w6 1

Perceptions and Reactions

Discussion 6/1

This discussion assesses your ability to:

a. Analyze ethical practices aligned to the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act that can best support students with disabilities, and

b. Characterize the ethical and legal conflicts regarding instructional decisions for students with disabilities.

This discussion also supports your achievement of Course Learning Outcome 4, 5, and 6 and 7 and the MASE Program Learning Outcomes 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8.

According to the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), part of being a well-prepared special educator includes “developing relationships with families based on mutual respect and actively involving families and individuals with exceptionalities in educational decision making” (Council for Exceptional Children, 2015, Special Education Professional Ethical Principles, E). This includes advocating for parental involvement by providing information on educational rights and safeguards in a way that creates accessibility and transparent IEP meeting procedures (Council for Exceptional Children, 2015). 

Hammond, Ingalls and Trussell (2008) investigated the experiences of those family members who attended an initial IEP meeting and then subsequent meetings over the next four years. Their findings indicated that the overwhelming majority of the 212 family participants agreed that the child needed special education services but had negative emotional responses to the initial team meeting. Some of the most beneficial information collected included acknowledging the emotions tied to having a child initial diagnosed with a disability; stronger communication skills by education professionals during the team meeting; and additional measures to better prepare parents for the team meetings (Hammond, Ingalls, & Trussell, 2008). Similarly, the article,  Building Parent Trust in the Special Education Setting (Links to an external site.)  (Wellner, 2012) was written to emphasize the importance of trust building strategies to avoid costly due process hearings and to maximize relationships with all involved in making decisions on behalf of the student with special needs.

Initial Post: After reading the article, After reading the article,  The 5-Point Plan , reviewing the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) , reviewing the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC)  Special Education and Professional Ethical Principles and Practice Standards (Links to an external site.) , and reading  Building Parent Trust in the Special Education Setting (Links to an external site.)  you will create an initial response depending on the first letter of your last name.

You will respond as one of the parent participants in this the Hammond, Ingalls and Trussell study. Begin by explaining how you felt attending your child’s first IEP meeting, using the article and the Instructor Guidance as a foundation for your narrative. Then, describe how future IEP meeting experiences changed (improved or declined) and why. Finally, using the  CEC Professional Practice Standards for Parents and Families (Links to an external site.)  and  Building Parent Trust in the Special Education Setting (Links to an external site.) , provide at least three suggestions to the special education team leader for how to improve this experience for parents of newly diagnosed children with disabilities.

Guided Response: Review the posts of your classmates and that of your Instructor. Respond to at least two peers whose role was different from your own. In the role of the special educator, address the parents’ concerns suggestions for how to improve their experience, with supporting evidence from the assigned readings and independent research. Conversely, in the role of the parents, address the suggestions of the lead special educator by asking relevant questions, disputing what was recommended or expounding on what was written using supporting evidence from the assigned readings and independent research. Be sure to keep in mind suggestions from the Week Five article regarding parent-school conflict to improve communication and build relationships.

Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have made (including your Instructor) before the last day of the discussion period. This will extend the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real work experiences

Grading Rubric

Description:

Total Possible Score: 3.00

General Content/Subject Knowledge

Total: 0.50

Distinguished - Addresses all aspects of the prompt in accordance with the parameters of the discussion and demonstrates in-depth knowledge of the discussion topic.

Proficient - Addresses all aspects of the prompt in accordance with the parameters of the discussion and demonstrates knowledge of the discussion topic.

Basic - Addresses all aspects of the prompt in accordance with the parameters of the discussion and demonstrates basic knowledge of the discussion topic.

Below Expectations - Addresses all or most aspects of the prompt in accordance with the parameters of the discussion and demonstrates limited knowledge of the discussion topic.

Non-Performance - There is no initial discussion post, or the post does not address the discussion prompt at all.

Critical Thinking

Total: 0.75

Distinguished - Comprehensively explores the ideas, thoughts, and elements of the topic and provides relevant evidence and information that demonstrates all of the following as applicable to the discussion prompt: clarity, relevance, depth, breadth, use of information resources, and logic.

Proficient - Explores the ideas, thoughts, and elements of the topic and provides relevant evidence and information that demonstrates most of the following as applicable to the discussion prompt: clarity, relevance, depth, breadth, use of information resources, and logic.

Basic - Explores the ideas, thoughts, and elements of the topic and provides relevant evidence and information that demonstrates some of the following as applicable to the discussion prompt: clarity, relevance, depth, breadth, and use of information, and logic.

Below Expectations - Attempts to explore the ideas, thoughts, and elements of the topic and provide relevant evidence and information, but demonstrates few of the following as applicable to the discussion prompt: clarity, relevance, depth, breadth, use of information resources, and logic.

Non-Performance - There is no attempt to explore the ideas, thoughts, and elements of the topic and provide relevant evidence and information in either the original post or subsequent response posts within the discussion, or no post is present.

Written Communication

Total: 0.50

Distinguished - Displays clear control of syntax and mechanics. The organization of the work shows appropriate transitions and flow between sentences and paragraphs. Written work contains no errors and is very easy to understand.

Proficient - Displays control of syntax and mechanics. The organization of the work shows transitions and/or flow between sentences and paragraphs. Written work contains only a few errors and is mostly easy to understand.

Basic - Displays basic control of syntax and mechanics. The work is not organized with appropriate transitions and flow between sentences and paragraphs. Written work contains several errors, making it difficult to fully understand.

Below Expectations - Displays limited control of syntax or mechanics. The work does not include any transitions and does not flow easily between sentences and paragraphs. Written work contains major errors.

Non-Performance - Fails to display control of syntax or mechanics, within the original post and/or responses. Organization is also not present.

Engagement/ Participation

Total: 1.25

Distinguished - Contributes to classroom conversations with at least the minimum number of replies, all of which were thoughtful, relevant, and contributed meaningfully to the conversation. Fully engages in the conversation with appropriate topic-based responses.

Proficient - Contributes to classroom conversations with the minimum number of replies that are somewhat thoughtful, relevant, and contributed meaningfully to the conversation. Attempts to fully engage in the conversation with appropriate topic-based responses.

Basic - Contributes to the classroom conversations with the minimum number of replies. Attempts to fully engage in the conversation, but the responses are not relevant or fully aligned with the discussion topic.

Below Expectations - Attempts to contribute to the classroom conversations with fewer than the minimum number of replies; however, the replies are not thoughtful and relevant, or they do not contribute meaningfully to the conversation.

Non-Performance - There is no contribution to the discussion.