Helen Webb

12/18/12
Field Placement Practicum Assignment
Introduction
For the Students with Exceptionalities in Education Field Placement Practicum
Assignment, I was required to interview a number of individuals who are involved in the
special education process. I was also asked to examine the implementation of assistive
technology and the IEP procedure. I completed six hours of instructional support and
then was told to reflect on my experiences. Lastly, I was instructed to analyze the
interviews and what I had learned from them.

Interviews
Special Educator
Kristina has been teaching at Alfred Elementary School for four years. She works
specifically with students from kindergarten to fifth grade who have Autism. Right now,
she has three students who spend most of the time in her classroom and five students who
are in mainstream classrooms whom she meets with individually. Kristina likes the selfcontained program she is in as opposed to a resource room environment.
She always wanted to be a teacher. She majored in English with a Minor in
Education and then went on to get her Masters in special education through the ETEP
program at the University of Southern Maine. Before she arrived at Alfred, she had
worked at the Reach School in South Portland with children between the ages of 3 and 5
who had Autism. When she began the ETEP program at USM, she worked as an
education technician at Emory School in Falmouth. While she was there, she had the
opportunity to become a long-term substitute when the teacher she was working with

went on maternity leave. She says, for her, this was the first major step into the field of
teaching. She reports that there has been a significant increase in paperwork, and the
standards and forms are constantly changing.
Both Kristina and the principal believe in providing the least restrictive
environment for their students. Strategies used in Kristinas classroom include Applied
Behavior Analysis, SCERTS, (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation,
Transactional Support), and Discreet Trials. There is also a lot of hands-on as well as
visual stimulation.
She collaborates with the speech and occupational therapists once a week. The ed
techs also attend the sessions with the students so that skills can be reinforced on a daily
basis. Every other week, she meets with the general educators to discuss student progress,
goals, and how the presence of the ed tech in the classroom would best serve the students
needs. Once a week, the special educators and speech and occupational therapists get
together with the students and work together in collaborative group activities.
Kristina is working with a few students who are diagnosed with MR (mental
retardation) in addition to Autism. She says that this combination appears differently in
each student and spoke of a brother and sister in particular who share the same diagnosis.
In one, the Autism is more prevalent. However, the other began in the Autism program
with MR even before the Autism diagnosis. Kristina noted that it is important to do right
by the child, not the check box on the childs IEP.
Kristina encourages family involvement and believes that the carry-over of
skills and routines learned is important to the childs development. She reported that
some parents do not respond to her, while others go above and beyond for their children.

She sends a journal back and forth to communicate daily as well. She does not give out
personal information, but she makes herself available and makes a point to call parents
with positive news.
Kristina was on a SAT last year. She liked being involved but minded the amount
of commitment. She does answer questions and gives advice to members who come to
her. She is not in RTI, because she says that they are more literacy based, and that it is
more the ed techs territory. She also pointed out that all of her students are identified.
She does not have any students with 504 plans. These students are managed by another
special education teacher.
Assistive technology is widely used in the school and in Kristinas classroom.
Students use an Ipad for many different educational and entertainment activities as well
as for communication. Two students are learning how to use a program called
Proloquo2Go in order to communicate. Students have also used Skype when they are
unable to make it to class for extended periods of time. Kristina uses a program called
Board Maker to make Picture Exchange Cards (PECS) which her students use on a daily
basis. YouTube is also used for instructional videos and recorded books. In addition to the
communication component, Kristina says that technology stimulates attention and
reinforces learning.
From this interview, I learned that collaboration between teachers, parents, and
other professionals, such as speech and occupational therapists, is critical to the success
of each student. When each party has a clear understanding of the needs and goals of the
students, skills can be reinforced across disciplines and in different environments,
allowing for more consistent progress. I also learned that technology can be beneficial

not only in communicating, but also in helping students retain material by providing
examples and guided practice.

Parent of a child with a disability

The parent interviewed has a 16-year-old son who has Aspergers Syndrome and a
13-year-old daughter who has developmental delays. The mother often feels left in the
dark because of unexplained jargon during IEP meetings and complains that the
experience is overwhelming. She feels like many of the people involved thought her son
had discipline problems stemming from the home rather than problems relating to his
Aspergers.
Her son has had a good experience working with ed techs. They have been helpful
and open to him as an individual. The mother also reports that they are more
understanding of his disciplinary needs and seem to always be there to help him. Her
daughter has been let down more, because she is much quieter and does not show a lot of
interest in academics. As a result, it seems to her mother that she gets less attention. She
says that extra effort used to bring her in within an academic setting.
The mother has always been a fan of public education. Her oldest daughter had
tougher teachers, and she was encouraged to be independent. Now the mother feels that
teachers get a bad rap and reports that most of her experience continues to be positive.
One thing I took away from this conversation was that it is important to avoid
making assumptions not only about the students, but about the parents. It is not
acceptable to assume that the parents are influencing the issues of the child, or that they
do not understand the childs needs. Details, such as those in the IEP, need to be clearly

identified, so that the parent is able to advocate and actively participate in the education
process.

Parent of a child who is gifted and talented

This mother has two daughters who have been identified as gifted and talented.
Her younger daughter is dually exceptional and has dyslexia. Intervention services began
for her in kindergarten. Her daughters were in specific classes for gifted and talented
students until their family moved into a district that had a weaker program. Her daughters
are now taking Advanced Placement courses.
The mother reports that teachers expect a lot out of her younger daughter because
she has been identified as GT, but that she struggles with some academic areas, as well as
standardized testing, because of her dyslexia. Classroom instruction is not differentiated,
and there is not as much classroom support as there was at the previous school. She states
that differentiated instruction would have been helpful for her daughters.
She reports that there are limited resources to meet her daughters needs, so she
has to find challenges for them outside the school environment. Also, she said that it
seems to be assumed that they do not require special attention because of their gifted and
talented label.
This interview was interesting because the parent also happened to be a
professional in the field of education. She had a pretty clear understanding of what was
lacking in the education of her daughters, as well as services that would benefit them. I
did not know much about gifted and talented students before this conversation. I learned
that it is not enough to put students who are gifted and talented in advanced or

accelerated classrooms. It is important that students be challenged, but it is detrimental to

assume that the student does not require academic and other supports.

Student who has a disability

The student interviewed is a 17-year-old female in the 11th grade. She has several
identified disabilities related to her Pfeiffers syndrome diagnosis. She has Chiari
Malformation, Hydrocephalus, Fibromyalgia, fused ankles and wrists, hip and elbow
dysplasia, as well as blindness in one eye and severe bilateral hearing loss. She was
identified for early intervention services at 6 months of age.
She reports that her IEP meetings are difficult and stressful. She often ends up
crying because she feels like she is not being heard. When asked to sum up the
experience, she stated that it was not enjoyable or something she looks forward to. She
finds that her special education teachers try to assume that she is dumber than she really
is. They have tried to discourage her from her honors classes, and she reports years of
fighting with them about the issue. She said that when she has a problem, she does not go
to her special education teachers. She confides in her classroom teachers.
Most of her classroom teachers are sweet. She has found that they are always
willing to listen to her, and she feels comfortable opening up to them about any problems.
She tends to keep in touch with them and looks at them as role models.
Overall, she says her peers are really nice to her. She has not experienced too
much judgment or discrimination from them. She did mention that she moved after
having major facial reconstruction surgery, and that the new location could have been a

contributing factor in the way that she was treated by her peers. Before the surgery, she
experienced a lot of bulling where she used to live.
The student is in a number of honors classes because she wants to challenge
herself. She thinks that her education has been good overall, with few problems. Most of
her teachers seem to understand that she misses a significant amount of school because of
her disabilities. They are helpful and do not judge her when she needs to make up work
she has missed. She reports that her special education teachers are a bit tougher about the
situation, and she feels that she needs to reason with them. Overall, she feels blessed to
be getting a good education from the teachers in the mainstream classroom.
She has noticed that over the past few years it has become increasingly difficult to
receive special education services. She reports that the school does not usually want to
give her services that she and her parents believe she needs. She says that her parents
have to be very persistent about getting her needs met.
This interview reinforced my belief that it is crucial for the students voice to be
represented in the education process. It is important for students to not feel like their
teachers have lowered expectations of them or discourage them from striving for any
personal goals. Students do need to learn to advocate for themselves, but their education
should not create barriers or make them feel that they are in any way incapable.

Gifted and Talented Professionals

Diane Knot is a gifted and talented coordinator for Gorham schools. Ann Cutton
is the coordinator in Sanford for grades 7-12, and Grace Jacobs works with children pre
K to 5 in the RSU 35 school district. All three presenters noted that gifted and talented

education is no longer a part of federal law. They report that each state has its own
response to GT education.
They offered a list of effective instructional approaches for working with students
who are gifted and talented. They suggested offering alternatives that allow for students
to take risks and challenge themselves, but while having plenty of support. They said that
it is good to observe evidence of over excitabilities, and that it is important to remain
flexible when necessary. They also offered a list of specific differentiation techniques,
such as providing opportunities for independent study, interest groups, and tiered
assignments. They also suggested seeking out internships for students.
They all support the Consultation Model which means working with classroom
teachers to find resources in the classroom, rather than relying on one 40 minute pull-out
session a week. In regards to working with students who are dually exceptional, they
said that it is important to identify a students strengths and weakness. It is imperative to
not ignore the giftedness and support the disability, or visa versa. All students need a
challenging, structured program. Students should be encouraged to take pride in the
things at which they excel, but at the same time, should receive cognitive stimulation and
direction regarding problem-solving skills.
I learned that if students are not adequately challenged, they will eventually come
across a difficult situation and will not have developed the skills necessary to process and
solve problems. Teachers need to help students understand that just because something
does not come as easily to them as other things do, they are no longer smart.

IEP Meeting
Participants in the observed IEP meeting included the student, the mother, an
education specialist, the school psychologist, and the English teacher. The school
administrator and the math teacher were not present. The meeting had a facilitator and a
number of teachers and staff members. The student was given a copy of his rights and
procedural safe guards, He was informed that if he had any issues or concerns that he
could report to the team, or if needed, he could go to the administration for possible
informal mediation. The previous IEP was then reviewed, and the agenda was explained
in detail. The student was included in the discussion. The education specialist introduced
the agenda, as well as the goals from the last meeting. He also emphasized the students
accomplishments. The attendees of the meeting introduced themselves as well as their
role in the students IEP. They discussed the students goals and progress, also giving the
student a chance to ask questions and talk about how he thought things were going.
It was interesting viewing the process from a teachers perspective. I learned that
attendees can vary depending on the individual needs of the student, and that the
students involvement is a critical part of the process. I also learned that the meeting is set
up similarly to that of a business meeting; there is a facilitator, as well as representatives
from different departments. They are all working together to reach a goal, while
considering the needs of the student, who is the consumer.

Review of an IEP
I studied an IEP of one of the students in the classroom in which I have been
placed this semester. The document is separated into 11 sections. The first section reports

the students basic information including name, date of birth, grade, and parent
information, along with the case managers name and the date of the IEP. The next
section specifies the students diagnosis. The next few sections detail evaluation results,
parental concerns, and strengths and needs of the child, as well as short term and long
term goals and related services. The final sections detail the least restrictive environment,
which includes the percentage of time the student spends with her typical peers and the
number of hours she receives services. Finally, the statewide and district assessments are
listed and explained, as well as the secondary transition, which will be completed closer
to the time that the student will graduate from high school.
As with the other students in this program, this student has been diagnosed with
Autism. She spends most of her time in the self-contained program but attends weekly
specials, lunch and recess, and a reading lesson with her first grade general education
class. The students services include speech and occupational therapy, as well as one-onone support from an ed tech. Her IEP goals include following classroom rules and
routines without prompting, identifying lowercase letters and numbers, expressively and
receptively identifying emotions, and sequencing days of the week, months of the year,
and short picture stories. She will also be able to recognize verbs and functions of
objects, as well as her personal information, such as her name, phone number and
address. Her goals are measured by student evidence and teacher-collected data and
observation. While in her general education classroom during reading time, the student
has books that are tailored to her level, which are read to her by the ed tech. She also
receives additional verbal prompts during class vocabulary exercises. At age 7, the
student is currently unable to read or write on her own. She is able to identify letters and

can recognize her name. She follows classroom routines with the help of some point
prompting. She is also able to match colors with their names.

Instructional Support
This semester, I provided instructional support in the Autism program at Alfred
Elementary school, as well as in the KPAC Program at King Middle School. I spent most
of the semester working in Alfred. I feel that the students that I saw there represented a
good portion of the Autism Spectrum. There were students who came in once or twice a
week for reading or math help, and there were also students who spent the majority of
their time in the special education classroom and needed constant one-on-one attention.
This was my first experience working with students who were non-verbal. I had the
opportunity to study IEPs and design lessons that fit the students needs. Lessons
included reading comprehension, reading fluency, learning the days of the week, and fine
motor practice, to name a few. The students I worked with were between kindergarten
and 5th grade.
At King Middle School I worked with 6th graders, some of whom required special
instruction. I helped with writing and science homework. I assisted one student, over the
course of a few weeks, in learning how to write a paragraph.

Analysis
Differences among the interviewees (compare and contrast)
One difference that I recognized in the interviews was between the two parents
level of understanding about the education of their children. The mother whose children

received special education services expressed frustration that she could not participate,
because IEP team members used jargon that she did not understand. The mother of the
gifted and talented students, who had a background in education, expressed frustration
that the educational system was not providing adequate services and was underestimating
the needs of her children.
Another difference in the interviews was between the special educator and the
student in special education. The special educator emphasized the importance of the least
restrictive environment and allowing students to participate in the mainstream classroom
as much as possible. The student, on the other hand, felt that her special educators were
not providing her with enough services, and that she and her parents had to convince
them that certain services were necessary.

Similarities and differences among General, Special, and Gifted and Talented Education
Differentiated instruction is important for all students in order to learn. Though
students may be in a general education classroom, they have ways that they best obtain,
process and demonstrate knowledge. Similar to special education and gifted and talented
education, it is important that a variety of teaching methods and materials are used in the
general education classroom. One way I observed this in the field was during literacy
centers in a first grade classroom. Each student had their own designated collections of
books that they would read to a partner. The books were assigned based on reading level
and topics of interest. Once students completed the books assigned to them, new books
were added to the collection. All students, including those with and without disabilities

were able to participate without comparing themselves to their classmates, because all the
baskets looked to be the same.
No matter their exceptionality, special education, or gifted and talented education,
it is important that students spend the maximum amount of time possible with their
typical peers. It is essential for students who are gifted and talented to have multiple sets
of peer groups. They need peers that they can associate with intellectually, while still
having peers that are around the same physical and developmental stage as they are. They
need to learn what is socially appropriate in each setting. Students who have disabilities
also need to learn to socialize and interact with their typical peer group. One of the
important components in K-12 education is that students learn to participate in society
and a key component to that goal is learning to develop appropriate social skills.
A difference that I noticed between Gifted and Talented and Special Education is
that GT is no longer part of a federal program, so it is managed by individual states.
Therefore, not all students have access to specialized gifted and talented programs,
because not all states recognize the need.

Capacity and Deficit Thinking

I found evidence of both capacity and deficit thinking while communicating with
individuals and observing in the field. In the special education classroom in Alfred,
Kristina demonstrated capacity thinking by celebrating every accomplishment, no matter
how small. She makes an effort to call parents to report these successes. An example of
deficit thinking was shown in my interview with a student who has a disability. Her

special educators made her feel less capable by discouraging her from taking challenging
courses.

Personal and Professional Growth

Throughout this process, I have developed skills and knowledge that will benefit
me greatly in my teaching career. Through providing one-on-one instruction, I have been
able to practice and improve some of these skills, and make changes to my own methods
and ways of thinking about the education process. I have learned that it is important to
develop a number of teaching strategies and to always provide multiple ways for students
to observe and solve a problem. Not only does this allow students to find methods that
work best for them, but they too can develop different strategies that they can use when
they come across a situation where one method does not work.
I have also gained a better understanding of the importance of collaboration in
order to better meet the needs of each student. It is important that communication is clear,
so that everyone involved is able to understand and implement the services and supports
necessary for students to get the most out of their education. This includes collaboration
between teachers, special educators and other services, as well as parents and the student.
It is important that skills be practiced in multiple environments in order for the best
chance of mastery. In my practice, I will emphasize communication, and let parents know
about the accomplishments of their students, not just negative information. Parents need
to feel welcome, and know that they are an active part of their childs education.
I began this process knowing very little about gifted and talented education.
Through presentations in class, which included a parent and a group of professionals, I

have learned the importance of supporting both the students strengths and weaknesses
and providing an environment where students are challenged and pushed to develop
problem-solving skills. It is also important to make students aware that just because
something may not come as easily to them does not mean that they are no longer smart,
as few students are exceptional across the board.
Finally, I have learned about the implementation and use of various forms of
assistive technology. I have observed how the use of technologies such as P.E.C.S. and
communication boards can enhance student learning. Over a number of months, I have
been able to watch students learn how to use technology and watch their behavior and
performance improve as they are able to communicate their needs and concerns to their
teachers and their peers.
In my own teaching, I will use the strategies I learned from this experience. I am
better prepared to look out for potential problems that may arise in the education of
exceptional students. Though there is still some controversy regarding how exceptional
students are taught in the classroom, I feel that all students should have an equal
opportunity to participate, succeed and be challenged in the least restrictive educational
setting.