adult:student ratio in MCPS middle school classrooms
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RedTailHawk
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DD is currently in 5th grade and I am trying to better understand the middle school environment as part of planning for next year.
My understanding is that the middle school model is students needing extra help give up one of their electives to have resource room time. I think there are some middle school para educators but those are more likely to be paired with specific kids with physical or perhaps behavioral challenges. Is this accurate? In her current school there are frequently para educators in the classrooms which is helpful to her, especially when navigating group work with peers and when her stress level is too high. (If it matters, DD is very 2E and gets upset easier than classmates. The emotions get in the way of stuff making it to long term memory. She is above grade level according to all tests. She struggles socially and all her close friends are boys.) Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Resource starts in HS. In MS there is a sixth grade reading class. Best ways to get extra help is to request supported classes. Most parents hate them but it's. great for SN kids that need more assistance. |
Anonymous
| I work at a middle school and there is a resource period for students who have IEPs. Students who have IEPs will also be in classes with para-educators available to support them. |
Anonymous
Hi, are their inclusion/in class support classes in middle school? Where there are kids with and without IEPs in one class and with para-educators in there? |
Anonymous
My DS, no IEP, has had couple of middle school classes in which there was both a teacher and a paraeducator. One time the teacher at the open house noted that the paraeducator was there to work specifically with some (unnamed) kids but would also help the whole class. |
Anonymous
Yes. I always request them for my son and the school always grants the request. My son does. It have an IEP |
Anonymous
| Supposed to say my son does not have an IEP |
Anonymous
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RedTailHawk, From what I understand, you have it right. And we thought this would not be sufficient for our 2E son, because all the paras/resources would be spent helping students other than our son, and he would additionally face the difficulty he had always faced before, namely a deep incomprehension that a child can be both gifted and learning disabled. During my son's 5th grade year, we strategized to have him placed in the nearest GT/LD program, which turned out to be in a middle school not further away than his cluster middle school. In 5th grade, we had him evaluated at Stixrud's at the beginning of the school year (made the appointment in the summer). Paid for a full neuropsych eval to get a current, in-depth and reputable report. Got the diagnoses and written report soon after and then called an IEP meeting for them to formally acknowledge the new information. I met and spoke on the phone with the founder of GT/LD services in MCPS, who until recently was in place as overall coordinator for all GT/LD stuff, Marisa Stemple. She has since gone on to other things, unfortunately so, because she was wonderful. I don't know who her replacement is, but you could search in the labyrinth that is the MCPS website. She encouraged me to visit the GT/LD program, and explained that she had trained the teachers there to be sensitive to the needs of both gifted and learning disabled kids. That there would be two teachers in the classroom for every core subject (I have not been able to verify this with my child!). That the resource class was specifically for the GT/LD kids. That this group of kids would move up as a cohort through the school, and there would be other advanced students in their classes, unless they took non-advanced classes (my son takes regular math for now - he has a lot to catch up on that topic). Then we visited the cluster middle school, asked for an interview with the SN coordinator there. We also visited the GT/LD middle school, sat in on a couple of classes, asked for an interview with that coordinator. My son visited both as well. I spoke with several parents on the MCPS GT/LD yahoo group who had either chosen to place their children in the GT/LD program or in their regular school. Basically we researched the heck out of this thing. We had been lax and passive before, and really didn't want to mess this up. Then when our mind was made up, I approached my son's 5th grade SN case manager with some trepidation, and broached the subject, since the decision to enroll a child in such a program is an IEP team decision - which means they decide, not you. I had all the data at my disposal: his IQ scores, his diagnoses, his written work and over-the-top MAP scores, etc. She said she would back me up. Finally we had the transition meeting just before the end of the school year. I was worried there would be a last minute block by the teacher, who didn't seem particularly convinced, but since everyone else was, we won the day. Phew. I can honestly say that as of right now we're very happy. I'm not completely sure there are two fully-trained teacher in every core subject classroom (when we visited there was). But the resource class is amazing, he gets most of his homework done there. It takes the place of an elective, just so you know. And what I value most is that his teachers seem very attentive and responsive to his needs - which is just what we seemed to lack before. They have complimented him and seem to appreciate him. He in turn has gained in responsibility and maturity. I hope this helps. |
Anonymous
Not true, my daughter has had Resource every year in middle school. She has a 504. |
Anonymous
The school team may very well make decisions without considering parental input but the parent is absolutely a part of the IEP team. |
Anonymous
Correct, *in theory*. In practice, not so much, since they are in the majority around the table: school principal or representative, teacher, case manager, often other experts are brought in such as the psychologist, counselor, and in our case Marisa Stemple and the cluster middle school SN coordinator. Your best bet is to corner them separately well in advance and make your case then, otherwise if the first they hear of it is the day of the meeting (they meet to talk right before the parents are invited to join in) they tend to be swayed by the most authoritative school person in the room because they haven't had time to think it through, and if that one is against you... |