Groups of Students with Special Needs

1. Groups of Students with Special Needs • Students with disabilities who qualify under the IDEA • Students classified as gifted and talented • Students eligible for Section 504 • Students at risk for school problems

2. Generalizations about Students with Special Needs • Approximately half of all students in public schools need assistance. • Diversity among students in public schools represents the norm rather than the exception. • Educators must be able to identify these students and help develop and implement appropriate programs.

3. Students with Disabilities • Many students with disabilities may qualify for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). • Students with disabilities are those who exhibit one of twelve specific categories that result in their need for special education and related services.

4. Students with Disabilities • Not all students with disabilities fit neatly into the IDEA categories. • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act use very different definitions from the IDEA. • Most students with disabilities experience mild disabilities and are included in general education for at least part of the school day. • Collaboration among parents, special education teacher, and general classroom teachers is critical in order for these students to receive an appropriate education.

5. Definition of Disability: Section 504 and the ADA • A person is considered to have a disability if that individual • has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the person’s major life activities • has a record of such an impairment • is regarded as having such an impairment

6. Mental Retardation Learning Disabilities Emotional Disturbance Deaf/Hearing Impairments Orthopedic Impairments Visual Impairments Other Health Impairments Autism Traumatic Brain Injury Speech or Language Impairments Multiple Disabilities IDEA Exceptionalities

7. Students Classified as Gifted and Talented • Traditionally, these students were identified when they obtained an intelligence quotient score of 120 or higher. • Today, criteria for classification are much broader and include areas such as • Academic endeavors • Creativity • Mechanical skills • Motor skills • Fine arts skills

8. Students At Risk • These students do not fit into a specific disability category at all and manifest characteristics that could easily lead to learning and behavior problems. • These students include: • Potential dropouts • Drug and alcohol abusers • Students from minority cultures • Students from low-income homes • Teenagers who become pregnant • Students who speak English as a second language • Students who are in trouble with the legal system

9. Current Service Provision • Since the mid-1980s, there has been a movement to serve students with disabilities in the general education classroom. • Reasons for this movement include: • impact of civil rights movement • parental advocacy • legislation

10. Public Law 94-142 • This legislation opened the doors of public schools and general education classrooms to students with disabilities. • Under this law, schools are required to seek and implement appropriate educational programs for all students with disabilities. • Today, this law is referred to as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

11. Key Components of P.L. 94-142 • Child Find • Nondiscriminatory Assessment • Individualized Education Plan (IEP) • Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) • Due-Process Safeguards

12. Important Litigation • Brown v. Board of Education • PARC v. Pennsylvania • Mills v. District of Columbia • Rowley v. Hudson School District • Oberti v. Clementon School District • Sacramento City Unified School District • D.B. Ocean Township Board of Education • Cedar Rapids Community School District v. Garrett F.

13. Parental Advocacy • Parents played a major role in the passage of P.L. 94-142. • Parents have unified their efforts and maximized their influence by forming advocacy groups, such as the Association for Retarded Citizens (the Arc).

14. Where Should Students with Disabilities Be Educated? • Approximately 70% of all students with disabilities are included for a substantial portion of the school day in general education classrooms and are taught by general education teachers. • Full-time placement in the general education classroom is commonly referred to as full inclusion. • The specific placement of students with disabilities falls along a continuum-of-services model.

15. Continuum-of-Services Model • Special Education Classroom (self-contained) • Resource Room Model • Inclusive Education Program

16. Special Education Classroom Approach • Serving students with disabilities in special programs was based on the assumption that general educators did not have the skills necessary to meet the needs of all students representing different learning needs. • In this approach, students receive the majority of their educational program from a special education teacher. • Many general education teachers liked this model because they did not have to teach students who differed from “typical” children. • During the late 1960s and 1970s, parents and professionals began questioning the efficacy of this approach. • The movement away from self-contained classrooms was in part sparked by the philosophy of normalization.

17. Resource Room Model • The least restrictive environment (LRE) mandate requires that schools place students with disabilities with their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. • In the resource room model, students go to the resource room for special instruction for only part of the school day. • As a result of P.L. 94-142, the resource room became the leading placement option for students with disabilities.

18. Advantages of Resource Room Model • Students with disabilities have the opportunity to interact with their chronological age peers. • This model can have a positive impact on both students with and without disabilities. • Students with disabilities are able to receive instruction from several teachers. • In the resource room, students with disabilities receive intensive instruction in areas in which they are having difficulties.

19. Disadvantages of Resource Room Model • Requiring students with disabilities to leave the resource room, even for only part of the day, can be detrimental. • Many have questioned the efficacy of separate classes (e.g., Dunn, 1968). • Current research suggests that this may not be the most effective model for many students with disabilities.

20. Roles of Special Education and Classroom Teachers in Resource Room Model • Collaboration between special education and classroom teachers is critical if the needs of students with disabilities are to be met. • Classroom teachers play a critical role in referring students for a special education evaluation. They are often the first to recognize that a student is experiencing problems that could require special education services. • Classroom teachers play an important role because they implement interventions (e.g., prereferral interventions).

21. Inclusive Education Programs • Madeline Will (1986), among many others, criticized pull-out programs, such as self-contained and resource rooms. • Since the mid-1980s, there has been a call for dismantling the dual education system (general and special) in favor of a unified system that meets the needs of all students. • The model for more fully including students with special needs was originally called the Regular Education Initiative (REI).

22. Important “Inclusion” Terms • Least Restrictive Environment • Mainstreaming • Full Inclusion • Inclusion • Responsible Inclusion

23. Why Support Inclusion? • The current dual system assumes that each child is one of two distinct types of learners. In reality, all students exhibit strengths and needs that make them unique. • There is not only one group of students who benefits from individualized educational programming. • The special education system necessitates that a deviant label be given to a student in need of special education. • The dual system • requires extensive, time-consuming, and expensive efforts. • results in stigma, and is not necessarily better educational programming. • promotes competition, not collaboration, between the two systems. • requires much effort to determine who’s eligible.

24. Opponents of Inclusion • IDEA 1997 does not mandate inclusion. It does mandate LRE. • Several professional organizations (e.g., CEC, CCBD) have advocated to keep the continuum of placement options.

25. Role of Special Education and Classroom Teachers in the Inclusion Model • Special education teacher works much more closely with the classroom teacher. • Classroom teachers become fully responsible for all students, including those with disabilities, with the support from special education personnel.

26. Classroom Teachers and Students with Disabilities • Students with disabilities should not be simply “dumped” into general education classes. • Successful inclusion does not happen without adequate support from special education. • Two methods generally used to facilitate inclusion are: • facilitating the acceptance of students with disabilities • providing services to support their academic success

27. Practices Teachers Can Use to Help Students Succeed • Curriculum-based assessment • Cooperative learning • Self-management • Peer tutoring • Strategy instruction • Direct instruction • Goal setting

28. Classroom teachers must be able to: • Act as a team member on assessment & IEP committees • Advocate for children with disabilities • Counsel and interact with parents of students with disabilities • Individualize instruction for students with disabilities • Understand and abide by due-process procedures required by federal law and state regulations • Be innovative in providing equal educational opportunities for all students, including those with disabilities

29. Break Time!

30. Types of Personnel Support & Collaboration • Collaboration-Consultation • Peer Support Systems • Teacher Assistance Teams • Co-Teaching

31. Collaboration • Collaboration is a model that emphasizes a close working relationship between general and special educators. • Benefits of collaboration: • Facilitates ongoing planning, evaluation, and modifications necessary to ensure the success of inclusive placements • Enables general education classrooms to meet the needs of students with and without disabilities • Provides personnel support of highly skilled colleagues • Results in personal and professional growth for all involved • Helps teachers identify ways to access the skills, knowledge, and expertise of other teachers

32. Peer Support Teams • Rely on the natural supports of peers in the general education classroom • Can involve social or instructional peer supports • Types of peer supports include: • partner learning • peer tutoring • cooperative learning

33. Teacher Assistance Teams • Definition: School-based problem-solving teams designed to enable teachers to meet the needs of their students demonstrating difficulties • Teams are comprised of teachers and other instructional support personnel. • Teams meet to problem solve about students’ needs. • Participation should be voluntary.

34. Co-Teaching • Definition: Co-teaching is an arrangement of two or more teachers or other school staff who collectively assume the responsibility for the same group of students on a regular basis. • Co-teaching: • usually occurs at set times. • involves the joint completion of tasks such as planning and teaching. • includes monitoring and evaluating students. • involves communicating about student progress.

35. Co-Teaching Models • Interactive Teaching • Station Teaching • Parallel Teaching • Alternative Teaching • See page 48 for details on each of these models

36. Prereferral Child Study and Referral Process • Process involves contacts and collaboration between general and special educators. • The purpose of this process is the collaborative development of prereferralinterventions (i.e., interventions attempted in the general education classroom before formal referral for a special education evaluation). • Prereferral interventions are generally implemented for 6 to 9 weeks (although this is flexible). • Prereferral interventions are efficient and effective in reducing special education evaluation referrals. • If prereferral interventions are unsuccessful, a referral for a special education evaluation is made. • Prereferral interventions may be less visible at the secondary level.

37. Child Study Committee • Committee attempts to assist teacher in targeting the most significant problems in the classroom. • Committee attempts to assist teacher in identifying strategies to address those problems.

38. Referral for Special Education Evaluation • If a referral is made, the evaluation process begins. • This process must be comprehensive and flexible. • Most students are referred during their elementary years. • Major reasons for referral are primarily reading and attention problems. • Writing, math, language, sensory skills, and aggressive/immature behaviors are other reasons for referral.

40. Video • This will give an overview of the components of IDEA from assessment all the way through development and implementation.

41. Assessment • Definition: Assessment is the process of gathering relevant information to use in making decisions about students. • Assessment is a dynamic, continuous process that guides and directs decisions about students with suspected or known disabilities. • Assessment is mandated by federal law.

42. Phases/Purposes of Assessment • Screening Phase • Identification/Eligibility Phase • Program Planning Phase • Monitoring/Evaluation Phase

43. Participation in State- or District-Wide Assessments • IDEA Amendments increase the participation of students with disabilities in these assessments. • Only the IEP team may decide if the student with a disability will not participate. • Accommodations may be provided in order for students with disabilities to participate in these assessments.

44. Individualized Education Programs • Assessment results are used to determine students’ eligibility for special education. • If a student is eligible, assessment results are translated into individualized education programs (IEPs). • IEPs focus on intervention relative to the individual needs of students with disabilities.

46. Critical IEP Components • Present levels of performance • Measurable annual goals • Short-term objectives

48. Role of Classroom Teacher in the IEP Process • Provide input • Implement IEP in the classroom, as appropriate • Refer to IEP periodically • View IEP tool as a legal document and as a tool for meeting students’ individual needs • Include parents in the implementation and evaluation of the IEP

50. For next week ….. • Read Chapter 4. Complete Chapter 2 & 3 Quiz on WebCT. It is now open. • We will be doing a more detailed activity on learning disabilities.