IEP & Teacher Request

I am a parent of an LD student and don’t see this as part of the IEP process(look under LD in Depth for IEP articles); in fact many schools forbid parent requests for specific teachers(ours does not allow it), what if parents said “I don’t want a teacher of a specific gender, race, sexual orientation or personality type”….how would this translate into action? Who classifies the teachers into “nice” or “mean”? The IEP should be written clearly so anyone could follow it.

No.

On the other hand, I have been able to have input into my son’s teacher for the past two years. The first year I wrote a letter to the principal specifying characteristics necessary, based on IEP meeting discussions. It was things like structured, organized, quiet classroom—my son has CAPD so noise is difficult for him. I wouldn’t be as general as saying patience.
I had been fighting the school on a number of grounds and this was an easy thing for them to give me.

Last year I called up the ESE director and asked about a teacher for this year. We discussed characteristics and she made a recommendation. She is the one who selects for ESE kids (the letter to principle was so they could document giving me something I requested).

This is not usually done, I understand, but I keep seeing children of employees in my son’s classes. It is a very large school so I think it is more than a coincidence. I think there is an underground network of preferential treatment.
One of my neighbors who volunteered at the school a lot told me as much.

In my son’s previous school, classroom teachers made recommendations. I would find out characteristics of the teachers for next year and discuss what I thought would be a good match for my child—not in terms of individuals but characteristics. I always got who I preferred and there was a strict “no picking teachers rule” at the school.

IEPs are clearly not the way to do this but in my experience there are ways to work the system once you understand who makes decisions and what constitutes a legitimate basis for preference.

Beth

There is a no picking teachers rule at our school as well. They do accept input on what type of teacher your child does best with.

My son does well in a class where there is less structure and more flexibility. A quiet classroom really isn’t neccessary for him. He needs to move around so alot of structure where the children are expected to be quiet and still just doesn’t suit him. He also finds a complex system of rules distracting. He is well behaved and extremely motivated to please his teacher so excessive rules are overkill for him. A teacher that doesn’t sweat the small stuff and sees the big picture also works for him.

Different children need different things.
I think the school would rather not deal with me and if they give him a teacher that is inflexible we will need to have long IEP sessions to hammer out accomodations. I think it is in everyone’s interest that they give him the right type of teacher.

I will say that I don’t think it is my job to pick the teacher. I don’t know these teachers like the school does and if I take the advice of a friend on who is the best teacher, they have a different child and a different set of needs, so it might not work. On the other hand they don’t know my child like I do so they should accept my input on his personality to improve the fit making an easier situation for all.

I think your post shows how there needs to be a fit. My son needs a flexible teacher but he isn’t really well organized himself and thus a very structured environment is a must for him.

A patient, seat of the pants kind of teacher would not work for him. My K son has such a teacher—expects the kids to remember to give her notes ect, and remember homework to do at home (at age 5 and 6!!). She is abs. wonderful with the kids—but with my LD son she would be a disaster.

Beth

write into the IEP the type of classroom situation your child needs. Focus it on aspects of a how a class is conducted not characteristics of a person (except of qualifications/experience in some cases). So we write into my sons IEP things like - “needs to be in calassroom where an active, hands-on learning approach is used”, “classroom placement should take into account need for routine and structure”, “reading instruction must be provided by individual with training in multisensory aproaches.”

Pat

in my sons school is resource room teacher and i always talk before school ends and he tells me which teacher my son will have and why that teacher would be good for him. i respect his opinion and he respects mine. it works out well for us.

Instead of what the classroom should be or look like you should be addressing what the needs of the student are. This should be driven by the psy eval and what are the strengths and weaknesses of their academic and intellectual performance. I would be very uncomfortable describing a teaching style but much more apt to note a learning style.

When a child has special needs, which teacher that child gets could have a big impact on the level of services that will be required. The school should want to find the best match possible for the child so that fewer meetings will have to be held to resolve problems and less support will be needed outside the classroom. In the end it will cost the school less time and money to make sure the child gets the teacher that fits best.

There are other things that should be considered when it comes to classroom placement as well. One of my sons has serious difficulty getting pictures of people into his long term memory, just like his mom. This problem is socially devestating and causes a lot of anxiety. Anxiety interferes with classroom performance. I think my son should be placed in a class with peers that he is able to maintain relationships with. Hopefully, the administration is sensitive and understanding about such things. If not, hopefully, the practical, budget conscience, part of them sees the economic benefits of considering these things when deciding on placement.