Special Educators?

Question

How familiar must a special educator be with the Standard Course of Study? How familiar must general educators be with special education and IEPs? How can each go about attaining the level of knowledge necessary? (Be specific in recommendations)

Answer 1

An effective special educator knows the standard course of study  as well as, or bettered than the general ed teacher, because the Special ed teacher must know the entire continuum, the critical benchmarks, and break key skills into sub components for individualized work. I have the entire set of standards for K-6 on my desk and use them to evaluate students, write IEPs etc.I have students K-6 on my caseload. Ideally, the general ed teacher knows at least the standards of study for own grade level, plus  the grade level before and after her/his grade level.

As far as attaining the knowledge, I have attended every standards based workshop I can find in the state, have a copy of standards available for frequent reference, have been involved in writing and revised standards, also in writing and revising state tests, have participated in grade level and cross grade level discussions about applying standards, served on curriculum committees, and was on the committee to backload math requirements for grades 12 to K.

In addition, I use the standards when doing my lesson plans for the year, quarter , and weekly units.   Summaries of reading and math standards are posted in the classroom and discussed with students/parents.   The kids have bookmarks with key learning goals on one side and personal goals on the other.    I sit down with new parents ( especially resistant parents who feel that the school is responsible for everything) and show them what the state expects this year and what is coming up next year. That is usually an eye opener!  If nothing else, the parents develop some sympathy for their children.  The students have a lot to learn compared to when we were in school.

As a school we have standards posted in every classroom, as well as access schools and district mission statement. We also have posted and reviewed quarterly behavior expectations.  The more we review the stadards with others, the better we can integrate the standards into our daily planning and teaching.

Having been a teacher for 30+ years, I now teach graduate level classes to teachers.  Standards are a strong component of what I try to get across.

Answer 2

General Educators, or Mainstream Teachers, need to be very familiar with special education and IEPs, because more and more they are expected to take in students who are being mainstreamed, or have cognitive disabilities.  

You will get students with Asperger's Syndrome, Moderate Autism, and ADHD.  Even most students with a higher grade learning disability will have an IEP, and if that sutdent is in your class, your will be expected to be a part of the IEP team's process.