts and they end up short changed and settling for less than they deserve because they rarely get a chance to experience their true potential. There has to be something that parents can do to help change the current situation even if it’s by baby steps.

Lisa,

I absolutely want my son in a reg class for the subjects he doesn’t get now, the challenge, and especially the opportunity for new friends.

I know this subject drives the teachers nuts most of them have very strong unions so ask for smaller classes and assistants.

Our kids should not have to have their peer association be predominately with with kids who have varying degrees of ld, behavioral problems etc. That is not the real world they wouldn’t take all the kids in wheel chairs in a school district and make them be in one class assuming that they couldn’t do something reg ed kids can do.

Hi Marion,

I would agree that I would not want my child in an environment in which he does not identify with such as behavioral problems. Here is where the problem lies. Just because the child has a learning difference people tend to want to group them with children of all disabilities. I believe that my son requires individual attention in certain areas that a teacher in a general ed setting cannot provide. I do not believe he should have to work harder or longer than the average student by hiring a tutor after school just to “get” the material that they already covered in class. They should not be punished just because they learn differently and did not understand the lesson the same way the rest of the class did. In most cases, children with learning differences just need the material presented differently, slower or one on one to avoid all of the distractions of 20 other children in order to learn it, and it should be done during the normal school day. I agree that social skills with his peers are important, but in our case my son feels very intimidated by his peers that he cannot keep up with in class. His rate of success in his current environment is poor and his self esteem is suffering. Basically, I would say that inclusion is an individual decision based on what each child needs, but I don’t think that it benefits ALL children with learning differences.

just curious, what is the MI theory? Sounds interesting. Thanks

I agree with Ruby that, given the educational system we’ve got now, it’s impossible to do right by kids with different learning styles. I firmly believe that it’ll take a major reorganization of the educational system before we stand a chance of getting it right. This factory model of education - groups of kids all learning the same thing at the same time - doesn’t serve any child, LD or not, properly.

My experience lies mostly with private schools - Montessori in particular. I think Montessori handles inclusion best - but it’s still not a perfect system. Some kids will still need private instruction in some areas. The average Montessori class has about 20 students. There’s usually a teacher and an assistant who may or may not also be a trained Montessori teacher. The days are still too full, even with the two adults in the classroom, to see to it that every child gets what they need. At least a Montessori class will be rich in one way: there will be lots of different ways allowed to accomplish a particular assignment. And kids with creative problem-solving approaches are really valued.

MI is for multiple intelligences. Read Gardner (Howard, I think) It deals with your style of learning - visual, auditory, hands - on, etc. Interesting.
Saundra

I was just taking a look at the website and saw your questions. It is quite interesting that you ask these questions as I am just beginning my Dissertation on the amount of pre-service training and professional development for teachers in relation to working with disabled students in the regualr classroom. As of right now in California, the only formal training for the regular teacher that is required is the mainstreaming class required to receive the PRofessional Clear Credential. Some districts and county offices offer additional workshops in working with special needs children, but it is not consistant throughout the state. As the need for preparing our teachers grows, more of us in the Professional Development “world” are turning our attention to offering these opportunities. Worshops on Differentiating the curriculum are picking up speed.

I think you will find that as the awareness and the concern grow, so will the the professionl development opportunities. But as of right now, these opportunities are not abundant.

Most teachers report that they have on the average 2 to 3 students with an IEP or 504 plan in their classroom. This is an average. The cum records indicate information about modifications and speical services required but do not fully educate the teacher on the disability (physical or learning) and do not offer details on assessment strategies, teaching strategies, or learning styles that offer equal access to knowledge but take into account the limitations and the strengths of the individual student. Most teachers feel incredibly overwhelmed and want to offer these children as much as they can, but once again, the opportunities for helping them with this task are limited.

I’d be happy to respond to your questions, however, I am in Canada and all provinces in Canada, and all states in the U.S. vary I’m sure, so you can’t take everything I say literally.

In Teacher’s College, special ed. training was 1 1/2 days. It was completely useless. I then took an extra spec. ed. part I course on my own in the summer which cost me $1000 Cdn. so I don’t think some teachers would choose to take it unless they were being made to. It was 4 weeks, 5 days/week. It gave me a basic level of understanding for the most common exceptionalities, and gave me basic ideas for programming modification. All education districts would offer those courses, or similar short term workshops, and they can be somewhat helpful, but won’t render the gen. ed. teacher an expert.
Since I have begun teaching, I have not been able to implement many of the ideas I learned in the spec. ed. course for special needs children for these reasons….a) time (both during the school day and outside of it), b) I can’t give the one-on-one or small group instruction which is recommended, and c) resources (I can no longer keep paying out of my own pocket for all of the resources, and the school isn’t prepared to purchase these items for me).

Since I have been teaching it would seem that the average number of IEP’s in the classroom is about 6, and spec. ed. support is decreasing every year. Classroom size is also increasing (there are 32 students in my gr. 5 class). You asked if that is reasonable and my answer is no. I would say 1-3 is a more reasonable number depending on the degree of exceptionality.

Personally I have 14 IEP’s, 1 ESL (she speaks no english), and 3 severe behaviours (remember many of the “non-IEP population” can be behaviour problems which will take up a lot of teaching time). My own personal experience shows that as Principals and V.P.’s have become overloaded themselves, sending behaviour problems out of the class solves nothing, because within 10 min. the children are right back in your room again. So you must factor in the discipline issues which eat away at the time a teacher has to dedicate to each student in a day.

It is an awful experience, and one I experience a lot, when we sit down in a meeting with the parents of special needs students. The Spec. Ed. team and Administrators will not speak up to say this reality loudly and clearly so there is no misunderstanding on the parents’ part… “In the regular classroom your child’s specific needs cannot be met, unless there has been an extra support person hired to assist that student. It is next to impossible for a reg. ed. teacher to deal with any student’s particular special needs. It is a time and logistics issue and not an issue of a negative attitude or reluctance of the teacher”. Why they won’t say this is because the funding simply doesn’t exist to meet the needs of all education (not just spec. ed.), yet their employers (the Superintendents and the Board) may discipline them for making such a bold statement.

As one parent to another I must tell you, if you want your child to have small group instruction or one-on-one assistance you’re going to have to consider a private school. Something else educators will never say to parents for fear of being disciplined. However, I have heard that the class sizes in private schools are going up as well, and are no longer 15 but more like 20-25 in a class.

By the time the lesson is taught, the questions are answered, the teacher has circulated to ensure the majority of the students are on track with understanding the assignment, and dealt with a materials/resources/discipline issue, the period is over, and it is now time for the next subject. This happens all day long, until, at the end of the day, the bell rings, the children leave, and the teacher then sits down to prepare the next day’s lesson, call parents, organize, meet with other staff, etc.

I have tried to be frank, which will give you the answers you are looking for. I am saddened by the fact that you probably did not like to hear the answers as I wouldn’t it it were my own child. I wish you luck with your search to get your child the help that they need to succeed. However, I don’t think the education system can do the job, I think ultimately it will come down to you. How much will you do at home? Will you pay for a private tutor or perhaps private school? If I had a special needs child, that is the avenue I would be looking at.

Canada and the United States don’t seem too far apart in practice. So from your assessment, which is very accurate, is inclusion settings the best place for students with learning disabilities? The smaller classes and more one-on-one assistance is available in resource settings, right? You’ve made the case we as special educators continue to state - you can not recreate a resource class in the physical setting of a general education classroom. Why does this seem so difficult to understand?

Why would we want our kids in regular classes? Because they live in the regular world. Sped, at least here doesn’t teach science, history how does anyone know a kid in that class may not have a strength in those areas.

The problem isn’t sped verses inclusion the problem is classes should be small 20, each class should have an aid so when they see a kid having trouble they are there.

I am the reg ed teacher in a 6th grade math inclusion class, originally with a certified sp ed teacher. (When our # of identified students in our school increased, we were allotted another sp ed position but it was filled with a lateral-entry person with no education experience. My original partner and I were seeing progress with our 25 students—7 LD, 1 BED and 1 VI; 4 ADHD–half of our class identified with some type of disability! Now I am essentially on my own because the powers-that-be did not want this new ‘teacher’ to have the self-contained class.) I also teach science to these same students entirely on my own.
I guess I have an advantage in that I have a son who is AG-ADHD-LD and now 24. I learned so much about how kids learn through watching and trying to help my son. After he was identified as being LD and having ADHD, my school sent me to numerous in-service workshops on ADHD, 504, and teaching strategies for differentiating instruction.
My original teacher training did not include anything on helping students with special needs. I can say that my youngest son, who is a PE major, is currently taking a required class in exceptionalities. Teacher training IS improving.
The identified students in my class were recommended for the inclusion class by their feeder school and teachers. It was felt that this would be the least restrictive environment for them. Resource classes with less than 12 students is also available. We are also able to change an IEP if we see that a child is having too much difficulty in the inclusion class. (Originally there were two more LD students in this class. They required so much individual attention that it was recommended that they be moved to a resource class.) I still think these inclusion classes should be smaller with fewer identified students. Also, it should be mandatory that a certified sp ed teacher with enough experience to enhance the teaching of the regular ed teacher, be placed in these inclusion settings.
The training that has helped me the most was one on teaching through the use of the MI theory. My LD kids are SO creative and by tapping into that, they have really blossomed and become more selfconfident in their abilitiy to learn new material. The non-identified students regularly look to the LD kids to come up with some “cool” way of understanding a concept. This has helped everyone involved!

Dear Diane,

Thank you for your reply. As a parent I have come to the “temporary” conclusion that teachers are trying their best to accomodate so many different kinds of kids but they are just not prepared and more times than not they are overwhelmed. I happen to be a parent who does believes that inclusion is appropriate for every child with learning differences. I think it is a big mistake to assume that these kids can handle a regular classroom especially if there are several things wrong with them. My son’s teacher seems highly irritated with him even though we have been over it, and over it again as to what his differences/disabilities are. The SPED director’s response is that expectations for disabled children are not the same as the “average” child. Who believes that? I believe that my child with learning differences can achieve just as much and maybe even more than his classmates if he is taught in the way that he understands. He just needs the key to unlock that treasure chest up in his head and I would gladly sacrafice anything I had to to hire that special teacher in our school district or even privately. You are so right that these kids are usually extremely creative and they can help the non-identified kids with their own way of doing things. Unfortunately though, many of the identified kids do not get these cool ways of understanding concepts and they end up short changed and settling for less than they deserve because they rarely get a chance to experience their true potential. There has to be something that parents can do to help change the current situation even if it’s by baby steps.

Lisa,

I absolutely want my son in a reg class for the subjects he doesn’t get now, the challenge, and especially the opportunity for new friends.

I know this subject drives the teachers nuts most of them have very strong unions so ask for smaller classes and assistants.

Our kids should not have to have their peer association be predominately with with kids who have varying degrees of ld, behavioral problems etc. That is not the real world they wouldn’t take all the kids in wheel chairs in a school district and make them be in one class assuming that they couldn’t do something reg ed kids can do.

Hi Marion,

I would agree that I would not want my child in an environment in which he does not identify with such as behavioral problems. Here is where the problem lies. Just because the child has a learning difference people tend to want to group them with children of all disabilities. I believe that my son requires individual attention in certain areas that a teacher in a general ed setting cannot provide. I do not believe he should have to work harder or longer than the average student by hiring a tutor after school just to “get” the material that they already covered in class. They should not be punished just because they learn differently and did not understand the lesson the same way the rest of the class did. In most cases, children with learning differences just need the material presented differently, slower or one on one to avoid all of the distractions of 20 other children in order to learn it, and it should be done during the normal school day. I agree that social skills with his peers are important, but in our case my son feels very intimidated by his peers that he cannot keep up with in class. His rate of success in his current environment is poor and his self esteem is suffering. Basically, I would say that inclusion is an individual decision based on what each child needs, but I don’t think that it benefits ALL children with learning differences.

just curious, what is the MI theory? Sounds interesting. Thanks

I agree with Ruby that, given the educational system we’ve got now, it’s impossible to do right by kids with different learning styles. I firmly believe that it’ll take a major reorganization of the educational system before we stand a chance of getting it right. This factory model of education - groups of kids all learning the same thing at the same time - doesn’t serve any child, LD or not, properly.

My experience lies mostly with private schools - Montessori in particular. I think Montessori handles inclusion best - but it’s still not a perfect system. Some kids will still need private instruction in some areas. The average Montessori class has about 20 students. There’s usually a teacher and an assistant who may or may not also be a trained Montessori teacher. The days are still too full, even with the two adults in the classroom, to see to it that every child gets what they need. At least a Montessori class will be rich in one way: there will be lots of different ways allowed to accomplish a particular assignment. And kids with creative problem-solving approaches are really valued.

MI is for multiple intelligences. Read Gardner (Howard, I think) It deals with your style of learning - visual, auditory, hands - on, etc. Interesting.
Saundra