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Peggy Vaughan Contents:
Case NarrativeTeacher to Teacher: Talking Over Anabela's Progress Connie York, the resource room teacher, enters Jean Harfleur's second grade classroom at La Paz Elementary School. She and Jean have a close working relationship. Connie sighs, “I just can't get Anabela's mother more involved!” Jean sympathetically puts her arm around Connie's shoulder. Several months have passed since Anabela Vicenti's placement in special services and, though her mother, Magda, was initially eager and involved, she has not attended any parent-teacher conferences since the initial IEP (Individualized Education Plan) team meeting in November. Connie sighs again. “It's easy to see that Anabela's family gives her a lot emotionally, but I'm still not so sure about academically. I really want them to be more involved with the goals of Anabela's IEP.” “I know we've been back and forth on this, but I feel strongly that Anabela should be retained next year to avoid a more restrictive full-day placement. Retention will give her the same model of services for another year and let her have time in the regular classroom with her peers. It's worked so well for her this year. I don't want to rock the boat now. I'm afraid the demands of the third grade curriculum and schedule will overwhelm Anabela, even with the resource room services.” Jean nods her head slowly. “Oh, Connie, I hear you, but so few kids are retained here at La Paz. I just don't want Anabela to feel left out and perhaps even more insecure.” Anabela's Cumulative Record According to Anabela's cumulative record from Sandia, her prior elementary school, she classified as a nonreader at the end of kindergarten, not knowing all her letters and sounds. She was referred for educational testing then, but never received it. File notes indicate that the first grade teacher worried about the effect of this delay in receiving services on Anabela's progress. Without resource room help, the teacher created her own set of goals for Anabela related to reading, writing, adding, and attention span. At the end of first grade, she recommended retention, but only as a backup strategy—provided Anabela did not get into the resource room in second grade. Anabela's parents consented to testing and advocated strongly for an IEP for their daughter. They also complained adamantly to the principal about the recommendation to retain. Fortunately, when Anabela transferred to La Paz in October of her second grade year, she received testing, an IEP, and resource room services, as well as additional assistance from the resource room aide in her regular classroom. Magda's Agenda “Anabela's grandpa and I went to the principal at Anabela's old school a lot. Her first grade teacher was always late or absent. Her special education referral was delayed. And Anabela was placed in a modified bilingual class. I later discovered that Anabela was the only one identified as English Only in her class, so the teacher spoke mostly in Spanish. We are Mexican and have a Spanish last name, but we don't speak Spanish at home. That class did not help Anabela and I let the principal know it.” “My husband, Gaspar, has been ill for the past few years. I have to help take care of him. This past year I injured my knee. So my father and my older kids have to help me. My father walks Anabela to school and keeps an eye on things for me. If he tells me something I don't like, I go to the principal to work it out. I also get to school for the important things like the IEP team meeting.” “After Anabela's first special education referral at Sandia, I felt relieved and wanted her tested right away. You see, I know about special ed. My older son, Richard, is in a resource room. They tested him so late and I always wondered why he was not referred sooner. Now testing was being delayed with Anabela too!” “Then our family moved to a new neighborhood and I decided to enroll Anabela at La Paz. What a difference—the school is so well run and the principal knows every child by name! I am so impressed.” “I am also relieved. I can stop fighting for a while. The resource room is giving Anabela what she needs. At the IEP meeting they explained that her problems are both academic and social. She has a learning disability and I guess she depends on the teachers too much. I know 'cause she can be like that at home too. She is my baby, my youngest. I spoil her, I know. I don't make her do chores, but she likes to help me if I ask.” “Lately my knee is better and I feel busy again. We're a close family and spend a lot of time together on sports. I think Anabela's soccer team is good for her. I told the coach to go easy on her though. I'm not going to let him pressure her. It's a game and supposed to be for fun. She's a sensitive child.” “At Sandia they would ‘bench’ Anabela for things like forgetting her homework. We'd go crazy looking for homework in the morning and she'd be so upset. It's easier now that we have a routine. Besides, Ms. Harfleur and Ms. York seem so understanding. I can tell they're nice because Anabela is happy now. I just don't want her to feel pressured. My dad can see the difference too. Finally, all my work and this new school have made a difference.” Special Education at La Paz Both Sandia and La Paz are predominantly Latino schools, but La Paz is smaller and more economically diverse. La Paz makes concerted efforts to follow special education guidelines and timelines. The principal, Ms. Layton, expects the teachers to value families and views the school as a community. State and district policies also shape special education placement at La Paz. For example, the state requires that placements in special education verify that a child's second language was not the deciding factor in determining delays, and specialists are expected to distinguish learning disabilities from problems stemming from environmental factors. The district has guidelines on retention of special needs students, and La Paz generally discourages it. Teachers must provide a detailed rationale and decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. Jean Harfleur's Views on Anabela and Her Family “I don't know Anabela that well because she's in the resource room or with the classroom aide so much. But I do know she's eager to learn, and somewhat fearful. She tries to prove herself in class, yet all the kids know she is low academically. Anabela visits the resource room for two hours every day, which limits her opportunities for friendship. She's babied by the other girls in the class and maybe by her family too.” “The delay in special education placement at her last school put Anabela in a tough spot. Overall, she has adapted well and her behavior is not a huge issue. These things bode well for third grade. But she's also immature and distractible, getting out of her seat often and constantly asking for help. She needs more individual time than I can offer.” “Anabela's parents came to the IEP team meeting, but since then verbal communication has been scarce. They sign the papers I send home but that's it. I recently learned that family health issues prevented Magda from attending the parent-teacher conference a few weeks ago. Anabela's grandfather brings her every morning, but he observes more than asks questions. I should try to talk with him more.” Connie York's Views on Anabela and Her Family “Anabela's family is so pleased with La Paz, but Magda views my resource room as the cure to Anabela's needs. According to testing, Anabela needs comprehensive help—particularly in reading and writing. Her strength is in verbal reasoning—she tested two years above grade level.” “I share goals and progress regularly with the family, but I want more involvement from Magda with homework and IEP goals. I don't know Anabela's parents that well, but I do know they've had stressful health issues recently and I think they both work.” “At the IEP meeting, Magda and Gaspar made it clear how unhappy they were with Anabela's prior school. Dad seemed caring and interested, but said he's not able to help much. I haven't wanted to create stress by bringing up the idea of retention, even though I'm convinced it's best for Anabela. It would be easier to raise this issue with Magda if I saw her more. She tends to communicate directly with Ms. Layton, our principal. She talked directly with Ms. Layton about a child who was bothering her daughter, before even talking with Jean.” “Anabela needs intensive work and time to gain confidence. Anabela is talkative, but more tentative. I encourage Anabela to learn to work on her own and believe in herself. We can do a disservice if we don't encourage independent work and thinking among children with learning disabilities.” Anabela's Views on Family, Learning, and School “I never read at home by myself. It's not fun like it is when I read with Mom. I don't read with my dad, but he takes me to work with him sometimes. When my mom hurt her knee I cried and asked her if I could stay at home with her. She let me if it was real rainy, but otherwise I had to go to school. She's working again now, but I still help her put on her socks and pick up her things. My mom teaches me things like my preschool teacher did. Mom taught me how to tie my shoes and got me to be brave and try soccer too.” “My grandpa takes me to school every day and gives me two dollars too. He has a desk at his house down the street for me to do homework and he helps me. I like when we go for walks to the coffee shop for a donut. I like having a bigger family. My mom says you have more people to help you.” “I go to the resource room with two kids from my class. Sometimes we have to sit alone so we won't talk. We have a lot of work there. I know I'm good at thinking even when it's hard for me to read. Ms. York says to use my thinking to help me read. She says, ‘You just have to believe in yourself.’ I'm not so good at writing, but I'm good at jumping rope. Ms. Harfleur helps me too. She's nice to me and never yells. I can read sentences now and all my number words. Math and writing—ugh! I do like when we sing in math. When I grow up I want to be one of those singers that dances too.” Putting the Pieces Together Jean sits in her classroom at the end of the day and stares out the window. It's her responsibility as the classroom teacher to make retention recommendations to the principal shortly before the close of the school year. Her head is beginning to hurt. “I think of Connie as my savior, and usually defer to her. Besides, she knows Anabela the best and certainly made a convincing case for retention. But I still feel ambivalent. And given the climate here, I'd have to make a really airtight case for retention to Ms. Layton. And then there are the parents. I hardly know them, but they opposed retention when Anabela was at Sandia. Who knows how they would respond to the idea now?” Jean rests her head in her hands. “How am I going to put all these pieces together?” This work was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of its Research Network on Successful Pathways Through Middle Childhood. The people and events in this case are partly based on real-life accounts, but have been disguised to protect confidentiality. We would like to thank ethnographers Jane Wellenkamp and Gisella Hanley for their work at the site. Particular thanks are extended to Jane Wellenkamp for conducting the in-depth interviews with the family and teachers, her early analysis, and her review of this teaching case. Discussion Questions
Instructor NotesTo request instructor notes for this teaching case, send an email to FINE at fine@gse.harvard.edu. ^ Back to top |
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