Role Descriptions of Possible Team Members in Specialized Assessment and Services
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Learning Disabilities, Learning Disability Interventions and Accommodations, Advocating for Your Child with a Learning Disability, Special Education, Special Education School Meetings, Special Education Accommodations and Modifications
The table below lists the role descriptions of possible team members in specialized assessment and services.
| Team Member | Role |
| Individual with Disabilities | Self-advocate who may need instruction in how to participate and how to have a strong voice in his or her educational experience. |
| General Education Teacher | Provides the classroom structure and age-appropriate curriculum and experiences to all students, including those with disabilities. Expertise includes grade- or subject-specific curriculum and assessment, and typical student development. Students may have more than one general education teacher, especially at the middle or high school level. |
| Special Education Teacher | Coordinates the support for a student with disabilities who is included in general education classrooms. Expertise includes instructional strategies, individualized assessment, adaptations and modifications that individualize general education activities, and life-skills curriculum. |
| Family Members | Experience the closest relationship with the student and will have the longest commitment to the student’s education. Family members can provide valuable information about the student’s history, culture and family values, likes and dislikes, and goals and vision for the future. They can provide the most information about the student. |
| Behavior Specialist | Supports the student in mediating behavioral challenges, including conducting functional behavioral assessment and developing and monitoring positive behavioral support plans. |
| Reading Specialist | Expertise includes knowledge of theories of reading development and experience in reading and writing instruction. |
| School Psychologist | Administers and interprets standardized tests to determine eligibility for special education services. Assists school personnel in assessing classroom performance, including behavioral assessment. |
| Physical Therapist | Expertise includes knowledge of balance, coordination, and strength, Assesses the student and assists the team in developing programs in locomotion, maintaining appropriate body posture, and positioning. Assists with maintenance of adaptive equipment. |
| Occupational Therapist | Provides information and strategies on improving a student’s participation in activities of daily living (e.g., dressing, feeding), manipulation of objects, manual dexterity, and use of writing implements. |
| Speech/Language Pathologist (and Related Professionals) | Assists teams in assessing and improving an individual’s communication abilities, including verbal and nonverbal communication and written and oral language. Other levels of professionals trained in this area include speech therapists and speech clinicians. |
| Vision Specialist | Works with students who experience low vision or blindness. May provide orientation and mobility instruction, assist peers in using social prompts that help students who are blind, and provide Braille instruction. |
| Audiology Specialist | Provides information, assessment, and intervention for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Expertise includes monitoring hearing aides and providing sign language or lip reading instruction, to name a few. |
| Nurse | May provide medical services—dispense medication, assist with suctioning or gastronomy tube feedings, assess physical well-being. |
| Counselor | May conduct assessment, provide support, serve as a resource for student’s behavior or emotional health, and provide direct counseling to the student. |
| Transition Specialist | Assists in the assessment of transition needs and in the development and implementation of the transition plan, including career development, postsecondary education, supported or independent living, self-advocacy, and natural networks of support. |
| Social Worker | Can provide a link between the school and parents, collect information about the student or the family, and provide a link to student or family support programs that are governed by local agencies. May also provide support for a student’s behavioral issues. |
| Assistive Technology Specialist | May provide different types of support in areas ranging from the use of assistive writing programs and computerized instruction to computerized communication systems. |
| External Agency Supports | May include social services, parent support groups, technical assistance projects, or advocacy groups. Involvement of these personnel on the assessment team provides a broader perspective of the student’s life beyond the school environment. |
| Other Individuals from Noneducational Settings | May include people who are important in the student’s life but are not typically involved in a student’s education: coaches, scout leaders, respite providers, family friends, community businesspeople, and so on. |
From S. Alper, D. L. Ryndak, & C. N. Schloss (Eds.), Alternate Assessment of Students with Disabilities in Inclusive Settings, 1/e, pp. 77–78. Published by Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA. Copyright © 2001 by Pearson Education. Reprinted/adapted by permission of the publisher.
Excerpt from Assessing and Guiding Young Children's Development and Learning , by O. McAfee & D.J. Leong, 2007 edition, p. 213.
© 2007, Merrill, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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