The Importance Of Special Education

The IEP is created by a group of individuals who play an important role in the student’s success. Those that should be involved in the creation of the IEP are the parents of the students, at least one regular education teacher of the student, at least one special education teacher, a representative of the LEA who is able to supervise the plans, someone who is able to interpret evaluation results (may be someone already on the team), any other person who has knowledge about the student, and whenever possible, the student with the disability (Gibb & Dyches, 2016). The evaluation results will be used to decide the child’s eligibility for special education and related services and to make decisions about an appropriate educational program for the child. Once the student is tested and determined eligible for services the IEP must be written.

The amount of people who live with disabilities is a controversial number. Depending on what law and diagnostic tools used, a person may have a visible disability, or one that may lie beneath the surface of his or her appearance. Some people believe that the term “disability” is merely a label use to hold back, or prescribe helplessness. Meanwhile, individuals who have been properly diagnosed with disabilities struggle to maintain respect and acceptance every day. In plain language, there is a lot of misunderstanding between people with disabilities and those without. It is firstly important to get everyone on the same page regarding the definition of disability.

The pros and cons of the inclusion of special education students in the public school system.

When Public Law 94-142 was passed in 1975 it had a positive impact on the education for children with disabilities. Millions of children in the United States were supported by the law. These children had previously been excluded entirely from the education system.

In 1991 the Public Law 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was replaced by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This law was passed to provide free and appropriate public education to every child with a disability. It requires that each child with a disability “have access to the program best suited to that child’s special needs which is as close as possible to a normal child’s educational program” (Martin, 1978). The Individualized education program (IEP) was developed to help provide a written record of students’ needs and procedures for each child that receives special education services. The IEP will list all the services to be provided, the student's performance level, academic performance, and

In what type of school do you teach? (Type an “X” next to the appropriate description; if “other” applies, provide a brief description.)

The IEP is intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise would. IEP is meant to ensure that students receive an appropriate placement, not "only" special education classrooms or special schools. It is meant to give the student a chance to participate in "normal" school culture and academics as much as is possible for that individual student. In this way, the student is able to have specialized assistance only when such assistance is absolutely necessary, and otherwise maintains the freedom to interact with and participate in the activities of his or her more general school peers. This program is very helpful for students because parents can work together with teachers to develop a plan, to help the student do better in school and to success in school. The IEP describes the goals the team sets for a child during the school year, as well as any special support needed to help achieve them.

Interviewing the special education supervisor has made me aware of how important my role is as a regular education teacher to special students who need additional support in my classroom. The goal of the teacher is to ensure that the IEP is followed to ensure the academic success of all students. IEP stands for Individual Education Plan and the plan is usually developed when students have several deficiencies in certain key subject areas such as: reading comprehension, basic reading, reading fluency, written expressions, math calculation, and math reasoning. Students are referred to the special education department usually in elementary school, additionally; according to the high school special education supervisor there are very few referrals

“The IEP, Individualized Education Program, is a document that is developed for each public school child who is eligible for special education” The IEP describes how the student learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning and what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more effectively. When developing an IEP the team will consider how their students specific disability affects their learning and come up with goals and objectives that will accommodate those needs and place the student in the least restrictive environment to achieve the goals and

Although knowledge provided by textbooks is essential, being able to receive advice from someone whose daily life is spent teaching and interacting with students with exceptionalities is also very valuable. When I asked for advice that would be helpful for new teachers who will work with students with special needs, I received a plethora of suggestions. Ms. Moos said that a new teacher needs to have high expectations for all students, including those with exceptionalities. She also said that it is important to keep in contact with special education teachers and the students’ parents. The one piece of advice that stood out to me was to no believe everything within an IEP. Ms. Moos said this with caution. She noted that the information provided within an IEP is important and useful, but if not read with proper thoughtfulness one may understand the student differently than they may be. To combat such a situation, Ms. Moos, first, recommended that we get to know the student first before we judge them based on their IEP. She also suggested that the circumstances in which the parts of the IEP were based on may be different than circumstances a student could currently be in. This piece of advice, along with tips, gave me a new perspective on approaching an IEP.

Individualized education programs are a key component in special education. An IEP lays out the goals and methods needed for helping special education students reach their potential. These legal documents insure that all students are getting the resources they need in an education setting. Brewer and Diliberto use their article to explain a family’s experience with the IEP process and then offer tips to the reader to make their IEP meetings more successful. Brewer and Diliberto begin by telling the story of a kindergarten boy with behavioral issues. The article states, “At the beginning of the Sam’s kindergarten year, his teacher started sharing concerns about his behavior with Ms. Payton. According to his teacher, Sam was not able to sit still and was eating erasers” (Brewer and Diliberto,

The IEP’s main focus is to ensure that the child has the same opportunity to be educated as his or her non-disabled peers (Price-Ellingstad, Reynolds, Ringer, Ryder, & Sheridan, 2000). An IEP is developed by the IEP team and takes into account the strengths of the child as well as parental concerns for enhancing the education of their child. It also provides the results of the child’s initial and/or most recent evaluation and the developmental, functional, and academic needs of the child (Price-Ellingstad et al., 2000). The plan must be reviewed at least annually to determine if goals are being met, but can be reviewed more often if the situation warrants. An IEP contains information about the child’s present level of academic achievement and functional performance, including how the disability affects the child’s participation in appropriate activities if appropriate. IEP services must be provided in the least restrictive environment (LRE) to support the child’s participation in the general education curriculum with his/her peers (Price-Ellingstad et al.,

After a student is identified with a disability, special education is provided. Special education is individulaized to meet the needs the student. It is fundamentally important that the plan is individualized, that is why educators, parents, and professionals develop an IEP for each student. To ensure that the student has a plan that will most benefit them, each IEP has eight components. The IDEA has six principles which are: zero-reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, appropriate education, least restrictive environment, parent and student participation, and procedural due process.

The United States has a very consistent process in which students are identified as qualifying for special education services. It starts with a parental consent to an assessment plan. Within 60 days of being given parental permission, assessments are completed and an Individualized Educational Program (IEP) meeting is held. During this meeting the results are presented to the IEP team. An IEP team consists of parent(s), an administrator, school psychologist, special education teacher, general education teacher, school nurse, and other services providers as needed. After all of the assessment reports are presented the team decides whether the child has a disability and if he or she qualifies for special education services.

Special education creates opportunities for students, parents, teachers and related staff and administrators to work together to improve educational results students with disabilities. IEPs and 504s are the plans that help educators to develop education for each student with disabilities. The IEP is an important legal document that handles issues in special education properly. There are so many rules that school personnel must follow. In this assignment, I will identify effective procedures for documentation and remediation of the teacher, her behaviors and the allegations about her regarding a special education student.