Special Education Norms

A stereotype that is often associated with special education is that its only for students with a severe disability. Special Education is for all disabled children no matter how severe or the need for the special education services. This stereotype often leads faculty and others to misclassify or inappropriately place students in a special education program. Another stereotype is that special education can only be performed in a “special” classroom with other students with a disability. Being placed in special education doesn’t mean that the student needs to be restricted from the other students without a disability. Children with a disability should be educated in general education classrooms with typical peers as much as possible. As teachers,

Students with special needs should be placed into specialized schools so they are able to receive individualized learning. If they are in a classroom specific to their needs, they are able to receive much needed attention. In order to receive the optimal level of attention that is needed, schools would have to consider reducing class sizes or hiring multiple teachers for one classroom so more help would be readily available for these disabled students. Corwin argues that today’s schools offer a general curriculum and that they should convert to a specialized system. He states that students of various backgrounds, ethnicities, IQ scores, and physical, emotional, and mental disabilities should not all be placed in the same classroom because students learn in diverse ways and at different paces. Further, it is necessary for teachers to become specialized in certain areas in order to effectively teach students with special needs (Corwin).

Education is a very complex and evolving process. Today, teaching entails educating a diverse population according to their unique individual needs. Schools are comprised of individuals with different races, beliefs, cultures, values, languages, social statues, etc. While considering both the historical and preset-day issues, I am able to see many parallels between racial integration in schools and integration of students with disabilities.

The Education system in America has had a lot of improvement over the years. Given

Teaching students with exceptional abilities requires funding, training and planning. Being in a regular classroom with children from various cultures, ethnic backgrounds and intellectual ability help students learn how to work together toward a common goal: reduce discrimination and stereotyping people with physical and mental limitations. Instructional strategies that break the work down so everyone learns better can improve education as well as reduce cost. This is achieved by including special education students in environments that will allow them to develop normal social interactions as well as receive specific attention to their learning needs. ("What is Special Education”)

Therefore, it would be unproductive to attempt to persuade the audience, because they do not have the influence or power to bring about change. It would be in the speaker’s best interest to simply inform the audience about his or her topic. A more specific purpose would be to inform the audience of the benefits of special education for gifted students, such as the benefits of supplemental curriculum for the students, specialized educators working closely with the students, and long term influences of the classes on the

However, public schools have become the punching bag for special education students as the growing percentage of these students has put a hardship on other students, educators, and school districts overall. There is no correct answer for solving the issue of social injustice for this group of students. Although, districts, families, and students can take the time to communicate and understand the plans that are in place to make all students feel welcome in a classroom. It all starts with one student motivation, and one educator that can see that motivation and act on

I have had the opportunity to work with students in both the sub-separate and general education classroom to enhance students learning through their least restrictive environment. The working and teaching experience has allowed me to carry out the dedication that the Special Education program has for the students with disabilities in the current school system. I have been able to help students achieve educational success through providing a safe-learning environment for all students and helping students assessing curriculum and reach their full potential by promoting and supporting students diverse learning

The special education program was introduced through the Individuals with Disabilities Information Act (IDEA) that allowed programs to help the mentally disabled. Disproportionate representation of student’s due to culturally different backgrounds of students in the special education program is on the rise, specifically people of color such as Hispanic and African American students. “Diversity is at the heart of inclusion” is what is strived for in the educational setting, yet isn’t always achieved. Disproportional representation of minorities in special education is increasing.

Full inclusion classrooms hinder the disabled students’ abilities by making the students feel isolated, causing lower grades, and lacking the proper help the students need to succeed. These disadvantages and the support used proves that the segregated classroom allow the special needs students to focus and the general students to not be distracted as well. With the students undivided attention, the students’, in excluded classrooms, grades improve greatly. As more people know about full inclusion, there is more of a chance to keep it out of school systems everywhere.

Each school, because of government mandate, has to provide services for exceptional students. The textbook Human Diversity in Education defines exceptional students as “those eligible for special educational services” (Cushner, McClelland & Safford, 2011). There are several categories for exceptional student but they all fall under the Ability/Disability continuum. Some of the categories for exceptional students are the: intellectually gifted, specific learning disability, emotionally handicapped, hearing impaired, visually impaired, mentally handicapped, and physically handicapped. In this paper the specific type of students that will be discussed, fall under the disabled side of the continuum. As one can see from the list above there

The need to reform the special education system is a topic agreed on across the board by scholars, but they do not all agree on the same aspects needing to be reformed. Baldwin, Baum, Pereles, & Hughes concentrate their research in developing a single accepted definition for twice-exceptional students. The authors created a timeline of what they consider the development of the history of twice exceptionality. The authors argue critics of Twice-Exceptional students do not accept the existence of a group of students gifted and disabled because there is not substantial proof (Baldwin, Baum, Pereles, & Hughes, 2015, p.211). The authors examine different approaches for establishing a unified solution to the gap in the education of twice-exceptional students. The premise of the author’s arguments are based on the acceptances of gifted students and disabled students, but not both combined. The revision of IDEA in 2004 began to open the door for the acceptance of the twice-exception field. “Significantly, the mention of students with disabilities who may also have gifts and talents was noted for the first time in the priorities for funding” (Baldwin, Baum, Pereles, & Hughes, 2015, p. 210). The authors use legal, educational and social lens when establishing their arguments. VanTassel-Baska’s focus is much the same as the previous authors. VanTassel-Baska examines the history of twice-exceptional students. The author suggests, “That gifted education policy is not coherent across the country, is controlled by state legislatures, and subject to annual scrutiny for continued and new funding” (VanTassel-Baska, 2018 p. 98). The author stresses the lack of coherence across the United States. The author suggests the issues surrounding twice-exceptional students are left to state level policy, therefore differ. The author further argues

Within the past decades and a big discussion has occurred regarding the most appropriate setting within which to provide education for students in special education. Although the change in the educational environment is significant for handicapped student the concepts of inclusion also bring up new issues for the regular education classroom teachers.

Separate special education provides no guarantee of success for children who need special attention. Students with special needs may fail to conform to the expectations of school and society, (Carter, Lewis, & Wheeler 2017) Inclusion may present issues for teachers that do not possess the skills to make it work. Teachers must collaborate with a team of professional to plan and implement instruction for students in an inclusive environment. Students without disabilities could begin to see the students with disabilities as a distraction in the class depending on the needs of the student with disabilities.

Throughout my years at Lehigh, I have proclaimed that I have a passion to teach, to show students that mathematics is not difficult, and that they are able to understand mathematics. However, when it came to special education students, my philosophy changed, due to their learning disability. I was ignorant to the special education movement of inclusion, because I feared the idea of teaching students who were not “normal”.