Does every student in self-contained classes have to fail regular classes first?

Question

Can the student just be struggling in the regular classes go to the self-contained classes? I wouldn't want my child to fail all of his regular classes. I want my child to succeed. So if my child is struggling in the regular classes, can I ask the school to put him in a self-contained class? Will that change anything if he is in self-contained classes? Will he be classified even more than before since it's more restrictive?

Answer 1

No your child does not have to fail regular classes for them to be put into a self contained class. You should call for another IEP meeting and request a reevaluation of your son's disability are you sure that he has only one? It is very important that you get your son evaluated independently because the school system will only give you the lest problematic of the disabilities. When my daughter was diagnosed by the school all they said was that she was learning disabled it wasn't until we had her reevaluated by a private nuro-psychologist (someone who specializes in testing people for Learning disabilities and or brain injuries after accidents) it was than we found out what I"d been telling the school all along, A was Dyslexic, she had processing issues not related to the dyslexia, she had poor small motor skills which is why she had trouble with the psychical act of writing. She also had another non-verbal disability I forget what it's called, but she has trouble writing I mean putting words together to make sentences and paragraphs. The nuro-psychologist as said that it wasn't dysgraphia which is the written equivalent of dyslexia. But with out that private evaluation we wouldn't have know what her specfic disabilites were so we wouldn't have treated her correctly. And we wouldn't have known what other services to give her. You also have to realize that self-contained classes differ in sizes depending on the disablity and the child's conginitve level. My daughter is in a self contained class with children who have normal to high normal IQ and there are twelve children in the class with two teachers. the ratio is called a 12:1:1 class. You havne't said what type of disabllity your son has, that will determine what kind of services and what kind of school he needs. They couldn't teach A the way that she needed to learn so I demanded a school for children with normal to High IQ with LD's and that is where A is now in high school doing very very well and loving school for the first time in a long time.

Answer 2

Hello,
A child failing does not mean (S)he needs to be placed in a self contained classroom.
The child must be provided special education services in the LRE (Least Restrictive Environment) and a Self contained classroom is the most restrictive env.,
What parents and educatos need to remember is that that special Education is a SERVICES not an location.

With being said, the school must provide a student with support and accommodation in a regular classroom. If the student needs more intense SERVICES then they can provide a resource class. A lot of school have what is called inclusion classes where a regular and special education teacher are in the same classroom to child with IEP's.
Self Contained class room are unusually for children who have pretty severe cognitive disabilities or who are severely emotional disturbed. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 3

In the old model of special education in most states it was the failure method. The kiddo had to be failing horribly in order to be looked at for services. Now there is Response to Intervention (RTI) and is done in the classroom with monitoring every week or whatever the team deems necessary and is targets towards the weaknesses of the child. If you have concerns contact the school and ask to be considered for a Student Assistance Team meeting. What that is the team will meet and you bring your concerns of your child and they will determine if an RTI or testing approach is needed. There are many placements for students before self-contained. Most self-contained classrooms for students that are having troubles are if they are about 4 grade levels below their peers. Self-contained is that your kiddo will be there all day and go occassionally to pe or music. The school will be looking at a Least Restrictive Enviornment (LRE) and if your kiddo is just having troubles moving to a self contained classroom will be the most restrictive. He would keep the same classification.

Answer 4

If your child is a special education student with a current IEP, Individual Education Plan, and was originally placed in regular education classes, then the IEP was missing some valuable information to assist your child in succeeding. Progress monitoring on the goals that are written in the IEP will assist in determining where the trouble may be. What you should ask for is an IEP meeting with your child's special education teacher, at least one regular education teacher with whom your child is having academic difficulty, the school psychologist, and the special education supervisor or principal who is current with special education regulations. You must find out why your child is doing so poorly. If it is that they need more supports such as adapted study sheets, more time for testing, an aide to keep them on task and organized, or whatever, it needs to be written in the IEP.

As far as classification is concerned, that is determined by an evaluation, not by placing a student in a different classroom. The school psychologist and/ or special educator may do an Evaluation Report to determine current student abilities. Where I teach, that is done every 3 years unless the child is MR- then it is done every 2 years.

It is not necessary to put a child in a self-contained classroom because they are having academic difficulties. Really, self-contained classes shouldn't exist in 2007. NCLB is making sure that all special education students are educated in the LRE, least restrictive environment, out with regular education peers.

Answer 5

Ask for a Special IEP and ask he be tested for special tutoring. Yes, he will probably have a new label but if that helps him to success remember the label can end with his graduation from school but provide added supports during school. Any special education student can 1) go to free summer school to help if written into the IEP and 2) attend school through age twenty-one.

Answer 6

It depends on the school and district. There is no "standard" procedure to moving kids LD or BD, etc kids from gen. ed. classes to a self-contained classroom. It depends on the recommendations of the teachers, school social workers, specialists, etc.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Maybe but if a kid in self-contained class does good in them.
He(or She)get better grades then a smart kid