H4 – Honor family/community involvement in the learning process.
This standard focuses on how a teacher candidate informs, involves, and collaborates with student families and the broader community regarding student progress [1].
One example of this program standard within my internship is the monthly collection and communication method regarding student progress in general education classroom, known as the Cascade Monitor Sheet. Each month, carbon copy forms are sent out to all student’s general education teachers for all their general education classes. The form asks about the student’s grade, behaviors, and general progress. It also asks what the Cascade program can do to further support the student within the general education classroom [2]. Once completed by the general education teachers, these forms are split apart and one copy is filed into the student’s IEP binder while the other is mailed home to guardians [2]. Figure 1 shows a blank form of the Cascade Monitor Sheet.
This blank Cascade Monitor Sheet serves as one way that teachers can gather information about student progress and share it with families.
While not the only method of data collection, the Cascade Monitor Sheet gathers vital qualitative data regarding student progress within the general education classroom. This collection is significant for a variety of reasons. First, the forms provide essential information to the special education teacher, who can therefore ensure that the student is still receiving specially designed instruction within the general education curriculum. Second, they also provide important information to the guardians regarding a student’s achievement and performance, thereby involving families with a student’s educational process. Third, Progress Monitor sheets also seek to identify additional methods of support and generate feedback about how IEP accommodations and/or modifications are working in the general education classroom [3].
As a result of filling out and receiving and mailing the completed forms, I have facilitated the informing and involvement of families with their student’s educational process. I also have become familiar with one of the specific processes used to communicate student progress to guardians. Additionally, I have had an opportunity to review these monitor sheets with my mentor and learn about her process for using the qualitative data provided from these sheets. Becoming comfortable with this process is crucial as I shift into the position of teacher, where my processing of such data and interactions with parents will increase significantly [4].
While it may not immediately seem so, implications for student learning in the Cascade Progress Monitor sheets exist. The forms assess a specific student’s progress within a specific general education classroom, thereby providing information regarding the instructional strategies that work or do not work to promote that specific student’s learning. As patterns emerge, important data can be used to render education decisions that impact student learning. For instance, after noting the positive progress of many Cascade students in a variety of classes for one particular teacher last year, student schedules were created this year with that teacher’s instructional strengths for special education students in mind. The idea behind this is that it will enhance student learning for these students to work with a teacher who has displayed strength in the past with working with these students. Another area is the connection with families—students whose families are informed and involved with their educational progress are more likely to be successful, because they have information to support the student [5].
Ultimately, these forms are critical part of gathering data and informing families regarding student progress. In the future, I need to learn how to decipher the qualitative information gathered in these sheets and use it to make decisions as the special education teacher. One specific step I will incorporate to do this is to meet with my mentor teacher and go through the sheets together, listening to her interpretations regarding the data [6].
My bPortfolio 