Eliminating Grade Level Content For Students With Significant Cognitive Disabilities

Every student has a right to receive a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in a least restricted environment (LRE). An education is a right not a privilege, with that in mind, a student with a disability should be given the opportunity to begin their educational journey in the general education classroom. What if the their journey can not be achieved in the general education setting? Administrators, teachers, and all Individual Education Plan (IEP) team members must give reason as to why the LRE will not be effective and constitutes the main subject of discussion in the IEP meeting.

The right of entry to education resources is more than uncomplicated admission to a college. The right to use means to provide students with the devices they will need to be victorious in higher learning. Students with a recognized disability ought to be no omission. In reality, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, “ensure that all qualified persons have equal access to education regardless of the presence of any disability.” Objective replacement, class waivers, and revision of classroom management, testing and course necessities are all illustrations of behavior to supply access for the learner with a disability. A break down to the creation of such practical adjustments can place schools in breach of federal and state statutes, ensuing expensive fines.

Rules, regulations, and federal laws for special education have improved as the years have gone by. This essay will indicate how educators teaching special education must comprehend the mandates of the Individual with Disability Act (IDEA), student and parental rights. This essay will also explain how court cases (past and present) and IDEA has given special education students the ability to receive a Free Appropriate Education (FAPE). My interview with Ms. Patricia Pritchett, Coordinator of Special Education in DeKalb County School District, was able to give me information and guidelines in reference to their county procedures and policies for the special education department. The interview with Ms. Pritchett gave me insight as to special education legal framework and how the constant changes that affects students with disabilities and regular education students.

Prior to 1975, no federal requirements existed for students with disabilities to attend school, or requirements for schools to attempt to teach students with disabilities (Salvia, Yesseldyke, & Bolt, 2013, p. 25). However, upon the enactment of several federal laws, such as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB), student with disabilities received access to free, appropriate public education which in turned required students with disabilities to participate in statewide assessments. According to Public Law 94-142 (now included in IDEA), it requires an individual education program (IEP) for students with disabilities. As part of the IEP, it contains items such as present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, measurable annual goals, criteria of progress, special education and related services as well as documenting any necessary accommodations needed for statewide assessments. The author provides a comparison of statewide assessments including items such as participation, accommodations and types of assessments between the states of Texas and Massachusetts.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA) mandates that “to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not disabled”, and stipulates that “special classes, separate schools, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the disability of a child is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily” (IDEIA, P.L. 108-446 [Sec. 612 (a)(5)(A)], 2004). Likewise, the No Child Left

All qualified students with disabilities living inside of the school district area are entitled to a “free and appropriate education”. To be appropriate the educational program must be designed to meet the individual needs of the student, as outlined in their IEP, to the same

Information about current educational performance and how the disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general curriculum (TEKS).

Some people may think that special education has been established since the beginning of public education. Others may consider a time when special education did not exist and students with disabilities were not able to attend school. The truth is, there was a time when this happened; these students were not allowed to be educated in the general education classroom alongside their peers. People with disabilities were treated differently, and some were forced into institutions because teachers and staff found them to be disturbances to their peers. Luckily, special education has come a long way since public education began. People, especially parents, advocated for their children, and today many laws are in place to ensure that all children

Cagney (2009) stated that the United States government funding for teaching students with disabilities is reliant on the consistency of states and school regions to maintain and convey through the substantive and procedural provisions of the legislation. These arrangements can be separated into the eight subcategories that take after: (a) zero reject, (b) ID and assessment, (c) free and suitable open instruction, (d) minimum prohibitive condition, (e) procedural shields, (f) innovation related help, (g) workforce improvement, and (h) parental interest (Cagney, 2009).

Parents and educators are unsatisfied by the governments attempt to prioritize, teaching students with severe disabilities, the general curriculum standards over functional skills curriculum. A researcher re-states a parents comments on the influence of the general standards impact on the functional progression of her child, “My son can identify Saturn but he still can’t request a snack or even wipe his ass.” Parents would like a curriculum that focuses on meeting the students’ independency with life skills rather than academic curricula. This has pushed parents to take charge of

In regards to educational impact of the impairments, students with severe disabilities have the ability to learn (Snell and Brown, 2011). On the end of the spectrum some educators believe while the purported goal of the Common Core is success for all students. But success for all requires openness towards cognitive diversity, and isn’t so easily standardized, especially for students with special needs and severe disabilities (Beals,

In the article, A Common-Core Challenge: Learners with Special Needs, the article outlines the proposed plans and conflicts associated with a common core assessment in education. The article highlights the struggles of reaching students within a regular classroom with diversity, then divides into the accommodations and modifications needed to give the same assessment to a student with a disability. With the introduction of Common Core and Smarter Balance, general assessments have become the norm to track a student and a teacher’s progress. Many teachers are struggling with the accommodations needed and not compromising the assessment. Some accommodations questioned in the article are communication devices and being able to read portions to a visually impaired student. Both sides believe that the accommodations can compromise

Standard based educational services for our societies students has transformed through the years. The establishment of the National Governor’s Association set of common core standards (CCS) has gained widespread attention according to Allman and Lewis (556). Within this shift, general education teachers and teachers of students with disabilities are being held more accountable for their student’s growth and knowledge. These standards have been adopted and implemented throughout our nation in order for our youth to be better prepared for higher learning once they

1. The selection of instructional approaches for students with disabilities will vary depending on the needs of individual students. Based on the articles you selected to read for this module, your own professional experience, and the information you’ve been collecting for your curriculum design project, develop your own personal comprehensive summary of what you believe to be best practice for curriculum and instruction in special education. Where does fidelity of implementation fall into your summary?

In 1974 a law mandating that children and youth aged 3 to 21 with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate public-school education. The law originally was the Education of All Handicapped Children Act which later was changed to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA). The purpose of special education is to provide specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings; and instruction in physical education” (IDEA, 2004). Nevertheless, the guidelines and regulations that define disabilities are on a state by state basis.