Education Essay: Special Education Testing and History

Teachers often work with families of different cultures and experiences. Positive, clear collaboration, and support between the home and school environments can provide a more seamless service delivery and help to meet the needs of all students. Confidentiality requirements, respect for diversity, the effect of language learning, stress, and cultural diversity during learning and assessment are important factors to consider as a teacher.
As teachers advocate for their students and families, they must find ways to collaborate with staff, caregivers, and the student to meet the needs of students in a variety of situations. Teachers must also consider assistive technologies that can support motor skills, comprehension skills, communication skills, and academic skills for students with learning disabilities. These devices promote access to inclusive classroom settings, community settings, and typically developing peers. The case study used in this assignment presents a situation that requires consideration of these topics.
Read the following case study to inform the assignment.
Case Study: Larissa
Grade: 3rd
Age: 8
Larissa is a female third grade student with a specific learning disability in written expression, reading comprehension, and executive functioning disorder. In first grade, she was assessed for special education services and was found eligible in the areas of written expression and executive functioning due to a diagnosis of dyslexia and ADHD by an outside psychologist referred by her primary care physician.
Larissa did not make the expected progress in reading during her first grade year. When tested by the school psychologist at the end of first grade it was determined that she struggles with phonological awareness and rapid naming. Larissa was below the 16th percentile in word attack skills, word identification and single-word spelling.
Larissa’s verbal expression is close to grade level, but when asked to express her thoughts on paper, she often uses lower level vocabulary and fragmented sentences, and lacks organization. This could be due to her inability to focus on longer tasks as well as her difficulty with spelling, written expression, and multiple languages spoken in the home. Larissa also struggles with starting tasks independently, staying on task, and with task completion. She often cannot find her materials when needed such as pencils, paper, assignments, books, etc.
She is originally from El Salvador and moved to the U.S. with her mother, father, older sister, and newborn brother when she was 14 months old. Recently, her mother and father separated. Her mom has since moved the children out of their home and in with family friends. The family friends have three children and two adults living in the home already, so the three bedroom, one bath home is very crowded. Their new home is within walking distance of Rosewood Elementary, where Larissa has recently transferred.
Larissa’s mother, Rita, has a job in which she works long hours and is currently struggling to establish her own line of credit. At home, Larissa’s family speaks both English and Spanish. Rita considers English her primary language; however, Spanish is her first language and she sometimes has difficulty understanding written English despite speaking it well.
At a recent parent-teacher conference with Larissa’s teacher, Mr. Fleming, Rita shared that she obtained an order of protection against her husband after they separated. Because the order of protection extends to the children, she provided Mr. Fleming legal documentation of the order. The day after the conference, Mr. Fleming notified the office and gave them the documentation in the event that Larissa’s father should come to the school. While providing this documentation, office staff and other teachers pressed Mr. Fleming to divulge the details of why the order of protection was issued.
Part 1: Case Study Evaluation
Imagine the student from the case study, Larissa, is new to your school. As the special education teacher who will be working with this student, your job is to provide all of the teachers who will interact with Larissa appropriate background information in order to meet her needs in the educational setting. Using information from the case study, complete the “New Student Template” so it can be shared with Larissa’s other teachers.
Part 2: Reflection
In a 500-750 word reflection, address the following:
Explain how diversity is a part of families, cultures, and schools, and describe how complex human issues can interact with the delivery of special education services. Provide real-world examples to support your ideas.
Describe how understanding the development and differences of each individual student can promote the concepts of human value and dignity and enable teachers to meet the diverse needs of students with exceptionalities. Consider and reference the Christian worldview perspective and the “Statement on the Integration of Faith and Work” in your discussion.
Explain the importance of collaborating with other members of the IEP team and parents/guardians. Include discussion regarding how this collaboration across settings and with many different collaborators promotes the well-being of students with disabilities.
Explain the various types of data and information that are collected about students and how it is used in the development of the student’s IEP.
Discuss how participating in professional development and learning activities can demonstrate commitment to lifelong learning and support teachers in growing personally and professionally, so they can better meet the individual needs of students.
Support your responses with a minimum of three scholarly resources.