Teacher Interview: Inclusion and School Practices/Policies

On January 23, I interviewed fourth and fifth grade combination teacher Lucy Devoe at
Eagle Lake Elementary School. Lucy was actually my eighth grade teacher many years ago
when I attended Eagle Lake Elementary School and I appreciated her relaxed yet effective
approach to teaching, and the way she treated my class like we were not just kids, but respected
individuals. She has been teaching for over 16 years in a variety of different age groups that
range from first to eight grade. She received her teaching degree from the University of Maine at
Fort Kent in 1986. Interestingly, she recently received her Masters in Inclusion Education from
the University of New England. We started out the interview in her own classroom, while the
students were gone to religion class at a local Catholic church, or in a supervised study hall in the
gymnasium. The whole duration of the interviewed was about an hour, and I found it to be both
very enlightening and enjoyable.
In terms of the vision statement, Mrs. Devoe shared her personal opinion-which was that it
expressed the expectation that all students will succeed and become contributing member of
society and lifelong learners. (I have attached the vision statement for your convenience as well)
She stated that teachers are required to understand IEP accommodations, learning styles and
develop lessons or resources which will help that child to learn standard-their abilities are
considered expected to learn or understand help them to understand the big idea or central
concept rather than memorize exact details (dependent on childs abilities). Accommodations
must be made IEP is law, and you must follow this. Discipline-behaviorally, a teacher must
follow plan in place by law or can try normal behavioral classroom plan and if that doesnt work
you would work with the student to find something that works for them and involve special
education teacher, parents, principal. They will want to find something that works in the
classroom without stopping others from learning. Student evaluations-requirements for IEP
followed, if there is no IEP, she said you need to consider the abilities of the child and evaluate
according to how they can show or demonstrate proficiency in what you are teaching. Some may
show, some may tell, some may demonstrate through iPad, learning styles are understood in a
manner that fits their learning style.
She then went into discussing that teachers are required to document student performance
and any interventions they utilize for the student. She then said the next step is that they have a
staffing meeting to discuss NWEA results and any other standardized testing results that they
have. Sometimes they are referred for testing immediately based on teacher observations, and
the parents are involved before we test them. Sometimes the team meets and then meets again
after a few weeks. In terms of the pre-referral and referral process, she clearly described the
differences between the two as following. In pre-referral, the teacher keeping records and
documentation on any interventions implemented, documentation of student work and grades.
Teachers look at any standardized testing grades time frame varies as a teacher sees how
effective or not something is. Discussion with the students parent(s) and or guardian(s) takes
place to determine what the next step is, and get their input. For the referral process, the
principal, staff meet together and the results are discussed. They meet as a group to decide on
interventions and the parents are notified, discussed, and their opinion is heard and valued. Mrs.
Devoe believes that the role of parents is to support their child and their learning, provide
information to teachers about their child and their learning styles, interests, what works at home,
what doesnt work at home, support of following up on behavior plans that are developed with
parents and teachers, expectations. They can also be a part of helping their child by reading
together so they can help with the phoenix, pronunciation, comprehension. Parents often help to
determine whats going on. Parent involvement varies according to home issues and situations.
Mrs. Devoe believes in not giving too much homework-specifically math, so students can work
where she can evaluate them to see where they are struggling. However, she does believe in
assigning reading at home. Mrs. Devoe is a big proponent of inclusion, as she recently received
her Masters in Inclusion Education from the University of New England. However, she
believes that inclusion is new and is still not being implemented in the way that it was designed.
In her opinion, she stated that least restrictive practice is having the student in an environment
where they can learn and where they do not disrupt the learning of others. If students are referred
to special education, a PET goes on and then every student is included in all the other subjects.
The level of differentiation within the regular classroom with the students is dependent upon the
teacher and their understanding of the students disability and developmental levels. The
students learn so much from their peers especially when it comes to appropriate social behaviors.
The interaction among all students is great because the students without needs understand others
with needs and learn how to help them learn. When the teacher understands the learning styles
of special needs students and what they excel in, they can develop lessons that allow that student
to excel and be at the top, which teaches other students. This helps to develop their social status
and their feelings of self-worth and being a contributing member of the classroom. She said that
she will sometimes teach a student who struggles in a certain subject area specific skills before
she teaches the others, and that students can teach the rest of the class. This way they are
learning from each other building knowledge and self-esteem
She also said that as teachers need to understand where students are developmentally
whether or not they have a disability and inclusion will happen naturally. Her belief of the
teachers role in terms of the IEP (individualized educational program) is that the teacher helps
develop the IEP (individualized educational program) in the PET (people evaluation team)
teachers and everyone at the meeting work together to come up with goals by considering tests
and other appropriate data. When asked about supervision if an education technician is provided
to a student with a disability in the regular classroom, she said that it depends upon where the
student was referred from, and their ultimate supervisor is the special education teacher. The IEP
is followed, immediate supervisor is special education teacher. Classroom teacher is in charge of
her classroom and follows the IEP. Mrs. Devoe believes that inclusion is a somewhat new
practice, and that many people have not yet caught on. She said that adequate professional
development on topics such as collaboration, responses to behavior and curricular adaptations
have not been initiated by the district, but that teachers that understand the importance of those
topics are those that took the initiative to educate their selves on this. She also said that special
education teachers are always willing to help staff to understand their role and how to adapt or
differentiate for the special needs child. She also emphasized that teachers need to take the
initiation to get that information. I think that it was very important that she made it clear that
teachers need to be advocates for gaining more knowledge and getting relevant and up to date
information on these topics. She stated that teachers have not had opportunities to discuss issues
and concerns about inclusive practices formally, but that she has shared a lot of information with
staff over the past two years while getting her graduate degree in inclusion. Collaboration is
highly encouraged but there is not any special time allotted for this. Teachers need to find their
own time to do this. It is highly encouraged for collaborating and working together (different
ages helping each other).
She said that they dont have an inclusion setting here, because a real inclusion setting
would be with her co-teaching with the special education teacher; planning lessons together and
working together. However, that is simply not possible because of the schedule special
education teacher has. Due to budget cuts and low numbers for students that need special
education services for the 2013-2014 school year there is now only one special education teacher
for both Wallagrass school and Eagle Lake school. The amount of time dedicated to the Eagle
Lake school amounts to two hours a day, beginning in the morning. This is unfortunate, because
Mrs. Devoe feels like the big thing is working collaboratively with the special education teacher
to develop lessons, curriculum together with the regular classroom teacher in order to have
inclusionary practices modified to better accommodate students with disabilities in the regular
classroom


When I questioned her about whether policies and practices related to curriculum,
instruction, and discipline address the needs of all students, not just the needs of students with
identified disabilities, she said that she thinks they address the needs of all students, and if there
are special need students who need something differently, it is expected that it is put in place.
She said that they expect everybody to learn and strive to develop an environment that
encourages learning. She also emphasized the importance of the RTI process- with teacher
documenting student needs and interventions pieces of student work to show understanding of
concepts the process helps to ensure that they are able to learn.
In conclusion, I learned a lot from my interview with Lucy Devoe. I was given some first-
hand insight on how inclusion is being integrated into my own district, and some areas that make
inclusion difficult. I was appreciative of her honesty in the answers she gave, and how open she
was with sharing her own opinions with me. The interview was very professional, and I felt like
I gained a lot of insight on what works, and what doesnt work for an inclusion setting. The
processes that take place in terms of the IEP, RTI, etc. were clearly explained to me, and I felt a
sense of hope for inclusion becoming an even larger part of our district as well as others. I could
tell that Mrs. Devoe strives to do what she feels is in the best interest of her students, and is not
afraid to stand up for what she believes is right. I value this characteristic, as it can be easy to
sometimes follow the current and take the easier path. I enjoyed this experience, and look
forward to hopefully working more with Mrs. Devoe in the future-and maybe one day teaching at
the same school!