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Identifying and Addressing Special Needs Concerns for Struggling Students
Identifying and Addressing Special Needs Concerns for Struggling Students
Step 1: Identification
What behaviors/patterns does the child have that indicate they are struggling? If a teacher feels a student may have problems, they should keep a detailed record of that student's performance/behavior in order to ascertain reoccurring themes/patterns.
Step 2: Bringing in the Parents
Step 3: Further Action
Step 4: Bringing in Management
In some cases, problems may arise. Parents may deny their child's issues, or the child may have extreme disabilities which the school is not equipped to handle. In this case it may be necessary to involve school management to assess the viability of the child's future at the school.
Grounds for involving management may include: the student in question continually threatens the education/safety of classmates/teachers, the school is not equipped to manage the student's disability/health, the parents refuse to cooperate in fixing major issues (e.g. not accepting the IEP).
If it comes down to removing the child from the school, it is critical to uphold and follow any necessary legal procedures. Finally, the school has an obligation to act in its students best interest at all times, whenever possible.
If progress hasn't been made after substantial initial efforts, the next step would be to obtain the parents' approval to evaluate the student for more rigorous special needs eligibility.
Together the parents and a team of qualified professionals discuss the students' situation and evaluation results. If it is determined that the student has special needs, the next step is to meet again and discuss the development of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
The IEP should include specific strategies and instructions for all teachers involved in working with the student. The IEP must be adhered to and must be pre-approved by parents and any specialists involved.
Once it's been established that a child is struggling (but not necessarily that they have special needs), it becomes important to get the parents involved early on. Recommended steps at this stage are as follows:
1.
Whenever possible/appropriate, the teacher should involve a school specialist. The teacher and school SNE specialist should arrange a meeting with the parents.
2.
At the parent meeting, the teacher should first introduce and explain the difficulties their child is facing, and then focus on potential solutions/approaches. Together the parents, teacher, and specialist should agree upon an initial strategy to get the student back on track.
Initial strategies should include student-centered differentiated instruction methods. The student is then monitored and continually evaluated to judge progress.
Behavioral Issues:
Lashing out/anger management, lack of participation, ignoring deadlines, body language (e.g. lack of eye contact)
Academic Issues:
Consistent underperformance on assignments, inability to concentrate, inability to work with others. Note that not every underperforming student is special needs, and many academically excellent students may in fact have a disability hidden under the surface. On that note academic performance is not a perfect measure, and teachers should be cautious.
Things to Watch Out For:
Troubled students aren't always the loudest, most difficult to work with, or disruptive. Oftentimes problems may be hidden under the surface. A struggling student might excel academically or have great relationships with their classmate. It's up to the teacher to keep a close eye out for more subtle signs of special needs.
Initial Actions by the Teacher:
If the problem is extremely minor or easily rectified (i.e. not truly special needs), it may be worth the teacher's time to implement some initial solutions directly into the classroom. Some problems really could be as simple as "I don't understand the material because the teacher is speaking too quietly." In this case the student could move to the front of the class or the teacher could speak up, problem solved.