Power point presemtation
Week 2
Foundations for Understanding Special Education: Planning and Providing Special Education Services; Understanding Parents and Families of Students with Special Needs
Lecture Notes
Introduction;
Educators are responsible for the education of all students in their classrooms. Most students with disabilities are taught in regular education classes. As a result, it is imperative that educators participate actively in planning for their special education students. To ensure this participation and to guarantee an appropriate education for all students with disabilities, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004) mandates that educators and parents follow specific guidelines.
The focus of this module is first to provide learners with an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of educators regarding students with disabilities in their classrooms. It is also to enable teachers to understand the experiences of parents of children with disabilities. As compassionate professionals, teachers could then communicate effectively, provide valuable support and information that will assist parents and families, and make informed educational decisions to teach their children effectively.
The impact of children with disabilities on their parents and families physically, emotionally, and financially is profound and often overwhelming. At the same time, the impact of parents who are actively involved in the education of their children is vital to the child's social and academic development. That role of parents in the education of their children is their right, guaranteed by law
Educators must fully understand what parents are experiencing in their interactions with their child. This will help establish, nurture, and enhance mutual cooperation with the parents and enable the educators to benefit from the parents' unique contributions to their child's learning experience. Moreover, educators can contribute knowledge of parental legal rights in deciding their child's education to the parents.
Planning and Providing Special Education Services
Prereferral and Referral
Special education offers help to students and their families. Research shows that many students end up in special education because they need help, not because they have disabilities. There is a system to assist teachers and students without the need of special education, a process by which educators work together to find new ways to enable
students to succeed: it is called prereferral. A Teacher Assistance Team (TAT), composed of regular education teachers, helps the teacher in the prereferral stage. These teachers offer suggested strategies to reach the student's learning needs and act as a filter so that students are not misplaced in special education. Then, if their efforts are exhausted and the student is still struggling, it moves to the referral stage
Most schools have created teams, called by different names (child study teams, student assistant teams, intervention assistance teams), consisting of regular and special education teachers, psychologists, and counselors, to solve academic and behavioral problems of specific students. The teacher of the student with difficulties collects specific data about the student's strengths and weaknesses and shares concerns with the team. Following discussion and research, a plan of action is created for the teacher and student. The teacher implements the plan for a specified period of time and, with the team, evaluates the student's progress. Teachers often discover new techniques and strategies, accommodations, and modifications. Students discover they can learn. Under these circumstances, special education is not necessary.
Sometimes, interventions are not effective, and referral for special education becomes necessary. Following the guidelines of IDEA, a multidisciplinary school-based evaluation team, which includes the parents, determines eligibility for special education (i.e., whether the student has a disability and needs special education). The team designs an Individual Education Program (IEP) for the student who is eligible and determines the most appropriate placement, the least restrictive environment. The plan is implemented, reviewed, and evaluated on a regular basis.
Collaboration
Teachers, responsible for controlling their own classrooms, often work alone to solve academic and behavior problems. Professionalism, however, means the ability to identify what one knows and does not know and when to ask for assistance. As professionals, teachers need to work on a team. What is most important in effective teamwork is how professionals work together. An essential characteristic of professionalism, then, is collaboration, the ability to work together to achieve a common goal. Collaboration involves shared beliefs, responsibilities, decision-making, accountability, resources, and time. Collaboration demands respect, trust, communication skills, and valuing contributions of each team member and occurs through practice. Team teaching is an example of collaboration, in which regular and special educators teach in the same class to meet the needs of all students in the class.
There are three models of teams of educators responding to the needs of students with disabilities: multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary. Members on multidisciplinary teams fulfill their individual responsibilities relatively independently of one another. Interdisciplinary teams depend upon communication between members to design and implement educational plans. Transdisciplinary teams collaborate.
Assessment and Eligibility
Specific disabilities are identified and defined by IDEA, including intellectual disability, learning disabilities, emotional disturbance, communication disorders, autism, traumatic brain injury, hearing, visual, physical, and other health impairments. Based on the IDEA definitions, each state and district clarifies operationally what those requirements are. Student will receive special education if they meet the requirements of the definition
Consequently, eligibility of a student for special education is an important decision made by a multidisciplinary assessment team of professionals, including a person knowledgeable in the suspected area of disability. Accurate, thorough assessment is necessary to determine if a student has a disability and begins with the permission of the parents. Assessment must be multifaceted, involving more than one source of data about the child. No single test can be used to assess the student and testing cannot be done without parental consent. In addition, assessment must reveal cognitive, behavioral, physical, and developmental strengths and deficits of the student. Testing instruments must be in the student's native language, nondiscriminatory, valid and reliable, and administered by trained personnel. All testing results need to be shared with parents in their native language. Tests also have to be culturally fair (unbiased). Parents have the right to due process, which means that they can refuse special education services/placement even after the results of the assessment are identified. Appropriate assessment is a predictor of the ultimate educational achievement of a student with disabilities.
Individualized Education Program (IEP)
As mandated by IDEA, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a commitment between the school and parents to provide an appropriate education for a student with disabilities. After the student has been assessed and determined eligible, an IEP team is formed. This team consists of parents, the student (14 years or older or if appropriate), both regular and special educators, a representative of the school district, advocates, and representatives of related services. Three basic questions are asked:
· Does the student have a diagnosed disability?
· If yes, does the disability negatively impact the student's educational and/or behavioral performance?
· If yes, is specialized instruction needed?
If the answer is "yes" to all three questions, then the student is eligible for services. The IEP is then written and includes statements of the student's current level of performance, annual goals, necessary related services, rationale for least restrictive environment, modifications in state or district testing, and specific timelines for implementation. The duration and location of services is also noted. Objectives must identify target behaviors with conditions of performance, evaluation procedures, and schedules with criteria for mastery. Finally, parents must receive progress reports of their child related to the achievement of the goals (Heward, 2000, pp. 57-65).
Regular educators must be knowledgeable about IEPs and actively participate in their formulation. If teachers do not actively participate, others will make decisions that will affect what happens in their classrooms. If teachers are not familiar with the specific disability, they need to request training. For the time that the student spends in their classrooms and to enhance student achievement, teachers must do the following:
· Share with the team the characteristics of their class, academic and behavioral expectations, curricula and instructional methods, and student activities and participation.
· Identify specific goals and objectives for the student.
· Identify the related services and support personnel necessary for student success.
· Learn the accommodations and modifications they need to provide for the student.
Through open communication by the regular classroom teacher in IEP meetings and in cooperation with the special educator thereafter, students with disabilities will be successful in the regular education classroom. The IEP is reviewed annually and the Multidisciplinary Education Team (MET) reconvenes every 3 years to determine if re-evaluation is necessary.
Least Restrictive Environment
Teachers know that the learning environment makes a significant impact on student achievement. They design their classrooms to promote student learning. Success depends upon the extent to which there is a match between the classroom expectations and student needs. In some cases, however, students with disabilities may not have the prerequisite skills necessary to meet the demands of regular education classrooms. On the other hand, teachers may not always be able to modify and accommodate the special needs of students in their classrooms.
IDEA mandates that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE), "to the maximum extent appropriate . . . with children who are not disabled" and removal is permitted only when "education in regular classes . . . cannot be achieved satisfactorily" (IDEA, 2004, 20 U.S.C. 1412[a] [5]). As a result of the placement, the student with disabilities should be expected to make reasonable progress.
LRE has been interpreted as providing a continuum of services including (from least to most restrictive) placement in regular class, regular class with special education consultation, resource room for part of the day, self-contained classroom, as well as separate school, and residential program. Teachers must realize that most students with disabilities are educated in regular education classes for all or part of the day.
Inclusion
A current issue challenging teachers is inclusion of students with disabilities in regular education classes. While IDEA does not require placement of all students with disabilities in regular education classes, some parents and educators demand it. Teacher must review their own attitudes toward students with disabilities and make a personal decision regarding their acceptance into their classes.
If inclusion is to be successful, the following characteristics are necessary. In addition to their attitudes and convictions about students with disabilities, teachers need knowledge of disabilities, skills in collaboration and effective instruction, in addition to a willingness to make necessary modifications and accommodations. Successful inclusion means appropriate education for all students: students with and without disabilities make progress in the classroom. In addition, teachers themselves must receive necessary related services, including training, assistive technology, and support personnel for their student with disabilities. Most importantly, regular and special education teachers, parents, and other professionals need to work collaboratively.
Understanding Parents and Families of Students with Special Needs
The Family System
The family operates as a system. Every family has perceived needs, resources, and assigned roles and responsibilities to meet those needs. To meet family needs, each member assumes a specific role with clearly defined expectations. A self-sustaining pattern of interactions within the family develops. In addition, there is a reciprocal relationship among family members. The behavior of each family member affects every other members as well as the family as a whole. Events that happen to one family member affect every other member. Any change in the role or behavior of one member results in major changes in the family.
Families do not live in a vacuum. Society places expectations and demands on the family, especially on the parents. Parents' personal resources, such as education, socio-economic status, personal mental health, and supportive family and social networks, often dictate the quality of family life and ultimately the success of their children in school.
A family thrives through the internal dynamics of relationships among members and in its relationships with social expectations. Imagine all the challenges facing family life today including factors that create marital stress, social realities as single parenthood and poverty, and the pressures from society's expectations of parents. Imagine a family of a child with disabilities. The picture of family life becomes considerably complicated.
Experiences of Parents and Families with Children with Disabilities
Following the birth of a child with a disability, the discovery of a child's disability or a traumatic event causing a child's disability, parents and families often experiences a series of strong emotions similar to the stages of grief described by Kubler-Ross (1997). Parents and siblings may at first experience shock and denial because of the unexpected and startling nature of the experience. There may be feelings of guilt and subsequent depression because parents believe the disability is their fault and they can do nothing about it. Parents may bargain to try to make the situation better, searching for doctors or looking for any possible cure. They may become angry, with no place to put their anger. Ultimately, parents will accept or reject the child and the reality with which they live. The key word in the explanation of such emotional experiences is may. Teachers must remember that the experience of each family in the realization of a child's disability is unique.
A teacher with an understanding of family dynamics can recognize family needs and resources, individual roles, and responsibilities within the family. Through effective communication, teachers become sensitive to the needs of individual family members, perceptive of the parents' current emotional state relating to the child's disability, and aware of potential resources within family life and the community. Teachers can create a partnership with the parents to enhance the achievement of their children.
Parents may not know where to begin to understand their child's disability. Teachers can actively assist by referring parents to parent support groups, local, state, and national organizations, or websites. You may search on the web for information about any disability. Of more immediate concern are the questions parents may need to ask. Many parents without any knowledge or experience of a situation complicated by emotional confusion may not even know where to begin or what questions to ask. Teachers may identify such questions as:
· What are the needs of my child?
· What do I have to know about the disability?
· What is the prognosis for my child?
· What can I expect to happen in the future?
· What will be the impact of the disability on our family?
· How do I help my child?
· What services are available to help my family and me?
Roles and Rights of Parents in Special Education
Parents are experts on their children because they know them better than anyone else does. Understanding parents' contribution and their power to influence their children, teachers can facilitate parent cooperation, engage in collaborative action with parents, and provide the best education for their children. Parent training becomes collaborative action research
Unfortunately, sometimes the relationship between parents of children with disabilities and the school does not support this conviction. As a result, special education law, IDEA, mandates procedural safeguards to protect the rights of parents relating to the education of their children with disabilities. Each district must provide an explanation of the following rights to parents:
· Parents must receive prior written notice in their native language describing any or assessment in the education of their child with disabilities.
· Parents must consent to their child's evaluation for and initial placement in special education.
· Parents have a right to an independent educational evaluation of their child with disabilities at public expense.
· If parents disagree with educational decisions made about their child, they have due process rights, including impartial due process hearing and hearing officer, administrative review, civil action, and award of attorney fees.
· Parents have a right to be actively involved in the development of the child's Individual Education Program (IEP) and Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP).
· Parents and their advocates have the right to inspect all records relating to their child's education and may request amendments to correct inaccuracies.
Conclusion
Special education is a process that provides appropriate education to students with disabilities. Through pre-referral and referral procedures and careful assessment and identification, teams of professionals and parents collaborate to create an individualized education program in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities. With knowledge of this process, special educators will know their rights and responsibilities in this process to be able to advocate for the rights of students with disabilities and provide them with appropriate education. The special educator should be aware of the challenges facing parents of children with disabilities and their families, the roles that parents can communication and parent involvement. They can then communicate compassionately with parents, provide support and assistance, and, most importantly, educate their children effectively