Challenge related to Inclusive Education: Special Education students require accommodations and modifications per their IEP.

As a result, it is very difficult for teachers to provide these accommodations/modifications without the assistance of a Special Education assistant or co-teacher in the classroom. The fact of the matter is that there are special education students who are not at grade level, which causes teachers to feel a need to use different curricula for these students, posing a greater challenge because of the varied student levels. For my project, I observed an assistant principal within the Chicago Public School System and had discussed the difficulties that come with inclusion. During our time together, she discussed a particular student who was deemed cognitively impaired and a parent who was concerned about her education within the school. An IEP had been done on the student and had deemed her to be put into the special education classes and curricula; however, one of her parents felt that she did not belong in those classes and pushed for her to be a part of the general education curricula and classes. The following situation posed a difficult situation for multiple teachers for the mere fact that they felt as if they were not prepared to teach the individual due to her disability. They felt the special education department was more prepared to handle a case such as this one and felt they were doing more of a disservice to the individual. This particular situation had been brought up to the administration department and they believed a new evaluation should be done on the individual, however, after further review, they felt the student needed to be placed in the special education classes. Though this may be the best option for the student, if the parents of the student feel that their child should be in the general education courses, they may request this and administration must comply.

I strongly believe with the decision posed by administration in this particular situation. The student described does in fact have cognitive impairment which affects her learning ability drastically. In my opinion, it is not fair to the student or the teacher to put her in a general education classroom because it will only cause problems for both parties. Though the parent does in fact want what is best for her child, I do not believe they know the difference between the general curricula and special education curricula. There are individuals who dedicate their lives to teaching students with learning disabilities which will benefit the student in the long run as opposed to them attempting to learn with student in general education courses. I believe the parent of the student feels their child will not be given the proper education and opportunities due to being in the special education class; however, this is not the reality. The student will be educated just as much as any student in any particular department. The fact of the matter is simply how instruction is instructed. The fact that the parent wants the student to be part of the general education curricula poses many complications for many teachers, especially those in general education. These individuals are not prepared or have been taught how to instruct students with cognitive impairments which means they are not qualified to teach these individuals. By putting the student in these courses will only cause her to struggle and not be able to learn at her full capacity. If the parent refuses to change her mind, I feel as if there should be some sort of middle ground. I would allow the student to be in the general curriculum courses where she is able to succeed; however, I would also place her in a certain amount of special education courses.

Challenge related to collaboration or co-teaching: Challenge: Finding time for planning lessons that are co-taught. This can be especially difficult for the coteacher because often time he/she co-teaches with teachers from different grade levels. The Co-teaching model instruction should be shared by both teachers. In most cases, one teacher takes the lead while the other contributes ideas or works with small groups. Another model would be where one teacher teaches part of the lesson and the other teacher the second part. Regardless of how the lessons are delivered planning is key to ensure that lesson delivery is seamless. Both teachers must know what their role should be to ensure student achievement.

Solution: Rather than meeting individually with each gen-ed teacher to discuss the weekly plans and standards, co-teachers should make it a point to meet with the grade level teams to plan for weekly lessons. The individual meetings with the gen-ed teachers would only be to plan for how the lessons should be delivered and assign roles. This method eliminates the need for multiple meetings to cover the same information.