Lesson 04 Reflection

Learning a little more about the inner workings of an IEP was so interesting to me. My mother was a Special Education Support worker, and often brought her students that she was working with home to meet us (her children) so I was aware in a small way that their education goals were different than mainstream students. She did not talk much about what those differences were (and I doubt I would have understood much about that when I was a child), so I enjoyed gaining insight in to that this week. I was so impressed to learn that the parent's rights are at the forefront, along with the best outcome for the student. The IEP really is individualized, and the student's progress is continually monitored. To me, it seems like this would be fantastic to do for every student but I understand why that is just not feasible. I know this may be controversial to say, but I wonder what would happen if mainstream or gifted students received as much individualized attention to their educational progress and goals as those students with special needs. I understand the need to monitor and help the students who are behind, obviously, but how amazing would it be if every student was able to receive that amount of support and monitoring and personalized goal-setting?! Wow, that opens up a whole world of possibility in my mind. Grade-level would cease to hold meaning and each student would be able to progress at their own rate and not be held back from learning something if they were ready for it. Sounds a little Utopian, but so exciting as an idea.