special education

Required readings

Read about the PLOP, and what considerations to include here: Training & Technical Assistance Center, William & Mary College (2013).  The Heart of the IEP Considerations Packet (p.2-4). (PDF; an  accessible Word [doc.x] version is available)

See this snapshot of what an IEP meeting entails: Advocates for Children of New York (2019).  Tip Sheet: Preparing for an IEP Meeting. (PDF; an  accessible Word [doc.x] version is available)

Read about the Least Restrictive Environment here: IRIS Center (n.d.).  Information Brief: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). (PDF; an  accessible Word [doc.x] version  is available)

Read NYS’s Continuum of Special Education Services for School-Age Students with Disabilities: NYSED (2013).  Continuum of Special Education Services for School-Age Students with Disabilities.

Beside student achievement towards the standards, unfortunately, other factors often play a role in special education services. Refer to these articles:

· Farnsworth (2016).  Consider Culture Before Referral of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students for Special Education Services. ColorinColorado.  

· O’Connor, C., & Fernandez, S. D. (2006).  Race, Class, and Disproportionality: Reevaluating the Relationship Between Poverty and Special Education Placement.  Educational Researcher,  35(6), 6–11.  

· Fish, R. (2019).  Standing Out and Sorting In: Exploring the Role of Racial Composition in Racial Disparities in Special Education.  American Educational Research Journal,  56(6), 2573–2608.

Videos

View this short video about the continuum of special education services for school-age students with disabilities: San Juan Unified School District (2018)  Special Education overview-- Continuum of Services (1:31).

Beside student achievement towards the standards, unfortunately, other factors often play a role in special education services. View this video: ColorinColorado (2016)   How culture may impact behavior in the classroom. (A  human-captioned version with transcript is also available.)

Assignment 1 - 1 ½ pages

This partial anecdote is retrieved from  Consider Culture Before Referral of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students for Special Education Services [Farnsworth, M. , (2016) ColorinColorado.org].

What would you do if a colleague of yours approached you in the staff lounge ten minutes before school started. She exclaims, "Rosa just isn't getting  anything. I'm a bit frustrated because she's been here for two and half years, and I think she has a learning disability. I know the complications with standardized assessments, so I can't rely on those. What should I do? How can I teach her?"  

What did you learn about different kinds of culture and explain the impact that culture can have not only on a child's experience in school but on how teachers interpret and evaluate that experience?

What other components have historically played a role in special education classification?

Assignment 2 – 3 pages

write paper in which you will summarize the varying elements and factors that contribute to a child’s placement in an appropriate special education program. 

Be sure to include:

· the continuum of services

· the Least Restrictive Environment and

· socio-economic and racial disparities in special education classification and placement

Please be sure to include the following components in your work:

· use resources from the course,