EDUC 605 Inclusion of Students with Special Needs

Reflection and Artifact

My artifact for EDUC 605 Inclusion of Students with Special Needs is an action plan that I created after considering my current teaching situation while reflecting on the strategies and philosophies shared during the course.  My reflection allowed me to identify the strengths that currently exist in my district’s efforts to meet the needs of all students.  It also allowed me to identify areas for growth. Those reflections are included and elaborated on in my action plan.  

Inclusion Action Plan

Description of current inclusion practices

            I will be describing the current inclusionary practices for four-year-old kindergarten at Stormonth Elementary School. Typically, K4 has four half-day sections, two in the morning and two in the afternoon.  This upcoming school year there will be a fifth half-day section being held in the afternoon.  I will be the teacher instructing the fifth section.  I have spent the past 16 years teaching first and second grade so this will be a bit of an adjustment.  Also, this is the first time there has been a fifth K4 section so that has impacted space, supplies, and use of assistants.  In addition to the above-mentioned changes, we have our largest population of students with disabilities entering K4 this year.  Ten out of the seventy-nine enrolled children have IEPs.  The IEP goals range from speech and language to spectrum concerns to mobility issues to oppositional defiant disorder.  In addition to these ten children, we have a student who is medically fragile.

            Currently, our inclusion practices include SPED assistants and teachers assisting in the classroom along with pull-out services when needed.  In addition to the SPED assistants, there is a K4 assistant in the classroom who is able to work with all students.  There are also weekly collaborative meetings between the classroom teacher and the SPED teachers to share goals and plans for the upcoming week.  There are also monthly collaborative meetings with parents of the neediest children.

            Here are some examples of current inclusionary practices.  During math centers, the speech teacher is working with a small group of children playing a math game.  The speech teacher is targeting the student’s learning goals as she interacts with her peers.  In PE, the OT teacher is adapting the game of tag so the boy with the walker is able to participate in a way that is safe for all.  Another example is the SPED teacher supporting the child who has ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder during circle time.  The child is given breaks when needed including leaving the room to swing as a reward for appropriate behavior.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

·         Collaborative approach between classroom teacher and SPED teachers

·         Collaborative approach between K4 teachers in sharing ideas and resources

·         Committed teachers who are willing to go above and beyond to meet students’ needs

·         New principal who has a background in special education and is a proponent of inclusion

·         Knowledge of students-SPED teachers have worked with some of the children in the Birth to 3 Program.

·         K4 assistants who are willing to help all students

·         Access to technology (computers, i-Pads, i-Touches, listening centers, Smart Boards)

·         Parent Involvement-Our district is known for an abundance of parent volunteers.

·         Small class size-15-16 students

Weaknesses:

·         Large number of students with disabilities

·         Range of disabilities

·         Location of the SPED room to the regular education classrooms (SPED room is on the second floor and K4 classrooms are on the first floor.)

·         Small classrooms will make it difficult for students with mobility disabilities.

·         Reduction in K4 assistants-same number of assistants but added a section of K4

·         Layout of building-Large school that requires the use of ramps/elevators and a bit of distance to get from K4 classrooms to specialist rooms and the gym

·         Time for collaboration-K4 has little prep built in during the school day.  Also, the fifth teacher will be a reading interventionist in the morning which means she will have other obligations to fulfill.

·         Sharing of SPED services-leads to difficulty with scheduling

Opportunities

·         Team collaboration-Since there are so many students with disabilities, all three teachers will benefit from working together to adapt curriculum.

·         Teacher Experience-The new teacher joining the K4 team has more teaching experience than current teachers including many years with students with disabilities.

·         New Principal-She was part of the original team that brought inclusion into our district over twenty years ago.  She will be a great resource and advocate for inclusion.

·         SPED teachers-Several of the teachers have worked with the students with disabilities in previous years and will be able to provide valuable insights, especially important at the K4 level where all students are new.

·         Curriculum-Since it is K4, there is more freedom to adapt the curriculum in order to meet students’ needs.

·         Professional Development-With a large range of student needs, there will be more opportunities available.

·         First year with Smart Boards in the K4 classrooms

·         More i-Pads available than previous years

Threats

·         Large numbers of students with disabilities

·         Large range of disabilities

·         Meeting the needs of all students

·         School choice and voucher program may impact school population

·         Not enough assistants/coverage to meet all needs

·         Teacher initiatives-too many demands

·         Staff meetings/obligations-not enough time to collaborate at grade level

·         SPED teachers spread too thin

Inclusion Stakeholders

·         Students with disabilities

·         Parents of students with disabilities

·         Regular education students in the inclusion classes

·         Parents of the regular education students in the inclusion classes

·         K4 teachers and assistants

·         Special education teachers and assistants

·         Specialist teachers

·         Future teachers of the K4 students

·         Director of Special Education

·         Building Principal

·         Director of Curriculum and Instruction

·         Superintendent of the Fox Point-Bayside School District

·         Fox Point-Bayside Community

Inclusion Action Plan Goals

Goal #1: To ensure there is enough coverage in the K4 classrooms to meet all student needs.

Recommended Strategies/Activities	Current %	Goal %	Materials/Resources Needed?  (What?)	Who will Implement?  (Who?)	Target Date for Implementation (When?)	Evaluation (Did it happen?)
Regular education teachers will advocate for full-time K4 assistants in all five classes.  Regular education teachers will collaborate with SPED teachers to create a support schedule in order to ensure that enough coverage is available so that all student needs are met.	There currently are two K4 teaching assistants, another ½ time one is needed.  The coverage schedule has not yet been initiated.	100% K4 teaching assistants available in all K4 classes.  SPED coverage in classroom 100% of time when needed.	Financial resources will be needed to pay a part-time K4 assistant.  Time will also be needed for classroom teachers and SPED teachers to collaborate on coverage schedule.	Principal and K4 teachers will implement the addition of a part-time K4 assistant. K4 teachers and SPED teachers will implement coverage schedule.	Scheduling and hiring completed before the start of school.  Coverage implemented at the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year.

Goal #2: To educate students about classmates with disabilities.

Recommended Strategies/Activities	Current %	Goal %	Materials/Resources Needed?  (What?)	Who will Implement?  (Who?)	Target Date for Implementation (When?)	Evaluation (Did it happen?)
Class meetings to share information and role play different scenarios involving students with disabilities. Explore bringing a Kids on the Block performance to our school.	Since the children are entering our school for their first year, they have not been involved in class meetings.	100% of K4 classes have class meetings to educate students about children with disabilities. 100% effort for researching Kids on the Block; chance of implement-ting unknown due to budget con-straints.	Time for class meetings. A budget for bringing in a Kids on the Block presentation.	K4 teachers, assistants, and SPED teachers will facilitate class meetings. The new K4 teacher will research the Kids on the Block presentation.	Initial class meetings complete by the end of September.  Additional class meetings regarding students with disabilities on a as-needed basis. Research on Kids on the Block presentation completed by September 1,  2013.

Goal #3: To implement collaborative meetings between K4 teachers and the SPED team.

Recommended Strategies/Activities	Current %	Goal %	Materials/Resources Needed?  (What?)	Who will Implement?  (Who?)	Target Date for Implementation (When?)	Evaluation (Did it happen?)
Biweekly collaborative meetings between K4 team and SPED teachers working with K4 students.	Currently, there are weekly collabor-ative meetings between the classroom teacher and SPED teachers, but no team-wide collabor-ative meetings with SPED.	Biweekly collabor-ative meetings to occur 100% during the 2013-2014 school year.	Time	The meetings will be implemented by the K4 teachers and the SPED teachers working with the K4 students.	First meeting will occur during the week of in-service leading up to the 2013-2014 school year.

Reflection

            Ensuring that there is sufficient teacher, assistant and special education coverage in the K4 classes will allow all students to have their social, emotional, and academic needs met.  Since this is the students first year at our school and since there is a large population of students with disabilities, it is pertinent that the coverage is appropriate so both the children and their parents have a positive experience.

            In addition to having appropriate coverage for all students, educating the regular education children about children with disabilities will promote class harmony and build an environment of acceptance for all.  Since this is the children’s first of many years together as classmates, the time spent on disability education will be invaluable as they move throughout the years.

            Collaborative meetings between the K4 team and SPED teachers will benefit all K4 students.  In addition, it will allow the K4 teachers to share responsibilities and resources which will lead to working smarter not harder.

Professional Growth

          Now that one school year has passed, I am able to reflect on the implementation of my action plan along with the impact on students.  My first goal was to advocate for student coverage by adding a part-time assistant.  This occurred before the school even began.  In early August, I met with our new principal and shared my concerns for the impact on all students if we did not hire another part-time K4 assistant.  My principal acknowledged that my argument was valid and agreed that we were in need of another assistant.  She took up the cause with our superintendent and received the go-ahead to hire a new assistant.  At the same time, my principal acknowledged the need for a special education space on the first floor.  She made the decision to move our literacy coach to the second floor making room for the special education room on the first floor.

            The second goal of my action plan was to educate classmates about students with disabilities.  We were not able to bring in Kids on the Block; however, we were able to create class schedules that allowed time every day for a morning/afternoon meeting.  During the meeting time, we addressed a variety of topics about including everyone, being a friend, and differences we observe.  In addition to the meetings, my assistant and I worked with our students to help them understand that some children need special food or activities to make their bodies healthy or to help them learn.  In addition, I had a parent read a story to the children about a child with Cystic Fibrosis.  After reading the story, we pointed out similarities between the parent’s child and the child in the story.  This gave the children a better understanding of what one of their classmates was experiencing.  The benefit of teaching inclusion to children in K4 is that they are naturally very accepting of each other.

            The third goal of my action plan was to implement collaborative meetings with K4 teachers and the SPED team.  These meetings occurred on a weekly basis and included different teachers on an as-needed basis.  At times, parents were part of these meetings as well.

            The success I had in meeting the goals of my action plan is a reflection of the professional growth that I made based on the knowledge I gained during the course and in the creation of the action plan. 

Student Learning

The implementation of my goals positively impacted student learning.  Because there was an assistant in each K4 classroom, it allowed for more personalized instruction. This personalized instruction allowed students who needed more assistance identifying letters or needed more help cutting out objects to get the one-on-one guidance needed.  The children also gained social skills as they learned to understand individual differences.  Due to a medical condition, one of my students needed to eat chips and cookies at snack time.  Instead of being jealous of the student’s tasty treats, the other children learned to say, “Ava’s body needs it so she gets to eat it and we don’t need it.”  By working collaboratively as a K4 team and with the SPED team, we were able to provide the students the most appropriate curriculum and instruction to meet all their needs.   This curriculum included implementing an adapted version of readers and writers workshops.  By using the workshop model, students were given a lot of choice which promoted student interest for all students.  There also were small group and one-on-one conferences built in to support children who had difficulty with fine motor, staying focused, and self-control.  A listening center was also available for students who needed to listen to stories rather than look at them. In addition to workshop, literacy centers were used.  For some of the children with special needs, their centers were adapted either by having a one-on-one assistant or by using an iPad in place of the regular activity.  By using the workshop model and differentiated centers, we were able to meet the needs of all students in our classrooms.

Connection to Standards

Standard 3: The teacher understands how students differ in their approaches to learning and creates instructional opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners.  This standard emphasizes the importance of understanding that children learn in different ways.  One example of how we adapted instruction would be the student who practiced the alphabet on the iPad instead of singing and dancing the alphabet with the whole class.  Another example would be the student who listened to a Tumble Book on the computer instead of book browsing in the library center.  The collaboration between the K4 teachers and the SPED team allowed us to share and identify the best activities to meet the needs of all the children including those with special needs.

Standard 10: The teacher fosters relationships with school colleagues, parents, and agencies in the larger community to support students’ learning and well-being.  I met the goals of this standard by working with my principal to gain approval for a teaching assistant.  I also worked with colleagues and parents in order to bring the best practices to my classroom.