Questions About the Child (3 points) 1. What is your child’s disability and how did you find out about it? 2. How much of an impact has your child’s disability

Directions: Conduct an informal interview with the parents/guardians of a student with a disability who has been receiving special education services. Select a family and a child that you know well, a family and child who will allow to visit their home and to ask them specific questions. Assure the parents/guardians that no personal or sensitive information will be included in your report and that the purpose of this assignment is for you to find out the extent of the collaboration between the home and the school. Assure them again that the child’s real name will not be included in your report, nor will any information that will identify him/her.

After getting permission to conduct the interview with the parents/guardians of the child with a disability, ask them the following questions. Use follow up questions if you are given short answers to these questions:

Part One – Questions About the Child (3 points) 1. What is your child’s disability and how did you find out about it? 2. How much of an impact has your child’s disability had on his/her education?

Part Two – Questions about the Parents/Guardians: (3 points)

1. How did you deal with this news of your child’s disability? What changes occurred in your own lives because of your child’s disability?

2. How much have you been involved in your child’s education?

3. Are you satisfied with the cooperation that you have received from the personnel of your child’s school? Are you satisfied with the level of collaboration between you and the school personnel? How would you improve on this cooperation and collaboration?

Part Three – Questions about the School (5 points)

1. How many contacts have you had with the personnel in your child’s school? When were you initially contacted? How did the school communicate with you? (via e-mail, phone, regular mail, notes given to your child?). If the parents/guardians are not native English speakers, was the communication done in the family’s native language?

2. Were you asked for your permission to test your child? Did you sign a consent form before your child was tested?

3. Was this process explained to you? Did you know what was going to be involved and how long it was going to take?

4. How many times did you meet or communicate with school personnel before, during, and after the testing? Who did you meet with and for how long? What was the purpose of each meeting?

5. What advice do you have for parents/guardians of children with disabilities who want to improve the collaboration between them and their child’s school? Part

Part Four- Questions about the IEP Process (5 points)

1. Were you contacted prior to the IEP meeting? Did you have any input on the date of the meeting? Were you given a document or report about your child before the IEP meeting? Were you made aware that you could invite a guest to the meeting, and that you could have an interpreter present at the meeting if you could not understand or speak English?

2. Did you go into the meeting aware of your rights and responsibilities as the parents/guardians of the child? Did someone explain these rights and responsibilities to you, or were you given a document to read?

3. How did you feel during the IEP meeting? Did you understand everything that was discussed? Were you encouraged to ask questions? Were your questions and concerns addressed to your satisfaction? Did you feel valued as the parents/guardians of the child who ultimately know what is best for the child?

4. Did you agree with the placement option for your child and with all the recommendations made by the other members of the IEP committee or did you feel that you made a decision about your child’s education, or agreed to an arrangement you were not in total agreement with?

5. Since the IEP meeting and since your child started receiving special education services, how often do you meet or communicate with your child’s teacher? What is the purpose of these meetings or communication?

Part Five – Final Thoughts (4 points)

1. What did you learn from this experience?

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