Wearing Many Hats

In addition to reading the Announcements, prepare for this discussion by reading the Required Resources, the Week Four Instructor Guidance, and the scenario provided below.  In particular, you should review the Initial Referral to the Multidisciplinary Team form found on p. 112-113 of your text, the Child Study Team Referral Form from week three, and Part I of the Comprehensive Report found in the Instructor Guidance for this week.

Scenario: In addition to your role on the Child Study Team, you are also a member of the Multidisciplinary Evaluation Team (MDT).  This team is preparing to meet because while the Tier Two Interventions have been helpful, Manuel is still struggling with his reading fluency and his writing, and is continuing to fall further behind.  The MDT has received the signed and dated formal permission for referral from Manuel's parents and the school psychologist has conducted an academic achievement evaluation as described in your text.  One of your roles as the special education inclusion teacher in your school is to translate the results of all the assessments in a way that is understandable to parents, the child, and to the regular education teacher.  Another aspect of your role is to write the Initial Referral to the MDT such as the one described on p. 112 of the text.  Finally, in your role as the special education inclusion teacher you are tasked with reviewing the results of all the assessments in order to to help the Manuel, his parents and his other teachers to understand the various strategies that are recommended based on his assessment outcomes.

You have reviewed the RTI data collected to date, including the informal observations of Mr, Franklin and Manuel's other teachers and samples of his classroom work, and have compared those data to Part I of the Comprehensive Report prepared by the school psychologist.  That report is located in the Instructor Guidance for this week.  The data paint a compelling and congruent picture of Manuel's current academic functioning.  You are now ready to write an Initial Referral for Manuel so that his eligibility for special education services can be determined.

Initial Post: Review the Initial Referral to the Multi-Disciplinary Team form on p. 112 and 113 of your text. Compare the information needed for that form with the Child Study Team Referral Form that you filled out last week for Manuel.  Explain the different functions of the two documents and state how they are alike and how they are different.  Then, explain how you plan to share the data on the Initial Referral to the Multi-Disciplinary Team form in a way that Manuel, his parents, and Mr. Franklin can understand.  Be sure to include an explanation for why you are the one sharing this information with them. Include pertinent professional or personal real world examples to illustrate your points.

Text:
Pierangelo, R., & Giuliani, G. A. (2012). Assessment in special education: A practical approach. Boston: Pearson.