During my field observation, the school psychologist/special education teacher perceives the field of education changing in various ways. The most prevalent change is through the numbers of students that are in need of special education. The school psychologist/special education teacher stated that their district is encountering a rapid increase of students with various needs. Due to this change, special education classes are filling to capacity. Although the general education teacher and special education teacher would not give specific numbers regarding the increase in special education, they did correlate the increase of students in special education to the change in demographics. The current demographic of the district includes a population that is transient and has a lower socioeconomic status. The school that I observe at is at 91% poverty rate, the highest in the district. The regular education teacher (who teaches 5th grade English Language Arts) stated that the field has changed since she had started. When the teacher started, her classroom consisted of mostly Caucasian students from middle socioeconomic backgrounds. She also included that barely …show more content…
The general education teacher that I observe monitors the students’ behavior and schoolwork throughout the year. If she sees that certain students are having difficulties, she then gives them different strategies, such as graphic organizers, to help break down specific skills. If the students does not show any improvement with the added accommodations, the teacher refers the students to the school psychologist for further testing. Although she does not play an active role with students with disabilities, she does believe that the process of identifying and helping students is becoming a smoother transition than what it has previously