Special Education and Teachers Case Study

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Calgary Public School Board

Models of Consultation and Collaboration

What model of consultation and collaboration am I going to use -- and why? I am employing a combination of approaches to the issues confronting teachers when it comes to William Perry and Janna Small. The model devised by Idol, Nevin, Paolucci-Whitcomb (INPW) (referred to as the "Collaborative Consultation Model"), was specifically designed to help " . . . learners who may be at risk for school failure," learners in "remedial programs," learners who receive "supportive speech and language instruction" (Idol, et al., 1995). In particular, the INPW model has proven to be successful for teachers who have "special needs students in their classrooms" (Idol, 348).

Also, I will use the two models employed by the Iowa Department of Education since 2009 -- co-teaching and collaborative consultation.

What factors have I considered in my decision? As the model by INPW puts forth, there are four solid practices that have been shown to be effective vis-a-vis collaborative consultations. First, learners with special needs, as are the two students we're dealing with in this assignment, can be effectively served in "inclusive settings when teachers collaborate" in order to both generate and merge together "instructional strategies and accommodation ideas" (Idol, 349). In other words, I considered that having teachers (both special education teachers and mainstream teachers) get together and provide smart, collaborative leadership to provide what's best for students with special needs.

Secondly, teachers and other school professionals have proven to be successful when they work together to acquire "the disposition, knowledge, and skills to collaborate effectively." Thirdly, solutions that are collaboratively produced are "enhanced" when original solutions come from individual teachers committed to collaboration with other teachers (Idol, 349). This could mean that teachers in some environments would need to attend seminars, or otherwise become upgraded and updated vis-a-vis working together (even though their subjects are far afield from each other).

And fourthly, changes that are positive and motivating -- based on collaborators working together with open minds and knowledge of students with special needs -- can be expected at three levels, Idol and colleagues explain.

Those three levels of positive support include: a) team teaching among special education and general education instructors will bring positive changes in the school (not just to the students involved, but the whole school); b) there will be productive changes in the "skills, attitudes, and behaviors of adult collaborators" (teachers involved in the collaboration will be impacted through positive, intellectual and pedagogue-related growth; c) and there will be quantifiable progress in the academic and social skills of learners (Idol, 349).

TWO- Problem Solving

Step ONE: The teachers are aware that William Perry has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), but William also has "undiagnosed learning difficulties" so both the special education (SE) and the mainstream classroom teacher know they are not fully apprised of William's issues.

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They prepare strategies, the SE teacher works with the reading teacher and they agree on strategies to access William's ability to grasp content, on a very basic level.

Step TWO: The teachers initiate the consultation and there needs to be an establishment of rapport -- everyone is special and everyone is important. SE teacher works with William and one of two other SE students. The game Zoom is a good teamwork-building activity between William and Stephen (reading teacher shows a picture / photo of an object (let's say a dog); Stephen begins a story about the dog, and William is asked to continue the story. Rapport is established.

Step THREE: Even before the consultation, both teachers (who are not necessarily always in the room at the same time) collect and organize information; i.e., make notes and summarize what they discussed in terms of the needs of William. During their collaboration they carefully record each step they take, and William's responses (facial expressions, body language, and his verbal responses).

Step FOUR: Isolating the problem means coming to terms with what the problem is, and what it is not. When William talks about his father's anger during homework sessions, the SE and reading teachers know this is a problem that can't be ignored; e.g., they must work with the school psychologist at some level, and bring the parents into the picture.

Step FIVE: By identifying the concerns (of the parents, William and the teachers) and avoiding cliches and jargon, and by focusing on William's needs and issues, a sense of resolution can be achieved.

Step SIX: Generating options means possibly changing the physical configuration of the classroom. Possible solutions and alternatives must be discussed by the teachers through brainstorming, idea-development and concept mapping.

Step SEVEN: Goals for how to best work with William must be set, and roles between the two teachers are to be formulated. Methods for evaluation of the efforts put forward should be established.

Step EIGHT: The professional collaborative relationship between the teachers vis-a-vis working with….....

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