Special Education: A Survey

I am very lucky in my friends, I have them spread all over the world in more career fields than some people even know about. This includes a plethora of educators. I was lucky enough to have 4 such friends answer several survey questions. One of the teachers specializes in special education, and another is an educator and a parent of a special needs student.

I broke my survey into a form that they could fill out, and there were two portions of the form. The first portion was filled out by one of the respondents (the parent of a special needs child).

What if any age does the process begin at or cut off?

• 12-15

How is a student identified for special education referral?

• Individualized Education Program referral

Who takes responsibility for the progress of the child before and after the referral?

• Me

What is the school administrations’s directive for special education?

• In class assistance and accommodations made by me in the classroom

What provisions are made for students identified for special education?

• More time on assignments, individualized lesson plans, teacher's aides.

What is the level of parent involvement in referral process and special education?

• They must fill it the referral paperwork and meet with the teachers at least twice a year for progress updates

To what degree are students integrated into classes with non-special needs children?

• They are fully integrated but still receive accommodations when needed.

How do you identify a student for special education?

• Behavior and/or academic ability
• Slower work speed and a lower level of comprehension.
• I watch student behavior and discuss what I see with other teachers. Because I teach 8th graders, I will also speak to the student and see what he/she can share with me. Of course, I talk to the child's parents. They know the child much better than I do. 

What are the signs of a struggling student that you look for before referring them for special education?

• Quality of work, ability to follow assignment instructions.
• Low grades, slower work speed, and lower levels of comprehension 
• Low test scores that do not match the student's work and motivation, Struggles that appear to be unable to be overcome, years of struggle in the same area (as noted in the child's record)
• If I suspect something is amiss, I will start strategies for the student that I know are accommodations allowed within Virginia's Individualized Education Plans. If those accommodations begin to have a positive effect on the child's performance and learning, then I reach out to my administrator and Special Education teacher.  
• Signs often include the child not being able to retain or recall information, working at a level way below their peers, having little confidence in their ability, short attention span, limited or inappropriate communication with peers or they may have issues with sight or hearing.

Are there alternative methods of instruction tried out before referring the student for special education? If you, what are they?

• Yes, differentiated instruction, small group settings, one on one instruction.
• No, not really. Most students already have an IEP before they come to my class. I teach 8th grade so there are usually accommodations already in place.
• I will always begin to provide accommodations, even if the student is not an identified Special Education student, as soon as I realize the accommodations are needed. I document those accommodations and use that data to help isolate the areas of weakness and concern for future conversations with parents and administrators.
  My most commonly used accommodations are teacher-provided notes, seating proximity to instruction/away from distractions, seating proximity to Instructional Assistant, small group instruction/review, remediation of material daily, small group testing, and test retakes.
• Alternative methods of instructions tried out would include a Reading Recovery programme, an intensive reading programme undertaken daily for 6-12months. Other methods of instruction may include Teacher Aide programmes to develop phonological awareness, increase the child's reading mileage or target specific learning. Alternative methods of instruction are very focused and targeted, if the child continues to have limited progress then they would be referred for extra support.

What (if any) needs do you consider to be or not be a special need that your school or district do?

• Learning needs and severe emotional and/or behavior issues. 
•  We have hearing and language specialists and technology available for those students that need it plus teachers aides and special education teachers in staff for all kids who need services.
• Our school caters for children with special needs such as ADD, ADHD, autism, dyslexia, downs syndrome, learning disabilities that affect the child's ability to retain information, hearing and sight loss. Our school would not cater for severe special needs where the child may be in danger surrounded by their peers or where their independence is severely limited (wheelchair bound).

What changes in the policy of special needs learners in you school or district would you like to see?

• More teachers and smaller class sizes. 
• More out of class, one on one teaching with the special Ed teachers. I have 160 students and it is very difficult to spend the required time each special needs student requires during the day for adequate learning and teaching. 
• I think, at times, the referral process is too subjective. A student who has struggled for years will mask the struggle with behavior problems. If I am able to see through those behavior problems to the internal issue, it is very frustrating for me to hear an administrator say "well, if he behaved in class, he would learn more". I guess what I am saying is I wish administrators trusted their teachers more when it comes to the referral process.
• Changes need to occur in the availability of funding so that needs can be addressed before the child falls too far behind as it can be extremely hard to catch up. Often a child has to fall in the seriously behind category to be accepted for funding support which would allow a teacher aide or support person to work one-to-one with that child.

What is the level of parent involvement in referral process and special education?

• Parents are involved in all levels of referral, from Stage 1 which highlights initial concerns for a child to Stage 3 which requires an independent education plan for the child and external support. Parents are contacted and encouraged to come to meetings where the education plans are created.
•  Low
• They must fill out the paperwork and we have progress meetings and IEP reviews at least twice a year
• The parents are allowed to begin the referral process and they are required to be present at every step. If they chose not to be, they still must sign off on all paperwork. Individualized Education Plans must be revisited every year, with the parents and current teachers. A parent may call an IEP meeting whenever he/she feels it is necessary. 

To what degree are students integrated into classes with non-special needs children?

• Varies from full inclusion to solely Special Ed setting.
•  Fully integrated
• All IEP students I teach are integrated into an Inclusion class. This is a class that combines Special Education and General Education students into one learning setting. The Special Education teacher, Instructional Assistants, and General Education teachers work together to plan lessons, plan remediation, and instruct every student in that classroom as a unit. 
• Students are integrated into all activities within the school and adaptions are made where necessary. Our school now has priority learner classes where all of the children have an extra need either with their learning or their behaviour. These classes are not big enough to cater for all needs at the moment so special needs children are integrated into other classes. Children are still expected to follow rules, this applies especially in the case of ADD, ADHD children

Did I miss something that you think is critical, or is there something else that you want to share? 

• As a teacher and as a parent of a child with special needs, I wish there were more parent involvement with the kids' teachers and classroom activities. Twice a year is too little time to spend on updates and check-ins. 
• In Christchurch, there has been a very significant increase in the amount of special needs, learning disability children the teachers are observing. It is believed to be caused by the earthquakes in 2010/11 when the children were aged 2-8 and they and their parents underwent huge stress for a prolonged period.
• The sooner an issue is addressed for a child, the better the chance for the child to keep up with their peers and not fall severely behind to a point where it is hard to catch up. Funding needs to be available when issues are first noted and not be only available for the worst affected. This is the situation in New Zealand where the children who are far behind are given the funding first.

It's been eye opening seeing things that I haven't really had to or been able to see in the school that I currently teach in. Also it was really interesting to read about the changes the NZ has seen in Christchurch since the earthquake. 

Interestingly while getting the feedback for this assignment I was offered an opportunity to work with a new program that is being introduced to Korea called Big Ones Little Ones, a mentoring program for students with special needs.