Observed

Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MDET): I attended a meeting with the

MDET at Byword Elementary School about a student. The main concern for
the meeting was if this student should have an IEP or a 504 plan. The team
consisted of her teacher, the school nurse, the principle, the school
psychologist, and the students parents. The result of the meeting was that
they felt the student would better fit into a 504-plan due to the specific
accommodations, supports and services that the student needed.
Child Study Team Meeting
When in my placement, a new student started. The students behavior at
home and in his previous school was becoming a concern for his parents.
Within days of him starting, his teacher and I along with his behavioral
therapist were sitting together having a meeting about positive
reinforcements and why and when certain behavior was triggered. The goal
of the meeting was to watch for and track different behaviors and how we
react and should react to specific behaviors.
Parent/Teacher Informational Conferences
After back to school night where the parents and teachers come together to
meet each other there is a small amount of time for teachers to really get to
know each student and what they excel at and where they might need some
support in. The Teaching Strategies Gold assessment tool really helps
teachers get a well-rounded look at each students abilities. First you start
with the assessment and the categories to assess each student in and at
what level they are performing in. Once all the data is entered for each
student the tool helps you highlight some areas you can discuss with the
parents and what are the next steps in the childs development and some
suggestions of how the parents can help the students in the next step in
their development plan. It is all printed up and then the teachers and
parents can sit down and discuss during the informational conferences these
areas and if there are any concerns they need to discuss as well.
Accommodation Checklist: While in the meeting with the MDET in Highland
Park, the different accommodations are discussed for the student. The team
went over the list of accommodations and asked if the student still needed
those accommodations or if the team needed to add something new. The
most recent Child Student Team Meeting the behavioral therapist discussed
different accommodations that could be added that might help the student

and the team be more aware of the different behaviors that were happening
and what trigged them.
IEP Development Process
The first step to this process is the Pre-Referral, the parent sought out advice
from pediatrician. Who referred them to their early intervention program for
evaluation. Once the student was identified as having a disability they had
to see if they were eligible for services. When they categorized her as
needing services they began to develop the IEP. Once the team set the goals
in place then the IEP was implemented and then after working on the goals
they evaluate if they have met the goals and what progress they have or not
have made.
Progress Monitoring: Throughout the quarter, progress monitoring is
recorded by daily observations and work sampling portfolios. The
observations and portfolios, allow the teacher to see patterns of success or
struggle in different areas, and create differentiated instruction for students
who would benefit from it.
Specially Designed Instruction
Which means adapting, as appropriate, to the needs of an eligible child
under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to
address the unique needs of a child that results from the child's disability;
and to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum.
One student that started at the school had what we called shaken baby
syndrome which is now called Abusive Head Trauma. The child suffered
traumatic head injuries and was visually impaired and paralyzed from the
knees down. They used a walker and needed dark backgrounds behind
pictures and text for him to really can distinguish what he was looking at for
himself. An iPad was placed in the IEP as assistive technology along with a
lap board to help him sit straight and to help with hold his supplies during
class.

Not Observed
Annual IEP Re-Evaluation-Goal Setting: While attending my Assessment
Methods class I was able to create a case study and was able to enter data
which allowed me to access a students present level of performance which I
used to re-evaluate the students goals.

Instructional Adaptations: While attending my Assistive Technology class I

learned about Universal Tools that allows everyone to be able to do the same
activity or lesson. Instructional Adaptations allows a student who may
struggle or have a disability be able to have the same opportunity to learn
the material.
Response to Intervention: Although I have not observed response to
intervention in the school district I have had experience with RTI in the
classroom. I have learned that RTI is based on different tiers that offer
different levels of support based on what the individual student needs. Tier
1 is high-quality classroom instruction with screenings and group
interventions. Tier 2 is targeted interventions and tier 3 is intensive
interventions and comprehensive evaluations.
Special Education Student Participation in Alternative Assessments: I was not
able to observe in my classroom, students participating in a state
assessment Executive Functioning: The teachers would keep track of the
students special education and how much or how little they would have to
execute in the classroom to provide least restrictive environment. While
attending my Pervasive Developmental Disorders class I could learn about
how to make a variety of neuropsychological processes easier to deal with
and to understand what some individual students might be having trouble
with. Executive Functioning can allow a student to color code all their class
materials, or use different lockers for different subjects or allow the student
to leave most of the materials in the classroom so they do not need to use a
locker.
Observed

Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MDET)

The evaluations consisted of procedures that were used to determine
whether the second grader had a disability and the nature and the extent of
the special education and related services that will be provided, if the child
qualifies. The student had difficulty finishing work, would shout during class,
and displayed other attention and behavioral problems. The school social
worker, the school director, teachers and parents were at the meeting.

Child Study Team Meeting

To be eligible for special education and related services: (1) A student must
have a disability per one of the eligibility categories; (2) The disability must
adversely affect the students educational performance; and (3) The student

must need special education and related services (New Jersey Department of
Education, 2009). It was determined that the student did not have a
disability according per the eligibility categories. She had dyslexia,
The
diagnosis of dyslexia is not a category of classification. A child having the
diagnosis of dyslexia alone is not sufficient to deem them eligible for special
education services. If a child has dyslexia, he/she may or may not qualify for
services. Conditions like dyslexia, typically fall under the category of
"specific learning disability." However, for a child with dyslexia to be eligible
for services, there must be a negative impact of that condition on the child's
educational performance resulting in the child's need for special education.
The student had good grades however, they were having problems with
behavior. It was determined that if the student looked at the picture
schedule she should not get frustrated not know what would happen next
which is what would cause most of the outbursts. The picture schedule
already in the classroom was sufficient but the teacher would have the
student look at the schedule at the start of everyday.

Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA)

FBA is generally considered to be a problem-solving process for addressing
student problem behavior. It relies on a variety of techniques and strategies
to identify the purposes of specific behavior and to help IEP teams select
interventions to directly address the problem behavior. This student would
become agitated when another student would come and use the same
materials he was using. The student had a speech therapist who felt that
because he is frustrated that he has a difficult time being understood he
would lash out at the other students or would seek out social interactions
with other students but his speech and social awkwardness would cause him
to become violent. Only through the process of elimination did they figure it
was the social interactions that were needing to be addressed. By giving him
strategies to communicate better with other students he could transition
better throughout his day.

IEP Development Process

The first step to this process is the Pre-Referral, the parent sought out advice
from pediatrician. Who referred them to their early intervention program for
evaluation. Once the student was identified as having a disability they had
to see if they were eligible for services. When they categorized her as
needing services they began to develop the IEP. Once the team set the goals
in place then the IEP was implemented and then after working on the goals

they evaluate if they have met the goals and what progress they have or not
have made.

Specially Designed Instruction

Which means adapting, as appropriate, to the needs of an eligible child
under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to
address the unique needs of a child that results from the child's disability;
and to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum.
One student that started at the school had what we called shaken baby
syndrome which is now called Abusive Head Trauma. The child suffered
traumatic head injuries and was visually impaired and paralyzed from the
knees down. They used a walker and needed dark backgrounds behind
pictures and text for him to really can distinguish what he was looking at for
himself. An iPad was placed in the IEP as assistive technology along with a
lap board to help him sit straight and to help with hold his supplies during
class.

Annual IEP Re-Evaluation-Goal Setting

The student was receiving services and right after the IEP annual evaluation
was done two of the therapists left this case and two other therapists were
being assigned. The two therapists were for special education and
occupational therapy. The parent wanted to call an IEP meeting and even
though we had discussed the goals and what goals were being met and
which ones had to changed once we sat for the meeting the mom requested
three months had passed a few things had changed. The student was
starting to really have more injuries in the school than before. During that
IEP meeting the team had agreed to have a wrap around so that the student
would be safer throughout the day. Which cut down the injuries significantly.

Parent/Teacher Informational Conferences

After back to school night where the parents and teachers come together to
meet each other there is a small amount of time for teachers to really get to
know each student and what they excel at and where they might need some
support in. The Teaching Strategies Gold assessment tool really helps

teachers get a well-rounded look at each students abilities. First you start
with the assessment and the categories to assess each student in and at
what level they are performing in. Once all the data is entered for each
student the tool helps you highlight some areas you can discuss with the
parents and what are the next steps in the childs development and some
suggestions of how the parents can help the students in the next step in
their development plan. It is all printed up and then the teachers and
parents can sit down and discuss during the informational conferences these
areas and if there are any concerns they need to discuss as well.

Accommodations Checklist
The first thing they would try was sitting the student near them when they
were giving them instructions. They would give this student visual aids or
graphics to go with the verbal instructions. This student also needed extra
time without penalty for them to finish their work. They would give this
student shorter quizzes and less lengthy exams. They would show this
student a picture schedule starting with organizing their materials and then
before the end of the class reshow the picture schedule beginning with
organizing their materials again before switching classrooms. The class rules
were the same except they were shorter and easier to follow. They followed
these techniques and modified them when necessary.

Instructional Adaptations
The teachers would adapt the way the instruction is delivered to the learner
(such as using different visual aids), how the learner might respond to
instruction (such as allowing a verbal instead of written response). They
would try to adapt the time allotted for learning, task completion, or testing
(such as increasing or decreasing time given for tasks), adapt the skill level,
problem type, or rules on how the learner might do the work (such as
simplifying directions). The teachers would increase the amount of personal
assistance for a specific learner (such as assigning peer tutors), and adapt
the number of items that the student will complete (such as reducing the
number of answers on a multiple choice test) They would adapt how much
the student will be involved in an activity (such as having the student write
answers on the board), and adapting the goals or outcomes expectations

while using the same materials (such as asking the student to be able to
recall book titles instead of recalling both book and author names) and
finally would adapt the curriculum by providing different instruction and
materials to meet a learner's individual goals (such as asking a student to
read a graphic version of a story).
Not observed

Response to Intervention
Only during course work was this discussed in detail. The students would be
assessed to see if they were responding to intervention. This is broken up
into tiers. It is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of
students with learning and behavior needs. The RTI process begins with
high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general
education classroom.

Progress Monitoring
Only during coarse work was this discussed in detail. The teachers in the
class would keep progress monitoring and would keep this in mind during
lesson planning. Progress monitoring is a scientifically based practice used
to assess your child's academic progress and evaluate the effectiveness of
instruction. Progress monitoring tells the teacher what your child has learned
and what still needs to be taught. Progress Monitoring procedures guide how
data will be collected to make instructional decisions about the progress of
the student and establish a decision-making plan for examining the data
collected

Extent of Special Education Student Participation

The teachers would keep track of the students special education and how
much or how little they would have to execute in the classroom to provide
least restrictive environment.

Special Education Student Participation

The student is kept in mind and participation is encouraged so that the
student has as many positive role models that are there to support their
participation and learning.

School/District Due Process

An IEP due process is protected under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, IDEA and provides parents with the right to resolve disputes
with your school district. There are two ways to resolve disputes, mediation
and through a due process hearing. I did not witness this process but it was
discussed during coarse work. During mediation, the parent and a
representative of the school district meet with neutral third party who then
tries to help you reach an agreement. The mediator has no authority to
impose decision. Their job is the help parents and school district come up
with a mutually agreed upon decision with regards to parents dispute.
Parents are not required to mediate but it can be a very good way to resolve
disputes. Each state has a list of mediators who are assigned cases on a
random basis and they finance the cost. If you cannot reach decision
through mediation, or if a parent prefers not to mediate they can request a
due process hearing. Here, the parent and the school district present written
evidence about the dispute issue and have witnesses testify before a hearing
officer. If the parent does not agree with the outcome of the hearing, they
can appeal the decision all the way to state or federal court.