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Urban Special Education Teachers?

I am a grad student at LeMoyne College in Syracuse NY. I need opinions on the following questions:

1. As an individual that works with students/special needs what is the hardest thing (in terms of the most difficult student) to change and/or help?

2. How can we get more parent involvement before referring students for IEPs?

3. How and what could educators/parents do to limit labeling (emotionally impaired/behaviorally impaired)?

4. Why are so many minority students overrepresented in Special Education classrooms in inner city schools?

5. As more minority students end up labeled do parents/school staff understood long term effects for child into adulthood? What do you think some of these long term effects are?

2 Answers

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  • bizime
    Lv 7
    10 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    .

    1.. Conscience, the basic sense of what is right and wrong. I can teach someone math and reading, but it is difficult to remediate conscience

    2. Call parents on the phone. E mail, run into them at Wal-Mart, goes to the kid's soccer games etc. Get to know them by face and name. Offer parenting classes of various types. Refer them to a parent support group. Ask for their help. After all they have known the kids for the longest and have a greater stake in their future. For example, ask what the child's interests and talents are. The parent could also fill you in on the child's diet, sleeping patterns, allergies etc. Sometimes a talk with a parent can come up with something very helpful, that no one thought to ask about.

    3. This question is very complex. The parents would have to start pre pregnancy, in utero, and so on. Parents can utilize good parenting techniques (which may not work well for the more challenging kids), and get community support such as medication, counseling etc. Teachers need to be able to work with a wider spectrum of "normal." Some students are mislabeled because they have ADHD, have a different way of learning, or have a temporary disturbance caused by a trauma. These students should have more RTI techniques tried before labeling. However, students with severe problems SHOULD be labeled and properly treated. Kids with problems deserve help. Just because they come across as obnoxious does not mean that they cannot be helped.

    4. Again, this question has no simple answer. The simple fix would be that people are prejudiced (even unconsciously) and tend to place these kids more often. However, in my 30+ years of teaching, I think that I have only run across two teachers like this. Minority kids in those particular classrooms always were referred to special ed programs. The same students transferred to different classrooms magically improved both academically and behaviorally. Again, this was only two teachers. On the other hand I have met teachers who refuse to refer any minority student, no matter how blatant the problem. This delays that child's development.

    Another reason is that some minority students come from a different background with different attitudes towards learning. Parents may not be able to help with math due to their own skills or working extra jobs to support the family. Because these parents are not visible at school, staff may jump to conclusions about the student's problems based upon insufficient information. Teachers may not be aware that some students do not make eye contact due to their cultural training. Teachers can misinterpret the lack of eye contact as guilt, non compliance, sneakiness etc.

    5. The long term effects can be positive or negative. I have made an effort to keep up with many of my former students. Kids call me out of the blue to talk, some on a regular basis. I meet former students several times a month, at school, when shopping, graduations, weddings, at social events etc. They may introduce me as a former reading or math teacher, but rarely do they say former special ed teacher. That might mean something, or not.

    Some people see special education as their lifesaver , especially if they were only in special ed for a few years and were able to work their way out of the program.

    I think part of the success for some students is due to continued support from parents and staff. I had kids from K-6th grade for about 25 years. They got help with scholarships, tutors, job training, and mentors . Some other students must have that resiliency gene, as they were determined to do well in spite of lack of support.

    Well, I probably have been rambling on. Hope there is something in here you can use.

  • ?
    Lv 4
    5 years ago

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