San Bernardino City Unified School District

Prior to 1975, students with disabilities had limited educational options, as most children either attended a private school at the expense of their parents or did not attend a school at all, resulting in the child remaining in the home setting (Lloyd & Llody, 2015). The desire for equal treatment and acceptance are components sought by students with MSD, their families, and advocates within the field of special education. Although severe cognitive deficits can impact typical awareness, some individuals with a severe disability recognize the notion they may be viewed differently from the general public. FAPE ensures access to learning spaces for children with MSD, thus a free public education is provided at no cost to the family. In addition, a continuum of service options is considered by an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team when determining a public school districts offer of FAPE, which is to be provided in the least restrictive environment (Yell, Katsiyannis, Ryan, McDuffe & Mattocks, 2008).

The LAUSD is the second largest in the nation with more than 640,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, covering over 900 schools, and 187 public charter schools. The LAUSD is committed to equity and access to excellent education and schools for all of its 640,000 students. To realize its mission, the LAUSD identified five strategies including the following: (1) Transform teaching and learning so that it can prepare all youth to graduate college and become workforce ready (2) Ensure there is an effective employee at every level of the organization focused on improving student outcomes (3) Provide a portfolio of high quality schools for youth, families, and communities (4) Ensure a safe, caring, and nurturing environment for all youth (5) Operate on an effective, efficient, and transparent organization in order to assure the public trust (‘District Strategies’, 2015). The LAUSD operates based on the following core beliefs: start with students; families are our partners; success is in the classroom; diversity is our strength; and effective teaching, leadership, and accountability are the keys to our success (‘LAUSD Core Beliefs’, 2015).

The participants selected for this study will consist of both male and females 18 years or older. Specific ethic background is not a criterion in participant selection, therefore will not play a role in participant recruitment. Only individuals who have worked in or with the informal class reassignment program at Carmack Elementary will be selected to participate in this study. Carmack Elementary is a public elementary school, which is part of the San Bernardino City Unified School District. The San Bernardino City Unified School District is identified as a large public school district and is located within Southern California. Participants selected for this study will consist of special education teachers and special education school personnel.

As the contemporaneous society becomes a less safe place due to events such as natural calamities or man made disasters (e.g. shootings), the schools must adapt and become better able to manage crises situations. And recognizing this need, the state regulators provide their financial and counseling support for the implementation of more adequate emergency management plans.

Students with special needs need deserve the same education general education students are presented with. The philosophy of “ Disability Inclusion” concentrates on creating a safe, loving, and effective learning environment for students who suffer from physical, learning, and behavioral disabilities. When a student with disabilities is placed in the same environment as a non-disabled student, the results show wonderful improvement. When we are able to discover the strength of the student we are able to see just how much the student can improve in an inclusion classroom. Disability Inclusion not only sets a new beginning for an equal education of special education students, but it allows for more interaction with the child, and a more hands-on assessment.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) identify expectations of what the students will be able to achieve by the end of the school year. The standards provide teachers and curriculum developers the opportunity to use their best findings and available tools to meet these ends (California Department of Education, 2013). The reader needs to understand that the teaching principles implemented by individuals who received extensive training in college-based teacher training programs in order to understand how the CCSS identifies and supports According to Artiles (2003) the Individual with Disability Act (IDEA) 1990 changed the classroom structure in the united states dramatically in the past thirty years. The refinement of the special education

There are many debates that go on in the field of special education today. One of the major debates is whether students with disabilities should be fully included in “regular” classrooms with students without disabilities, or if they should be provided with a continuum of services, where they are provided with a variety of services that may fit their individual needs. While there is many arguments for both sides, I believe that the continuum of services model is the most effective for students with disabilities. I believe this is more effective because no student with disabilities is exactly the same. Each student can vary in disability and have a different variation of skills.

In our district, 17% of students are diagnosed with a disability. The State is looking to see this number be around 12%. We identify a very high number of students as being disabled, and it has contributed to significant scheduling challenges in the CSI department due to the high student population needing support services.

Observations at Columbia High School were collected in the Student Services department for 9th and 10th graders in the Huntsville City Schools (HCS) district. Students enrolled in this self-contained, special needs unit are supported by a curriculum design with prevocational transition targets. These exceptional learners work toward benchmark academic, behavioral, and vocational skills development.

The purpose of this Family and Community Engagement Assessment is to analyze my school’s current family and community engagement efforts as related to students with disabilities. When considering the NCLB subgroups, it is important to note that my school does not have any students that receive free lunch or would be considered economically disadvantaged. However, we have a considerably large, growing population of students that are categorized as disabled. 20% of our students have a disability, and this is a frequently discussed topic in my district, due to the number getting larger in recent years, implying that this target group of students are struggling academically at higher and higher rates (State of New Jersey Department of Education, 2014). Although the definition of a disabled student can be broad, the majority of our disabled students are those that have Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) due to learning disabilities and receive related special education services of some sort. Our student learning problem involves very large class sizes in special education, including students with a wide range of ability levels.

When two or more people work together to achieve a common goal they form a collaborative team. With collaborative teaming student with a disability can be included in a general education environment. Collaborative teaming glue inclusive schools together by serving all students despite their abilities. In collaborative teaming special educational programs are planned and implemented to support individual students (King-Sear et al., 2015). Mrs. Smith and her paraeducator will fill many functions of an inclusive program such as facilitating social interaction among the students. As a team the two teachers will assist each other in the reduction of barriers in practicing inclusive programs, encourage each other, building a strong peer support as well as designing a well-coordinated plan to ease student translation between classes, grade school, college and job and in embedding related services in the school day.

The idea of children with disabilities, whether they be mild or severe has been a very controversial and misunderstood topic. In the past inclusion has brought about huge changes for not only the students, but also the parents and families of these children, and staff at schools. Teachers and education professionals were the first to really feel the wrath and intimidation of this dramatic shift in education. There were several different factors that were coming about that made it very difficult for schools and teachers, the unorganized mandates were strict and didn’t allow much time for change. “President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) into law in 1975. Since the original passage of the EAHCA, the law has been amended four times and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)” (Conroy, Yell, Katsiyannis, & Collins, 2010, para.1).

For years children with special needs were ushered off to separate classes and schools. Children with special needs have the right to attend classes with their same aged peers in the same classroom with support. Students with special needs deserve the same opportunities they would have if circumstances were different. Inclusion gives those students with special needs the chance to be part of the community; able to form relationships outside of the family unit. All students benefit from inclusion; students with disabilities develop social skills and develop friendships while non-disabled students learn tolerance and acceptance.

The key to any successful school district is the administration. Teachers essentially provide structure, organization, and the background of a child’s future. To educate students with learning disabilities, it is essential that the staff has the training and resources needed for the appropriate people, place, and time (Lazarus) (What is Inclusion, 2001, n.p). It is unrealistic to expect that regular education teachers will always be aware of the latest research or be able to readily adapt the school's

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with disabilities should be placed in a “least restrictive environment.” One of the main ideas of this act was to improve the learning experiences of students with disabilities by giving them learning opportunities outside of a special education classroom. The number of students with disabilities being placed in their general education classrooms is increasing more and more each year. The U.S Department of Education’s 27th annual report to Congress on the implementation of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2005) indicates that the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms has risen to almost 50 percent. This is about a 17 percent increase from the 1997 U.S