Educational Plans

Responsibilities of the School and Teacher

One side of the triangle is the school's responsibilities to help the child learn to his potential. The school's responsibilities include the following.

• Setting academic goals and objectives
• Determining and monitoring modifications
• IEP development
• Adaptions to the curriculum
• Determination of the child's learning style
• Providing and monitoring related services
• Collaborating with the child's other teachers
• Maintaining communication with the home
• Writing year-end reports
• Teaching the required curriculum

Parental Responsibilities

You will need to communicate and instruct the parents so that they are very clear as to their role in this process. The side of the educational plan that contains the responsibilities of the parents includes the following.

1. Making sure that homework is checked every night so that the child comes to school every day feeling a sense of accomplishment and avoiding a sense of embarrassment or failure.
2. Contacting you through mail, email, or phone if the child has had difficulty with an assignment and needs to go over it again.
3. Reading to the child every night before bed, if in elementary school. Having the child read for 15 minutes every night, if in secondary school. The reading should be of the child's choice, although stress-free reading before bedtime is advisable. You do not want the child to go to sleep frustrated.
4. Attending all conferences.
5. Working with child on homework in ways described further in this section.
6. Helping their child study for tests by following learning and studying guidelines set forth by you. Here you will have to carefully instruct the parents through specific directions in the appropriate study support procedures that will not frustrate the child.
7. Ensure that the child begins studying for tests on the study start date indicated to them by you. This should take into account the child's learning style.
8. Returning all progress reports on time with signatures indicating their awareness of the progress or concerns. Keep these in your files for accountability if there should ever be a concern.

Student Responsibilities

The child makes up the third side of the triangle and his or her involvement in this process is equally important. Student responsibilities can be outlined in the form of a contract or letter to the child. It should include the following points.

• Finishing homework every night or trying as much as he/she understands.
• Allowing his/her parent to check homework and suggest corrections. Note that you will have to work with parents on constructive suggestions verses criticism.
• Following class rules
• Beginning to study for tests when you inform the parents of the study start date for an upcoming test.
• Being able to approach the teacher when he or she is unable to do an assignment or does not understand a topic.