ESE Integrated Classrooms?

[readyin07]

DS's teacher was unable to be at Open House, but we did end up getting to meet her today (yay! I was freaked out b/c we originally weren't going to be able to). She is very high energy and fun and I think he is going to like her a lot.

It's a class of 19 kids and apparently mixed about half ESE about half "regular" (her words ). I didn't really realize this was an option at his school. Just curious about how (if at all) it would function differently than a typical classroom like he was in last year where there might be kids mixed in with IEPs.

She mentioned it quickly as she was leaving us to greet someone else so we really didn't get a chance to ask questions. From just the quick mention I think that means that she gets an extra teacher in the classroom daily or something like that? I couldn't tell if they were co-teachers or if the other teacher just worked with the ESE.

This is his first year at his new school and he is crazy anxious about the new routine and making new friends. DH and I practically had to drag him in to meet her  

[auntie]

Ugh. Regular kids?

What grade is this for your DS and does he have an IEP?

[Ohhmm(bligo)]

I've worked in a ton of integrated classrooms (obviously, those are the ones my clients end up in if there's any mainstreaming), and have never had any concerns about the educational needs of the IEP-less kids. There's usually a ton more staff in the room, and the kids end up being a lot kinder and more tolerant.

[kwynn]

I think "regular" refers to "regular ed" versus "special ed" - regular ed is no IEP's. In high school, we called it "general" or "college prep." I think it just refers to the kind of "ed" the class is made up of and not the kids.

[readyin07]

Aug 19, 2015 17:57:07 GMT -5 auntie said:

Ugh. Regular kids?

What grade is this for your DS and does he have an IEP?

Yes, I sort of wept at that

MY DS is going into 1st and no IEP. He is NT.

Honestly, I think it will be a benefit to him. He dealt with some anxieties last year with substitute teachers and testing (at 6 )and I think having teachers experienced in ESE who may have already dealt with these kind of issues and preparing kids for changes to routine, etc. will be helpful for him.

My good friend's daughter is on the spectrum with an IEP at a different school. She is just in a regular old classroom, presumably there are other kids with IEPs in her class. I just don't fully understand the difference between my son's inclusion class and that? Is it just that there are more with IEPs thus requiring a second teacher? Will the kids be less high functioning?

I was also trying to figure out the role of the second special ed teacher but it looks like it can vary from school to school as to whether it's a coteaching relationship or whether she will mostly deal with the ESE kids.  I'm obviously not going to share the status of his class with DS, but  I didn't know if I should prep him that there's another teacher there that will only work with some of the kids...but it looks like it's too soon to really know any of that.

[kwynn]

Where I worked, originally, ESE and non-exceptional ed were more mixed together in true inclusion - so in a general English class, you might have 3-4 students who used IEPS and 20 that didn't.

But eventually, if the schedule permitted, they started to gather the ESE students into one class period and had the special education teacher come in too. The class was co-taught, and she did assist all the students, while the regular ed certified teacher did most of the content area teaching, and the ESE served to be more on the "how to teach" side since she wasn't content certified.

Now, when we had parapros in the room, they were assigned to and only assisted with their one student, as indicated by the IEP.

Our class was 19 kids and I think 10-11 had IEP's for learning, emotional, or behavioral support.

In the school where I was, every ESE by nature of the class was lower functioning. Not life-skills level, but probably would have been in a pull out situation if that still existed. The only kids not in inclusion in the district were life skills. But I should note, this is high school, where a higher functioning student who utilizes an IEP would not be in "general" or lower level English/math/science - they'd be in AP or College Prep if their interest and grades allowed. So you were going to have NT and ESE's in the class, all of them electing the lowest level English when scheduling, for a variety of reasons.

[whitemerlot]

I sign my kids up for the inclusion classroom for both years of preschool. I'm a former Special Ed teacher and I think the inclusion classes are wonderful.

Last year, my son was in a room with 18 kids and I believe 8 had an IEP. It was a good experience. They had a lot more staff than the neighboring classroom. The classroom teacher and her aide and then a sped teacher and her para. Lots of attention for all of the kids.

[auntie]

Aug 19, 2015 18:21:21 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Aug 19, 2015 17:57:07 GMT -5 auntie said:

Ugh. Regular kids?

What grade is this for your DS and does he have an IEP?

Yes, I sort of wept at that

I bet. I once had a classroom aide refer to the kids with IEPs as those kids. Grr.

MY DS is going into 1st and no IEP. He is NT.

Cool.

Honestly, I think it will be a benefit to him. He dealt with some anxieties last year with substitute teachers and testing (at 6 )and I think having teachers experienced in ESE who may have already dealt with these kind of issues and preparing kids for changes to routine, etc. will be helpful for him.

The better adult to student ratio should be good for him.

My good friend's daughter is on the spectrum with an IEP at a different school. She is just in a regular old classroom, presumably there are other kids with IEPs in her class. I just don't fully understand the difference between my son's inclusion class and that? Is it just that there are more with IEPs thus requiring a second teacher? Will the kids be less high functioning?

It's hard to say.

In my district an inclusion class would be up to 1/3 kids with IEPs at the elementary level. At the secondary level, maybe 10-15% kids with IEPs. More kids with IEPs would trend the class into a more SPED setting even with a second teacher and paras to help out. My district requires every student in 1st-6th to spend at least 1 year as a peer model. DS, who has an ASD, ADHD, SLD and GAD dx, was assigned an inclusion class as a "peer" in 6th. Most years he was in a regular mainstream class. The majority of the kids with ASD in our district are mainstreamed.

I was also trying to figure out the role of the second special ed teacher but it looks like it can vary from school to school as to whether it's a coteaching relationship or whether she will mostly deal with the ESE kids. 

The one year DS had a second SPED teacher in the class in 6th, she helped any kid who needed extra attention. If they were struggling with a concept, missed a few days from being sick or had issues that impacted them as a student. This can vary by school. 

I'm obviously not going to share the status of his class with DS, but  I didn't know if I should prep him that there's another teacher there that will only work with some of the kids...but it looks like it's too soon to really know any of that.

I'd let them explain how their learning community functions. IME, this can really vary. Kids are pretty open minded, your DS will accept the protocol as normal.

[readyin07]

Aug 19, 2015 20:09:30 GMT -5 auntie said:

Aug 19, 2015 18:21:21 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Yes, I sort of wept at that

I bet. I once had a classroom aide refer to the kids with IEPs as those kids. Grr.

MY DS is going into 1st and no IEP. He is NT.

Cool.

Honestly, I think it will be a benefit to him. He dealt with some anxieties last year with substitute teachers and testing (at 6 )and I think having teachers experienced in ESE who may have already dealt with these kind of issues and preparing kids for changes to routine, etc. will be helpful for him.

The better adult to student ratio should be good for him.

My good friend's daughter is on the spectrum with an IEP at a different school. She is just in a regular old classroom, presumably there are other kids with IEPs in her class. I just don't fully understand the difference between my son's inclusion class and that? Is it just that there are more with IEPs thus requiring a second teacher? Will the kids be less high functioning?

It's hard to say.

In my district an inclusion class would be up to 1/3 kids with IEPs at the elementary level. At the secondary level, maybe 10-15% kids with IEPs. More kids with IEPs would trend the class into a more SPED setting even with a second teacher and paras to help out. My district requires every student in 1st-6th to spend at least 1 year as a peer model. DS, who has an ASD, ADHD, SLD and GAD dx, was assigned an inclusion class as a "peer" in 6th. Most years he was in a regular mainstream class. The majority of the kids with ASD in our district are mainstreamed.

I was also trying to figure out the role of the second special ed teacher but it looks like it can vary from school to school as to whether it's a coteaching relationship or whether she will mostly deal with the ESE kids. 

The one year DS had a second SPED teacher in the class in 6th, she helped any kid who needed extra attention. If they were struggling with a concept, missed a few days from being sick or had issues that impacted them as a student. This can vary by school. 

I'm obviously not going to share the status of his class with DS, but  I didn't know if I should prep him that there's another teacher there that will only work with some of the kids...but it looks like it's too soon to really know any of that.

I'd let them explain how their learning community functions. IME, this can really vary. Kids are pretty open minded, your DS will accept the protocol as normal.

Thanks for the info! I am hoping the SPED teacher will function that way in his class. I was telling DH some of the specific things I put in a note to his new principal made me feel that he is a good fit for this classroom. He is bright, but he will look at a blank worksheet and panic and immediately think he can't do that even though he can and does. I told them he needed a teacher who would be patient with that and encourage him forcefully but patiently (which I struggle with haha). I think extra hands on deck will help with that.

[nightandday]

I am the general education teacher in a collaborative team teaching class. It really is a wonderful experience if done correctly. The way we do it in our room is to co-teach the lesson together and then break the students up into coaching groups for independent work time. Our groups are mixed, meaning it's not "her kids" and "my kids." We take turns with the struggling groups and the kids in each group change per unit and per subject. When we partner the kids up, we try not to put a kid who is struggling with a kid who excels at that skill. We've found that it makes both kids feel bad.

[auntie]

nightandday

That sounds great. I'm jealous. Unfortunately, our foray into an inclusion model class was a clusterf*ck.

The lead teacher defined the team approach as having the sped teacher switch off with her so she could leave the room because she needed breaks with such a challenging group of kids. She deferred all kids with IEPs to her "sped-lackies", aka the coteacher and para. DS spent the year as a guest in her classroom.

It didn't help that the para referred to the kids with IEPs as "those kids" and that the newbie sped teacher was clueless around DS's dx. She was a lovely person, but would call me to brag about some cute thing DS had said or done that was to be extinguished as part of his IEP goals. It was a long, long year. I'm told other grade teams are better than what we got stuck with.