Understanding and Advocating for Student Needs
Students learn that they can use individual assets to navigate and challenge systemic injustices or inequity of opportunities.
Introduction
“Historically, people with disabilities have been denied fundamental human and civil rights. It is a history marked by institutionalization, abuse and neglect… Despite the great strides toward expanding the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, many obstacles still stand in the way of their living fully inclusive lives” (n.d.). Caused by systemic injustices, the obstacles my students with disabilities may have to navigate are numerous. As I think about my young scholars, their ability to navigate and challenge systemic injustices and inequity in opportunities in and beyond school is dependent on their ability to advocate for their needs. Therefore, it is imperative that they can utilize one of their most powerful individual assets, voice. Voice will enable them to challenge inequity of opportunities and provide them with the skill to navigate and challenge systemic injustices.
When I thought about how I can support the development of voice in my kindergarten case students, I identified the importance of my students' ability to express their strengths and needs. To do this, it is crucial that my students' have a comprehensive understanding of their IEP so they can articulate their strengths, combating any misunderstandings of their abilities, and explain the areas where they require more support so they can be successful regardless of the setting.
Understanding IEPs
As a special education teacher, I believe there is a lot of power in helping my students understand their IEP objectives and goals. Like many special education documents, IEPs are not accessible documents for five- and six-year-olds because they are not developmentally appropriate due to the amount of text and the verbiage. If students are not able to access their IEPs and understand their strengths and explain areas they require more support in, then in challenging situations, they may not be able to use their individual asset, voice, to navigate systemic injustices or challenge inequity of opportunities.
​
To address this issue, I created student friendly IEP trackers that support my students understanding of their IEP goals. It is essential that my students understand their IEPs so they can advocate their needs when they are in school and when they move on to be part of the workforce. Student-friendly IEP tackers include "I Can" statements at the top that are grade-level appropriate so that students can memorize and understand them. By rephrasing the objectives and goals into developmentally appropriate statements, my students can articulate what they are working to accomplish. When I work with my students, I explain how I will mark up their trackers based on their answers. When we finish working together, I collaborate with students to track their work. Students choose two different color crayons to use. One color celebrates their successes and the other color identifies the area(s) that they need to practice. After students finish tracking their work, we debrief and talk about the steps we need to take to reach their goal and how they can ask for help. Our collaborative conversations provide them with space to practice using their voice to advocate for their needs by vocalizing the areas of struggle and what kind of support they need to be successful.
Pictured Above: Students coloring in their IEP trackers and examples of student trackers. Names are blocked out to respect students privacy.
Through student friendly IEP trackers, students can participate in their IEP process. Before I created these trackers, the data sheets I used were not student friendly, but instead, they were catered to my needs as the special education teacher. When I worked with students, I would collect data, but I wouldn't share it with them because it wasn't developmentally appropriate and I didn't want to overwhelm them. I occasionally showed students what I was doing, but they didn't understand that they were working towards IEP goals. During the beginning of last year, I noticed that students were incentivized to work and try their best when they were able to see their growth visually. To be cognizant of their age and grade-level, I created trackers that they could color so they could participate in the process. I kept the trackers as simple as possible so students would not feel overwhelmed by the data. During the initial introduction of their "new" IEP trackers, students were excited that they were able to color in their work. I would always preface our time together by explaining how it's okay if they get a question wrong because we are working together to understand better what to do. In one-on-one conversations, we also talk about how they need to vocalize that they may need help with certain things. My five- and six-year-olds are still developing their voice, and for many of them their family members do things for them before they can ask for help. Therefore, during our one-on-ones, my students and I practice things to say so that they can speak up and advocate for their needs. Students are now comfortable with saying, "I need help," or, "I don't understand," or, when referencing their trackers, "I'm working on reading my words so I might need help."
Participating in IEPs
In special education, meetings and documents can be challenging to navigate and comprehend. The process can be confusing and overwhelming, and it's essential that my students understand they are not alone in this process. Although they are young and still receive a lot of support at home, it is also important that my students participate in their IEPs so they are aware that they have adult support in school. Due to their disabilities, they may experience inequity of opportunities if people don't understand the accommodations or modifications they require. Thus, I believe it's essential that my students can identify adults on their IEP team so if a problem arises at school, they can lean on them and ask for guidance. Furthermore, by getting into the habit of getting to know their IEP team members, students will begin to develop the skills they need to build supportive networks as they continue through school and later on in their lives. The ability to identify and establish support systems is valuable because students will then have people that can count on to help them navigate systemic injustices and inequities of opportunities that people with disabilities may have to face.
Pictured Above: Through drawing my student identifies his IEP team members and how they support him.
IEP Team Member Identification
Video Above: Student explanation of his IEP team members and how they work with him.
The evidence shown here is an example of how my students identify their IEP team members through drawing and discussion. Through this developmentally appropriate process, they are building connections of the adults they see and work with and how they support them. It is important that they understand why they work with their IEP team members because these are the adults that can help advocate for their needs. Due to their young age, my five- and six-year-olds are still working on their ability to advocate for their needs. Thus, it is important that they participate in their IEP so they can identify their allies in school.
Pictured Above: Through drawing my student identifies his IEP team members and how they support him.
To introduce my five- and six-year-olds to the idea of being active participants in the IEP process, I believe it’s important to engage them and allow them to take the lead during meetings. By being an active and vocal member in meetings, they will have access to a space that allows them to practice using their voice to advocate for their needs, and also have the opportunities to develop informed opinions about their IEPs and goals.
The PDF to the left is the script that I use with my students. The text acts as a graphic organizer, and as I read through the script with students, they fill in the blanks, identifying the team members and how they help them. We then practice the text before their meetings. In all special education meetings, team members must be introduced. Typically, it is the care coordinators job. However, to encourage students to participate and become comfortable with using their voice to advocate for themselves, I'm working with students to take over the introductions. Through this activity, students will see that their voice has value. Furthermore, they are building coalitions with team members that can help them navigate systemic challenges and inequities of opportunities.
Conclusion
By “practicing student voice [students] [are] give[n] important tools for developing resilient responses in demanding situations” (Fox, K. et al., 2013). I firmly believe in this quote because every student, regardless of their identification, will face demanding situations where they experience inequities of opportunities.
I understand that as the kindergarten Special Education teacher, I will only be with my students during the beginning of their educational career. With this in mind, I feel the urgency of exposing my students to the value and power of their voice and providing them with spaces to practice using their voice to advocate for themselves. As an educator, my responsibility is to provide my students with the skills they need to be successful in and outside of school. By developing their voice and including them in the complex IEP processes, I believe my students are developing the skills and mindsets to advocate for themselves, allowing them to navigate and challenge systemic injustices and inequities of opportunities that they will face.
REFERENCES
Fox, K., Bedford, M., & Connelly, B. (2013). Student voice and resilience in learning. ASCD Express, 8 (25). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol8/825-fox.aspx
Public Policy and Legal Advocacy. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2018, from https://www.thearc.org/what-we-do/public-policy/policy-issues