Professional Collaboration In Education Essay
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to understand what goes on in a school system as well as a classroom: modifying curriculum, professional collaboration, progress monitoring, assessments and diversity. Modifying the curriculum plays a part with professional collaboration as well as educating and why they should modify their curriculum. Each of the five categories overlap and show what a school system should be in order to reach its full potential. Professional collaboration is the key if a teacher wants to get along with co-workers and to obtain work. Progress monitoring and assessments are two ways to see how a student is achieving their annual goals. Lastly, if a teacher says one thing wrong in a classroom and a child gets offended, …show more content…
there can be major problems. Understanding all five components will help students succeed to the best of their ability. The classroom will feel warm and everyone should feel welcomed. Keywords: curriculum, collaboration, components
Introduction In today’s society, students come from a multitude of different backgrounds, and many students have learning disabilities. The percentage of students with a learning disability is 5-10%. This percentage may seem small but in perspective it is not and there it is impossible to lower this number. To have students succeed to the best of their ability, students should understand what goes on in a school system: modifying curriculum, professional collaboration, progress monitoring, assessments and diversity. All five categories are essential to having a well-organized school. This paper will address all five categories and go into detail, which will provide the reader better understanding and how each category flows with one another.
Modifying Curriculum As a teacher in a classroom, one needs to look at and evaluate each student as an individual. Understanding each individual will allow the teacher to realize what learning styles work best with different students. Over the course of the years, teachers use the same lessons but have to modify the curriculum depending on the class’s needs. Many teachers do not see this as modifying their own curriculum but they do not realize it can majorly affect the students. Curriculums change every few years but they also change when students with disabilities are in a general education classroom. Children with disabilities are placed in the least restrictive environment where they are able to succeed to the best of their ability. Students are being placed in the wrong classroom environment due to the fact that many teachers are not realizing students with disabilities should be placed in the least restricted learning environment. As Lee (2006) reported, “53% reported their school district had no clear plan for ensuring access to the general curriculum for students with severe disabilities”. After realizing that many schools do not put children in their least restrictive environment, it is concluded that the curriculum should be modified. Having students with disabilities in a general education classroom, the teacher should express different learning strategies for all three different learning styles. These learning styles include auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. A variety of learning styles include “shadowing, verbatim notes, graphic or advance organizers, semantic maps, mnemonics, chunking, questioning and visualizing strategies” (Lee, 2006). Students will pick up and make their own learning styles as the materials are taught. Graphic organizers are a great way to teach a topic to visual and kinesthetic learners. They show what two or more topics have in common with each other and what differs from one another.
Another learning style that is helpful for students is chunking. According to Lee (2006), “chunking is a curriculum augmentation strategy in that students learn to ‘chunk’ material to make it more manageable and to improve memory and recall”. This method helps the students remember the topics. Remembering parts of the definition or the topic is a lot less information for a student to retain. Students with learning disabilities have a hard time processing information, so the less information they need to remember about a topic, the more likely they are to succeed. Teachers have to realize that modifying the curriculum is not only done for special education students. Every student will come up with their own self-directed learning strategies that will help them succeed. The only way to succeed is if the teacher modifies their teaching plans each year if necessary.
Professional Collaboration Professional collaboration is the main point needed in a school system.
Teachers work in their own classroom but will have to talk to their co-workers about different assignments or a child’s development. Not only is professional collaboration important between co-workers, but it is also important between teachers and parents. During the process of developing an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) for a child, the parents should be informed every step of the way. Collaboration is a huge part of this process. Parents need to give their consent in order for the child to be tested. After parental consent, the professional team may start evaluating. A student will be evaluated through many different tests by many different specialists. The specialists on an IEP team include an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a speech therapist, a school psychologist, a school district representative and a special education and general education teacher. Collecting all the data, each person on the team will have to collaborate with one another and share what data they collected and how to go about helping the student succeed. Collaboration is a style that professionals chose to use in order to accomplish a common goal. Professional collaboration is a huge component in education and even bigger component in constructing an
IEP.
Progress Monitoring Progress monitoring is used in many situations and not only in a classroom. An example of progress monitoring is when teachers assess a student with a test on material learned in class. The teacher has watched and observed the student and now sees if his or her observations are accurate. Progress is defined by how far a child moves through a project and monitoring means to watch over and observe. Together progress monitoring is defined as watching over one who is moving towards a common goal. Progress monitoring serves as an important function in the process of determining if a student has a specific learning disability. Students with learning disabilities have to go through a process of testing and observation by professionals. The professionals determine a diagnosis over a certain amount of time or number of tests. According to Luckner (2010), “among the advantages of progress monitoring over traditional assessments are that (a) it can be hand scored, (b) it allows educators to conduct error analyses to identify specific targets for intervention, and (c) through graphing of students, and parents to see how students are performing”. When a child is diagnosed with a learning disability and has an IEP, progress monitoring plays a huge role. One of the specialists will have charts with the student’s progress. Keeping charts with students’ progress is important to see the progress laid out all in one place. The severity of the disability will determine how frequently the student should be monitored. Progress monitoring can be once a week, once a month or even once a year.
Assessment
Children can be assessed in many different ways. Most individuals believe that assessments are tests and quizzes in a classroom. Also, children can be assessed through state testing. Assessments are done to see what children have learned and what information they are able to obtain. Children with disabilities who are going through the process of obtaining an IEP are often evaluated. When being evaluated, a child will be assessed in many different ways. Some assessments are written or oral and others are through observations. Many of the assessments are done by one of the members on the IEP team. The general education teacher evaluates and uses previous assessments to assess the child as a whole. A speech therapist will assess the child by showing a list of words and having the child read them. As the child says the words, the speech therapist is writing notes about how the child says the words and if he or she pronounced the words correctly. Also, the speech therapist will give the child a story to read out-loud as another type of assessment. A school district representative will also assess the child by showing him or her pictures and asking the child to describe the pictures. In most of the assessments done during evaluations, the child is pulled out of the classroom. A result from these assessments, the child suffers from lost work while being pulled out of the classroom and becomes very frustrated. In the end, if the child is placed in special education and has an IEP, the child will be on the path to a successful future. Assessments do not always have to be on information that was just taught in class but can also be on information that a person needs to succeed on an everyday basics. Children are being assessed every minute of every day in a classroom.
Diversity
Diversity is everywhere but it is mostly seen in the classroom. In today’s day an age, schools are becoming more and more diverse. It is good that society becomes more diverse because it allows people to open their minds to different cultures. Since school systems have more and more students enrolled coming from all different cultures, teachers are starting to realize how uneducated they are about the different cultures. Many school systems are providing workshops for teachers to attend to become more educated and informed about the different cultures. Teachers also have to take into consideration their curriculum and how they need to modify it to accommodate the different cultures. When the holidays come around, teachers have to realize if they talk about a specific holiday like Christmas, they are also going to have to talk about Chanukah if there are Jewish children in the classroom. They do not want to offend any of their students in any way. If a teacher only talks about Christmas and not about Chanukah, a child might feel left out. A classroom should be a home away from home for the children and they should be able to talk to their teacher almost like a mother. A teacher is someone to talk to and feel comfortable around. A child will not look towards the teacher as someone to talk to but as someone who neglected them. Children from different cultures are often left out of so many activities because parents are uneducated and do not educate their own son or daughter. Some of the schools activities also have to be modified to accommodate as many cultures as possible. Being culturally unaware will make a teacher unaware of their surroundings and possibly make the wrong assumptions. Education is the key to success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, every student with or without a disability will succeed to the best of their ability to adult life. If teachers realize a student has a disability and makes accommodations for that student at a young age, the better off the student is. Even though students with disabilities need certain accommodations in a classroom, some of the accommodations will also benefit the non-disabled students by helping them develop into a stronger human being. By including and understanding the five major sections in a school system, the teacher should realize that the student will benefit. Teachers need to consider all five categories for their students to succeed. One error in any of these categories can cause a student to fall apart and crumble. Modifying curriculum, professional collaboration, progress monitoring, assessments, and diversity are five major sections to succeed.
Reference Page
Guerra, P., & Nelson, S. (2011). Effective diversity facilitation matches teachers' cultural knowledge with the learning experience. Journal of Staff Development, 32(4), 73-4. Retrieved from Education Full Text database
NJCLD (2011). Comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities: A paper prepared by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 34(1), 3-16. Retrieved from Education Full Text database
Lee, S., Amos, B., Gragoudas, S., Lee, Y., Shogren, K., Theoharis, R., & Wehmeyer, M. (2006).
Curriculum Augmentation and Adaptation Strategies to Promote Access to the General Curriculum for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 41(3), 199-212. Retrieved from Education Full Text database
Luckner, J., & Bowen, S. (2010). Teachers' use and perceptions of progress monitoring. American Annals of the Deaf, 155(4), 397-406. Retrieved from Education Full Text Database
Sheehey, P. (2006). Parent Involvement in Educational Decision-Making: A Hawaiian
Perspective. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 25(4), 3-15. Retrieved from Education Full Text database
The purpose of this paper is to understand what goes on in a school system as well as a classroom: modifying curriculum, professional collaboration, progress monitoring, assessments and diversity. Modifying the curriculum plays a part with professional collaboration as well as educating and why they should modify their curriculum. Each of the five categories overlap and show what a school system should be in order to reach its full potential. Professional collaboration is the key if a teacher wants to get along with co-workers and to obtain work. Progress monitoring and assessments are two ways to see how a student is achieving their annual goals. Lastly, if a teacher says one thing wrong in a classroom and a child gets offended, …show more content…
there can be major problems. Understanding all five components will help students succeed to the best of their ability. The classroom will feel warm and everyone should feel welcomed. Keywords: curriculum, collaboration, components
Introduction In today’s society, students come from a multitude of different backgrounds, and many students have learning disabilities. The percentage of students with a learning disability is 5-10%. This percentage may seem small but in perspective it is not and there it is impossible to lower this number. To have students succeed to the best of their ability, students should understand what goes on in a school system: modifying curriculum, professional collaboration, progress monitoring, assessments and diversity. All five categories are essential to having a well-organized school. This paper will address all five categories and go into detail, which will provide the reader better understanding and how each category flows with one another.
Modifying Curriculum As a teacher in a classroom, one needs to look at and evaluate each student as an individual. Understanding each individual will allow the teacher to realize what learning styles work best with different students. Over the course of the years, teachers use the same lessons but have to modify the curriculum depending on the class’s needs. Many teachers do not see this as modifying their own curriculum but they do not realize it can majorly affect the students. Curriculums change every few years but they also change when students with disabilities are in a general education classroom. Children with disabilities are placed in the least restrictive environment where they are able to succeed to the best of their ability. Students are being placed in the wrong classroom environment due to the fact that many teachers are not realizing students with disabilities should be placed in the least restricted learning environment. As Lee (2006) reported, “53% reported their school district had no clear plan for ensuring access to the general curriculum for students with severe disabilities”. After realizing that many schools do not put children in their least restrictive environment, it is concluded that the curriculum should be modified. Having students with disabilities in a general education classroom, the teacher should express different learning strategies for all three different learning styles. These learning styles include auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. A variety of learning styles include “shadowing, verbatim notes, graphic or advance organizers, semantic maps, mnemonics, chunking, questioning and visualizing strategies” (Lee, 2006). Students will pick up and make their own learning styles as the materials are taught. Graphic organizers are a great way to teach a topic to visual and kinesthetic learners. They show what two or more topics have in common with each other and what differs from one another.
Another learning style that is helpful for students is chunking. According to Lee (2006), “chunking is a curriculum augmentation strategy in that students learn to ‘chunk’ material to make it more manageable and to improve memory and recall”. This method helps the students remember the topics. Remembering parts of the definition or the topic is a lot less information for a student to retain. Students with learning disabilities have a hard time processing information, so the less information they need to remember about a topic, the more likely they are to succeed. Teachers have to realize that modifying the curriculum is not only done for special education students. Every student will come up with their own self-directed learning strategies that will help them succeed. The only way to succeed is if the teacher modifies their teaching plans each year if necessary.
Professional Collaboration Professional collaboration is the main point needed in a school system.
Teachers work in their own classroom but will have to talk to their co-workers about different assignments or a child’s development. Not only is professional collaboration important between co-workers, but it is also important between teachers and parents. During the process of developing an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) for a child, the parents should be informed every step of the way. Collaboration is a huge part of this process. Parents need to give their consent in order for the child to be tested. After parental consent, the professional team may start evaluating. A student will be evaluated through many different tests by many different specialists. The specialists on an IEP team include an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a speech therapist, a school psychologist, a school district representative and a special education and general education teacher. Collecting all the data, each person on the team will have to collaborate with one another and share what data they collected and how to go about helping the student succeed. Collaboration is a style that professionals chose to use in order to accomplish a common goal. Professional collaboration is a huge component in education and even bigger component in constructing an
IEP.
Progress Monitoring Progress monitoring is used in many situations and not only in a classroom. An example of progress monitoring is when teachers assess a student with a test on material learned in class. The teacher has watched and observed the student and now sees if his or her observations are accurate. Progress is defined by how far a child moves through a project and monitoring means to watch over and observe. Together progress monitoring is defined as watching over one who is moving towards a common goal. Progress monitoring serves as an important function in the process of determining if a student has a specific learning disability. Students with learning disabilities have to go through a process of testing and observation by professionals. The professionals determine a diagnosis over a certain amount of time or number of tests. According to Luckner (2010), “among the advantages of progress monitoring over traditional assessments are that (a) it can be hand scored, (b) it allows educators to conduct error analyses to identify specific targets for intervention, and (c) through graphing of students, and parents to see how students are performing”. When a child is diagnosed with a learning disability and has an IEP, progress monitoring plays a huge role. One of the specialists will have charts with the student’s progress. Keeping charts with students’ progress is important to see the progress laid out all in one place. The severity of the disability will determine how frequently the student should be monitored. Progress monitoring can be once a week, once a month or even once a year.
Assessment
Children can be assessed in many different ways. Most individuals believe that assessments are tests and quizzes in a classroom. Also, children can be assessed through state testing. Assessments are done to see what children have learned and what information they are able to obtain. Children with disabilities who are going through the process of obtaining an IEP are often evaluated. When being evaluated, a child will be assessed in many different ways. Some assessments are written or oral and others are through observations. Many of the assessments are done by one of the members on the IEP team. The general education teacher evaluates and uses previous assessments to assess the child as a whole. A speech therapist will assess the child by showing a list of words and having the child read them. As the child says the words, the speech therapist is writing notes about how the child says the words and if he or she pronounced the words correctly. Also, the speech therapist will give the child a story to read out-loud as another type of assessment. A school district representative will also assess the child by showing him or her pictures and asking the child to describe the pictures. In most of the assessments done during evaluations, the child is pulled out of the classroom. A result from these assessments, the child suffers from lost work while being pulled out of the classroom and becomes very frustrated. In the end, if the child is placed in special education and has an IEP, the child will be on the path to a successful future. Assessments do not always have to be on information that was just taught in class but can also be on information that a person needs to succeed on an everyday basics. Children are being assessed every minute of every day in a classroom.
Diversity
Diversity is everywhere but it is mostly seen in the classroom. In today’s day an age, schools are becoming more and more diverse. It is good that society becomes more diverse because it allows people to open their minds to different cultures. Since school systems have more and more students enrolled coming from all different cultures, teachers are starting to realize how uneducated they are about the different cultures. Many school systems are providing workshops for teachers to attend to become more educated and informed about the different cultures. Teachers also have to take into consideration their curriculum and how they need to modify it to accommodate the different cultures. When the holidays come around, teachers have to realize if they talk about a specific holiday like Christmas, they are also going to have to talk about Chanukah if there are Jewish children in the classroom. They do not want to offend any of their students in any way. If a teacher only talks about Christmas and not about Chanukah, a child might feel left out. A classroom should be a home away from home for the children and they should be able to talk to their teacher almost like a mother. A teacher is someone to talk to and feel comfortable around. A child will not look towards the teacher as someone to talk to but as someone who neglected them. Children from different cultures are often left out of so many activities because parents are uneducated and do not educate their own son or daughter. Some of the schools activities also have to be modified to accommodate as many cultures as possible. Being culturally unaware will make a teacher unaware of their surroundings and possibly make the wrong assumptions. Education is the key to success.
Conclusion
In conclusion, every student with or without a disability will succeed to the best of their ability to adult life. If teachers realize a student has a disability and makes accommodations for that student at a young age, the better off the student is. Even though students with disabilities need certain accommodations in a classroom, some of the accommodations will also benefit the non-disabled students by helping them develop into a stronger human being. By including and understanding the five major sections in a school system, the teacher should realize that the student will benefit. Teachers need to consider all five categories for their students to succeed. One error in any of these categories can cause a student to fall apart and crumble. Modifying curriculum, professional collaboration, progress monitoring, assessments, and diversity are five major sections to succeed.
Reference Page
Guerra, P., & Nelson, S. (2011). Effective diversity facilitation matches teachers' cultural knowledge with the learning experience. Journal of Staff Development, 32(4), 73-4. Retrieved from Education Full Text database
NJCLD (2011). Comprehensive assessment and evaluation of students with learning disabilities: A paper prepared by the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, 34(1), 3-16. Retrieved from Education Full Text database
Lee, S., Amos, B., Gragoudas, S., Lee, Y., Shogren, K., Theoharis, R., & Wehmeyer, M. (2006).
Curriculum Augmentation and Adaptation Strategies to Promote Access to the General Curriculum for Students with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities, 41(3), 199-212. Retrieved from Education Full Text database
Luckner, J., & Bowen, S. (2010). Teachers' use and perceptions of progress monitoring. American Annals of the Deaf, 155(4), 397-406. Retrieved from Education Full Text Database
Sheehey, P. (2006). Parent Involvement in Educational Decision-Making: A Hawaiian
Perspective. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 25(4), 3-15. Retrieved from Education Full Text database