Citation for Assessment in Special Education: A Practical Approach

Pierangelo, Roger, and George A. Giuliana.  Assessment in Special Education: A Practical Approach. 4th Ed.  New Jersey: Pearson, 2012. Print.

Collaboration with Families and Other Educators.

Collaboration is tied closely to communication.  In order for families and educators to have a good relationship with you as a teacher, one must first open the line of communication.  Once the open line of communication is established, then the teacher can build their relationships with the other educators and families.  My Mentor teacher has strong family ties with the student’s parents.  If she is running low on school supplies and needs items soon, then she sends out an email to the designated parents who volunteer to contribute when necessary.  These “life lines” that consist of the parents are what makes the details in the classroom go smoothly and leave the teacher with focusing on the lesson objectives.  This strong connection can come in handy when teachers in the younger grades for "early childhood interventions that are important for a student who needs intervention."  The teacher can also talk to other educators to collaborate on rotations for the day/week.  Review over lesson plans and collaborate with one another to see if they can relate their own lesson plans together to build on the students overall learning outcome.  When it comes to communicating with the parents, my mentor teacher prefers to communicate through email and if personal, both email and phone call will be given.  When dealing with other educators, face to face meeting are preferred to collaborate in fine detail what their expectations and lesson plans are.