Special education

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This article is about educating students with special needs or behavioral problems anywhere in the world. For information about educating gifted students, see Gifted education.

Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help learners with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and community than would be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

Common special needs include challenges with learning, communication challenges, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, and developmental disorders.[1] Students with these kinds of special needs are likely to benefit from additional educational services such as different approaches to teaching, use of technology, a specifically adapted teaching area, or resource room.

Intellectual giftedness is a difference in learning and can also benefit from specialized teaching techniques or different educational programs, but the term "special education" is generally used to specifically indicate instruction of students whose special needs reduce their ability to learn independently or in an ordinary classroom, and gifted education is handled separately.

In most developed countries, educators are modifying teaching methods and environments so that the maximum number of students are served in ordinary educational environments. Special education in developed countries is often regarded less as a "place" and more as "a service, available in every school."[2][3][4][5][6] Integration can reduce social stigmas and improve academic achievement for many students.[7]

The opposite of special education is general education. General education is the standard curriculum presented with standard teaching methods and without additional supports.

Individual needs

A special education program should be customized to address each individual student's unique needs. Special educators provide a continuum of services, in which students with special needs receive services in varying degrees based on their individual needs. Special education programs need to be individualized so that they address the unique combination of needs in a given student.[8]

Students with special needs are assessed to determine their specific strengths and weaknesses.[8] Placement, resources, and goals are determined on the basis of the student's needs. Modifications to the regular program may include changes in curriculum, supplementary aides or equipment, and the provision of specialized physical adaptations that allow students to participate in the educational environment to the fullest extent possible.[9] Students may need this help to access subject matter, to physically gain access to the school, or to meet their emotional needs. For example, if the assessment determines that the student cannot write by hand because of a physical disability, then the school might provide a computer for typing assignments, or allow the student to answer questions orally instead. If the school determines that the student is severely distracted by the normal activities in a large, busy classroom, then the student might be placed in a smaller classroom such as a resource room.

The education of students with developmental disorders, who require more time to learn the same material, frequently requires changes to the curriculum.[10] Successful special education programs for students with development disorders focus on "only what is necessary for them to know and what they are capable of learning," so that all of the child's time is spent learning high-priority skills, and so that the child is not inappropriately frustrated by advanced subjects that are beyond their capabilities.[10] By contrast, most students with a specific learning difficulty primarily need changes to the method of instruction, rather than to the skills and information being taught.

Methods of provision

PS 721, a special school in Brooklyn, New York.

Education researchers, particularly in North America, have identified different kinds of provision in special education. They distinguish four types of provision:

  • Inclusion: In this approach, students with special needs spend most or all of their time with students who do not have special educational needs. Implementation of this approach varies. Because inclusion can require substantial modification of the general curriculum, most schools use it only for selected students with mild to moderate special needs, for which is accepted as a best practice.[11][12] In the United States, three out of five students with academic learning challenges spend the overwhelming majority of their time in the regular classroom.[13] Students with special needs are educated in regular classes for nearly all of the day, or at least half of the day. Most specialized services are provided outside a regular classroom, particularly if these services require special equipment or might be disruptive to the rest of the class (such as speech therapy). In this case, the student occasionally leaves the regular classroom to attend smaller, more intensive instructional sessions in a resource room, or to receive other related services, such as speech and language therapy, occupational and/or physical therapy, and social work.[14]
  • Mainstreaming refers to the practice of educating students with special needs in regular classes during specific time periods based on their skills.[15] Students are segregated in separate classes for the rest of the time.[16]
  • Segregation in a self-contained classroom or special school: Full-time placement in a special education classroom may be referred to as segregation. In this model, students with special needs spend no time in ordinary classes. Segregated students may attend the same school where regular classes are provided, but spend their time exclusively in a separate classroom for students with special needs. If their special class is located in an ordinary school, they may be provided opportunities for social integration.[17] Alternatively, these students may attend a special school.[16]
  • Exclusion: A student who does not receive instruction in any school is said to be excluded. Such exclusion may occur where there is no legal mandate for special education services. It may also occur when a student is in hospital, homebound, or detained by the criminal justice system.[16] These students may receive one-on-one instruction or group instruction. Students who have been suspended or expelled are not considered excluded in this sense.

Prerequisites for inclusion

In an article in British Journal of Special Education, Professor Rita Jordan provided challenges to the idea of inclusion for young people with autistic spectrum disorders.

So, what would an effective inclusive educational system look like? Primarily, it would need to be flexible. It cannot rely on centrally-determined curricula and teaching methodologies, although there could, of course, be guidance. Who could manage such a system? Surely it could only be done by properly trained, and professional, teachers. I do not mean that all mainstream teachers must be 'experts' on ASD, but they must know about learning and teaching (and not just 'delivery' of packages) and about the diversity that exists in humankind in the way we learn and understand the world. If educators teach in a way that attains diversity (and modern Information Technology (IT) techniques will make this so much easier), then more children with different minds will be able to manage in mainstream settings, without needing to have special (and certainly not segregated) support. This will also benefit those disruptive boys currently disaffected by our female- and language-dominated educational system, and those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia and so on.[18]

Related services

Related services means developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a student with a disability and includes speech and language pathology, audiology, psychological services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, counseling services, including rehabilitation counseling, orientation and mobility services, medical services as defined by regulations, parent counseling and training, school health services, school social work, assistive technology services, other appropriate developmental or corrective support services, appropriate access to recreation and other appropriate support services.[19]

In some countries, most related services are provided by the schools; in others, they are provided by the normal healthcare and social services systems.

Issues

At-risk students (those with educational needs that are not associated with a disability) are often placed in classes with students who have disabilities. Critics assert that placing at-risk students in the same classes as students with disabilities may impede the educational progress of people with disabilities.[20] Special education classes under the mainstreaming model have been criticized for a watered-down curriculum.[21]

The practice of inclusion (in mainstream classrooms) has been criticized by advocates and some parents of children with special needs because some of these students require instructional methods that differ dramatically from typical classroom methods. Critics assert that it is not possible to deliver effectively two or more very different instructional methods in the same classroom. As a result, the educational progress of students who depend on different instructional methods to learn often fall even further behind their peers.[22]

Parents of typically developing children sometimes fear that the special needs of a single "fully included" student will take critical levels of attention and energy away from the rest of the class and thereby impair the academic achievements of all students.[22]

Some parents, advocates, and students have concerns about the eligibility criteria and their application. In some cases, parents and students protest the students' placement into special education programs. For example, a student may be placed into the special education programs due to a mental health condition such as obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, panic attacks or ADHD, while the student and his parents believe that the condition is adequately managed through medication and outside therapy. In other cases, students whose parents believe they require the additional support of special education services are denied participation in the program based on the eligibility criteria. [23]

National approaches

Asia

Japan

Main article: Education in Japan

Training of disabled students, particularly at the upper-secondary level, emphasizes vocational education to enable students to be as independent as possible within society. Vocational training varies considerably depending on the student's disability, but the options are limited for some. It is clear that the government is aware of the necessity of broadening the range of possibilities for these students. Advancement to higher education is also a goal of the government, and it struggles to have institutions of higher learning accept more disabled students.

Australia

Australian Association of Special Education Inc (AASE)‘s position is informed by the Disability Standards for Education 2005 which require that students with disabilities are treated on the same basis as other students in regards to enrolment and participation in education.[24] The characteristics of effective instruction are reported by educational researchers who study the critical teacher behaviours in classroom settings.[25] it must be noted that effective instruction is not defined as a single method of teaching but rather as a series of characteristics which can be embedded into a range of teaching approaches.[26] Effective instruction enables the efficient use of class time to maximise learning outcomes for students maximises on-task behaviour of students and minimises inappropriate behaviour. Effective instruction involves implementing strategies in planning, managing, delivering and evaluating instruction.[27] Meta-analyses of the research indicate that teaching approaches that combine direct instruction (explicit, teacher-directed instruction in basic skills and content) and strategy instruction (explicit instruction to teach cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies) are most successful.[25] Effective teachers are competent with a wide array of instructional strategies, including teacher-directed, explicit instruction and are able to select the most appropriate strategies for individual students and specific content.[28][29] There is a danger of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy when teachers have low expectations of students with special educational needs.[30][31] Teachers and school executive are able to create a positive school climate that values and accepts all students.[32] With the advent of inclusive curriculum, collaborative partnerships between students, families, special educators, teachers, teacher aides and other relevant professional are imperative.[33][34] Collaboration provides the vehicle for the pooling of knowledge about curriculum, current curriculum trends, and the knowledge of effective practices to meet the needs of the diverse range of students in any class.[33][35]

Europe

Each country in Europe has its own special education support structures.

Denmark

In Denmark, 99% of students with specific learning difficulties like dyslexia are educated alongside students without any learning challenges.[36]

Germany

A special school for children with special emotional needs in Kötitz, Germany

Most students with special needs in Germany attend a special school that serves only children with special needs. These include:

  • "Sonderschule für Lernbehinderte" (special school for learning disabilities) - for children who have challenges that impair learning
  • "Schule mit dem Förderschwerpunkt Geistige Entwicklung" (school for cognitive development) - for children with very severe learning challenges
  • "Förderschule Schwerpunkt emotionale und soziale Entwicklung" (school for emotional and social development) - for children who have special emotional needs

One in 21 German students attends a special school. Teachers at those schools are specially trained professionals who have specialized in special needs education while in college. Special schools often have a very favorable student-teacher ratio and facilities other schools do not have.

Some special needs children in Germany do not attend a special school, but are educated in a mainstream school such as a Hauptschule or Gesamtschule (comprehensive school).

The Netherlands

Main article: Special school (Netherlands)

Norway

The National Support System for Special Needs Education (Statped) is managed by the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training. The general objective for Statped is to give guidance and support to those in charge of the education in municipalities and county administrations to ensure that children, young people and adults with major and special educational needs are secured well-advised educational and developmental provisions. The institutions affiliated with Statped offer a broad spectrum of services. Statped consists of 13 resource centres owned by the State, and 4 units for special education, where Statped buys services. These centres offer special educational guidance and support for local authorities and county administrations.


United Kingdom

Main article: Special education in the United Kingdom

In England and Wales the acronym SEN for Special Educational Needs denotes the condition of having special educational needs, the services which provide the support and the programmes and staff which implement the education.[37] In England SEN PPS refers to the Special Educational Needs Parent Partnership Service. SENAS is the special educational needs assessment service, which is part of the Local Authority. SENCO refers to a special educational needs coordinator, who usually works with schools and the children within schools who have special educational needs. The Special Educational Needs Parent Partnership Services help parents with the planning and delivery of their child's educational provision. The Department for Education oversees special education in England.

In Scotland the Additional Support Needs Act places an obligation on education authorities to meet the needs of all students in consultation with other agencies and parents. In Scotland the term Special Educational Needs (SEN), and its variants are not official terminology although the very recent implementation of the Additional Support for Learning Act means that both SEN and ASN (Additional Support Needs) are used interchangeably in current common practice.

North America

In North America, special education is commonly abbreviated as special ed, SpecEd, SPED, or SpEd in a professional context.

United States

Main article: Special education in the United States

All special-needs students receive an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that outlines how the school will meet the student’s individual needs. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that students with special needs be provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education in the Least Restrictive Environment that is appropriate to the student's needs. Government-run schools provide special education in varying degrees from least restrictive to the most restrictive.[16]

History

Beginning in 1952, Civitans were the first to provide widespread training for teachers of children with developmental disorders in the United States.[38] During the 1960s, in some part due to the civil rights movement, some researchers began to focus on the disparity of education amongst people with disabilities.[39]

However, students with substantial impairments were frequently not allowed to enroll in regular public schools until the passage of the federal Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975 (since renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)). This law required schools to provide services to students previously denied access to an appropriate education. According to the Department of Education, approximately 6 million children (roughly 10 percent of all school-aged children) currently receive some type of special education services.[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ What is special education? from New Zealand's Ministry of Education
  2. ^ National Council on Disability. (1994). Inclusionary education for students with special needs: Keeping the promise. Washington, DC: Author.
  3. ^ Swan, William W.; Morgan, Janet L (1993). "The Local Interagency Coordinating Council". Collaborating for Comprehensive Services for Young Children and Their Families. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Pub. Co. ISBN 1557661030. OCLC 25628688. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  4. ^ Beverly Rainforth; York-Barr, Jennifer (1997). Collaborative Teams for Students With Severe Disabilities: Integrating Therapy and Educational Services. Brookes Publishing Company. ISBN 1-55766-291-6. OCLC 25025287.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ Stainback, Susan Bray; Stainback, William C. (1996). Support Networks for Inclusive Schooling: Interdependent Integrated Education. Paul H Brookes Pub Co. ISBN 1-55766-041-7. OCLC 300624925.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Gaylord-Ross, Robert (1989). Integration strategies for students with handicaps. Baltimore: P.H. Brookes. ISBN 1-55766-010-7. OCLC 19130181.
  7. ^ Gartner, Alan; Dorothy Kerzner Lipsky (1997). Inclusion and School Reform: Transforming America's Classrooms. Brookes Publishing Company. ISBN 1-55766-273-8. OCLC 35848926.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b Goodman, Libby (1990). Time and learning in the special education classroom. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press. p. 122. ISBN 0-7914-0371-8. OCLC 20635959.
  9. ^ Special Education Inclusion
  10. ^ a b Rachel Jaynes (2007-03-26). "The Fallacy of Full Inclusion Amoung Developmentally Disabled Students" (doc). Undergraduate Journal of Education – BYU–Idaho.
  11. ^ Smith P (2007). "Have we made any progress? Including students with intellectual disabilities in regular education classrooms". Intellect Dev Disabil. 45 (5): 297–309. doi:10.1352/0047-6765(2007)45[297:HWMAPI]2.0.CO;2. PMID 17887907. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  12. ^ James Q. Affleck (1988-01). "Integrated classroom versus resource model: academic viability and effectiveness". Exceptional Children: 2. Retrieved 2010-05-29. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Cortiella, C. (2009). The State of Learning Disabilities. New York, NY: National Center for Learning Disabilities.
  14. ^ Bowe, Frank (2004). Making Inclusion Work. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-017603-6. OCLC 54374653.
  15. ^ [1] Definition of mainstreaming, accessed October 11, 2007. Archived 2009-11-01.
  16. ^ a b c d Karen Zittleman; Sadker, David Miller (2006). Teachers, Schools and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education with Bind-in Online Learning Center Card with free Student Reader CD-ROM. McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages. pp. 48, 49, 108, G–12. ISBN 0-07-323007-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ Warnock Report (1978). "Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People", London.
  18. ^ Jordan, Rita (2008-03-03). "Autistic spectrum disorders: a challenge and a model for inclusion in education". British Journal of Special Education. 35 (1): 11–15. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8578.2008.00364.x.
  19. ^ Greenwood CR (1991). "Longitudinal analysis of time, engagement, and achievement in at-risk versus non-risk students". Except Child. 57 (6): 521–35. PMID 2070811. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  20. ^ Ellis, Edwin (2002). "Watering Up the Curriculum for Adolescents with Learning Disabilities, Part I: Goals of the Knowledge Dimension". WETA. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  21. ^ a b Carol A. Breckenridge (2001). "The Critical Limits of Embodiment: Disability's Criticism". Public Culture. Duke Univ Press. pp. 349–357. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  22. ^ Amanda M. Vanderheyden (2003). "Development And Validation Of A Process For Screening Referrals To Special Education". School Psychology Review. Research and Read Books, Journals, Articles at Questia Online Library. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  23. ^ "Disability standards for education".
  24. ^ a b Ellis, Louise A. (2005-10-19). "Balancing Approaches : Revisiting the Educational Psychology Research on Teaching Students with Learning Difficulties". Australian Council for Educational Research. 48. Retrieved 2010-07-01.
  25. ^ Swanson, H. Lee (2003-03). "Instructing Adolescents with Learning Disabilities Converting a Meta-Analysis to Practice". Journal of Learning Disabilities. 36 (2): 124–135. doi:10.1177/002221940303600205. PMID 15493428. Retrieved 2010-07-01. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ William L. Heward (2003). "Ten Faulty Notions About Teaching And Learning That Hinder The Effectiveness Of Special Education". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |publication= ignored (help)
  27. ^ Bakken, J. P (2008). "Data-based decision-making and students with developmental disabilities". Research-based practices in developmental disabilities 2nd ed. Austin, Tex.: PRO-ED. pp. 431–450. ISBN 1416402470. OCLC 70830982. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |editors= ignored (|editor= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ Vaughn, Sharon (2003-10). "What Is Special About Special Education for Students with Learning Disabilities?". Journal of Special Education. 37 (3): 140–147. doi:10.1177/00224669030370030301. Retrieved 2010-07-01. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ Hattie, John (2009). Visible learning: a synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-47618-6. OCLC 229019531.
  30. ^ Westwood, Peter S. (2007). Commonsense methods for children with special educational needs. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-41581-0. OCLC 71146305.
  31. ^ LuEber, Lucille (2002-07). "Wraparound and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports in the Schools". Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. 10 (3): 171–180. doi:10.1177/10634266020100030501. Retrieved 2010-07-01. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  32. ^ a b Hines, Joy T. (2008-05). "Making Collaboration Work in Inclusive High School Classrooms Recommendations for Principals". Intervention in School and Clinic. 43 (5): 277–282. doi:10.1177/1053451208314492. Retrieved 2010-07-01. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  33. ^ "Project to Improve the Learning Outcomes of Students with Disabilities in the Early, Middle and Post Compulsory Years of Schooling".
  34. ^ Hoover, John J. (2008-04). "The Role of Special Educators in a Multitiered Instructional System". Intervention in School and Clinic. 43 (4): 195–202. doi:10.1177/1053451207310345. Retrieved 2010-07-01. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  35. ^ Robert Holland (2002-06-01). "Vouchers Help the Learning Disabled". School Reform News. The Heartland Institute.
  36. ^ "Special education needs, Special needs education".
  37. ^ Margaret E Armbrester (1992). The Civitan story, 1917-1992. Birmingham, Ala.: EBSCO Media. pp. 74–75. OCLC 26392825.
  38. ^ Ladson-Billings, Gloria (1994). The dreamkeepers: successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers. ISBN 1-55542-668-9. OCLC 30072651.
  39. ^ Priscilla Pardini (2002). "The History of Special Education". Rethinking Schools.

Further Reading

External links

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