Hank Wortley

EDAD 695
03/29/2016
PGP Reflective Essay
Special Education and Responsibilities of the LEA
This professional growth plan project encompassed the ideals set forth in ELCC
Standard six which states that Graduates of the program are building-level educational
leaders who have the knowledge that promotes the success of every student by
understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic,
legal, and cultural context through advocating for school students, families and
caregivers; acting to influence local, district, state and national decisions affecting
student learning in a school environment; and anticipating and assessing emerging
trends and initiatives in order to adapt school-based leadership strategies. It is crucial
as an administrator of a school that the students are at the heart of the decision making
process when it comes to their educational goals and what needs suite them to be as
successful as possible during their educational career. This is especially important of
students with learning disabilities and those who receive services from the special
education department within the school building. A major task as an administrator at a
school is to serve as the Local Education Agency representative or LEA of the building
and oversee the special education department. At St. James High School there are
approximately two-hundred and thirty one students that area being provided with
services, with a majority of the students being classified as learning disabled or having
other health impairments. In order to become more familiar with the fundamentals of
special education, I worked alongside the LEA for St. James High School as well as the

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special education department to gain knowledge and insight into the various interworkings of the special education program. My contributions to this program included
attending various IEP meetings to observe how they are conducted from an LEA
perspective, attend the district spring training session for special education, dissect the
LEA handbook and create a quick reference guide for new LEAs to be able to reference
when needed.
When I originally approached Tammy Moreland, the LEA at St. James High
School about working with her learning about Special Education, and she was
extremely excited that someone actually wanted to learn about the whole special
education process. We discussed what I wanted to accomplish with the project and
explained to her that I wanted to gain as much information and insight as possible from
her regarding the managing of special education students and staff. The first thing that
she told me that I needed to understand was the law and what the law says we have to
do for the children. She suggested that I review FERPA, HIPAA, ADA, and IDEA and
become familiar with them to make the understanding of the LEA position easier. We
then developed a plan to start implementing my project. The plan included attending the
IEP and BIP meetings that she had for the next few weeks as well as the training
sessions that the LEA and special education teachers had to attend per district
requirements.
During the course of the IEP meetings that I attended and participated in
throughout this project, I was able to gain insight on what the students disabilities were
and how they were accommodated according to the data provided by the case
manager. I also was able to offer some suggestions for the students such as afterschool

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tutoring or the various other options that were available for the students. I noticed that
there was a common theme to each of the IEP meetings in that, there was a certain
order that the topics were discussed in and realized that there an outline that was preset by the district for the method in which the meeting should be conducted. The
meetings were very informative and provided me with the essential tools to put in my
tool-kit to be able to conduct an IEP meeting as well as interact with the parents and
students during the meeting. As LEA it is crucial that you are aware of all the services
that are available to the student in order to make them successful in the classroom.
The Horry County Schools Spring IEP Road Show training session was
extremely informative in the sense of explaining in detail, what components are required
in each section of an IEP. This training session allowed me to understand the rationale
behind why the information in the IEP was pertinent and where the information came
from. It also provided me with the insight to how a student begins the process of testing
to determine if they are eligible for special education services. During this training
session, they also provided each one of us a revised IEP book that outlines specifically
what needs to be in each of the sections of the IEP. Out of all the components of this
project, this training session was by far the most informational as far as how to structure
an IEP for student success.
The final resource gathering and step to my data collection was to attend the
Special Education Department meetings and interact with the teachers to learn about
the differences between the classes that they taught. Whether it was learning strategies
or self-contained and how the students qualified for each of the classes. I explored the
differences between the two sub-groups and took notes on our conversations to how

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the IEPs were developed according to the data collected. At the conclusion of the
meetings, I then sat down to dissect through all the information that I have gathered and
compiled a LEA quick reference guide for first time LEAs or Assistant Principals to use if
they are placed in charge of special education.
By completing the components of this project my beliefs and assumptions have
drastically changed with the amount of information that I needed to be known by the
LEA as well as the case managers at the school to ensure the success of the students
and to also ensure that all the laws and policies are being followed to provide the
students with a Free and Appropriate Education. The LEA of the school is ultimately
responsible for all of the special education students as well as their case managers
assuring that they are providing the students and ensuring that the students general
education teachers are following the accommodations set forth. I also assumed that the
LEA was just there to ensure that the legality of the IEP meeting was upheld, but I soon
realized that the LEA is involved in decision making, guiding the parents in the right
direction as far as class choices, as well as ensuring that the school is doing everything
in their power possible to ensure the success of the student. The LEA knows all the
class options as well as the requirements for graduation and can also off the top of their
heads develop a preliminary schedule for the students upcoming academic year. The
LEA position is much more important that I deemed it to be and it is crucial that a
building administrator have someone that is competent in that position to ensure the
legality of the decisions that are made. Not only does the LEA aide in the decision
making, but I was taken back when she knew each one of the students personally from
their interactions within the classrooms as well as the IEP process.

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As a result of working on this professional growth project, I have developed the
confidence in interacting with the students, staff and guardians regarding the
educational goals and accommodations for the students in the special education setting.
I have realized that education is the key to opportunity, social mobility, and selfrealization in the sense that the students that receive special services have all the
necessary tools to be successful, but need a little extra help than others. I have also
come to realize the importance of legal system in regards to protecting student, staff,
and parental rights. The insight gained in this project has given me the necessary
confidence to not only serve as the LEA, but to make decisions regarding the students
education and what is in the best interest of the student.
If I were to complete a project of this caliber again, the only thing that I would
change would be to be a part of the IEP process for a potential student from the
beginning to the development of the IEP. I think it would be a great learning experience
to see how the school psychologist takes the concerns presented and performs a series
of cognitive and social tests to determine their eligibility for services. Then to present the
findings in an initial IEP meeting and discuss the options available to the student based
on their test performance. Although I have learned about the process, it would be
interesting to see the process from start to finish.