PCP Plan

Samantha Becker
St. Bonaventure University

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Becker PCP Plan
Introduction
Creating a PCP plan takes active planning and consideration. When choosing a student to
complete the plan on I wanted a student that had an idea of what he wanted to do in coming years
as well as a student who is working on transitioning. Based on this criteria I chose a student who
is transitioning from middle school to high school who has personal goals that he would like to
accomplish once in high school. The reasoning for wanting the student to have goals when
transitioning from middle school to high school is so that the student can begin planning on how
to meet his high school goals. Some of the goals that he expressed interest in can begin being
implemented in small stages prior to his entry into high school.
The importance of these goals is the due to the students placement in a life skills class
there is a chance that he will miss out on various opportunities and not receive the experience he
wants. High school is an important time for students to learn and develop and life skills
classrooms, although they benefit the students, do not always meet the personal desires of the
students within them. Because of this the students personal goals that are being expressed so that
he may have an experience that is both valuable and enjoyable that does not leave Brandon, a
pseudonym, unhappy with his school experiences.
This can help benefit other students because the inclusion of one of the students from the
life skills classroom in activities outside the class could lead to the inclusion of more students
from the life skills program into the school. As seen in past weeks the students are included with
other special education classroom in specials, thus not truly integrating the students into the
general education population. None of the students are pulled from the class into general
education classes either which does not provide the students with ample opportunities to interact

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with their peers. Working on including Brandon will hopefully lead to furthering the inclusion of
other students in the class so that they may also have a valuable and educational high school
experience.
For this plan I chose a student, Brandon, to complete the PCP with. Brandon is an 8th
grade student with sever learning disabilities located in a fifth-eight grade life skills classroom.
The student received counseling twice a week up until this academic school year and speech
once a week in the current academic school year. He lives with his mother and visits his father on
long weekends and breaks. He has an older brother and sister. His sister is very supportive of him
but does not live in the area. His older brother is recently returned home after transferring
between schools due to behavioral concerns. Brandon has recently joined the swim team and is
an active participant during swim meets.

Literature Review
When looking at the research for students within Learning Disabilities there was a variety
of research that demonstrated that inclusion of students into the general education classroom was
beneficial for both students with disabilities as well as students without disabilities. However the
idea of including students within class is more complex than it first appears. For inclusion of
students they should be actively involved within the class and the activities in the lessons. The
research also indicated that there are benefits to having students within a self-contained
classroom but the support for inclusion and self-contained classrooms appeared to vary
throughout the research completed.

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There are various characteristics of students who have been diagnosed with learning
disabilities. When looking at how students with learning disabilities approach writing they are
often disorganized for they do not put in the time to plan throughout the writing process.
(Santangelo, 2014) This can partially be contributed to the idea that students with learning
disabilities have difficulty with organization of thoughts, and their understanding of the material
often does not provide them with the means to look deeper into the material to create more
meaningful compositions. Due to the unorganized nature of the students with Learning
Disabilities they often struggle throughout their educational experiences. These students are at
times included within the general education classroom while others are placed into self-contained
classrooms. In either situation the needs of the student need to be met through various means of
representation. Students with Learning Disabilities should also be exposed to various types of
classrooms to determine what the best fit is for them and their needs.
When looking at the effect on including students with disabilities there has been a variety
of benefits that have affected both the students with disabilities and students that are nondisabled. Based on Idol (2006) there were positive benefits seen by student with disabilities. The
issue that often arises with including students is the lack of supporting personnel. Idol (2006)
states that
All of the administrators thought that inclusion would be best
implemented if extra available adults were provided and if these
adults could work with any student needing assistance, not just
with students with disabilities. (Idol, 2006)

This statement indicates that teachers are supportive of inclusion with stipulations of
requiring extra help within the class. The issue of having to few staff to meet all of the student
needs, or having knowledgeable staff has become an issue throughout much of the special

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education community. Without having enough support to meet student needs many students fall
behind and do not receive the attention that they require, or they receive support that is not
beneficial for their needs.
Inclusion of students with disabilities has also shown to have a positive effect on nondisabled students as well. When included into the general education classroom students with
disabilities often need information presented in various ways and at various levels of Blooms
taxonomy. Because of this teachers teach to a more wide range of students and provide varying
means of representation which also benefits non-disabled students. The primary disadvantage
however that was noted when looking at including students with disabilities in the general
education classroom was including students who have behavioral disorders.(Idol, 2006) When
looking at inclusion there was differing in opinions between studies.
Unlike Idol (2006) Cook, Semmel and Gerber (1999) determined that unlike the teachers
listed above special education teachers asked about their perception on inclusion there was a
more supportive rate from principals than the special education teachers. The high rate of special
education teachers negative opinions towards inclusion was attributed to the idea that in many
cases there were negative experiences and negative outcomes associated with inclusion. Because
of the higher standards in which teachers are being held to with APPR many are afraid of not
meeting the standards in which they are being assessed. This has limited teachers willingness to
take students with more significant needs because of their low test scores that reflect on the
teacher.
Inclusion goes beyond the idea of simply including students into the general curriculum
classroom. For these students it is necessary to look more into their full inclusion within the class

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and not simply having the student sit within the classroom. According to Baglieri and Knopf
(2004) even included students labeled as having LD continue to be excluded, not by classroom
location but by the instructional discourses that circulate in the school. To be fully included
within the classroom would involve completing work with the other students in the class, being
able to partake in class discussions and not doing separate work that differs to the degree that the
students cannot work together or are not learning the same material.
One of the ways to help with fully including students into the general education
classroom is the use of peer interactions and peer mentoring. When comparing traditional
lecturing by teachers students with learning disabilities often have a difficult time learning the
material. Based upon the work of Mastropieri, Scruggs, Norland, Berkeley, McDuffie, Tornquist
and Connors (2006) both students with and without disabilities need practice, application, and
generalization of relevant skills and concepts when learning topics in order to develop a
complete understanding of the topic.
With traditional lecture styles of teaching students do not fully receive the chance to
apply the information that they learn except in the form of worksheets or exams. Having students
apply the information that they learn allows them to learn how to generalize the information,
practice what they are learning, and it allows them to create a meaningful understanding of the
information that they learn. In the case of students with learning disabilities not including time
for them to apply what they are learning will give them little exposure to the information and
prevent them from developing an understanding of what they are learning.
One of the placements in which students with severe Learning Disabilities are placed is
life skills classrooms. When considering life skills classrooms and the effect that they have on

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students with disabilities there are various aspects to consider. One of the important aspects is the
effectiveness of the skills being taught on the students independence. According to Dymond,
Renzaglia & Chun (2007) authentic content is something valued and necessary for meaningful
learning by students; yet despite the efforts of educators students do not understand the meaning
behind what they are learning. This applies to life skills classrooms because life skills classrooms
are essentially designed to be heavily authentic experiences. As with general education
classrooms the need to make learning authentic is highly important in making education and the
information taught applicable and important for the students and their future.
In looking at inclusion from a perspective of students with disabilities other than learning
disabilities there is evidence that students benefit more from self-contained classrooms when
pertaining to small group instruction but overall performed worse in self-contained classrooms
when compared to student in the general education class. (Maggin, Wehby, Partin, Roberston,
and Oliver, 2011) When looking at the students within the self-contained classrooms there were
benefits and issues with both classrooms that appeared to be reversed from one to the other.
Students within the self-contained classroom were more likely to answer questions but also more
likely to have behaviors.
One of the reasons that could reflect this is because the students are in self-contained
classrooms are given more interaction with the teacher by working in smaller groups for
academic lessons. This gives the teacher more chances to meet individual needs of the students
and cater to each of the students ways of learning material. In general education classrooms
teachers often have more students in the lesson having to divide the attention between what
could be twenty plus students. General education teachers also create lessons that meet the needs
of the majority of students and create accommodations for the remaining individual student

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needs within the class. The reasoning however for the higher rate of behavior in self-contained
classrooms could be rooted in the idea that students are learning their behaviors from the other
students within the class and modeling themselves after one another because they do not have
other students to model themselves after. In a general education classroom students often model
appropriate behaviors thus giving the students with behavioral disorders examples to model their
own behavior after.
Once more returning to the topic of students with Learning Disabilities there was
research completed to look at the emotional stability of the students when located in the general
education classroom or in a self-contained classroom. Students were tested for depression by
guidance counselors in both locations to determine if one setting would prove to be more
beneficial to the students. Surprisingly the rate of student depression was equal between the two
placements of the students. However it was the perception of the guidance counselors that led to
more students being considered depressed within the general education classrooms, and thus
these students receiving more attention or being moved. (Howard and Tryon, 2002)
This perception does not assist in helping the students because if there is no difference in
location the students are affected by something outside of the classroom setting. This perception
by guidance counselors also demonstrates the priority of these students within the school system.
If the students are located in self-contained classrooms they are only receiving a small degree of
help, based upon this particular study, rather than receiving the same amount of help that would
be provided for students within the general education classroom. This prejudice against the
students in this manner is disheartening for it demonstrates the inequalities within schools as well
as the lack of help that students receive once they are in a self-contained classroom.

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After comparing the research there are various arguments made that support having
students within the general education setting. These studies indicate that there are significant
gains by student both behaviorally as well as academically. There were however arguments that
supported students within self-contained classrooms. Inclusion of students is something that also
is highly supported can also proves to not be as effective for students if the inclusion is done in a
poor fashion. For students with Learning Disabilities their individual goals and needs need to be
considered before choosing what is best for the student.

PCP Meeting
Once the student was chosen for the PCP plan I began planning for a meeting. I asked the
student about who he would want at the meeting. He expressed that he wanted his mother as well
as his classroom teacher to be at the meeting. We also decided that the teacher aid would join the
meeting as well as the speech therapist would join in the meeting. We decided to include the
teacher aide because she has spent time with the student during lunches and during recess and
has seen him interact with other students outside of an academic setting as well as talked with
him in an outside setting. Similarly we chose to have the speech therapist there because she
works with not only the special education department but with students in the general education
classrooms. Due to her involvement in general education classes we thought she would be
helpful when looking into what teachers may be open to inclusion if that became one of the goals
from the meeting. We also decided to include Brandons swim coach in order to get an opinion
from someone outside of school and home.

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When planning a time we decided to first look at the mothers schedule. Because she is a
single parent that works we needed to accommodate for her schedule. We decided to hold the
meeting on one of her days off when all of the teachers were able to meet. We were to hold the
meeting after school before sports practices started on a day when we were all able to meet.
When planning we knew that there was only a half an hour to forty five minute time frame in
which to complete the meeting. This time frame would provide, with cooperation from all
participants, for us to cover Brandons strengths, needs and concerns, personal goals for high
school, and a plan for how to begin reaching these goals with Brandon.
The meeting in itself went well. Everyone in attendance was cooperative and supportive
of Brandon and his goals. The meeting began with strengths which included Brandons ability to
joke with peers, Brandons creative nature, Brandons enjoyment of math and construction of
projects, and Brandons dedication to studying. Every member of the meeting actively
contributed to the positive characteristics of Brandon which would later lead to a variety of
different options for him.
The weaknesses and nightmares were discussed after the strengths. His mother discussed
Brandons difficulty with school work above his tested level of first grade and that Brandon is
also very unorganized. His teacher and teacher aide both agreed that Brandons math skills are
slowly developing and often leave him frustrated. One of the main nightmares that were
discussed was Brandon missing out on high school experiences as well as not learning enough
skills to live independently after school. These concerns, expressed by his mother, also related
that Brandon is currently still weak in personal living skills such as cooking and laundry.

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From the needs and concerns the meeting progressed into personal goals and the goals
that the adults in attendance wanted to see for Brandon. Brandons personal goals were that he
wanted to continue on the swim team, but he also wanted to take a math class. He enjoyed
having classes outside of the life skills classroom and wanted to interact more with his peers.
Brandon, as well as his mother, also expressed that they wanted Brandon to develop more
independent living skills so that he may one day live on his own with little assistance. Brandon
also expressed interest further schooling after high school.
With these goals in mind the group began discussing what some options would be for
Brandon. Brandons swim coach discussed that based on Brandons high work ethic and
participation at practices and meets keeping him active within the team in high school is a high
possibility so long as he keeps working hard in school and receiving high grades. The topic of
including Brandon in a math class there was some debate between how to work to include
Brandon into a Math class. The teacher expressed concern about Brandons ability to complete
the work that is expected at the 8th grade level. The speech therapist raised the question of
including him in maybe a 6th grade math class so that the material is slightly simpler but it also
gets him into the general education setting. The teacher aide, in response to this, said that she
would work with Brandon during recess hours or during the life skills students math time. With
the teacher aide willing to work with the student the speech therapist and the teacher said that
they would jointly work together to talk with some of the math teachers to see who would be
willing to allow Brandon the attempt to try being included. By including him now in the Math
class Brandon could decide how he thinks he would do in a high school math class. At the high
school level if there is a consumer math class it could also prove to be beneficial for Brandon

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however before planning for Brandon to take that class in the future the teacher wanted to
monitor Brandon in a general education class and be sure it is what he wants to do.
Another of Brandons goals was to become more independent by learning more
independent living skills such as cooking and laundry. Within the life skills classroom the teacher
has jobs that student interview for. She recommended that Brandon try for the job of laundry mat
so that he can learn how to do laundry and have various times to practice during the week. The
teacher also said that she would work to spend some more time within the class for students to
have opportunities to work in the kitchen. She felt that overall it would benefit all of the students
to include more of such activities into her lessons. One suggestion that was made was
incorporating some life skills into classroom lessons, for example reading books about managing
money or daily activities that the students, in general, could benefit from. The teacher agreed to
think about including such activities into her lessons so as to make the life skills class more
engaging and beneficial for all of the students. At the end of the meeting both Brandon and his
mother appeared to be satisfied with the results.
Overall the meeting went well in that it created some goals for helping Brandon to
achieve a meaningful experience from his schooling. The teacher, speech pathologist, and the
teacher aide were all willing to collaborate together to help Brandon achieve these goals.
Brandons swim coach provided the meeting with the insight of Brandon outside of an academic
setting which led to the willingness of the teachers to try and find a way to include Brandon into
a general education math class. The process of running the meeting was interesting in that there
are a lot of opinions that are discussed about the student. Having experienced a meeting where
everyone in attendance was supportive of the student and their goals it was apparent that with
good collaboration there are many positive outcomes that can occur for the students. The

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opportunities open for the student so that they can have the most enriching experience possible.
The student is also discovered in a new light for it gives the various figures in this case
Brandons life a chance to hear how Brandon behaves and interacts in a variety of settings. This
meeting exposes the chance for Brandons family and educators to understand his feelings and
what experiences he wants to achieve from school. In the case of Brandon I learned that he wants
more chances to interact with other students as the general education students do rather than be
isolated in the self-contained classroom. The experience did bring into question however of how
difficult creating goals would be if those involved with the meeting did not collaborate and
disagreed on a particular point. Any form of disagreement could quickly turn the meeting from
productive to a stand-still that would prove unbeneficial for Brandon.

The Plan
As listed above Brandons teachers plan to incorporate more chances to practice life skills
within the classroom. Brandon is going to apply for the position of launder in the classroom and
the teacher is going to provide more opportunities to learn to cook during the week. Another of
the goals included the teachers collaborating with the 6th grade math teachers to see about
including Brandon within the class. Once the meeting came to an end a copy was made of the
notes that were taken during the meeting so that everyone had the information before leaving the
meeting.
Within the next week teacher and speech pathologist began discussing the opportunity for
Brandon to become an inclusion student within one of the classes. This is something that was
going to take time, and potentially extra work from Brandon, because he would have missed the

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first few months of material. Despite the efforts of the teachers this is something that could take
various efforts and multiple attempts to achieve. The teacher also began to incorporate more life
skills into her lessons to her students. Even in a short time Brandon and his classmates were seen
improving in a variety of areas.
When looking at the plan there are aspects that are more easily sustainable, such as
teaching more life skills lessons and Brandon continuing with the swim team. In both of these
cases Brandon has already been included and has become part of the routine. The inclusion into
the classroom however is something that may be more difficult to obtain. Despite the research
that indicates that students in an inclusive setting do well not all teachers are fully supportive of
this idea and some do not wish to part-take in inclusion programs. It is often more work to
include a student into a classroom when they are developmentally so far behind their peers but
with collaboration between the general education teacher and the special education teacher it is
something that can become manageable and beneficial for the student.
Despite the current slow progress with including Brandon there is still a chance that the
special education teacher will find a way for Brandon to be included in a general education math
class. The communication between teachers will be highly necessary and collaboration will be
important once a teacher is found that is willing to include Brandon. Brandons continuation with
the swim team is highly likely to continue with Brandons continuous efforts within the
classroom as well as on the team. The remaining goal of having Brandon become more
independent is also something that will be addressed both in his current class and the class in
which he is transitioning into. Life skills at the high school level is something that focuses on
making students more independent and with the determination seen within Brandon there is a
positive looking future for him in becoming independent.

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When comparing the outcomes of the meeting with the initial goals of the meeting
specific outcomes matched with the initial goals. One of the initial goals was for Brandon to
become more included so that he can receive a high school experience in which he feels benefits
him. His current goal of inclusion is something that directly relates to this initial goal. With the
persistence of his education team there is a change that Brandon will be able to reach this goal.
His inclusion on the swim team also will help Brandon to experience the chance to interact with
peers his own age outside of his self-contained classroom along with allowing Brandon to
become more involved with school activities. His involvement with other students will also help
in the transition to high school for he can develop friendships with those on the team.
For each part of the goals the work was divided up primarily between the teacher, teacher
aid, and speech pathologist. The swim coach will continue to work with Brandon during swim
practices and help him to connect with his fellow swim teammates. The teacher and speech
pathologist are working with connecting to teachers about possible inclusion of Brandon into
their classes. The teacher and the teacher aid are also working to include more of the necessary
life skills into classroom lessons and activities to help all of the students develop a fuller
repertoire of abilities for their independence. Brandons mother will monitor Brandon at home
and work to include him in house hold chores as well as help him study and with homework. The
teacher aide within the class will also help with classwork in order to keep up his grades to allow
him to continue on the swim team.

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Conclusion
For 8th grade student Brandon he will be transitioning to high school in the upcoming
academic school year. He is currently located in a self-contained classroom where he is learning
basic skills. However Brandon expresses interest in being included within a math general
education classroom and being able to continue on the swim team. Within the meeting various
goals were created to help Brandon achieve these goals, including working to include Brandon in
a general education math class, teaching more life skills with more opportunities for practice, and
continued hard work in school and on the swim team for continuous involvement within the
program.
Reflecting on the meeting there are many possible future outcomes that can occur that
may prove to be beneficial for the student. The student as a result of this meeting will begin
working on becoming more independent; continue to be an active part of the school swim team,
and with work towards being included within a math class. The success of the meeting can
already be seen within the class as the student and his classmates begin to apply more of the
skills they learn and learn more beneficial skills that will help them in the future. Other outcomes
will take more time to determine the success. Bandons inclusion into the classroom would be a
great success not only for him but also for other students throughout the school. To have the
goals set and educators willing to support these goals is a success and will with work continue to
provide success to help Brandon and his peers become active members in the school.
The choices that we decided on for Brandon were consistent with what the literature
stated. There were many benefits listed within the literature concerning students being included
within the general education classrooms. Our focus on including Brandon would be beneficial to

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him as well as the other students within the class. The concern that is being considered is the
issue of having Brandon being fully included into the classroom due to students sometimes only
partial inclusion into the class. (Baglieri and Knopf, 2004) The supportive research also brings
into consideration speaking with the school principal in order to work on achieving his support
for working to include the students within the general curriculum. Along with this including
more authentic activities for the students will help the students to apply more of their learning
and develop a better understanding of the meaning behind what they are learning as well as how
to complete the activities.

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References
Baglieri, S., & Knopf, J. H. (2004). Normalizing Difference in Inclusive Teaching. Journal Of
Learning Disabilities, 37(6), 525-529.
Cook, B. G., Semmel, M. I., & Gerber, M. M. (1999). Attitudes of Principals and Special
Education Teachers Toward the Inclusion of Students with Mild Disabilities Critical Differences
of Opinion. Remedial & Special Education, 20(4), 199.
Dymond, S. K., Renzaglia, A., & Euljung, C. (2007). Elements of Effective High School Service
Learning Programs That Include Students With and Without Disabilities. Remedial & Special
Education, 28(4), 227-243.
Howard, K. A., & Tryon, G. S. (2002). Depressive Symptoms in and Type of Classroom
Placement for Adolescents with LD. Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 35(2), 185.
Idol, L. (2006). Toward Inclusion of Special Education Students in General Education. Remedial
& Special Education, 27(2), 77-94.
Maggin, D. M., Wehby, J. H., Partin, T. M., Robertson, R., & Oliver, R. M. (2011). A
Comparison of the Instructional Context for Students with Behavioral Issues Enrolled in SelfContained and General Education Classrooms. Behavioral Disorders, 36(2), 84-99.
Mastropieri, M. A., Scruggs, T. E., Norland, J. J., Berkeley, S., McDuffie, K., Tornquist, E. H., &
Connors, N. (2006). Differentiated Curriculum Enhancement in Inclusive Middle School
Science: Effects on Classroom and High-Stakes Tests. Journal Of Special Education, 40(3), 130137.
Santangelo, T. (2014). Why is Writing So Difficult for Students with Learning Disabilities? A
Narrative Review to Inform the Design of Effective Instruction. Learning Disabilities -- A
Contemporary Journal, 12(1), 5-20.

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Appendix A
Agenda for meeting

1
2
3
4

Discuss student strengths

Discuss student needs and any concerns that family or faculty have
Have Brandon and his mother express goals
Create a plan about how to go accomplish these goals

Appendix B

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Summary of meeting

Strengths: Hardworking
Creative thinker
Like of math
Swimming

Weakness: Easily frustrated

Life skills such as laundry and cooking

Nightmare: Not being able to live independently

Missing out on High school experiences

Goals: Inclusion in 6th grade math class

Continuation with swim team
Apply for class position of launderer