The Special Service Classroom At Coulter Grove Intermediate School

In elementary school, my classroom had students with and without disabilities, and we all shared the same space while working towards a common goal, but over time this diverse community diminished. This phenomenon of tracking and hierarchy of opportunity in education that I notice today is also responsible for creating an environment in which secondary special education is often a segregated locale, physically and socially removed from mainstream public schooling. I've witnessed Syracuse University push against this norm and challenge these boundaries time and time again, and I feel that before entering my own my classroom I want to address these issues of homogeneity and continue to build my tool box of inclusionary practices that extend past my current

The education of students with disabilities in school’s today is being shaped by two laws: the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) which is also known as the No Child Left Behind Act (McLaughlin, 2010). These laws were enacted to protect students with disabilities against inequity due to their disabilities, and allows for accommodations to their daily class curriculum. In the video Equity Focused School Counseling, Stuart Chen-Hayes discusses with administration his concerns that students with disabilities have come in discussing the same issues and wondered if he could teach these students as a group. Group therapy allows for a safe and confidential environment where members can work on problems they are facing as well as hearing different perspectives. Group members can enhance their self-awareness that can lead to relationship building. Social competence is a critical ingredient to emotional and physical well being in high school (Gysbers, 2009). Although, individual

Harry, B., & Klingner, J. K. (2006). Why are so many minority students in special education?: Understanding Race & Disability in Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

The purpose of the article’s introduction is to highlight the challenges that students from minority go through in special education schools. Linking his personal experiences as a former special educator, Connor strives to explore the intersection of learning disability, race, and class. The author collected data by conducting interviews with a participant researcher to get his side of the story. Connor planned to compare his LDs experiences with his own.

My service-learning practicum takes place in the community setting at Connaught Elementary School in St. Catharines. At Connaught, I am doing a one-on-one mentorship with a grade eight student to help her with her transition into high school. I am at the school twice a week for a half hour; however this position requires a lot of pre planning outside of the school, in order to effectively help her with her transition. My tasks include preparing different activities for each time I go into placement. Our first few weeks consisted of preparing a resume for my student so that in 2-3 years when it comes time that she starts applying to part-time jobs she has a resume already put together, which she can add things and take things away from. Along with resume preparation, we have done a job interview role-play where I am the interviewer and she is the interviewee. In this time, we have had fun days where she would make popcorn, with two other students, and sell it to other classmates. My student has had a lot of problems with a bully, and she has an issue of being assertive to other people- meaning she finds it difficult to state her opinions and she easily gives in to other people. With that, I brought two jars from home and I turned them into “problem” and “solution” jars where we filled each up with a problem and a few solutions to that problem. My position is extremely important because I am a mentor to this student and our relationship involves support, patience, and

For over two decades, professionals and educators have been aware of the problematic representation of minority group students, such as African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives, in special education classrooms. Black students receive special services due to mental illness or emotional disturbance more often and in greater proportions than their White counterparts do. These members of ethnic or racial minorities form an integral part of modern societies and must enjoy the same rights as the rest of the citizens. Nevertheless, authorities have not yet defined responses to over and underrepresentation of these social groups. States have not established or implemented clear and formal solutions to this

Through the program, they are trying to offer solutions of the longstanding problem of disproportionality in special education, which continues to have a devastating impact on African American students. Early in 1999, the organization of “the 100”, partnered with the Policy Makers Partnership Project of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education to identify key strategies to address this epidemic. In the process, mentors from the organization insure that no child is left behind or placed inappropriately in the special education program. In daily lives we can easily be affected by people surrounding us without even noticing it, and the teenagers are especially sensitive. In this initiative program offered by “the 100”, students can have the opportunity to grow in the environment without so much discriminate or prejudice; living among people who never give them up, they can boost confidence and gain knowledge efficiently in the same process. Though it may be small changes when we look for ways to solve the big problem of poverty, it can actually make a difference in many people’s lives. The children are stars of tomorrow, and the esteem of a race can be a great chance for it to defeat poverty.

When analyzing the causes of why minorities are often over placed in special education, there were several factors involved. One factor includes assumptions made about other cultures and minority groups by teachers and administrators. Teacher preparation programs are not adequately training teachers when it comes cultural diversity and differentiating teaching methods. The excessive writing of behavior referrals led to assumptions about minority students and behavior. The excessive writing of referrals often led to minority students being constantly removed from the general education curriculum and setting. School districts lacked academic interventions for minority students experiencing difficulties academically. The general education setting lacked adequate teaching resources. Also, high stakes, biased testing often labeled minority students as incapable of learning and led to retention.

The current state of inclusivity and diversity in a self-contained environment is equal and fair treatment for all students. The class population consists of eight male students. Six of the students are Caucasians while the other two students are African Americans. The students have varied disabilities to include autism, multiple disabilities, speech impairment, and intellectual disabilities. Each student receive instruction based on their instructional needs and each student has access to the resources that are available to them. Moreover, each student participates in two electives and join the general population for lunch.

The modern classroom has many challenges that face it. Shrinking budgets, less parental involvement, higher expectations, and growing class sizes, just to name a few. If this list was not daunting enough you also have the special needs students that have an array problems in your classroom that need specialized attention, lessons and seating. There are many forms of diverse learners from students who suffer from ADHD to physical disabilities to students with autism to ones that are bullied in school. There are so many things going on in our students lives we sometimes forget they have lives, pressures and disabilities that affect their performance and attitude in our class that have a profound impact on how they learn. For this paper I

In order to get a true understanding of teaching in an inclusion classroom, I was able to observe a fourth grade classroom at Village School in West Windsor, New Jersey. The general education teacher was Ms. Welsh and the special education teacher was Ms. Wilush. Ms. Welsh has been teaching for many years, while Ms. Wilush has only been teaching for two years. Each teacher brings with them different strategies, that together make a wonderful classroom dynamic. The students make up an average size fourth grade classroom of a little more than twenty, but there are three students who receive additional instruction from Ms. Wilush in a resource room throughout the day. During my observation, I was able to sit in on writing lessons and science lessons. There was a wide variety of students in the class with all different strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. Watching and learning from both teachers through observation and interview was an extremely valuable experience.

The specific area of service is special needs youth. The change was directed towards the kindergarten and first graders at UCP Bailes, Orange County Public Schools. The teachers and UCF Volunteers were partners in the change process, however it’s the teachers at Bailes who have the final say. They are the individuals who work with the students and parents on a daily basis to ensure the students receive the necessary accommodations for their specific disabilities and implement their individual education plans in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The change effort will be implemented in the individual classrooms. Pamela Batlemento, Volunteer Coordinator UCP Bailes, Graduate Assistant School Psychology Ed.S Program University of Central Florida was my UCF liaison. I was assigned to the kindergarten and first grade classes for Mrs. Escue, Mr. Frankel, and Ms. Judah where I completed 25.43 volunteer service hours. I established S.M.A.R.T. goals for the semester which included learning the students’ names, developing learning techniques to help the students succeed, and improving the classroom experience for at least 3 students.

This essay however, will provide an evidence based augment that children of the spectrum should be allowed access to a regular education like any other neurotypical child. Teachers are trained to be inclusive of all children and to provide an adaptable and considerate duty of care of the individual needs of their classroom. To justify this position, that mainstream schools should support children of all differences, we will review and consider the relevant supporting evidence.

Unlike fully inclusive classrooms, fully exclusive classrooms limit students opportunities to be apart of socially diverse environments. In his social experiment, Fryxell finds that when two groups of students with severe disabilities are broken up into two groups where one is in general education classrooms and the other is in self-contained classrooms that, “[S]tudents placed in [the] general education [classrooms] ha[ve] higher levels of social contact with peers without disabilities; ... students in general education receiv[e] higher levels of social support from others, as well as provid[e] higher levels of social support; and … those students hav[e] substantially larger friendship networks composed primarily of peers without disabilities” (Fryxell “Placement along”). Additionally, Stevens and Slavin observe that after a year of fully inclusive classes that, “[H]andicapped students [are] more accepted socially by their non-handicapped peers than were similar students in traditional schools with pull-out remedial programs” (Stevens and Slavin “The Cooperative”). Socialization with mainstream students is important to how students without disabilities view their peers who have them. The University of Greenwich finds that students without disabilities who have not had a lot of experiences regarding students with disabilities have “stereotypic attitude[s]/judgments” towards people with disabilities based on the “psychological and physical attributes (stereotypes) of groups

In elementary schools around the world, a debate occurs on whether inclusion, or placing a student with special needs into a mainstream class, positively affects both the disabled and gifted students in the room. Pull-out programs, in which students are removed from a heterogeneous classroom and given focused attention and instruction, could result in the solution to this problem because this gives them the opportunity to work with students at the same academic level as them. According to Naomi Fernandez, a professor at Lone Star College in Texas, “...some of the benefits [of pull-out programs] included individualized or small group attention to students with learning disabilities, thus increasing academic success. Some of the drawbacks included logistics issues with coordination and planning, and social issues with stigmatization” (33). Fernandez noted the pros and cons of pull-out programs in elementary schools by explaining how they can impact a student’s social and academic success. Pull-out programs provide academic benefits for students; yet laning precludes emotional, social, and mental growth in both gifted and disabled students.