Amy Engler

EDLD 6652/82
December 1, 2016
A Journey into Law and Leadership

Focus of Practicum:

My focus for this practicum was to learn more and go more in depth into a world in which

I dont know a lot about, Special Education Law. In this practicum, my goal was to observe,

take notes and reflect on being a part of Special Education meetings as well as partaking in a

leadership meeting surrounding 504 Plans for the State of Minnesota.

Competency Identification:

In 2006, I graduated from the University of Minnesota- Morris with a German degree and

was quickly licensed to teach in the state of Minnesota. At this time, my young self felt like I

knew it all. I was ready to take on the role of being an educator and all that came with it. As

many first year teachers, the learning that happened in that first year was vast, and quickly I

realized that I didnt perhaps know and understand as much as I had previously thought. I

remember the scare tactics from my mentor teacher about following Special Education

requirements and laws that at times looking back I think I was too gracious with their grading

and modifications as i simply didnt want to get into any trouble. Fast forward through my

Masters degree and nearly 11 years of teaching and that young teacher coming out of

undergrad with little Special Education knowledge is still in there. For this reason, i decided to

tackle and use my hours in Law and Leadership to dive further into this subject. Through this

journey, I adjusted how I look at Special Education as it pertains to local, state and federal

requirements. After attending a full day training specific to 504 plans and accommodations, I

walked away knowing the difference between a 504 Plan, and IEP, modifications and Special
Education students. If Im being honest, these words have until now been grouped together as

one for me and as I learned from my colleagues, for them as well. In this session it broke down

that 504 students typically have a disability (ADHD, anxiety etc.) however they dont qualify for

Special Education services. They may have gone through testing to discover this within the

district, or it may have been done outside of the district. I also learned that if a student is

diagnosed outside of the district, there still needs to be follow up in the district before services

can be provided in laws with Special Education. In addition, recognizing and applying standards

of care involving civil and criminal liability for negligence, harassment and intentional torts

became more clear to me. In this meeting and training, we discussed students on 504 plans

and how to accomate and modify their work. This was important to me as I think these two

words often seemed similar to me as well, but learning more about the laws behind 504, we are

held to standards as teachers to know and be able to provide both of these services for our

students in our schools. Finally, I understand and can demonstrate state, federal and case law

governing not only special education but also general education. I was able to take back key

learnings to my PLC group with the information and take aways from this training in order to

facilitate conversations and progress towards successfully accommodating and/or modifying for

students who are in world language classrooms.

Key Learnings:

The key learnings were many but to a few to highlight were the true repercussions of not

following an IEP or a 504 plan. In my first years, the scare tactics worked to make me follow

them and in my mind I had it built up that I would be fired for not doing exactly what these

students IEPs or 504s read, which in short can absolutely happen but knowing more about it

helps me to educator other teachers and staff to do whats best practice for kids with these
Special Education laws. Another take away for me was discussing with one of our district

representatives about Special Education teachers. I was surprised to learn that Special

Education staff in our district have the highest rate of teachers leaving or being asked to leave

because they didnt follow state statute or complete their evaluations effectively or file the

correct forms. In our school alone, the Special Education department is the largest department

and it even beats math and science for the number of teachers. I applaud them for their hard

work and cant imagine working so hard and advocating for these students day in and day out

only to learn that they are being questioned by either the state, principal or parent for following

special education state law. Another key learning for me in this practicum was my own

reflection and self awareness that I didnt know a lot about Special Education and laws (both

state and federal) that protect these students and advocate for them to have free and

appropriate education.

Improvement of Educational Leadership:

Through this experience has come a lot of reflection. Going forward as a future

administrator, I know that this will probably be an area that my staff also feel lost, confused or

overwhelmed. It is my job as an administrator to help them learn and grown in this area to to be

proficient with 504s and IEPs in order to give the best education to all of our students. Since

stepping into this role and looking more closely at my own weaknesses and gaps, Ive asked to

sit in on 504 and IEP meetings as the district representative and have stayed after to continue to

ask questions and continue this journey for myself. In addition, I look forward to being a part of

our high schools data team with our special education staff. These enriching opportunities will

be ones that I look back on as a time of growth and personal improvement in the role of

educational leadership.