Running Head: WEEK ONE REPLIES 1

Week One Discussion Replies

SPED 854: Family and Interprofessional Collaboration in Special Education

University of Kansas

Dr. Irma Brasseur-Hock & Naheed Abdulrahim

Brent Seager

May 15, 2017

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Week One Discussion Replies

Winston Gentle:

Winston,
I also strive to put collaboration first as an educator, as I believe that using collaboration

will reduce inconsistencies and provide a better educational environment for all general and

special education students. I have also found that with having fewer teachers and less time to

meet throughout the school day and year, that being flexible and using email, facetime, and other

technology to collaborate with parents/guardians and other staff members is essential. While I

still use traditional means of phone calls and mailing items home to collaborate with parents and

other staff members, I believe that using the latest technology to collaborate will ensure that

collaboration can occur and more people are willing to buy into collaboration when given

different options and features to collaborate. I would like to continue learning about refining my

methods on collaborating, as I believe that keeping my collaboration skills up to date will help to

ensure that I have the necessary resources to support my students and work with others.
Brent
Deborah Parker:
Deborah,
While I do not have much experience working with ELL or ESL students, I have noticed

that schools are more diverse today than they have been in the past. The trend of diversified

schools will continue to increase into the future, and it is imperative that measures be adopted to

suit the educational needs and goals of all students. There is not an easy answer to ensure that

cultural groups of students are over or under represented in special education, however, careful

monitoring and consistent practice will ensure that each student has the necessary supports and

placement in the educational environment. I also agree that collaboration was one of the big

topics in the readings this week. In my current position, teachers do collaborate, but many of the

collaboration relationships are dominated by one person or a small group of people; thus making
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collaboration in my building less effective than it could be. The readings on collaboration this

week allowed me to see how an effective collaboration relationship entails, and I will use this

information as I move into a new position.

Brent
Shelley Till:
Shelley,
Based on the readings and information from this week on collaboration, it sounds that the

results from the collaboration mentioned above stemmed from good collaboration. I have found

that collaboration with IEP team members does help the team to make informed decisions to

ensure that each student has the necessary supports and services in place. I have also found that

many parents and guardians are hesitant to place their children in special education programs or

have them receive special education services, however, a pre-meeting can help resolve many pre-

conceived notions about special education programs. In the pre-meeting, parents/guardians and

other IEP team members will collaborate and address concerns and options, and using

collaboration in these meetings does help to ensure that all options are considered and the student

is placed in the best environment and placement for success.

Brent