Teacher Reports/ Ed. Evals

Ouch, 32 is too many. I taught for ten years in a K-6 elem. in CA as the only RSP, with one five hour aide. There is no real fine tuning of caseloads that are both that large and that diverse. Basically, I hit the most important issues, reading well before and more so than writing, for instance. Perhaps one more grade level just adds to the load.

Now, I was pretty much unable to both teach to the goals and objectives on the IEP AND deal with classroom assignments. Fortunately the teachers were behind me, believing the most important issue was to get the students reading close to grade level. My students were pulled from many different classrooms and so had different assignments and my aide and I did not have time to teach skills and lend 1:1 help with a variety of different assignments, excepting the occasional major reports. I also had to send her into three different classrooms to do inclass support in each classroom with only one child in the classroom, per the IEPs, so we were pretty stretched. Then consider time to teach some math skills to those who are failing grade level math and I needed several more hours in the day.

So, did I send out check sheets to teachers? Most of the time, “no.” However for students who have nonacademic goals such as work completion, attention to task, etc. it is a good idea because that data pretty much always comes from the regular classroom. If your objective is to run interference for every case where a student is falling behind on appropriate work, etc, then you may find that you simply cannot actually DO all that and TEACH. But you can make phonecalls to inform parents of problems before they become big problems. Generally I spoke regularly to the teachers and we communicated that way, not as good from a record keeping standpoint, but it worked for 10 years. My entire school shared the same morning recess and I took the middle lunch that overlapped with all grade levels.

I spent a great deal of time on annual reviews. I administered the WJ III each year and a variety of informal measures. I used reading inventories, phonics inventories, work samples, I did send out a teacher questionnaire , etc. Then I typed a thorough report detailing assessment results and comparing them to the previous year’s results to show how much growth had occurred. I incorporated teacher comments and concerns and data provided by teachers, both positive and negative. I would state that annual review testing averaged me 4-5 hours per child (I did keep records several times to determine how much time I spent on this), then an hour or two to review all data and type report, followed by another hour or two creating a draft IEP (which is why I took a draft to every meeting, my IEPs are detailed and I would add, change, delete, etc. at the meeting then create the final afterward).

I am trying my hand at high school RSP this coming year.

I agree with Anitya in that 32 on a caseload is too much. I teach 7th grade resource and I will have 25 coming to me next month. I certainly understand the stress you have been under. I do use checklists with my kids. I feel that in order to keep up with what is going on in the regular classroom the only way that I can actively keep tabs on my kids (and the teachers!)is by giving out a weekly checklist. Most importantly if problems arise I can quickly take care of the problem and give advice as needed. Also, I use it as a tool for keeping parent informed of their child’s progress. At annual review time we administer the MBA which is much shorter but not as accurate as some of the other tests. In writing the report be sure to indicate the strenghts and weaknesses of the child as well as anything else that impedes his/her ability to receive an education with out sped support. The weaknesses should drive the rest of the IEP and should be the basis of the goals for the new IEP. I also bring a draft copy of the IEP, and make sure that you tell the parents that it is only a draft, along with the checklists to show the parents. Also, I have the teachers complete an end-of-the-year checklist that is more detailed than the weekly. I hope this has helped.

Laurie

Anitya and Lauriean, thank you for your resourceful information. Since I am the only RS at my school and a new teacher, I often wonder how other resource teachers organize their classroom and get the job done. Your replies have given me some new and great ideas!

Thanks again-
Shanna

My district uses the WJ III for testing and only looks at standard scores. Other informal information is glanced over. There is a form to follow, listing observations on each subtest. Gen Ed teachers do write a paragraph, but it is not always given enough credit by the annual review/cse committee.

I am the only rs teacher in a k-5 school. I’ve taught for 22 years, but only 2 in rs. I work on iep goals, trying to bring skills up to snuff and to develop coping strategies. I pull out for most, push in for some and consult for a few.
Do gen.ed. teachers resent having more paperwork when they are given a questonaire to complete weekly/monthly? What questions are on this form?
Thanks,
ilene

As far as any contention amongst the general education teachers concerning the weekly reports I haven’t had any, however, they all do know how much paperwork that I must contend with and don’t complain. I only give a weekly report and at annual review time I will send out a one page questionnaire. The weekly report is very simple in that I ask for the child’s grade and any comments or concerns. Usually the teachers will let me know if the child is missing work (and will include the assignment) and how their behavior has been. Each child I serve, either through consultation or pull out, has a report filled out. In cases where the child maybe failing I will send a copy of that report home as well as calling the parent to keep them informed and to “put the ball in their court”. The annual review questionnaire will ask specific questions related to learning styles and behavior.

Laurie

I am in a similar situation. I am the only sp. ed. teacher in my building k-5. I have 29 students in my case load. I mostly pull out. I provide resource room support and primary instruction to some who cannot understand their gradelevel work. I do not have checklists, but I am in constant communication with the gen. ed. teachers. I eat lunch with both groups and When I pick up the students the teachers usually let me know what is going on. For the past 3 years we worked primarily on class assignments. Last year I decided to focus more on necessary skills in reading, writing, and math. Once the teachers adjusted it worked well. Good Luck. Michele

Yes, I made the decision, with the support of the general education staff, that my priority to my LD students is:

1) teaching them to read so they CAN read pretty well and do their content area school work by upper grades and secondary level.

2) teaching other basic skills, like math, spelling and writing

Since there will never be another opportunity for them to learn these basics in a carefully structured way, I believe this is an example of the adage re. teaching a person to fish rather than feeding the person a fish.

By high school the issues shift and earning credits toward graduation is first and foremost.

Now, I am working with high school students this summer, many can read quite well. However, half of them do not take any initiative and show no drive or motivation. I am sorry to say that I am willing to give some credit to exacerbating circumstances, but on the other hand a few are highly motivated. I do believe there are many not specifically educational factors that are involved in teaching and learning. We can lead a horse to water and we can urge and encourage him to drink, but he will choose to drink or not to drink.

I understand that it is absolutely necessary to track performance in classes for secondary students. It is a good idea to do so for elementary, but in my personal view the process tracking classroom performance and supporting classroom assignments should not preclude teaching the skills that are necessary to independence and teaching them in elementary school.

All content area subjects are recycled and retaught in junior and senior highschool. Little is really lost if the child does not perform well in 5th grade U.S. history, for it will come around again. If the student can read and write, then he or she is much better equipped to handle the work load in high school.

Just my thoughts on a controversial subject.

By tracking students in their general education classrooms serves two purposes for me: making sure that the IEP is being implemented and keeping parents informed of their child’s progress.

I totally agree that teaching the content areas in which the student comes to us for instruction is top priority and does not come in second to anything. I just feel that by tracking their progress I am able to make sure that IDEA is being followed and that my parents know who well their child is doing and to head off any problems that may arise. This has proven to be an advantage for me as I have had a very harmonious relationship with each of my parents since I started tracking the kids. I also work with some very fine individuals who would bend over backwards for our kids, however, there are a few who find that following the IEP is too time consuming, and I do have some parents who are very knowledgeable of their rights and actively advocate for their child. I want to be proactive in making sure that no one, is taken to due process because of not making modifications.

Laurie

Great idea, Laurie! I have a couple of consultation students that I might try the checklists with. That is less intrusive than me stopping in or calling to ask how the kids are doing.

Janis