Case Study Inquiry Project

Final Case Study Inquiry Project (CSIP)

Issues Within a Special Education Classroom

The past 12 months have witnessed the lack of organization; administrative involvement and implementation of a stable multiply special education program not only at McKinley Elementary School, but the overall program within the district of Farmington Municipal School. There are a variety of reasons why such a program can fail to thrive and this Final Case Study Inquiry Project (CSIP) attempts to not only recognize the various factors contributing to its failure, but attempts to implement an action plan as a way to resolve some of the issues at hand.

As the current Special Education Teacher at McKinley Elementary School, my primary responsibility is to teach

If the classroom was set up to assist only the needs of students with behavioral needs, violence could be managed more effectively. However, the current environment makes such a task very difficult, as safety is a main concern for the non-violent students, especially the medically fragile. In other words, employees state that the room is more of a place of survival rather than a place to learn and thrive. Currently, the violent behavior of some disabled students continues to cause stress and safety concerns to staff and students within the classroom. Frequent emergency evacuations occur on a regular basis (Mancini & Layton, 2012, p. 29).

While the needs of some of the school’s autistic students continue to overwhelm the staff, another contributing factor to McKinley’s failing special education program surrounds the medically fragile students. Due to the constant care of medically fragile students (feeding, changing, therapy), the amount of staff present in the classroom is often decreased, ultimately increasing the possibility of a student with behavioral needs to jeopardize the safety of both students and staff. In other words, the data and observations of the last several months seem to indicate that the room is overwhelmed by its dynamic

While every employee of the crisis team and/ or special education staff is required to attend Crisis Intervention Training (CPI), staff is only allowed to limited physical restraint even in emergency situations where the safety of the students or individuals within the immediate area is at risk. However, it is essential for staff to remember that “there is nothing in IDEA that restricts schools from disciplining children with disabilities,” and in fact, by not correcting violent behaviors would suggest that the student is not receiving an appropriate education (Fetter-Harrott, A., Dare, M., & Steketee, A.