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Mcateer-K-Sped730-M8-Interview-Paper 2
Mcateer-K-Sped730-M8-Interview-Paper 2
Field Interview
By Kimberly McAteer
Kansas University
FIELD INTERVIEW 2
Abstract
I had the opportunity to interview my mentor. She has helped me to become a better Special
Education Teacher. She has helped me to develop better IEPs with better goals. I got a chance to
ask her questions that I probably wouldnt have asked her otherwise.
FIELD INTERVIEW 3
My interviewee was Sheila McKnight. She is the Exceptional Childrens Case Teacher at
the school I work at in Fayetteville North Carolina. I have worked with her at two different
I asked her questions that I probably wouldnt have asked just in general conversations. I
found out that she has been in education for over thirty years. She started out as a daycare worker
working in preschool for about twenty years in New York. She has been working in secondary
When she moved from New York to North Carolina she decided she needed a change.
She also decided that she still wanted to stay in education. She really couldnt compare North
Carolina to New York because she worked in two different systems. She did know that in New
York her daughter seemed to get more services than she got in North Carolina.
Sheila decided to move into secondary education as her daughter grew older. Her
daughter has disabilities as well and she hoped it would let her become more knowledgeable to
better help her. As she learned more she was able to help her daughter too. She benefitted from
her experience.
Sheila is the Case Teacher at my school. She is the main LEA in our school. She has been
for the last three years. She currently has two schools that she LEAs for. She is at our school on
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She works at her other school on Tuesday, and Thursday. She
is in charge of all of the case folders and making sure that they are all correct. She also has to
input data from the information she gathers as well. She wears a lot of different hats when it
I asked her about her teaching philosophy. She said that she truly believes all children can
learn no matter the disability or where they come from. As a teacher we need to be able to
activate prior knowledge and we need to relate things to something the students already know.
When I asked her how she interacts and meets the needs of all learners, especially
disabled learners, she told me that she meets all of the students that have IEPs. She has some
interaction with the parents as well. She is responsible for doing all of the re-evaluation of all of
the students. Re-evaluations take place every three years. That doesnt necessarily mean retesting
or anything like that. She just makes sure that the students still need services.
When asked about collaboration, she said that she mainly collaborated with her teachers,
the ones in the Exceptional Childrens department, and the principal. She does occasionally go
on home visits with the social worker, especially if she has to get paperwork signed. I also asked
her about collaborating with her peers. She explained that she does that during her professional
development meetings. Every year they have three professional development meeting where they
get together and talk about best practices and how to do their job the right way. As Case
Teachers they have to know the law because IEPs are legal binding documents.
I wondered if she missed the classroom. She explained to me that she did miss it
sometimes but she didnt miss the behaviors that come with the students. Our school is in a low
socioeconomic area. The average family consists of one parent and two to three kids. Most times
the parent is working. We dont have a lot of opportunities to work with the parents. We
schedule IEP meetings and we send out two notices to make sure they get a notice of a meeting.
We have about a 33% rate of parents showing up for their students meeting. I think a lot of them
just dont understand actually how important these meetings are. It would be nice if parents had
FIELD INTERVIEW 5
to go through a mini session explaining how important it is for them to attend and to know what
goals we have set for their child. We need their input as well. They know their child the best.
Sheila makes the first contact with parents of students who are new to our school and
have IEPs. She calls the parent to make initial referrals for students. She has to get permission
from parents to start testing students to see if they are eligible to receive exceptional children
services. After our psychologist has tested the student, Sheila along with the psychologists
recommendation make the determination if the child needs services and what services the child
needs. At our school we have four self-contained rooms and six resource periods and thirteen co-
op periods. We try to move students out of resource into co-op as much as possible. We want our
students to grow. Sometimes the students comes to us in the wrong placement. We have to
determine if we have another place for the student move to that will be more conducive to their
ability. In a situation like that, she gets the specialist to come over and look at the students folder
and work samples and gets her recommendation, especially when we are sending a students into
a self-contained room. We need to be sure we are doing the right thing for the student.
When asked about how she could evolve her position, she looks at this as more of a team
effort. She believes that if she can help her teachers write good IEPs and help them to become
better teachers she is evolving her position as well. She still has to make sure there arent any
errors and such, but this makes her job a lot easier.
I asked her about any changes she would like to see. Sheila would like to see procedures
become easier for teachers. She says that between making sure that these IEPs are following
IDEA guidelines and the system we use, it is quite tedious. She would like to see an easier
system being used and she would like to see the same system used all across the United States.
FIELD INTERVIEW 6
All states are different so it is hard to tell what services a student has if it isnt written clearly.
Sometimes she has to search to find where to place this student. If we all used the same system
then we would know where to look and be able to read the IEPs easier. Also parents would be
I enjoyed getting to know my mentor better. I got to see things from her perspective as
well. I always learn something from her when we talk. Today I learned a lot more than I thought
I would. Thank you for this assignment. I truly enjoyed interviewing her. I have attached the list
References
3. How did you come to this position? Her principal asked for her to come to this position
5. How long have you been in education? She started out in early childhood education.
6. Do you miss being in the classroom? Yes and no, she misses the students. But she doesnt
7. What is your philosophy on teaching? I feel like all students can learn no matter disability
or where they come from as teacher we need to be able to activate their prior knowledge
8. What other states have you worked in? New York for daycare and preschool
9. How different was it? I couldnt say I was doing something completely different
11. How do you interact and meet the needs of all learners, especially disabled learners? I am
in charge of the IEPs at our school. I meet all of the students and I have some interaction
with their parents. I try to LEA all of the meetings in school. I am also responsible for
doing all of the re-evaluations of all of the students. I am only at one school 3 days and
12. Who all do you collaborate with? I mostly collaborate with the principal and my teachers.
I do occasionally go on home visits with the social worker, especially if I have to get
13. How do you collaborate with your peers? We have professional development at least 3
times a year
14. How do you interact with parents? My teachers schedule IEP meetings and I LEA for
these meetings. I also make first contact when a new student that has an IEP enrolls. I
15. Are there any instructional or behavioral practices you implement? I dont teach the
16. How do you continue to evolve in your position? By becoming the best EC Case Teacher
I can be. I strive to do my best every day for the students and myself
17. How do you think we could get parents more involved? Maybe by making more phone
18. How could you be better prepared for your job? I could make more schedules out and be
better organized.
19. What are some changes you would make? I dont know if I would make any changes. I
20. If you could have done anything else would you? I cant see myself doing anything else. I