Rachel Vestri
Ms. Caldwell
EDUC 417
10/23/13
Week #7 Reflection
I have come to realize over the past few weeks that as I look towards
teaching special education someday, one of the things I fear the most is working in a
school where I am unable to effectively and completely meet the needs of my
students. Whether based upon a lack of resources, money, or a lack of school/faculty
support, I believe it would be a struggle to handle situations that hinder my ability
to fully provide the least restrictive and most beneficial learning environment for a
student. Although I know there are always alternative ways to ensure that each
child is being provided with appropriate opportunity to learn and succeed, I have
recently realized that without the proper backing from school administrators,
cooperating teachers, and the parents, there are often times where what you think is
best for the student is either not feasible or not accepted. I have watched incidences
occur this week regarding the least restrictive environment for a specific child that
have caused me to experience situations where it can become difficult to feel as
thought eh child is receiving the opportunities they need. This specific child has
average IQ, but is being served in a self-contained classroom due to his low
achievement scores. However, the special education teachers believe that this
student should not be in a self-contained classroom due to his IQ level and the level
of progress he is showing in his work. He functions well above his classmates and
clearly functions well enough to merit placement in a general education classroom
for at least a portion of his school day, however the requests to transition him to a
general education classroom are being met with opposition from the other
cooperating general education teachers. This student is in obvious need of a less
restricting environment, but at this point in time, it is not proving possible to have
him moved. Situations like this break my heart and also make me nervous
considering the legal obligations at stake. When dealing with LRE, I understand that
it is a legal obligation to serve each child to the maximum extent possible in an
environment with their typically developing peers. As I have observed this situation
that has occurred this week, I have wondered what I would do in a situation such as
this. Thankfully, the teachers that I am working with have handled this situation in
the most positive of ways and have agreed that they will begin implementing higher
level coursework to better meet the student’s needs immediately. In the meantime
they are continuing to work with the general education teacher that would be
responsible for this student to try and at least have this student in the general
education classroom for a portion of the school day. Although situations like this are
not uncommon, I can only hope that if I should ever be faced with a similar dilemma
that I will respond in the same manner as the special education teachers at Center
Point have in this situation. Regardless of the opposition I may meet, my goal is to
provide every student with the opportunity to learn and succeed to the best of their
ability, in an environment that pushes them to grown and mature. Despite my fear
of situations such as this, I hope to do everything it takes to make this goal a reality
for my students.