EDUC 65 Foundation of Special and Inclusive Education PDF

Preview

Summary

Part A: Nature of Special Education Page 1 of 7A. NATURE OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONA: Preliminary Concepts in Special Education1. Who are children with exceptionalities?All children differ from one another to varying degrees. However, in some students the learning difficulties are more serious, and the ch...

Description

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

A. NATURE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION A.1: Preliminary Concepts in Special Education 1. Who are children with exceptionalities? All children differ from one another to varying degrees. However, in some students the learning difficulties are more serious, and the children deviate more significantly in one way or another. These are youth who are exceptional in that their learning and behaviour deviates significantly from the norm. They may show differences in the physical, intellectual, communicative, social, or emotional domains, or in some combination of these (Pearson Education, 2010).

2. What is special education? Special education is a specially designed / modified instruction that addresses the unique needs of a student eligible to receive special education services (Hunt & Marshall, 2012).

3. Do all children with exceptionalities need special education? Not all children who have exceptionality require special education because many of them are able to cope with regular education, and thus, should attend regular school without any program modifications (special education). To qualify or be eligible for special education services, the child must meet these two criteria (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act): 1.

the child must have one or more of the disabilities listed below, and  autism  deaf-blindness  deafness  developmental delay  emotional disturbance  hearing impairment including deafness  intellectual disability  multiple disabilities  orthopedic impairment  other health impairment  specific learning disability  speech or language impairment  traumatic brain injury  visual impairment including blindness

2.

the disability must significantly affect the child’s academic performance in regular education, thus, would require special education and related services.

Part A: Nature of Special Education

Page 1 of 7

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

A.2: Historical Movement of Special Education 1. How did special education evolve through time? Dray (2008) states that special education movement can be characterized as having three major phases, exclusion and isolation, access and inclusion, and empowerment. Phase Phase 1: Exclusion and Isolation Historically – early 19th century Historically, disability was viewed as an abnormality or “freak of nature,” and individuals who had disabilities were killed or excluded from the mainstream society. They were considered as uneducable, and unable to function in the society. Other persons with disabilities were being housed in institutions which isolated them from the outside world. Because individuals with disabilities were viewed as a burden to society, the conditions of institutions were often inhumane, with solitary confinement being the norm. It was not until early 1900s that schools began to open their doors to individuals with disabilities, but still, segregation of students with disabilities from regular students continued to prevail until 1950s.

Year 427 – 346 BC



Plato wanted to separate men with hearts and intellects of gold to train and educate them for the highest functions of the state as kings, rulers, or executives. (Reynolds, x)



Plato used schools for sorting students according to intellectual abilities (Ornstein & Levine, 1989)



Aristotle said those “born deaf become senseless and incapable of reason.” (Chadwick & Diaz, 2000).



Aristotle would have the state determine what children should live and what should be destroyed soon after birth because of physical deformities. (Frost, 1962).

1799 AD



Jean Marc Itard, a French physician was a pioneer in the treatment and education of idiots. He demonstrated that the mentally retarded individuals could be trained in both cognitive and social skills.

1830



Louis Braille, a young blind Frenchman, developed a system of reading and writing (the Braille) in which letters and numbers are made from arrangements of raised dots. Blind students can read Braille much more rapidly than they could read the raised letters of the standard (American) alphabet (Heward & Orlansky, 1989).

1930



Pres. Herbert Hoover convened the first White House Conference on Child Health and Protection. This marked the first time that special education received national recognition as a legitimate part of the educational community.

355 BC

Part A: Nature of Special Education

Page 2 of 7

EDUC 65

Phase 2: Access and Inclusion 1950s-1980s

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

1954



During the civil rights era through the 1980s, parents and advocates pushed to shift this perspective and gain rights for individuals with disabilities through access and inclusion.

Brown v. Board of Education Segregation based on unalterable characteristics such as race and disability violates equal protection and denies children equal educational opportunity (Dray, 2008). In this case, the US supreme court decided that the concept of “separate but equal” is not equal at all, and is unconstitutional. They declared that ALL children must have equal opportunity for education (Hunt & Marshall, 2012).

1972

1975



Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Citizens (PARC) v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania The PARC ruling stated that individuals with mental retardation ages 6-21 must be provided with a public education in programs comparable to their nondisabled peers. (Dray, 2008)



Mills v. Board of Education This ruling paved the way for the right to due process and procedural safeguards such as the right to a hearing with representation, a record; the right to appeal; the right to have access to records; and the requirement of written notice during all phases of the process. (Dray, 2008)



Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) This provided financial incentives to assist schools in providing equal educational opportunities. (Dray, 2008) This law also mandated free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment for all handicapped children ages 5 to 21. (Hunt & Marshall, 2012)

1986

Part A: Nature of Special Education



Amendment on EAHCA Expanded all provisions of the law to handicapped children ages 3 to 5 (they are given early intervention program) (Hunt & Marshall, 2012)

Page 3 of 7

EDUC 65

Phase 3: Empowerment 1990s-present From the 1990s to the present, individuals with disabilities have become empowered and are working toward redefining their role and identity in society as a cultural phenomenon rather than inferior to able-bodied, able-minded individuals in the dominant mainstream. Additionally, systems such as case law and statutes, public and private programs, and advocacy organizations have been created to make schools accountable for providing equal educational opportunity for all students, including individuals with disabilities.

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

1990



Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) This law provided persons with disabilities a better access to employment, public facilities, and telecommunications, with the aim of protecting them from discrimination. (Hunt & Marshall, 2012)

1990



EAHCA became IDEA EAHCA became Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which was greatly influenced by the “people first language” Autism and Traumatic brain injury were added in the categories of disability of IDEA. The Transition Planning was mandated in order to prepare students with disabilities for life and work after school (Hunt & Marshall, 2012).

1997



Amendment on IDEA (formerly EAHCA) Strengthened the implementation of providing educational services in the least restrictive environment. The age for Transition Planning was lowered to 14 years old (Dray, 2008). Mandates that regular education teachers should be part in developing, monitoring, and revising of the child’s IEP (Hunt & Marshall, 2012).

2004



Amendment on IDEA (formerly EAHCA) Promotes the use of scientifically-based instruction (Dray, 2008). Strengthened the child’s access to regular education. Requires highly qualified special education teachers (Hunt & Marshall, 2012).

Part A: Nature of Special Education

Page 4 of 7

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

A.3: Regular Education and Other Services 1. How is special education different from regular education?

Admission



Regular Education entrance examination; normbased requirements

Special Education

Curriculum



prescribed for regular children (DepEd)

Lesson Planning



Standard for the whole class

Instructional Mtrls.



Mostly 2-dimensional

Class size1



30 to 45

Accommodation

 

Present (minimal to none) None

Mostly 3-dimensional, manipulatives, actual experience with assistive technology if necessary SingleMultiCategory grade grade GT 30-35 15-20 ID 8-15 8-10 VI 7-10 5-6 HI 7-15 6-8 EBD 15-20 7-15 PD 10-15 10-15 MD 5-8 3-6 SLD 10-15 10-15 LD 7-10 5-6  Present (minimal to maximal)  Present (minimal to maximal)



None





identification and assessment



adapted curriculum aimed at developing adaptive skills to maximize their potentials



Individualized (based on child’s IEP)



Modification Related Service

Present (depending on case)

2. What are the allied services related to special education? Speech-language Pathology A type of health care focused on evaluatings the child or young person to find out if they have speech (pronunciation or stammering), language (understanding, sentence formation and grammar), communication (social interaction) or eating and drinking difficulties, and developing care plans for intervention for the children and young people. Behavioral Therapy Behavioral therapy is an umbrella term for types of therapy that treat mental health disorders. This form of therapy seeks to identify and help change potentially self-destructive or unhealthy behaviors. It functions on the idea that all behaviors are learned and that unhealthy behaviors can be changed. The focus of treatment is often on current problems and how to change them Occupational Therapy A type of health care that helps to solve the problems that interfere with a person’s ability to do the things that are important to them – everyday things like:  Self-care - getting dressed, eating, moving around the house,  Being productive - going to work or school, participating in the community, and  Leisure activities - sports, gardening, social activities 1

Based on Article IV, Policies and Guidelines of Special Education in the Philippines

Part A: Nature of Special Education

Page 5 of 7

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

Physical Therapy A type of health care focused on diagnosing physical abnormalities, restoring physical function and mobility, maintaining physical function, and promoting physical activity and proper function. Comparison: Physical Therapy Diagnose physical problems restricting movement because of an illness or injury

Occupational Therapy Help patients with daily living skills and self-care tasks (i.e., “occupations”) such as getting dressed

Use exercises and other techniques to ease pain and boost mobility and muscle strength

Support patients with memory loss or other cognitive issues

Develop fitness and wellness programs aimed at preventing injuries and encouraging a more active lifestyle

Make recommendations about adaptive equipment Advise architects and contractors about patients’ accessibility needs

A.4: Other Concepts Related to Special Education 1. What are the differences between impairment, disability, and handicap Terminologies Impairment - any loss or abnormality of physiological or anatomical structure (WHO, 1980). Disability - any restriction or lack of ability (due to an impairment) in performing an activity in a manner or range considered normal for a human being (WHO, 1980). Handicap - a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from a disability or impairment, that limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role that is normal (depending on age, sex, and social and cultural factors) for that individual (WHO, 1980).

Level Orgranic

Individual

Societal

Therefore, a given disability may be the result of a variety of impairments, for example, the disability of blindness may be due to corneal opacity, cataract, retinal abnormality, optic nerve lesion, or cortical damage. World Health Organization (1980)

2. What are the levels of disciplinarities? (Jensenius, 2012) 1.

Intradisciplinary: working within a single discipline.

2.

Multidisciplinary: people from different disciplines working together, each drawing on their disciplinary knowledge.

3.

Crossdisciplinary: viewing one discipline from the perspective of another.

4.

Interdisciplinary: integrating knowledge and methods from different disciplines, using a real synthesis of approaches.

5.

Transdisciplinary: creating a unity of intellectual frameworks beyond the disciplinary perspectives.

Part A: Nature of Special Education

Page 6 of 7

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

3. What are the general perspectives on children with exceptionalities? (Licuan, 2019) 1. 2. 3. 4.

Not all individuals are the same. Everyone is unique. Do not equate the person with the disability. Focus on abilities, not on disabilities. People with disabilities are not victims.

Part A: Nature of Special Education

Page 7 of 7

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

B. PROCESSES IN SPECIAL EDUCATION B.1: Pre-referral Process 1. What is pre-referral process? What is the role of general education teachers in this process? When students have NOT been able to keep up with the rest of the class academically and for students who present challenging behaviors that interfere with learning, good teachers have tried using alternative ways of teaching before referring them for special education. This phase where the regular education teacher tries to provide all the possible and appropriate educational interventions to the struggling learner/s before referring for special education is called the PRE-REFERRAL process. (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2006)

PRE-REFERRAL Process

SPECIAL EDUCATION Process

Note that pre-referral process is not the special education itself. In response to concerns expressed by either a teacher or a parent, the school will likely offer pre-referral interventions as a ‘first step’ toward improving your child’s performance. For parents and regular education teachers, it is important that they understand how pre-referral interventions might work. One of the interventions that regular education teachers do in pre-referral process is the Response-toIntervention (RTI): RTI is a comprehensive, multi-step process that regular education teachers do to provide services and interventions to students who struggle with learning at increasing levels of intensity based on progress monitoring and data analysis. The RTI process has the potential to limit the amount of academic failure that any student experiences and to increase the accuracy of special education evaluations. This could also reduce the number of children who have been mistakenly identified as having learning disabilities when their learning problems are actually due to cultural differences or lack of adequate instruction. Information and data gathered by an RTI process can lead to earlier identification of children who have true disabilities and are in need of special education services.

The 3 Tiers of Response-To-Intervention (RTI) Tier 1: Screening and Group Interventions Students who are “suspected to have a learning problem” are identified using universal screenings Identified students receive supplemental instruction, or interventions, generally delivered in small groups during the student’s regular school day in the regular classroom.

PART B: Processes in Special Education

Page 1 of 6

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

Tier 2: Targeted Interventions At the end of Tier 1, students showing significant progress are generally returned to the regular classroom program. Students who are not showing adequate progress are moved to Tier 2. Students are provided with targeted services and interventions in Tier 2. These services are provided in addition to instruction in the general curriculum. These interventions are provided in small group settings. A longer period of time may be required for this tier, but it should generally not exceed a grading period.

Tier 3: Intensive Interventions Students who continue to show too little progress at this level of intervention are then considered for more intensive interventions as part of Tier 3. Students receive intensive interventions that target the student’s skill deficits with the help of specialised support team in the regular school. Students who do not respond to these intensive interventions now proceed to referral for formal evaluation (step 1 of special education process). At any point in an RTI process, IDEA allows parents to request a formal evaluation. An RTI process cannot be used to deny or delay a formal evaluation.

As shown in the diagram, as the tier goes high, the size of the group decreases while the intensity increases.

PART B: Processes in Special Education

Page 2 of 6

EDUC 65

Foundations of Special and Inclusive Education

B.2: Special Education Process 1. How does special education process happen? Step 1: Referral/request for evaluation Purpose: to request for formal evaluation The first step in the special education process is the referral (or request) for an evaluation of a student. IDEA 2004 clearly establishes that either a child’s parent or school district can initiate a request for an evaluation to determine if a student is a child with a disability and needs special education. Once you decide to make a formal request for evaluation, it is up to you to contact your school district and explain your concerns. Always make your request in writing, and clearly present the reasons for your concern. In your written request, describe and be prepared to provide specific examples of the problems your child is having. Items such as work samples, handwriting samples, assessment records, etc. should be used to provide background and evidence of your concerns (National Center for Learning Disabilities, 2006).

Step 2: Multi-factored Evaluation (Formal evaluation) Purpose: to diagnose if the child has disability or not At this stage of the special education process, both the par...