Do you see themes emerging? In your response to the two learners below, comment on how their postings fit in with any themes you are noticing. Please ask an open ended question in connection to your response.

Alison post

While conducting my interview and reviewing reading I learned that there are a few evaluation methods for school psychologists to use to identify students that have exceptional needs. While the IQ test was used for many years, parents and school staff have become more in favor of the RTI method of evaluation. This form of evaluation involves gathering data from multiple sources regarding the child’s behavior in various situations, as well as direct observations and interactions.

Concern to identify a child with exceptional needs is important to due quickly. For some, children missing milestones such as conversation, walking, and eating solid foods can raise red flags. While it is great to be concerned and to discuss these issues with your doctor, they do not equal a child being exceptional. When children enter school and begin to interact with their peers, then concerns and exceptionality become more apparent. Missing milestones in early education is defiantly time to be concerned and begin discussion about an evaluation.

During my interview, the mother was extremely resistant to her child being tested until she entered the first grade. Her struggles with testing her daughter early was the perceptions schools would have upon admitting her daughter. While schools are inclusive environments for exceptional children, are there better ways for them to appear more inclusive to those not yet involved in the school?

Nicole post

    By speaking with the school psychologist, I learned a lot about identifying exceptional students. Our psychologist is very accommodating for both the teachers and students and always provides us with such valuable information. When discussing with her about identifying students who may have exceptional needs, she said that I should be concerned when the child seems withdrawn from the tasks as well as their peers, are throwing fits over small things, can’t regulate their emotions, act out in class, and often talk over the teacher or talk while she is talking. She said that not all students are going to exhibit the same behaviors but she said that any of these on their own could be concerning.

            Once the teacher sees some of these signs and realizes through their own observations that the student does not seem to be making the same progress as their peers (either socially or academically), then they can refer the student to the “Educational Support Team (EST)” that we have at our school. Once the student is referred and the paperwork is filled out explaining the concerns, the EST will meet together and discuss what we can do to help the students. Often times, testing is required. Many students are picked up for IEP’s or services through this process. If no services are required, the team will come up with some accommodations for the student and the team will continue to meet every couple of months to discuss progress and to see if they can support the student in any other ways