Scheduling is always a big task for schools. Many schedules have to be created at the beginning of each school year. The task is even more complicated when new positions are added or old positions are taken away.
Cafeteria schedules must be created. A schedule for the teachers’ plan periods is also a must. In addition, special people such as instructional assistants and special education teachers require a schedule to follow.
With a limited number of hours in the day and many people to accommodate, some schools find themselves in a jam when it comes to creating a schedule for everyone. Principals begin looking for ways to save time and compact the schedule.
One area in which many schools are now addressing when it comes to the schedule is special education. By law, special education children must be serviced by special education teachers or assistants. Because many of these children are now spending the day in the regular classroom instead of being pulled out, special education teachers are required to cover a lot of ground.
My school has nine grade levels. It is very likely that in any given year at least eight of the grades will have one or more special education children. It can be very difficult for one or two special education teachers to service all of the children separately.
My school, along with many others, has been forced to attempt to group children with special needs together. For example, all children in third grade that are serviced by special education are placed in one classroom. This way the special education teacher or assistant can visit one third grade class instead of three or four.
I can see both pros and cons to this method of grouping students. It would be virtually impossible for the special education program personnel at my school to visit every classroom. However, grouping all special needs children in one classroom can be overwhelming for the teacher. In most cases, the teacher-student ratio in these classes is smaller than the others. This, in addition to having an additional special education person visit the room, can aid the teacher greatly.
Labeling Special Education Students