Differences of Augusta and Turner 1

The Differences of the Augusta and Turner School Districts

and How They Handle Inclusive Education.

Haley Knowlton

University of Maine at Farmington

Differences of Augusta and Turner 2

Introduction

The purpose of this interview was to understand, from a teacher’s perspective,

what goes on in an inclusive general education classroom. It also provides insight to

understand the challenges that teachers face when supporting their students requiring

extra supports in order to be successful in the inclusive general education setting. This

paper also examines the relationships and struggles of teachers to their students,

teachers to the ed-techs and teachers to the administrators. The interviewee also

provided a unique opportunity to compare the inclusive education practices found in

the Augusta public school district and the Turner public school district.

The interview took place on March 3rd, 2019 in Livermore, ME at the residence

of the interviewee- we will call her PK. PK invited me into her home at approximately

11:30 where we convened in her living room to conduct the interview. PK was born and

raised in Turner, Maine. Upon graduating high school she went to the University of

Maine at Orono to become a public school teacher grades K-6. After finishing her

degree she got a teaching position for third grade in the Augusta school district. She

worked there for 5 years before getting a position in the Turner district at the sixth

grade level- this is where she has been working for the past two years.

Findings

PK was gracious enough to start back at the beginning of her career in

education, just 7 years ago, and share her thoughts leaving college on inclusive

teaching practices. “I thought the best thing for the kids was learning amongst their

peers, as long as you were able to provide the appropriate supports for them to be

successful. So I guess that you could say I was pro inclusion even though we didn’t
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learn much about it in school or see it in practice while I was student teaching.” This

set of ideals that PK had only grew stronger after she graduated and started working in

Augusta where their philosophy was to have students learn amongst their peers with

push in support provided by ed-techs. “It was a great opportunity to have what I would

consider a co-teacher at times. I could give the lesson to the ed-tech ahead of time so

that they could review it and understand the results we wanted from teaching it. It

allowed them to better support their student(s) since they knew what was going on.” It

wasn’t always easy for those in Augusta that had students who legally required ed-tech

support per their IEP/504 plans. “We faced a number of scheduling issues where we

didn’t have enough substitutes, so they would often pull ed-techs from their

placements and put them in charge of another classroom that was missing their

teacher. There was also a lack of substitutes to fill in the ed-tech positions so when

they were sick and had to call out for two or three days in a row the kids they looked

after suffered from not having any support.” We discussed how many districts face the

issue of not having substitutes for both teaching roles and the roles of ed-techs, with

the general consensus being that there isn’t much money in it. There are also a number

of requirements to qualify for most of the subbing positions which most people can’t

meet. People have to pay out of their own pocket to get both their fingerprints and

background checks done so people without a lot of money might struggle to pay and

meet these requirements.

The Turner school district faces similar struggles but on a wider scale than that

of Augusta. You could however say that this is to be expected due to the fact that it is

only Turner’s first year of practicing the inclusive education model. “We went from last
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year having them segregated in their own wing of the school to having most of them in

the general education classrooms amongst their peers. We’re still working out the kinks

but I think the consensus is that it has created a better community environment.”

Talking through some of the struggles she saw in her school system I gained a better

understanding of what a normal day looks like for her/most of the other teachers. The

teachers in Turner also face a rather large shortage of substitutes in both the teacher

and ed-tech roles. This often leads to pulling ed-techs from their positions in order to

cover the vacancies. But there is such a lack of communication between the

administration and the teachers that teachers hardly ever know when their ed-tech is

absent or being pulled to cover another teacher’s classroom.

PK was also able to highlight the extensive ways in which Turner promotes

positive teaching practices. Turner’s elementary school has a widespread practice of

being both a PBIS school and a responsive community. Each classroom has a teacher

picked positive behavior system as well. The individual student system that PK picked

out was Knowlton Dollars- the kids can earn Knowlton Dollars for being safe,

responsible and respectful. At the end of every month PK brings things in to the

classroom for the kids to bid on using their money. Her classroom wide system is a

marble jar and when that gets full the students can pick a rewards such as extra recess

or a movie day. The school has a system that they call Wild Cat Pride Cards, any

teacher can give one to any student that they see behaving appropriately. These cards

then go into a classroom bucket by the office and someone from every classroom on

Friday gets to pick a reward from the treasure chest. “The only flaw with the pride
Differences of Augusta and Turner 5

cards is that the office often forgets to pick out students names at the end of the

week.”

Discussion

The practices of the school district in Augusta along with the relationship

between PK and her ed-tech best reflect my personal philosophy as well as what I

would like to see in the district that I choose to teach in. I think push ins are an ideal

second way to support students when you can’t have a co-taught classroom. Push ins

allow for support during times when students require it- if a student struggles with

math they can have assistance then but they might not require it for reading which

would free up that ed-tech to help another in that timeframe.

I also agree with the idea that PK talked about earlier, how students most of the

time learn better when surrounded by their peers. However, I think that you should ask

the student what it is they would like to see in their schedule. Some may be learning at

a much lower grade level and feel embarrassed by the fact that they are learning from

different materials and/or that they require assistance. I am of the opinion that students

learn best in an environmental setting that they feel comfortable in. When students are

uncomfortable they often are only able to think of the fact that they are uncomfortable/

why they are uncomfortable. It triggers their fight or flight receptors of their brain and

they can’t focus on what they are supposed to be learning.

I am also of the opinion that co-teaching could reduce the stigma/prejudice that

surrounds the students with support needs. There is a really good picture from the

class six slideshow that shows the numerous benefits of having a co-taught classroom.

However, if it is being done it needs to be done in a way that makes both of the
Differences of Augusta and Turner 6

teachers equally respected and

creates an environment where

the students feel that they can

approach either teacher with

questions and/or comments that

they have. To the right is the

picture from the slideshow to

which I am referring. It is not only

beneficial for those students with the IEPs or 504s but those without them. It reduces

the teacher to student ratio as well as allow for the students to receive more help.

Having two minds in the classroom can also lead to better differentiation of the material

and structure of the classroom. I have been in a classroom where this was the case,

the classroom was having a station day where the students rotated through four

different stations and two of the stations had instructors to guide the students through

them. The students loved the set-up of the classroom because they got help with the

material that they most needed it with. PK also employed this strategy when she was

working in Augusta. It was also discussed in a video that we watched in class six about

different styles of co-teaching.

Recommendations

State Recommendations:

1. Create a state minimum wage for substitutes and ed-techs that make the position

appeal to a wider audience as well as make it worth while for people to do.
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Increasing the wage would also make it easier to live off when people have families

and such.

2. Another recommendation I have for the state would be to pay for the cost of

people’s background checks and fingerprints as well as the renewal of these

requirements. Currently people have to pay to get these done in order to work in

the schools where they aren’t getting paid a very high wage as well as pay for the

renewal fee every five years.

Augusta Administration:

1. Due to the fact that Augusta lacks some communication and organization skills in

terms of finding/positioning substitutes I would recommend that they hire an

inclusive education coordinator. This would help them to restructure their inclusive

system to better support their students as well as set up a system that could be put

in place to cover teacher/ed-tech absences.

Turner Administration:

1. I would recommend something similar to the recommendation for Augusta above. I

feel that their transition into becoming an inclusive school district would be greatly

aided by having an inclusive education coordinator. Having an inclusive education

coordinator could help restructure the schools to provide better support to those

students and potentially teachers that need it. This could also clear up scheduling

issues that the district faces.

2. I think that the elementary school should also put into place a system that notifies

the teacher when their ed-tech is absent or being pulled to cover another
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classroom. This would help the teacher prepare any necessary arrangements in

order to better support their students.

Appendix

Interview Questions:

What was your inclusive teaching philosophy leaving college?

Has it changed since then?

How long did you work in the Augusta School District?

What was Augusta’s inclusive teaching philosophy/practices?

How were you’re experience with 504’s and IEP’s in Augusta?

Are the special education kids segregated?

Did you have an inclusive teaching coordinator? Would you have benefitted from

having one?

How long have you worked in the Turner School District?

What are Turner’s inclusive teaching practices?

How have your experiences been with Turner’s practices?

How were the two districts similar?

How were they different?

Which district do you prefer, why?

Did one of the district’s practices align more with your ideals, if so how?

Do you utilize positive teaching practices in your classroom, such as; fidgets, breaks,

get up and move time or positive student profiles?

Do you or have you had ELLs in your classroom before?

If yes, what struggles did you face and how did you overcome them?

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Do you practice co-teaching models in your classroom/school community?