Doing the Math
T EA C H IN G E xc ep ti on al C hi ld re n V ol 46 N o. 5 pp 10 2 10 9. C op yr ig ht 2 01 4 T he A ut ho r( s) D O I: 1 0. 11 77 /0 04 00 59 91 45 28 33 0 Martin is a seventh grade student with an emotional/behavioral disorder and is fully included in classes with his same age peers for the first time since third grade. In this setting, he is working to initiate and reciprocate appropriate peer communication and to stay engaged for the full school day. This is the first time that Martin is without full time special education support, and he is struggling to endure the long academic day. Martin's mother raised this concern at his annual individualized education program meeting and the team decided to modify the inclusion plan and shorten Martin's school day by allowing him to take mathematics at home through the state virtual school in an inclusive online course. Martin's mother would serve as his learning coach and assist his virtual online teacher in keeping Martin on task and engaged in mathematics. Liana is a sixth grade student with a learning disability in mathematics. Liana has consistently failed to demonstrate proficiency on the statemandated mathematics assessments and remains more than a year behind her peers in grade level competencies and basic arithmetic skills. As a result, Liana's performance in sixth grade mathematics is poor, and she is consistently unable to complete her work or obtain passing scores on assessments. After a discussion with Liana's Student Study Team, the decision was made to place Liana in a sixth grade online mathematics course that would allow her to practice and acquire missing mathematics competencies and progress on gradelevel standards at a pace that would challenge but not frustrate her. Liana will use a classroom computer to access her course during her regular mathematics time where her classroom teacher, Mrs. Linwood, would be available to serve as her learning coach.