EDLD 5344 - Student Management

Everything that we have learned is important and has relevance.  However, I believe the issues that I will deal with on a daily basis such as RTI, IDEA, FERPA, and due process are the ones that will take up most of the time when it comes to student management.  These are all things that cannot be avoided and a day won’t go by when issues involving these items won’t occur.  Other things like Equal Access will pop up here and there but will not require the same attention.

As I am writing this I realize that RTI and IDEA, while they are seriously important to the success of students they are also interconnected with managing teachers because they all walk hand in hand.

The impetus behind the surge of current RTI initiatives stems from (a) needed improvements in the traditional general and special education systems and (b) the widespread accessibility of instructional methods with proven effectiveness (National Association of State Directors of Special Education [NASDSE], 2005). (Martinez, Nellis, and Prendergast, 2006, p2)

 Interventions, IEPs, and 504s are not only important for the overall success of success in determining the needs of students so that they are placed appropriately, but that everything is carried out consistently by all teachers to ensure the greatest benefit by the students.

With the lack of systemic guidelines for selecting and implementing allowable accommodations, it follows that decisions about accommodations for instruction and about assessments are based on inconsistent and often unreliable sources of information, including but not limited to (a) teacher’s prior experience, (b) parent preference, (c) ease of providing the accommodation, and (d) inferences about student performance (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1999). The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999) have recognized that educators’ “professional judgment necessarily plays a significant role in decisions about test accommodations” (p. 102). Therefore, the assumption that the IEP provides the best reflection of students’ justifiable accommodations may be more imagined than actual. Even if the team responsible for writing a student’s IEP has followed the procedural requirements mandated by IDEIA, it is conceivable that they will not arrive at an appropriate accommodation decision. (Ketterlin-Geller, et al, 2007, p196)

 

It is absolutely imperative that the principal mandates and makes certain that the teachers carry out IEPs as written and in a systematic way.  Only then will it be possible to accurately measure what works and what does not, thereby enabling the team to make accurate and worthwhile adjustments when necessary.

FERPA is another hot button that has relevance to student management even if it does pertain to records and other information.  However, it is more relevant when managing teachers because they have to deal with parents and students on a daily basis and must keep in mind what they may and may not say when discussing children with other people.  Where student speech is concerned they go ahead and blurt out everything that they want. In my school we weren’t even allow to say the other student’s name when talking to parents about an issue that occurred between their children.

I realize now that they way we do things might be with good intentions but they are not by the letter of the law.  I find that to be true with several things at my school.

Directory Information

Can be released:

• Name

• Address

• Phone/email

• Attendance dates

 

Can’t be released:

• SSN

• Student ID number

• Race/gender/ethnicity

• School transcripts

• Grades

(Hopson, nd, slide 26)

Finally, due process is a bit easier to manage.  In my school every time a student gets a reprimand or a write-up it is mandatory that the teacher places a phone call home.  The student is also notified by the teacher that this is happening.  Therefore, there are no surprises.  Once the behavior becomes a referral and the teacher notifies the student and makes the phone call home, her role is complete.  Then once it is in the system the principal and or designee follows up with an investigation before issuing a formal punishment for the offense.  I have found that in my school, once a write-up occurs the designee or principal simply blames the teacher for the behavior of the student saving themselves a lot of effort.

 

Martinez, R. S., Nellis, L. M., & Prendergast, K. A., (2006). Closing the achievement gap series,

part II: Response to intervention (RTI) - Basic elements, practical application, and policy recommendations. Education Policy Brief, 4(8), Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, Indiana University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 495749).

 

Ketterlin-Geller, L. R., Alonso, J., Brown-Monegan, J., & Tindal, G. (2007). Recommendations

for accommodations: Implications of (in)consistency. Remedial and Special Education, 28(4), 194-206.

 

Hopson, M., (nd)., School law: Week four lecture, slide 26