Collaborative Working Relationships

by Pat Parrott, M.Ed., Adjunct Instructor
University of Richmond

COLLABORATIVE STRUCTURES

Collaborative Consultation is a proactive educational approach in which general and special educators assess student needs, academically and socially, and work together to plan and evaluate instruction. The general educator delivers the instruction.

Collaborative teaching is a proactive educational approach in which general and special educators and related service providers work in a coactive and coordinated fashion to jointly assess, plan for, teach, and evaluate academically and behaviorally heterogeneous groups of students in an educationally integrated setting (i.e. regular classroom).

An Instructional Support Team (IST) is a team of professionals who support classroom teachers' efforts to assist struggling learners. The mission of instructional support is to provide students who are at risk of school failure with the necessary academic, behavioral, communication, and/or social supports to succeed in school. This effort is accomplished through collaborative school-based teams in which the shared expertise of team members is focused on empowering teachers to meet the individual needs of students. A well-trained and committed IST precludes the need for special education classification for some students and facilitates the inclusion of students who required special education services in general education classrooms. The intended outcome of IST is a more instructionally responsive school for students and teachers alike. Effective ISTs consist of an administrator, general educators, a special educator, the school psychologist, a guidance counselor, and additional support personnel such as a reading specialist or the school nurse. A full-time Instructional Support Teacher leads the team.

A Child Study Committee is a team that functions within general education to enable school personnel, and others as appropriate, to meet the needs of individual children who are having difficulty in the educational setting. The committee reviews records and other performance evidence of children who are referred. The committee identifies and recommends strategies to address the child’s learning, behavior, communication, or development needs. Referral to a Child Study Committee is not a required step prior to or after referral for a special education evaluation, and is not a required step to modify services, conduct an evaluation or terminate services for children in special education.

An IEP team is a team that gathers to develop or revise the Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student with disabilities who receives special education. An IEP is developed within 30 calendar days of the date of the initial determination of eligibility for special education and related services, and must be revised at least once a year thereafter. The team will also review the student’s eligibility for services every three years. An IEP Team should consist of the Administrator of Special Education or designee, the parent(s), a general and special educator if the student is or will be taught by both, and the student, if s/he is 14 years of age or older.

Last Update: May 6, 2003
Curator: Diane Zink
Diane.Zink@fcps.edu