Running head: FIELD EXPERIENCE C 1

Field Experience C: Learning Environments

Jeannine Loar

Grand Canyon University: SPD 560

August 5, 2020
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Field Experience C: Learning Environments

For this field Experience, I was honored to interview Ms. Coote, both a teacher

and Director of Special Education. We began our interview by discussing how she promotes

inclusion for all students regales of their disability. Ms. Coote stated that an inclusive

environment within a school trickles down from the administration and teachers following the

heart of the school having an inclusive philosophy. All students should be accepted, and

teachers should have a desire to teach and meet the needs of every student no matter their diverse

needs. Professional development is important in all of this, but I truly believe it comes down to

modeling the love for all students and ways to include all children in the school and classroom.

Administrators and fellow teachers need to help generate ideas to work with students needing out

of the box thinking to be a true part of the school culture and community.

We then talked about how she ensures that all staff members are kept up to date on

policies and procedures that deal with inclusion in the school, she then stated that, at the

beginning of every year, the special education staff gives an all-staff training on IEP documents

and generalized training on inclusion within their classrooms. Also, the special education team

meets with each grade level to go over the specifics of students they will have in their grade level

cohort. Each week throughout the year, the special education staff meets with the general

education grade level teams to continue collaboration for modifications, accommodations, and

brainstorming to best include students in the classroom. In past years, the special education team

has attended the Inclusion Conference which is held in Denver every year for administrators,

educators, and families with students with special needs to provide resources in how to better

create an inclusive environment in schools, classrooms, and communities. As an administrator in

a charter school, we have autonomy from the district; however, special education laws and
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regulations are the same for all schools under state and federal law, so I have the opportunity to

be a part of the Director’s Liaison Team (DLT) which meets monthly to go over new regulations

put forth by state and federal to ensure we are compliant with documents and teaching.

When asked about services that her campus provides, she responded by stating that, at

our charter school, we have a large population of students with special needs that differ from

learning disabilities to more significant needs and diagnoses. On staff, we have ESS

(Exceptional Student Services) Teachers, ESS Paraprofessionals, a Speech Language

Pathologist, an Occupational Therapist, a COTA (Certified Occupational Therapist Assistant),

and a social worker. We contract for a psychologist and other special services needs as

necessary throughout the year for evaluation or consultation. On Monuments Campus, they have

mild, moderate, and severe needs students all within our inclusive program, and we do not have a

separate SSN (severe support needs) classroom for those students with more significant

disabilities. We have students qualified under every federal special education category, some of

which are most prevalent within our building include: SLD, OHI, and MD.

When look at the budget Ms. Coote stated that, their budget is based on both October and

December counts in which both general education and special education students are counted as

receiving and requiring services. While these numbers change with students staffing in and

staffing out of special education, there is an average number we maintain over time. The largest

part of the budget is staffing, so we look at how many hours students are needing from particular

service providers in order to determine the amount of hours we need to budget for them to be

included within the special education team and paid respectively.

Collaboration is key in special education and in any educational environment. Ms. Coote

promotes collaboration by holding weekly meetings in a more formal manner, but we all have an
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open-door policy to allow for team members to come through and ask questions throughout the

day. While we may not have certain students on our direct caseloads, we all tend to get to know

each other’s students in order to help as needed.