Thread: i need advice

Originally Posted by debb

I am a teacher with a student in my class who has an IEP. Her IEP states that she must be re-tested orally if she receives a low grade, however, when i re-tested her recently on vocabulary words, she was unable to identify them, even with help and hints from me in a one on one session. I think that by re-testing her I satisfied the requirements of her IEP, but I am concerned that with every vocabulary unit we cover...usually 6 or 7 words... she will be unable to pass the test, even orally. Any advice?

What grade are you teaching? If after a few weeks she is still not able to remember the words and pass the test orally, I would look at one of two things. 1) if you think she is capable of doing this vocabulary and simply isn't making any effort, you should enlist the assistance of the parents to help her study or set up a study time (if possible) at school when someone can quiz her orally. 2) If she is not capable of remembering the vocab words, maybe you need to modify the assignment by having her learn fewer words. it all depends on the disability in question, student effort, evidence of learning and the grade level.

Does this student have an aid or have classes in the resource room? They may be able to work with her on the vocabulary. As long as the vocabulary is reasonable for her cognitive abilities, she should be held accountable for learning it. ... but there is little value in learning to repeat the definition of words if the child is not capable of understanding the meaning.

Hope that helps... and yes, you have met the IEP if you have provided the oral testing regardless of if she passes or not. Maybe there need to be changes to the IEP... how does she do with other tasks?