Jillian Schoer EDUG 787 Professor Sheehan December 10, 2013 Final Growth Statement As this semester begins

to close I start to reflect on what I have learned in EDUG 787. This course was extremely important for me especially as a future Special Education teacher. I learned how three legal documents shaped education to what it is today, what Response to Intervention, and what assessment is. Prior to this course I knew what No Child Left Behind(2001) was, but I never heard of PL94-142. I learned the importance of PL-94-142, which is that all children deserve a free appropriate public education, outlined Individual Education Plan (IEP), and how each student deserves a Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). As a future educator it is extremely important to understand the laws that were created. It is comforting to know that PL94-142 protects the students academics so they can achieve successfully. It was interesting to be student teaching in a Special Education classroom while learning about the laws because I was able to gain insight of how each student got to their current placement. Each student in my student teaching placement has an IEP and is in a self-contained class. IDEA(2004/2008) is extremely important especially for District 75 schools. This law helped me understand how individuals with special needs they need extra support so they receive services in a school setting until they are twenty-one years old. This is extremely helpful for those individuals to receive the proper education they deserve.

Before this course I had only heard the term RTI but I didnt have a full understanding of what it was. I didnt realize that RTI had 3 tiers, and I didnt realize how important RTI is to education! I learned that Tier 1 is what everyone is exposed to in a general education classroom setting with activities such as, guided reading, differentiated math groups, and differentiated instruction. Tier 2 is when AIS Instruction is involved and one or two students may have small group reading instruction to target certain areas. Lastly, tier 3 is when additional testing is recommended for a student to receive more services. The three steps of RTI are extremely important to know as a future educator because most likely I will have to know how to provide support for my future students. I have learned the importance of anecdotal records to provide evidence for my observations of students. For my academic practicum I chose to work with Ronilyn and assess an eleven year old boy using WIAT. This was an interesting experience using the WIAT because in my undergraduate student teaching placement I assessed students using e-Class, assessed students blending, decoding, and reading skills. Meanwhile WIAT assessed reading and math skills. The eleven year old boy we assessed is on Autism Spectrum and tends to be frustrated especially when it comes to academics. We had to use rewards and positive reinforcement to keep him engaged in the assessment. It was interesting to conduct this assessment because in my future classroom I may need to know how to formally assess students. To conclude, throughout this course I learned may important aspects that will be useful for my future classroom. By understanding the laws that were placed to help education I am more appreciative and more willing to give support to

students who may need it. I understand how important RTI truly is and how anecdotal records are a useful tool to use as evidence. Lastly my experience with WIAT was interesting to learn how to formally assess a student and how to interpret the results.