Greetings incredible teachers! This post is for those of you who are new to teaching amazing students with moderate to severe Autism and Intellectual disabilities at the middle school level. It is also for those of you who know, love, and/or work with these wonderful kids.
Your first few years of teaching in a self-contained Autism and intellectual disabilities classroom can be a whirlwind of chaos until you get your feet under you. I’m here to help with tried-and-true advice and information to not only survive, but to actually thrive in this kind of classroom.
Today’s topic is IEP’s, Programs, Standards: Surviving your first year in special education.
I have been a special education teacher for 16 years. During that time, I have taught just about everything in the field of special education. What I am sharing with you today is what I wish someone would have shared with me at the beginning of my career. It will simplify how you run your classroom and will answer that question that everybody thinks, but no one has the courage to ask: “what am I supposed to teach these kids?”
It’s the question that everyone asks because, unlike our general education counterparts, there is no textbook, there is rarely more than just you in your CLT, and you are frequently known as the “expert” in the school even though you have no idea what you’re doing. In short, as self-contained special educators, we are often an island in the school. It’s hard to bounce ideas off your colleagues when you are the only one teaching this very unique (and awesome) population. No one else can relate.
On top of that, they never gave us a manual in college. They showed you the standards, and hopefully the adapted standards, but that was really it. You know that you need to teach IEP goals, but how do you determine a reading level? Once you have a reading level, what do you do with that information? When they say to use data, what data are they talking about? How should I run my classroom to see to everyone’s needs and make sure that good instruction happens? And how do you do this when there are kids exhibiting maladaptive behaviors everywhere you look?
That is what I am here for! I’m here to show you they systems, strategies, and routines to help you not only survive, but to actually thrive in your moderate to severe classroom. The school year has already begun. So, let’s get started.
Now that the rush of the beginning of the school year has begun to subside, it’s time to start thinking and organizing. Of course, you have already planned a ton of activities. You have planned your first month of school and all that goes with it. You’ve completed your Brigance testing. You have set up your IEP baskets.
By now you know what your schedule is, (and hopefully they are not going to change it). You know which kid is which, (beyond what you read in their IEP in August.) You know which ones are runners, which ones are work avoiders, which ones are people pleasers, and which are talented at blending into the background chaos. Now you can get into the nuts and bolts of your craft.
This post uses teaching English in a moderate to severe Autism and Intellectual Disabilities classroom as an example. The ideas you see here are very similar for math. Science, social studies, life skills, and executive functioning are located elsewhere in this blog, and I encourage you to read them. They will make your life easier.
What do parents and administrators want to see?
English is the number one concern of the parents in this type of classroom, specifically reading. It beats out even behavior, (which makes no sense, as you can’t teach ANYTHING if behavior isn’t under control.) When you walk into an IEP, this is the first thing they want to know about. My advice to you is to be prepared to speak to it. And not just the fluff, like “Johnny really enjoys reading and we just read (insert Dr. Suess title here,) last week.”
I’m talking about data. Data is your friend. Let data speak for you. It will keep the parents happy and the advocates and attorneys away from the table.
So, what does data even look like? Well, there are different kinds of data, depending on what you are demonstrating. This brings me to the topic of this post:
The three parts of reading (or math) instruction that need to be happening in your classroom.
- Evidence based programs
- Standards of learning
- IEP goals (all students in a self-contained classroom should have a reading goal. If they do not, then they are high enough to be pushed out for reading.)
All these items are data producers.
However, there is a piece of data that you must collect first to determine the student’s baseline and which evidence-based program to use. This would be a standardized assessment tool. In the world of moderate to severe disabilities, this would be either the Brigance Inventory of Early Development (the yellow book) or the Brigance Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills (the green book). Every state that I have ever worked in has used the Brigance as the assessment tool for students with disabilities. The Brigance covers everything from early motor skills to math grade placement up to the 9th grade. It will give you valuable information and should be administered as early as possible at the beginning of the year and again in the spring. Brigance information should be written into the annual IEP. If you need a grade level on reading (or math), you should be able to find it in the students current IEP.
Once you have your Brigance Data, keep it in an easy to grab place, because you will be frequently asked for it. I made a specific form for all of my beginning of the year data, including Brigance. You can find it for free here.
I do not want to get too far into Brigance, as it needs its own post, or even series of posts, but for right now just know that you need to do it. Also, know that you only need to administer the subtests that are relevant to each student. The Brigance binders are huge and will be overwhelming if you think you need to administer each sub test. For instance, I have one student that gets only reading comprehension and fluency, and another that only gets letter identification.
Moving forward, in my next posts in this series will go over the nuts-and-bolts evidence-based programs, standards of learning, and IEP goals. It is way too much information to put in one blog post. I will link theme here when they are posted to you can go right to them.
You have the hardest (and the most rewarding) job in the world. Never forget that you are amazing at it. Hopefully my tips and tricks will help you to hone your craft and make your life easier so that you can focus on the fun part: those awesome, amazing, ridiculously funny, wicked smart, kids!
Please feel free to put any questions into the comments box below or you can e-mail me at michelle@specialeducationdepot.com.
I also have an extensive Teachers Pay Teachers store: Special Education Depot. Every item there has been used with special education students in a special education classroom. I begin every lesson with a Free Primary Text Power Point that you can find here. I have students highlight the important information on a student coly as I highlight on the board. This is an activity that EVERYONE can do, regardless of ability!
Next, we’ll talk about the Standards of Learning, followed by IEP goals.
Everyone have a great week! And happy teaching!
-Michelle
2 thoughts on “IEP’s, Programs, Standards: Surviving your first years in special education”