special education paper.
QUESTION 2
There are many major differences between Section 504 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). First and foremost Section 504 is a civil rights law where IDEA is an educational law. This means that Section 504 is broader and not exclusive to education. More students may qualify for this than IDEA because the student’s disability does not have to be adversely affecting her/his educational performance. However, because it is a civil rights law, Section 504 is not funded by federal grant program, although states can lose federal financial assistance by not complying with it.
Secondly, Section 504 includes impairment of educational abilities but is not exclusive to them. It includes any person who “has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities" whereas IDEA specifies thirteen types of disabilities: Autism, Deafness, Deaf-Blindness, Hearing Impairment, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Serious Emotional Disturbance, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury and Visual Impairment including Blindness. This means that students with ADHD, behavior problems, drug and alcohol abuse and other conditions can qualify under Section 504 where they would not under IDEA.
Third, IDEA requires that a school provide an IEP for students that fall under the legislation whereas Section 504 requires only an “Accommodation Plan.” This means that there are not as many safeguards for students and their parents under Section 504.
Lastly, Section 504 requires only that parents be notified where IDEA requires parental participation,
As a classroom teacher, I will be responsible for attending meetings for both Section 504 and IDEA students, and to implement the plans developed for either type of student. I will have to monitor progress, and stay in contact regularly with the case manager and parents. The specific duties at the IDEA meetings have already been detailed in the previous section. Either way I will have to try to help implement a Least Restricted Environment (LRE).
There are many benefits to an LRE. It exposes students to an environment closer to the one they will need to deal with in their real life. The students will also have the regular students as role models, although I personally have my doubts at just how good of role models many of them might be. LRE students experience greater challenges in a regular classroom and they will be able to develop social skills they will need to be successful in the larger community and in a work environment.
Along with the benefits come many cautions. The first is that you cannot forget the forest for the trees. Although teachers should include the alternative activities needed for LRE, they cannot forget the regular and academically talented students and be sure that they are also challenged. Pacing the class for all groups is extremely difficult, but important.
Among other issues, teacher training, financing and in-service sessions to allow teachers to accommodate these students is not always available. There may also be complaints from parents of regular students, who do not want the LRE students in class with their own children. Assessment of the students in an environment that includes multiple levels is difficult. And there are always the cases where no matter how unrestrictive the environment, some students will not learn.
QUESTION 3
The four types of disabilities most prevalent in schools today are Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual Impairment and Emotional Disabilities.
Many characteristics define Learning Disabilities (LD). They are many types of learning disabilities so it is difficult to define them under a generalized list. The fact that they are varied is actually one of the characteristics that define them. Students with learning disabilities may also have other social and behavioral problems. Learning disabilities occur over the entire course of people’s lives. Learning disabilities come from inside the person, and are mostly like caused by a central nervous system dysfunction. And lastly, it is possible for a learning disability to come from poor instruction.
Learning disabled students must be taught how to acquire and store information as well as how to express and demonstrate their understand of it. Recommended methods to do this include teaching students word identification, paraphrasing, solving math word problem and using maps in acquiring information; first letter mnemonic, listening and not-taking in remembering information and sequence writing, error monitoring, test taking and participating in their own IEP meetings to learn how to demonstrate their learning.
There are many ways to implement inclusion with learning disabled students. For those LD students who cannot seem to focus on an independent project and cause disruptions in the class, a teacher might want to set up a behavior management plan, then pair the student with a peer tutor who has been shown how to work the LD student within the plan. For students who do not have proper social skills and may misinterpret other students’ behavior, a school counselor or resource teacher may need to be called in to consult on ways to teach the LD student proper social skills, and once more, a peer tutor may be able to work with the student to help reinforce the behavior. For LD students whose work is inconsistent or usually of poor quality, the teacher might want to give them extra time to complete assignments and consult with a Special Education teacher to learn other teaching strategies. For LD students who give up easily, the teacher could provide reward systems and be given some tasks that are easily accomplished to learn that they can actually accomplish things, and in this case, the LD students themselves could become peer tutors to younger students in areas where they can show their own successes.
Specific accommodations and modifications for LD students could include some items already mentioned such as allowing extra time on assignments and assigning peer tutors for them. Other accommodations might include giving more “hands-on” assignments; chunking of the lesson to break it down into more manageable piece; sitting them close to the front of the class, and not just for visual impairments but to keep them close to the teacher; giving oral directions; and many more. The teacher can also use alternative assessment with LD students including checklists to allow them to proof their own work before turning it in; testing them in smaller groups to reduce stress; keep index cards to block out the lesson and give practice tests beforehand.
Students with AD/HD generally have problems with concentration and impulse control. There are three basic types of AD/HD, Hyperactive, or those with excessive, chronic energy and movement; Inattentive, those who move and respond too slowly, and finally those students who exhibit some of each behavior. The hyperactive students are ones who are unable to sit still, talk out and do not play quietly, where the inattentive ones are the spacey daydreamers who stare into space and appear apathetic and sluggish. Those with the combined type, who display symptoms of both hyperactive and inattentive, comprise up to 85% of the AD/HD students. These kids are also very creative and imaginative.
AD/HD can be highly successful and high achievers but they also repeat grades, get suspended and drop out of school in unusually high numbers When teaching AD/HDn students Exceptional Lives suggests that the teacher remember seven key words to help them increase learning: relevance, novelty, variety, choices, activity, challenge and feedback. Though these are things to think about in lesson planning with any student, they are particularly important with AD/HD students. Those students must see how a lesson is relevant to their lives. Having varied lessons and differing ways of teaching the same concept will help them retain the information and giving the students choices of assignments empowers them. Using demonstrations, interactive lessons and performances help learning retention because of the activity included.
Accommodations for AD/HD students can be very similar to LD students, in giving extra time for assignments, study buddies and peer tutors. Other ideas include assigning fewer homework problems and requiring fewer correct answers for a letter grade for those with inattention; and ignoring minor bad behavior, immediate rewards for good behavior and time-outs for impulsive types. Praise for good behavior, good work and good social interaction help by giving positive attention so that the student does not reach out for negative attention as often. Assessment for these students is basically tied in to the teaching strategies with the lesser number of problems on homework, fewer correct answers for a letter grade, and methods that are adapted to the particular student.
Characteristics of Intellectual Impairment (II), or Mental Retardation include an IQ score at or below 70 to 75; impaired ability to decide what is important or unimportant in the information they input; and a difficult time keeping on task. These students have a more difficult time remembering things, applying what they learn to other tasks, and as a result of all the other problems, have a more difficult time communicating, and lower motivation to learn since they have failed so often.
Teaching strategies for II students is to have an alternate track for them when they are included in regular classes. The final aim for these students is to teach them skills for success in life, work and play after they leave school, to help them be independent and self-reliant. It is important to work closely with students’ families and special education teachers in optimize the learning environment for them. Including them in peer age group homerooms will help make sure they are included in school field trips and other activities. Teachers can also model behavior for students, showing them how to respect another student’s personal space, for example; give alternatives to undesirable activities and maintain high expectations even with altered curriculum.
Altered curriculum is one of the main modifications that can be used for II students. With the aid of the Special Education teacher, lessons that parallel the subject matter but are at the student’s learning level. These lessons should be altered using “authentic learning”, tying the lesson to the skills the student will need in every day life. For example, changing a science lesson into one that will allow the student to learn how to pour a pitcher.
Emotional Disabilities (ED), like LD, are varied and individualized. Generally ED students have disabilities that cannot be categorized under any other label. The main types of ED are Anxiety including Phobias, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive and panic disorders; Mood, including depression and bipolar disorders; Oppositional/Defiant, which is characterized by hostile, disobedient and defiant behaviors; Conduct, which includes antisocial behavior that interferes with their lives; and Schizophrenia, which includes students who have hallucinations, delusions, withdrawal and disconnection with reality.
The main instruction technique recommended for ED students is Applied Behavioral Instruction (ABA) which includes controlling behavior with consequences; strengthening it with both positive and negative reinforcement; consistent consequences including punishment; and modeling. The aim is to weaken the inappropriate behaviors to the point of “extinction.”
Accommodations could include peer mediation, allowing ED students time to calm down when there is bad behavior rather than immediately sending the student to the office. Peer tutoring can be used to teach interaction.
QUESTION 4
The Present Level of Educational Performance (PLEP) page summarizes the IEP student's achievement in evaluated areas. It includes student's strengths, and ongoing concerns and needs. The results of any assessments, reports from home and classroom, will be included for Health & Development, Academic, Social, Motor, and Communication skills as well as Vocation and Daily Living activities. All of these assessments should be specific, measurable and objective. For example, a student might be assessed as having current math skill Strengths in being able to add two digit numbers, but in weaknesses be unable to figure the numbers to add in a word problem. Or a student may have strengths in being Artistic, but not have Writing skills. The end result of that assessment may be to try to give the student more assignments where the output is drawn rather than written.
The Goals and Objectives page of the IEP describes what the student being evaluated can be expected to accomplish within the next year, for specific areas of need. For example, William is a third grade student who frequently answers questions out of turn and gets angry when anyone else is called on when he knows the answer. A measurable goal for this would be that William will raise his hand when want to answer, and accept that the teacher will not always call on him.
Transition Planning is meant to keep in mind the student’s transition from school to adult life. It begins annually after the student’s 13th birthday. Transition plans try to keep students following a course that will keep them in school that will ready them for employment or post-high school education and ready them to live independently. The students are always invited to their own transition planning meetings. For example, if a student with disabilities wants to go to college, finding out about the college’s application procedures and find out what accommodations the college might make for her particular disabilities.
Special Education Services define the actual number of hours students will spend in special education classes versus the time they will spend with students who don’t have disabilities. This details who is responsible for implementing the particular Special education or related service, what the service is, for example social skills or communication, and how many hours per week will be spent on it. It also details the goal of the service, whether the student will end up in a Regular Classroom, Resource/Related Service room, Self-contained classroom or a community based activity. An example of this a student who currently spends five hours a week with a Special Education teacher on mathematics, but the final goal is to have the student in an inclusion class with regular students.
Testing Accommodations details for which, if any, areas of the standardized tests required by the state and federal government, the student will need to be accommodated and what that accommodation will be. For example, the student might be taking the 6th grade CMT and need to be in a quiet room to take all of her tests, and also need time extensions. This would take a lot of pressure off some kids who could not deal with the pressure of the timed exam in a room full of other children.
As a future math teacher, one of the learning disabilities I worry about is a student who has discalculia. Math is a skill that accumulates over the grades. Quite literally, it is a second language. So not only will I have to deal with the immediate lesson but making sure each lesson’s material is maintained and accumulated. My goal for this student would be present material in a way it will be understood by this student. There are many strategies I have found for this. With the help of a special education teacher I would try the following techniques.
Like most other learning, using examples that would relate to their real life is always useful. For this student, using concrete examples that may include pictures, physical models, and computer games. Perhaps an aide could help the student with the concepts using the computer while other students did the same exercises on paper. An aide or special education teacher could spend extra time outside of class working on the basic concepts and putting them together, helping the student to see the building blocks upon which the concepts are based and also to go over the next day’s lesson so the student would have a “preview” of what was going to happen. The in class aide could also help the student write down the concepts Attitude would be important also, to never assume that the student does not want to learn, and that she is trying to get out of doing the work. Always assume she wants to do it and try to provide methods to make that happen.
There are many major differences between Section 504 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). First and foremost Section 504 is a civil rights law where IDEA is an educational law. This means that Section 504 is broader and not exclusive to education. More students may qualify for this than IDEA because the student’s disability does not have to be adversely affecting her/his educational performance. However, because it is a civil rights law, Section 504 is not funded by federal grant program, although states can lose federal financial assistance by not complying with it.
Secondly, Section 504 includes impairment of educational abilities but is not exclusive to them. It includes any person who “has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities" whereas IDEA specifies thirteen types of disabilities: Autism, Deafness, Deaf-Blindness, Hearing Impairment, Mental Retardation, Multiple Disabilities, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Serious Emotional Disturbance, Specific Learning Disability, Speech or Language Impairment, Traumatic Brain Injury and Visual Impairment including Blindness. This means that students with ADHD, behavior problems, drug and alcohol abuse and other conditions can qualify under Section 504 where they would not under IDEA.
Third, IDEA requires that a school provide an IEP for students that fall under the legislation whereas Section 504 requires only an “Accommodation Plan.” This means that there are not as many safeguards for students and their parents under Section 504.
Lastly, Section 504 requires only that parents be notified where IDEA requires parental participation,
As a classroom teacher, I will be responsible for attending meetings for both Section 504 and IDEA students, and to implement the plans developed for either type of student. I will have to monitor progress, and stay in contact regularly with the case manager and parents. The specific duties at the IDEA meetings have already been detailed in the previous section. Either way I will have to try to help implement a Least Restricted Environment (LRE).
There are many benefits to an LRE. It exposes students to an environment closer to the one they will need to deal with in their real life. The students will also have the regular students as role models, although I personally have my doubts at just how good of role models many of them might be. LRE students experience greater challenges in a regular classroom and they will be able to develop social skills they will need to be successful in the larger community and in a work environment.
Along with the benefits come many cautions. The first is that you cannot forget the forest for the trees. Although teachers should include the alternative activities needed for LRE, they cannot forget the regular and academically talented students and be sure that they are also challenged. Pacing the class for all groups is extremely difficult, but important.
Among other issues, teacher training, financing and in-service sessions to allow teachers to accommodate these students is not always available. There may also be complaints from parents of regular students, who do not want the LRE students in class with their own children. Assessment of the students in an environment that includes multiple levels is difficult. And there are always the cases where no matter how unrestrictive the environment, some students will not learn.
QUESTION 3
The four types of disabilities most prevalent in schools today are Learning Disabilities, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual Impairment and Emotional Disabilities.
Many characteristics define Learning Disabilities (LD). They are many types of learning disabilities so it is difficult to define them under a generalized list. The fact that they are varied is actually one of the characteristics that define them. Students with learning disabilities may also have other social and behavioral problems. Learning disabilities occur over the entire course of people’s lives. Learning disabilities come from inside the person, and are mostly like caused by a central nervous system dysfunction. And lastly, it is possible for a learning disability to come from poor instruction.
Learning disabled students must be taught how to acquire and store information as well as how to express and demonstrate their understand of it. Recommended methods to do this include teaching students word identification, paraphrasing, solving math word problem and using maps in acquiring information; first letter mnemonic, listening and not-taking in remembering information and sequence writing, error monitoring, test taking and participating in their own IEP meetings to learn how to demonstrate their learning.
There are many ways to implement inclusion with learning disabled students. For those LD students who cannot seem to focus on an independent project and cause disruptions in the class, a teacher might want to set up a behavior management plan, then pair the student with a peer tutor who has been shown how to work the LD student within the plan. For students who do not have proper social skills and may misinterpret other students’ behavior, a school counselor or resource teacher may need to be called in to consult on ways to teach the LD student proper social skills, and once more, a peer tutor may be able to work with the student to help reinforce the behavior. For LD students whose work is inconsistent or usually of poor quality, the teacher might want to give them extra time to complete assignments and consult with a Special Education teacher to learn other teaching strategies. For LD students who give up easily, the teacher could provide reward systems and be given some tasks that are easily accomplished to learn that they can actually accomplish things, and in this case, the LD students themselves could become peer tutors to younger students in areas where they can show their own successes.
Specific accommodations and modifications for LD students could include some items already mentioned such as allowing extra time on assignments and assigning peer tutors for them. Other accommodations might include giving more “hands-on” assignments; chunking of the lesson to break it down into more manageable piece; sitting them close to the front of the class, and not just for visual impairments but to keep them close to the teacher; giving oral directions; and many more. The teacher can also use alternative assessment with LD students including checklists to allow them to proof their own work before turning it in; testing them in smaller groups to reduce stress; keep index cards to block out the lesson and give practice tests beforehand.
Students with AD/HD generally have problems with concentration and impulse control. There are three basic types of AD/HD, Hyperactive, or those with excessive, chronic energy and movement; Inattentive, those who move and respond too slowly, and finally those students who exhibit some of each behavior. The hyperactive students are ones who are unable to sit still, talk out and do not play quietly, where the inattentive ones are the spacey daydreamers who stare into space and appear apathetic and sluggish. Those with the combined type, who display symptoms of both hyperactive and inattentive, comprise up to 85% of the AD/HD students. These kids are also very creative and imaginative.
AD/HD can be highly successful and high achievers but they also repeat grades, get suspended and drop out of school in unusually high numbers When teaching AD/HDn students Exceptional Lives suggests that the teacher remember seven key words to help them increase learning: relevance, novelty, variety, choices, activity, challenge and feedback. Though these are things to think about in lesson planning with any student, they are particularly important with AD/HD students. Those students must see how a lesson is relevant to their lives. Having varied lessons and differing ways of teaching the same concept will help them retain the information and giving the students choices of assignments empowers them. Using demonstrations, interactive lessons and performances help learning retention because of the activity included.
Accommodations for AD/HD students can be very similar to LD students, in giving extra time for assignments, study buddies and peer tutors. Other ideas include assigning fewer homework problems and requiring fewer correct answers for a letter grade for those with inattention; and ignoring minor bad behavior, immediate rewards for good behavior and time-outs for impulsive types. Praise for good behavior, good work and good social interaction help by giving positive attention so that the student does not reach out for negative attention as often. Assessment for these students is basically tied in to the teaching strategies with the lesser number of problems on homework, fewer correct answers for a letter grade, and methods that are adapted to the particular student.
Characteristics of Intellectual Impairment (II), or Mental Retardation include an IQ score at or below 70 to 75; impaired ability to decide what is important or unimportant in the information they input; and a difficult time keeping on task. These students have a more difficult time remembering things, applying what they learn to other tasks, and as a result of all the other problems, have a more difficult time communicating, and lower motivation to learn since they have failed so often.
Teaching strategies for II students is to have an alternate track for them when they are included in regular classes. The final aim for these students is to teach them skills for success in life, work and play after they leave school, to help them be independent and self-reliant. It is important to work closely with students’ families and special education teachers in optimize the learning environment for them. Including them in peer age group homerooms will help make sure they are included in school field trips and other activities. Teachers can also model behavior for students, showing them how to respect another student’s personal space, for example; give alternatives to undesirable activities and maintain high expectations even with altered curriculum.
Altered curriculum is one of the main modifications that can be used for II students. With the aid of the Special Education teacher, lessons that parallel the subject matter but are at the student’s learning level. These lessons should be altered using “authentic learning”, tying the lesson to the skills the student will need in every day life. For example, changing a science lesson into one that will allow the student to learn how to pour a pitcher.
Emotional Disabilities (ED), like LD, are varied and individualized. Generally ED students have disabilities that cannot be categorized under any other label. The main types of ED are Anxiety including Phobias, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive and panic disorders; Mood, including depression and bipolar disorders; Oppositional/Defiant, which is characterized by hostile, disobedient and defiant behaviors; Conduct, which includes antisocial behavior that interferes with their lives; and Schizophrenia, which includes students who have hallucinations, delusions, withdrawal and disconnection with reality.
The main instruction technique recommended for ED students is Applied Behavioral Instruction (ABA) which includes controlling behavior with consequences; strengthening it with both positive and negative reinforcement; consistent consequences including punishment; and modeling. The aim is to weaken the inappropriate behaviors to the point of “extinction.”
Accommodations could include peer mediation, allowing ED students time to calm down when there is bad behavior rather than immediately sending the student to the office. Peer tutoring can be used to teach interaction.
QUESTION 4
The Present Level of Educational Performance (PLEP) page summarizes the IEP student's achievement in evaluated areas. It includes student's strengths, and ongoing concerns and needs. The results of any assessments, reports from home and classroom, will be included for Health & Development, Academic, Social, Motor, and Communication skills as well as Vocation and Daily Living activities. All of these assessments should be specific, measurable and objective. For example, a student might be assessed as having current math skill Strengths in being able to add two digit numbers, but in weaknesses be unable to figure the numbers to add in a word problem. Or a student may have strengths in being Artistic, but not have Writing skills. The end result of that assessment may be to try to give the student more assignments where the output is drawn rather than written.
The Goals and Objectives page of the IEP describes what the student being evaluated can be expected to accomplish within the next year, for specific areas of need. For example, William is a third grade student who frequently answers questions out of turn and gets angry when anyone else is called on when he knows the answer. A measurable goal for this would be that William will raise his hand when want to answer, and accept that the teacher will not always call on him.
Transition Planning is meant to keep in mind the student’s transition from school to adult life. It begins annually after the student’s 13th birthday. Transition plans try to keep students following a course that will keep them in school that will ready them for employment or post-high school education and ready them to live independently. The students are always invited to their own transition planning meetings. For example, if a student with disabilities wants to go to college, finding out about the college’s application procedures and find out what accommodations the college might make for her particular disabilities.
Special Education Services define the actual number of hours students will spend in special education classes versus the time they will spend with students who don’t have disabilities. This details who is responsible for implementing the particular Special education or related service, what the service is, for example social skills or communication, and how many hours per week will be spent on it. It also details the goal of the service, whether the student will end up in a Regular Classroom, Resource/Related Service room, Self-contained classroom or a community based activity. An example of this a student who currently spends five hours a week with a Special Education teacher on mathematics, but the final goal is to have the student in an inclusion class with regular students.
Testing Accommodations details for which, if any, areas of the standardized tests required by the state and federal government, the student will need to be accommodated and what that accommodation will be. For example, the student might be taking the 6th grade CMT and need to be in a quiet room to take all of her tests, and also need time extensions. This would take a lot of pressure off some kids who could not deal with the pressure of the timed exam in a room full of other children.
As a future math teacher, one of the learning disabilities I worry about is a student who has discalculia. Math is a skill that accumulates over the grades. Quite literally, it is a second language. So not only will I have to deal with the immediate lesson but making sure each lesson’s material is maintained and accumulated. My goal for this student would be present material in a way it will be understood by this student. There are many strategies I have found for this. With the help of a special education teacher I would try the following techniques.
Like most other learning, using examples that would relate to their real life is always useful. For this student, using concrete examples that may include pictures, physical models, and computer games. Perhaps an aide could help the student with the concepts using the computer while other students did the same exercises on paper. An aide or special education teacher could spend extra time outside of class working on the basic concepts and putting them together, helping the student to see the building blocks upon which the concepts are based and also to go over the next day’s lesson so the student would have a “preview” of what was going to happen. The in class aide could also help the student write down the concepts Attitude would be important also, to never assume that the student does not want to learn, and that she is trying to get out of doing the work. Always assume she wants to do it and try to provide methods to make that happen.