These scenarios were taken from the following reference:
Smith, T., (2016). Serving Students with Special Needs - A Practical Guide for Administrators. New York, NY: Routledge
Derek Morrison, Anna Hassani, and Corie Barloggi participated in this recording to discuss the following scenarios from this reference.
Click on link to hear discussion: https://recordings.join.me/08ivJxu36ECJFJCloCfPgg
Scenario #1 page 96
Billy is a 13-year-old student with moderate intellectual disabilities. His parents have placed him in a community-based segregated school for students with intellectual disabilities since he was 3 years old. Now that he is a junior-high student, his parents want to place him in the local middle school. The Director of Special Education has taken the parents' referral and initiated the process to have Billy placed in the 7th grade self-contained classroom that primarily serves students with moderate intellectual disabilities. The process moves forward without any difficulty until the IEP meeting, which is held in August, before the school year begins. The school, during the summer and with parental permission, completed a comprehensive evaluation of Billy.
When Billy's parents arrived at the meeting they are handed a completed IEP that has been written by the teacher in the self-contained class. The school personnel review the IEP and ask the parents to sign. The IEP details several goals and objectives and places Billy full time in the self-contained classroom. Billy's parents do not agree with this recommendation; they want him to be included in some nondisabled classes, as least for a portion of each day. They state that one of the reasons they want Bill enrolled in the school is so he can be with some nondisabled peers. The school is adamant and refuses to change their recommendation and the meeting ends without any resolution.
Within a week, Bully's parents submit a complaint notice to the school. As they had a thorough discussion of their differences in the IEP meeting they do not feel that mediation or resolution sessions would be beneficial so, with the agreement of the school, move directly to a due process hearing. At the hearing the following facts are presented:
- Billy has a measured IQ of 52.
- Billy's behavior is very good; he is compliant.
- Billy has good communication skills.
- Billy's reading and math academic achievement levels are grade 2.1 and grade 2.4 respectively.
- Billy's parents want him included in a minimum of three classes each day, although they do not have a preference regarding any specific class; they simply want him included with nondisabled peers.
- The school does not want to include Billy in any class.
- The school is of the opinion that Billy's placement in any general education classroom would only take away time that a special education teacher could be focusing more directly on his academic needs.
As a hearing officer, what decision would you make and how would you justify the decision?
Scenario #1 page 121
Ms. Johns is a second grade teacher and is concerned about one of her students, Jake, who has been having increased difficulties in reading and has started exhibiting behavioral problems. She has discussed Jake's problems with his parents, who have also recognized his increased difficulties with reading and his behavioral problems. Unlike Ms. Johns, who believes Jake could have a learning disability, Jake's parents believe the school is not meeting his needs as effectively as it should. After several discussions Jake's parents agree to an RTI model to determine whether he can benefit from additional intervention strategies. Following a lack of success in Tiers 1 and 2, Jake was provided with intensive interventions in Tier 3; however, he continued to have problems and Ms. Johns made a formal referral for special education and notified Jake's parents of the meeting. Jake's parents choose not to attend the meeting. At the meeting those in attendance agree that Jake is likely eligible for special education services as a student with a learning disability and recommended a comprehensive evaluation. The results of the meeting are conveyed to Jake's parents and the school requests consent for a comprehensive evaluation. Jake's parents refuse to provide consent, but want the school to provide more intensive services without proceeding through the special education process. How should the school proceed?
Scenario #2 page 121
Mary is in first grade and has been having difficulties making the same progress as her peers. She appears to try but has difficulty grasping basic literacy and math skills. Her parents note that she was somewhat late in hitting some early developmental milestones. For example, she did not develop initial speech until she was about 2 1/2 years old, and seemed to develop sensorimotor skills later than other children. Her parents agreed to a referral and after the referral committee recommended a comprehensive assessment they gave their consent.
At the evaluation conference the psychological examiner reported that Mary had an IQ of 72, measured on the Wechsler intelligence test. Mary is also having some difficulties which adapted behavioral skills, although she has good social skills. She also tries very hard with all of her academic tasks but does get frustrated when she does not do as well as her peers. Mary appears to be "on the bubble." Her IQ score is at the cut off for intellectual disabilities and her adapted skills are only somewhat limited.
Mary's parents would like for her to receive special education services because they believe without the extra support she will continue to fall behind her peers. What should the school do in this situation?
No comments:
Post a Comment