Teachers have one of the most important jobs in our society: educating the youth. Some would say that’s easier said than done. As we all know, there is no cookie-cutter mold for what a child will be like. Some will go through all their years, never need any additional help and get through with all passing grades. Others might slip through the cracks, barely passing, and others might need extra support to just keep up with their peers. Even in today’s world, it’s not easy to get kids the proper help they need to succeed.
The two main types of adjusted education plans are Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and a 504 plan. These are put in place with the same goal – yet both are often disregarded. In a basic sense, the difference between the two is that a 504 plan is used for accommodations usually because of a medical issue. An IEP can include the same accommodations as a 504, but often contains more intricate details such as specialized instructions or even a modified curriculum.1
After the ruling in the case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, many parents started to put together lawsuits on behalf of their students with disabilities under the claims they were segregated against because of their abilities. Starting in 1965, the fight for equal education began; starting with small legislations in hopes of helping. Ten years later, the IEP was introduced. This has been an uphill battle from the start. Today everyone has the right to quality education, but individuals with IEPs are still struggling to get their needs met.
The specialists who put together the IEPs can only do so much. They put the program together, but it’s up to the teachers to execute the program. I see first-hand how a student’s needs can be ignored – my little sister has monocular esotropia, an eye disease that affects on average 1-2% of the US population. This requires a lot of specific and strict accommodations to ensure a successful and worthwhile education. Some accommodations of hers include work being printed on blue paper, enlarged text, special fonts, extra time, special seating, decluttered worksheets and provided complete notes. The list may be long, but they are such easy things to implement. After all, a student’s success shouldn’t be derailed because of the very things put in place to ensure equal education. She has encountered teachers who go above and beyond and others who disregard the accommodations completely.
In most school district systems, a notice will pop up on a student’s profile saying they have special accommodations (an IEP or 504 plan). Though teachers don’t have access to the official document, they are responsible for reading the IEP notice and executing the proper accommodations. Sadly, a lot of teachers skim the needs and it goes in one ear and out the other. There are many reasons why a teacher might not follow an IEP, but regardless of reasoning, it is never acceptable. I tend to see older teachers struggle with IEPs because they are more set in their ways. Perhaps they feel they are being disrespected, which is not the case. These feelings can lead to a situation that appears like the student is controlling the classroom. Among the other teachers who might disregard accommodations, younger teachers often struggle because they want to be good teachers like their superiors. They get so caught up in being taken seriously that they forget about their main goal of being a good teacher. The IEP system was made to be easy, so that a child does not have to jump through any extra hoops to be successful. For teachers who don’t follow an IEP because they don’t understand it or don’t understand why, the specialist is only a phone call away. The job of a teacher is to help a child do well, not to understand the reason these accommodations are in place.
Now don’t get me wrong, there are some superstar teachers when it comes to IEPs. However, for a school system to work at its best level, every single teacher has to be an IEP superstar. Our education system has many flaws, but I think adjusting the mindset on IEPs will make vast improvements to the system.
1 Definitions provided by Byron, IL School District’s Director of Special Services, Janelle Smith.