Special Education For School Leaders

Under IDEA the law mandates the student to have an IEP team. The parent is encouraged to be a part of their child learning

Special education programs and services are available in many school and are fast growing. In a high school, a principal named Debbie Young has been presented with a situation with the parents of a special education student. Mrs. Young has been a special education teacher and assistant principal in a progressive and affluent school district in the South. Mrs. Young was approached by the parents of Jonathan a severely disabled tenth grader whose parents want him to attend one of the schools in the district. He is profoundly mentally disabled, has spastic quadriplegia, and has a seizure disorder. Mrs. Young refuses his parent’s request because of the huge expenses and the school is not an appropriate place for Jonathan.

Inclusion can be defined as the act of being present at regular education classes with the support and services needed to successfully achieve educational goals. Inclusion in the scholastic environment benefits both the disabled student and the non-disabled student in obtaining better life skills. By including all students as much as possible in general or regular education classes all students can learn to work cooperatively, learn to work with different kinds of people, and learn how to help people in tasks. “As Stainback, Stainback, East, and Sapon-Shevin (1994) have noted, ‘...the goal of inclusion in schools is to create a world in which all people are knowledgeable about and supportive of all other

Productive and successful IEP meetings require careful preparation on the part of all stakeholders. Guardians who arrive at their kids IEP meeting without have not have not done their assignment risk beforehand end up leaving the room without a full understanding of what they agreed to. In order to participate fully and confidently in the IEP meeting, guardians must be informed about the process, know details well, and in possession of all the information needed to make the best decisions regarding their kid. We must keep in mind that the focus is on the kid's needs, not the district's resources or the guardian's expectations.

Inclusion, in the world of education, is an approach or teaching strategy that focuses on including students with disabilities in the general education setting. The goal of inclusion is to educate students who may struggle with a variety of disabilities. The views on inclusion differ. Some educators are very receptive to the ideals of inclusion and all that it in tells. “The teachers (a) had favorable views of the concept of inclusion; (b) differed in their efficacy in achieving successful inclusion, and (c) faced challenges in their inclusive practices” (Hodge, Ammah, Casebolt, LaMaster, Hersman, Samalot-Rivera, & Sato 2009, 402). Some educators believe that it takes away from student learning for the non-disabled student. Jana Kratochvílová states: teacher have to address the fundamental question: how to most effectively organize the learning process for a diverse community of pupils within the class and therefore he needs to think through the possibilities of internal differentiation in the organizational aspect” (Kratochvílová 2015, 640). It is true, not all students with disabilities can be included in a general education classroom successfully. The student’s placement may require reevaluation in order to help provide the student with the best opportunity to succeed. Reevaluating the staff and their level of understanding and education concerning inclusion may increase the changes for a student to be successful. The staff should not

In the article The overrepresentation of African American students in special education, Fanion (2010) suggests some of Georgia’s public schools are struggling when it comes to the placement of minorities in special education (Fanion, 2010). Fanion (2010) suggests African American students still are placed in special education more than any other students in Georgia Public Schools. Georgia’s data shows African American students are more likely than any other minority group to be placed in special education and labeled with behavior and learning disabilities (Fanion, 2010).

They state they are unhappy with the current behavior plan and request that the school access their plan and make appropriate adjustments. The IEP team should be accepting of the parents' input and consider using a family centered approach where “professionals encourage the families to make their own choices” (book). This model can lead to a professional level of interaction among families and the IEP team. It can also lead to a dynamic and productive meeting now and in the future, since the parents feel that their input is being valued. Without this approach, the parents and school may begin dispute each other’s ideas, limiting the progress made during their

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.

Faced with the challenge of finding a sign language interpreter for a new student in her school, a principal must consider three conflicts. The first being the fact that sign language has thousands of “dialects, languages, and sign systems,” so how do you choose one? The second conflict is that interpreters come from all different backgrounds and learn their skills separately, so not every interpreter has all the training you might be looking for. Lastly, rates differ by every interpreter or agency, and the one you may be looking to hire might not be available for you when you need them. However, not all states have guidelines on if the interpreter must be certified or not, so the principal should check with the government and if being certified is not a requirement than the school should adopt its own policy.

Special Education is a topic of controversy with many advocates fighting for the justice children and adults with special needs so rightfully deserve. With laws being passed and modified so frequently, it is important that the educators being brought into the world have an extensive knowledge of the developmental needs of many different types of children. With this knowledge and their constant measures to keep up to date with the fast-moving world of education, they will be able to deliver an appropriate atmosphere that is in accordance with the law that ensures ethical practices and guidelines are always being followed.

Kevin is an eleven year old fifth grade student who’s been receiving special education services for his reading from his special education teacher, Mr. Wernicke, for the past 3 years. However, this year Kevin’s IEP team recommended he be provided special education services in his regular classroom. Kevin’s regular education teacher Mrs. Verlo is excited about the collaboration. However, Mr. Wernicke opposes the idea.

As a professional our job is to make sure that every student has access to an equal to an equal education regardless of their needs, religious, ethnic, or racial origin. Apparently we have a student that is not receiving the treatment that they are obligated to receive by law. This is why it is imperative that we implement an action plan better suites the student and make sure that he has access to the optimal learning experience possible. To make this an enhanced environment, we have included the students in the decision making process to fully engage them.

Provide Assistance with children who have an IEP It is understood that when a parent is worried or concerned for their Child’s academic performance they contact the school to set up a meeting with the school's child study team. A child study team consists of a psychologist, a learning disabilities consultant and social worker. From that point on they will discuss the needs that would be better suited for the child’s academic performance. For instance, the social worker along with the child study team must follow certain guidelines set by law and must be included in every Child’s IEP. For this reason it must state the Child’s performance in school during the present term, it must also include educational goals, including the support and services that the school will provide to help each student meet these goals, it also includes modifications and the accommodations to help with their progress, accommodations when taking standardized tests, and a report of how and when the school will measure the child’s progress toward annual goals, and the transition planning that prepares for life after high school. (Stanberry, 2017)

Twenty year veteran teacher, whom we will call Mrs. H., has been told that her classroom is soon to be mainstreamed with learning disabled students. Mrs. H is not very agreeable to this idea, yet she knows that she has to accept it as part of her current position as educator. Principal G has been approached by the parents of the learning disabled with complaints that the students in Mrs. H class are not being

The main conflicting issue that has given rise to this research topic is that inclusion of students with special needs is not a consistent practice