An Overview of Special Education for Paraprofessionals

1. An Overview of Special Education for Paraprofessionals Presented by: Carrie Mouser Gravely

2. Brief History of Special Education • 1975 – Access to Schools • Federal PL 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) required public schools to provide a free and appropriate education to all students, regardless of the severity of any handicapping condition. Special education programs were developed around a continuum of services and placements, most of which were separated from the general classroom. Options included resource rooms, self-contained classrooms, special day schools, homebound instruction, and institutions.

3. Brief History of Special Education • 1990 – Access to the General Classroom • PL 94-142 was amended and reauthorized, and the amendments were named the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. IDEA further clarified the placement concept of “least restrictive environment” for students with disabilities and mandated the general education classroom as the starting place for the planning and delivery of appropriate special education services. Special education and other special support programs began seeking to include more students with special needs in their neighborhood schools and the classrooms they would attend if they were not disabled.

4. Brief History of Special Education • Mid to late 1980’s – The Regular Education Initiative (REI) • M. C. Will (1986) completed a report to the Department of Education regarding special education. The report concluded that in ten years, special education had made many contributions, including specialized programs and individualized instruction. Nevertheless, disabled students were separated from non-disabled peers and problems persisted with low graduation rates and unemployment/underemployment of students served by special education. The REI proposed that special education and regular education be merged and that all children start in a regular classroom with later placements and services determined by their rate of development.

5. Brief History of Special Education • 1997 – Access to the General Curriculum • IDEA was reauthorized, adding more emphasis to ensuring that student participation goes further than a physical presence in the classroom. The law requires students with special needs to be included in the general classroom curriculum and instruction to the maximum extent appropriate.

6. Continuum of Educational Placements • General Education Classroom • Inclusive Classroom • Resource or Special Assistance Classroom • Self-Contained Classroom • Special School • Homebound or Hospitalization

7. Where do I support students? • General Education Classrooms • Resource Classrooms • Special Classrooms • Playgrounds • Lunchrooms • School Buses • Community locations • Job sites

8. Where is my place in the classroom? • To help facilitate instruction given by the teacher • To provide support to students in the regular education classroom(s) • To assist 1:1 with individual students • To provide instruction to individual groups

9. Special Education Terms • IEP – Individualized Education Plan • 504 Plan – Provides accommodations/modifications through the Rehabilitation Act • LD – learning disability • ED – emotional disturbance • MR – mental retardation • FBA/BIP – Functional Behavioral Assessment/Behavior Intervention Plan • LRE – Least Restrictive Environment • SLI – Speech/Language Impairment • AUT – Autism • SD – Severe Disability • ESY – Extended School Year • ID – Intellectual disability

10. Confidentiality • All information related to a student is confidential and should not be discussed with anyone who doesn’t have a vested interest in the child.

11. Assessments • To help the teacher collect information for alternate assessments. • Work should be completed in the presence of a teacher/paraprofessional. • VGLA – Virginia Grade Level Assessment • VAAP – Virginia Alternate Assessment • SOL – Standards of Learning

12. Further Training • Areas of interest and needs