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Are you looking for percentages? In my experience (20 years as a special education teacher) in public schools:
40% or so HATE having any student with an IEP in their class.
40% or so are nervous
30% or less know that they are just students and can be successful.
OF COURSE some school may break down differently.
Sounds like my old school. There were some teachers that refused to deal with students with IEPs, and as a result they ended up right back in a self-contained classroom. This of course is a direct violation of IDEA, and why these teachers kept their jobs I'll never know.
You are exactly right - students can be successful despite having an IEP. I have a friend who's son is SLD, and he's not only taking AP classes, but he's also going to college on a scholarship! That is the whole point to having the IEP, so that a child can reach their fullest potential; some just need more support than others. This is why I developed a deep passion for what I do when I became a SPED teacher.
Here is the deal. A kid with special needs is no problem.
A kid with special needs that is a jerk, is a jerk. Forget special needs. A jerk is a jerk. Special needs have nothing to do with being a spoiled brat who has be let do his or her thing just to get through the year.
Had a deaf kid show up once. Actually, the interpreter showed up first, kid did not decide to attend for about three weeks later. He was an azz. Not because he was deaf, but because he was an azz.
He dropped out, actually quit coming after about three weeks, when he figured out that that I required him to do something not just sit in class and disrupt (Oh did I mention he was too much trouble at the state school for the deaf, so he was turned back to regular public schools)
Anyway, since he was deal, he was permitted to just quit.
I moved on, but got a call from my mom, several years later, 'Didn't you teach, so and so?" Well, he just murdered a good friend of ours for drug money."
While this is an extreme case, the point is that a) you have a disability and b) you have a personality, and c) you have norms of behavior. As soon as b or c, exceed that expected of a, the kid has a problem.
if the adult just lets it slide, and is miserable, then that is the adult's problem.
A disability is not a free ride, it means that accommodations need to be made, to even the playing field. That is all.
I don't think anyone "hates" having ec kids, but I expect many "hate" the behavior THEY ACCEPT because of the disability.
I had a student with TS one year. I had all of the students, grades 6-9, who had been expelled from their regular school. In addition to their many behavior problems, at any given time at least 1/2 my students were special ed. My student with TS was very good, unless there was stress at home, or too much going on in class. He and I talked about it, and he said he really wanted to sit with everybody else, but would also appreciate a quiet spot he could go to, if he needed. He asked me to explain his situation to the class, so he wouldn't have to answer questions every time he switched seats, or when his tics acted up. I did that and set up a desk at the back of the room, facing the wall, so he could "disconnect" when he needed to. On a bad day, he might be there all day. Some weeks he didn't need the extra space at all. It was never a punishment, it was how he chose to deal with it.
Having students with special needs is frustrating if there is not a USEFUL plan for them. If he had asked to sit by himself, and it was working, but his parent had complained about him being separated from the rest of the class, that would have frustrated me no end. Fortunately, his parents were grateful to have a teacher who would work with him, and we were able to attack the situation as a team - including the student. BTW he was 13-14.
I am a special education teacher. Overall, I love my students. Some of the nicest, well-adjusted, hard working, and brightest students I know have IEPs. I will say that I wholeheartedly agree with LLN. A jerk is a jerk, regardless of whether or not they have an IEP.
I will say that the system DOES need to be overhauled. Many student DO benefit from general education (w/accommodations). However, I don't like the idea of pushing just about every student in a co-teaching setting. Due to this push, I have students who are classified as MR (and unfortunately can barely read, write, spell, etc.) being mainstreamed. This leads to various problems in the classroom.
Socially, I've made it my personal philosophy to treat my IEP students no differently from others. Some students try to get over, but I try to get them to realize after school, society as a whole (sadly) doesn't give a hoot about your disability. Now I don't tell them that directly, but I push the idea of responsibility and self-advocacy.
Out of the gen ed teachers I've worked with, I'd say 75% of them didn't mind sped kids at all.
Sounds like my old school. There were some teachers that refused to deal with students with IEPs, and as a result they ended up right back in a self-contained classroom. This of course is a direct violation of IDEA, and why these teachers kept their jobs I'll never know.
Is that a Charter or private school? If it is a public school I'm very surprised that they removed that child.
Not necessarily. If a student is deemed to impede on the learning environment of his or her classmates (especially after all accommodations) it is considered to be a "solid" basis for a more restrictive environment.
I love, love, love, love love being in a specialized school, and one that can and does TRULY individualize. The downside is that my students are ones where a case HAS been made for a higher level of restrictiveness, due to behavior that is an impediment to their learning and that of those around them. The whole idea, though, is NOT for them to stay in that restrictive an environment...transition is ALWAYS the ultimate goal. Basically, a big part of my job is to program for my students in such a way that I don't have them for very long...so that they can learn to manage their behavior, increase their independence, and get their skills caught up to where they can be successful in a less restrictive environment.
I have had to walk that line many times, between LRE and what is best for the teacher, and other students in a classroom. Having a child who is so much slower, because of a disability, in a classroom, can really distract from the teaching, and learning for other students. I am an advocate of LRE, but at the same time, also a parent, who has been a regular ed teacher, and there are times, when a student with a disability, interferes with the academic needs of the other kids in the classroom. At some point, there is a reality check...
We can write all the adaptations, accomodations, make schedules to fit needs, blah blah...but, if a kid is continuously disrupting the classroom, the needs of one, do not outweigh the needs of many. Time to look at some other alternatives.
One child, was in a regular classroom, and he was not being served well there, nor were the other students, or the teacher. He was transferred to a self contained classroom. Sadly, his behaviors escalated, because at least in a regular ed classroom, he had the peer interaction with normal kids...in a self contained classroom, he actually started to act like the kids in that classroom, and went down in his social skills, and behavior.
The thing that people have to remember about least restrictive environment is that it DOESN'T mean that every student will best learn in a traditional classroom. For some students with some disabilities, the LRE that is most tenable IS fairly restrictive. Many/most of my students are 1:1. That is a HIGHLY restrictive ratio...but it is how they learn best, due to impairments that hinder their learning, their safety, and that of others around them at this point in their development, and that makes 1:1 the least restrictive environment that is beneficial for them. For any student in my program, exhaustive data has shown that they have been in less restrictive environments, and have failed to progress in academics, social, life, and adaptive skills. LRE isn't about "every kid will learn best in a regular ed classroom in a regular ed school, so it's our job to make that happen." It's about placing a student where the student will best learn and develop skills, and for one student, that may be a more structured, restrictive setting than for another student, and that's okay...they require that individualized program. My parents are not ones who are going to choose for their kids to be in a setting where they are not learning or advances simply because it is less restrictive. They want the environment where they see the most progress being made.
Right. But some parents don't see that. When the mention of "self contained" is made, many parents, who are still in denial about the extent of their child's disability become unglued.
They are drinking some Kool Aid...."My child is doing fine, the Turette's Syndrome is perfectly managed at home....blah, blah....". Well, it is not working that way at school....
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