U.S. Senator Tom Harkin's Staff Reaches Out to Hear from Iowa Special Ed Teachers on Impact of NCLB

On Tuesday afternoon, January 15th two representatives from U.S. Senator Tom Harkin's staff met with five Iowa Special Education teachers from Des Moines metro schools to hear from them on the impact of the No Child Left Behind law on their students.










Rob Barron (left) is Senator Harkin's education policy person in Washington, D.C. and Bev Schroeder (on the right) worked for Senator Harkin for eleven years in Washington, D.C. as the Senator's education policy person, now working here out of his Des Moines office requested this meeting to have a conversation with those working on the front lines every day.

Melinda Aeschliman (on the left) Saydel Middle School Special Education teacher shared how up to 25% of their school population is identified with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan).

Hillary Faber (below, on left) and Peg Stockdale (on the right), both West Des Moines Valley High School Special Education teachers were a part of our conversation.










Joining us from the Waukee Community School District was Kris Powell (at right). Kris teaches K-3 Special Education at Brookview Elementary and is a fifth year teacher. Kris previously has taught in Indianola and Norwalk.


Another Waukee Community School District Special Education teacher to join us was Jenny Madsen. Jenny currently teaches in the Waukee Middle School with previous experience at Harding Middle School in Des Moines.

Rob started the conversation by saying not everyone has the chance to go to Washington, D.C. to meet with policy makers so on behalf of U.S. Senator Harkin, Rob brought the opportunity to us!

The first issues in our conversation centered around co-teaching. All felt that general education teachers had the student's best interest at heart, but not all were given professional development opportunities to grow and learn in this area.

Other areas of discussion included: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE); Assessments; Alternative Assessments; Services provided by the Area Education Agencies; and Negative and (Positive) Reinforcement for meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

It was a powerful conversation! Having the opportunity to hear from professionals that are passionate about providing the greatest opportunities for students in their classrooms was a moving experience! We are grateful to have a United States Senator who reaches out to those in the classroom that work directly with students! Thanks, Rob and Bev for providing the opportunity!