Scholarly Writing & Styles

Issues in K-12 Education Case Study Document 8

Discussion on Implementation of CCSS ELA Skills for Special Education Students

Read the following simulated blog posts from special educators with differing perspectives on the implications of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for special education students.

The Common Core’s potential benefits for students with special needs

As a longtime educator in the field of special education, I’m writing to express my belief that the CCSS will most likely benefit the students my respected colleagues and I teach. It is my belief that raising expectations for students with special needs ultimately improves educational outcomes. The goal of the CCSS is to provide more rigorous educational standards. The needs of students in special education were considered from the outset when the standards were developed. The Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) contributed to the initial statement on how the standards should be implemented for children with disabilities. It is hoped that the new standards will provide all students with the skills they need to be college or career ready.

As a special educator, I am aware that providing students with alternative ways to demonstrate learning outcomes—or letting kids create those alternative ways themselves—is key to overcoming challenges. It is my contention that the CCSS will challenge all students to perform at a higher level than required by previous state standards. Thus, the adoption of the CCSS may erase some of the differences between general and special education.

Another barrier that will be overcome is the difference between one set of state standards and another. In the past, students with special needs who moved across state lines often experienced a dramatic disruption in their education. Under the CCSS, making the transition from one state (or school district) to another will be smoother because schools will operate according to a shared set of core expectations.

In order to implement the CCSS as part of an effort to include students with special needs in general education classrooms, it will be important for special educators and general educators to collaborate closely. Special educators have the knowledge and skill sets to provide targeted, specific strategy instruction that are grounded in valid and reliable assessment procedures. By working as a team with our general education colleagues, I believe that all students will benefit and be better able to acquire and implement the knowledge and skills specified by the CCSS. To realize all of the potential benefits of adopting the CCSS, school districts will have to move with care and consideration. We need professional development and communities of support to help both general and special educators.

In conclusion, I am cautiously optimistic about what the Common Core standards represent for students with special needs. If the new standards are implemented, I believe that all students will benefit. And that will be a very good thing.

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 1 of 3

Letitia Rangel

Some concerns about the Common Core Standards and their effects on Special Education

As an educator with over 25 years of experience in the field of Special Education, I am writing to express my concern about the implementation of the CCSS. I am worried that in the rush to develop more rigorous educational standards, many factors were overlooked, including the complex needs of students with exceptionalities. I realize that the CEC was consulted during the writing of the CCSS, but from what I have been hearing recently, I wouldn’t be surprised if the CEC withdraws its support in the near future.

As a special educator, I certainly endorse the goal of improving educational outcomes for my students, and I realize that raising standards can play a part in improving outcomes. However, I have seen firsthand that there is no simple correlation between creating a “rigorous” standard and successfully implementing it in the classroom. Others share my reservations. According to Diane Haager of California State University and Sharon Vaughn of The University of Texas at Austin, “Increasing the rigor of K-12 expectations is likely to present increased challenges for students with LD and their teachers” (Haager & Vaughn, 2013). Students will be expected to deal with challenging texts at earlier ages, to engage with more informational texts in the elementary grades than ever before, and to apply higher-order skills to the interpretation of texts.

In her recent blog post citing the perceived benefits of the CCSS for students with special needs, Letitia Rangel observes that a common set of standards will reduce educational disruption for students who move from one state to another. She neglects to point out that if the shared-state standards are problematic, the student might be better off making the adjustment to state-specific standards.

While I applaud the CCSS’s stated goal of helping all students become college and career ready, I am concerned that state departments of education, and individual school districts, may not fully realize, or be prepared to provide, the full range of supports and accommodations that will be necessary to help students with special needs meet this goal. Modifications will need to be supplied in both instruction and assessment. Special educators and other educators will need support and training for collaboration. This entire endeavor will call for creativity, sensitivity, and follow-through.

Implementation of the CCSS offers great potential for improving the academic education of students with special needs—but, again, this potential will not become a reality without an enormous effort. Special educators will need intensive training in the interpretation of the CCSS. They will need support in terms of time, materials, and other resources, in order to be able to apply the CCSS from day to day. Special educators, and other educators, will need to collaborate more intensively than ever before to benefit students with disabilities. Other educators will need training on multiple strategies within the field of special education. With sufficient professional development, complex coordination, and ongoing support, the CCSS may transform special education in positive ways. But without such initiatives, it will become a burden.

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 2 of 3

In sum, I am not against the CCSS. I want students with special needs to have the best possible elementary and secondary education, and I want them to have opportunities for satisfying employment or further education when they graduate from high school. But I want my readers to understand exactly what these rigorous new standards involve and what a dramatic commitment educators, government officials, and the public will need to make in order to apply the standards successfully to the education of students with special needs.

Maurice Budaj

References

CAST. (2014). Professional learning. Retrieved from http://www.cast.org/pd/

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2014). Application to students with disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/assets/application-to-students-with- disabilities.pdf

Council for Exceptional Children. (2014). K-12 Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for the instruction of students. Retrieved from http://www.cec.sped.org/Special-Ed- Topics/Specialty-Areas/Commom-Core-State-Standards

Donovan, F. (2012, Summer). Assessment and the Common Core Standards. The Special EDge. Retrieved from http://www.calstat.org/publications/pdfs/Edge_summer_2012_newsletter.pdf

Haager, D., & Vaughn, S. (2013). The Common Core State Standards and reading: Interpretations and implications for elementary students with learning disabilities. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4afa 5ce8-3a6f-4c63-a908-14650b690201%40sessionmgr4001&vid=8&hid=4204

McLaughlin, M. (2012, September/October). Six principles for principals to consider in implementing CCSS for students with disabilities. Retrieved from http://www.naesp.org/principal-septemberoctober-2012-common-core/access-common- core-all-0

Shah, N. (2012). Standards open the door for best practices from special ed. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/04/25/29cs- speced.h31.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrss

Weiner, R. (2013). Teaching to the core: Integrating implementation of Common Core and teacher effectiveness policies. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542704.pdf

© 2014 Laureate Education, Inc. Page 3 of 3