As I go through my practicum I noticed that the school that I am in is going through testing right now. Even in Kindergarten the children are being tested on their ability to read words and how fast that they can read them. There is a child in our classroom that my teacher suspects has a learning delay. My mentor teacher has talked to her parent and informed him that her reading level is low and she loses focus very quickley when doing projects. His response was well I will just tell the doctor to up her dose of medication. He was not concerned about getting a second opinion about his child or further look into his child to see if she has more learning disability's then suspected. My mentor teacher knows that this child can not pass the reading test and will be placed in the lowest level on the Kindergarten spectrum. I asked her how she will test her and she said the same way that I test all of the other children. She said that she can not change the test or extend the amount of time for her because she does not have a diagnosed reason and her father said to test her just like everyone else.
This is where I struggle to see how a child can survive in school without support from their families. This child will continue to fall behind her peers, because her father chooses not to follow up with her learning needs. As a teacher I know that we can request for an IEP for the child, but I sometimes wonder if that will be enough. How can an IEP be enough if the parents choose not to be invovled in their child's learning and what if a parent refuses an IEP for their child? Where do we go from there?
In my Kindergarten classroom they are testing as well. There are is only one child that is on a set I.E.P. in my classroom but there are also a few children in the classroom that have english as their second language. These children were also tested, although I am not sure if they have a learning delay like the child in your classroom, I can see where you are struggling to see how a child can survive in school without the support from their families. The child on the I.E.P. is not always cooperative with my mentor and for one of the children who is currently learning english as his second language, the parents don't send him to school often. My mentor tries to contact them but they never answer. As for requesting an I.E.P. and have non-cooperative parents, I feel that is something that even experienced teachers struggle with. We as educators just have to do what we feel is best for the child in the classroom at all times and find ways to communicate with the parents to help gain their support without sounding critical towards their child.
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