9. End of Chapter Questions

Discussion Questions

For each of the case studies:

1. What needs or challenges are central to this collaboration challenge?
2. What assumptions, biases, or stereotypes might exist in each challenge? How can these be mitigated?
3. With whom might you collaborate to address the needs or challenges?
4. How might different collaborators perceive the situation?
5. What action steps could be taken to address the needs and ensure a positive outcome for students?
6. If initial steps at collaboration break down, what other supports could be available to address this situation?
7. Other than the individuals mentioned in the case study, who else could be impacted by this scenario?
8. What ethical or legal ramifications may exist in relation to this scenario?

Family and Guardian Communication

1. Create a welcome letter to families of students who are on your special education caseload. Provide information about what families can expect in terms of communication, updates, information, and/ or exchanging ideas this school year.
2. Develop an informational document (e.g. newsletter, flyer, Q & A, website, etc.) about special education acronyms, terminology, and processes for families. Include any information that would be applicable for eligibility or IEP meetings.

Collaboration

1. Without using specifics, share with a small group a situation in which collaboration broke down in a school setting. Group members should provide solutions for ways in which the situation could have resulted in a positive outcome.
2. With a partner, discuss the following scenario: You are currently working with other teachers supporting a student with a disability. There have been some recent conversations about the student’s IEP and the current behavioral goals. The student does not seem to be making progress with learning new self-regulation skills and you are not sure if all teachers are following the IEP plan as written. The student has just been suspended for five days after pushing another student. This is the seventh suspension this year. How will you handle the communication about the IEP plan? What collaborative goals can you suggest for the team to consider?

Instructor Notes

It is important that pre- and in-service teachers develop written and oral communication skills needed to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders in school and community settings. To facilitate this, students choose a total of four case studies from the scenarios and respond to each. Two responses must be role playing interactions and two must be in written form. Options for each type of response are:

Role playing responses may be submitted as videos and should be no longer than 5 minutes long. A rationale should accompany each response indicating who the collaborators are and why the communication modality was chosen. All responses will be graded on the following indicators:

• Collaborators – The response includes collaborators who are likely to support a successful resolution to the scenario.
• Response Modality – The response modality is logical given the nature of the situation and is well-justified in the rationale statement.
• Collaborative Language – The language promotes shared work toward resolution of the  problem.
• Action Oriented – The response includes specific actions that can be taken by one or more collaborators to work toward a solution to the problem.