Thanks so much chay and aeh for weighing in. Very interesting article - that will be awesome to refer back to over and over. And yes our kids do make a delightful fruit salad don't they?
The district was very clear that whether at TAG program, the high school or the middle school they will provide any and all supports and accommodations. They really have been great about providing what she needs - I think the decision makers realize just how badly some of their staff treated her (us) early on and are dedicated to making up for it. It also is very rewarding for folks who spend their lives in the sped field to see a kid like DD doing so well. Really they all absolutely beam with pride and admiration. She's a success story and that feels really good...
The things I brought up were access to audio books, use of AT as needed, notes provided by teacher, TAG teacher sending lesson plans to spec Ed school so DD could do the TAG assignments as part of her built in spec Ed school workday (ie during computer lab time, OT, enrichment time, etc), probably reduced writing output. We would need to see what the TAG day actually looks like to know if DD would need a para for any part of it. Her best friend is in the program so could probably team with her informally on tasks that would require a note taker or something similar since she is fully aware of and accepting of DD's limitations and challenges. There would need to be serious educating of the TAG teachers if they haven't dealt with the kind of severe 2E situation DD presents.
I like the idea of DD getting her toes wet in the mainstreaming pond this way so we can see how she functions, what supports she still needs and where there might be holes in her AT program before our district's TAG goes full time in 7th grade. If this works we can consider doing some of her day at the middle school or high school the next year. We will continue doing the HS curriculum in house for now. If she does TAG then appropriate peers becomes less important for this and she could continue doing the HS curriculum 1-1. The school seemed to be saying they are willing to put together an appropriate HS level class with bright, articulate, eager learners but they can't guarantee that these peers will be there in the fall or stay through the year. "As an outplacement school the reality is that an any given time any of our students can get placed elsewhere..."
They have tried doing higher level work with her but I'm just not sure if they *really* get what that should mean. Willing yes - but are they able? I guess this is where bringing the TAG teacher (or coordinator) to spec Ed school to consult with staff there could work. So really 3 prongs - TAG for the peers, challenge and identifying need to support future mainstreaming possibilities, HS literature curriculum in house, and TAG person working with spec Ed school on developing appropriate program for science, social studies, etc in house. What am I missing?
