You are required to conduct a teacher interview. If you are placed in a school for another course or still have access to a school, you may select a teacher there. If not, you can select a teacher you know in the community or otherwise. It would be best if you select a general education teacher who has had or currently has some experience with inclusion.
You will interview either a general or a special education teacher in your assigned school about how she/he works with parents to support student learning for students with disabilities.
Your interview should consist of 15 or more questions. In this assignment you should gain knowledge about working with students with disabilities, the Response-to-Intervention process, collaborating with parents and other professionals, and school-community events. If the teacher’s schedule requires that you conduct this interview in more than one session, please do so.
What Questions Should be asked? You will be able to ask some questions that are of interest to you. In addition, however, below are questions that you are required to ask to meet your course requirements. For your own questions, you should develop the questions so that they require a thoughtful not just a factual response. For example, you might ask the teacher, “What has been most surprising about working with parents of students with disabilities. Questions such as, “How long have you been teaching?” are for your information only and could be included in the interview, but would not count towards your thoughtful questions. IF TEACHERS ARE GIVING VERY BRIEF RESPONSES (I.E., ONE SENTENCE), TRY TO GET THEM TO EXPAND THEIR RESPONSES.
Here are the questions that you are required to ask. The questions are related to the following: (1) Meeting and collaborating with other professionals, (2) Working with parents, (3) School-community activities, and (4) Response to Intervention/Working with Students with Disabilities. REMEMBER, DO NOT ASK ABOUT INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS.
Professional Meetings/Collaboration:
Do you have meetings with other professionals such as other teachers (special or general educators), related professionals (e.g., speech therapists, counselors, etc.)? If so, can you describe to me about some of these meetings.
Are there any other ways that you collaborate with other educational professionals (e.g., other teachers or related professionals)?
Have you attended any IEP meetings or other meetings about students with disabilities? If so tell me about them. If not, what meetings do you think would be useful? (DO NOT TALK ABOUT SPECIFIC STUDENTS)
What do you see as the value of any of the meetings discussed?
What are any challenges that you have related to any of these meetings and what might you recommend to overcome these challenges?