The current status of Special Education.
I believe that the current status of Special Education is one that is put on the back burner too often. In some of my experiences as a daily substitute, long-term substitute, or just an observer, I have seen both good and bad situations with students with disabilities. I think that mostly the issue comes down to funding. In a perfect world, each student that has a disability, whether it is physical, mental, or social, would have an IEP and would have an Individual Assistant (IA) in all of their classes that would help them if needed. However, schools do not have it in their budget to hire IAs for each of their students. I understand that not every student with an IEP will need an IA, but it seems most of the time there is a need for more IAs rather than less. These IAs play an integral role in helping students with IEPs or 504s because their focus is on those few students. Teachers have classes ranging in size and with an already diverse group of students to teach it can stretch any teacher to the limit to also provide the level of close watch students with disabilities need.
In addition to the lack of funds to hire more people, there is also the issue of delegating responsibility, which is linked to the lack of personnel. During my last long-term substitute position at a high school, one of my co-workers who is an IA always seemed to be running around doing something helping a teacher or helping a student. When I asked her why she did so much stretching her limits, she told me that she has to otherwise the quality of education her students with IEPs get. Her workload is simply too much between her case load, responsibilities, and what she can do because there were so few of them in the building. The staff hired who are expected to help students with IEPs and to get a quality education that is parallel to their peers lack the support. Whether it is delegating responsibility to the IAs that could be better suited for someone else, not giving IAs access to all the same resources teachers have, or just giving IAs too much to handle, it is ultimately the students who suffer. Making sure that the people in the school have the responsibilities they should have will make sure the quality of education doesn't suffer.
Although I focused a lot on the negatives of the status of Special Education on a local level, the status of Special Education as a whole in the big picture sense is doing well. There are policies in place to give these students the best education they can get and the stigma has been getting better, in my opinion, of children with disabilities. There is hope for these students to graduate and lead successful lives. However, without proper action, these ideas and hopes just become wishes. To sum up, the status of Special Education in the United States is that it is a work in progress.
Citations:
Archived: 25 Year
History of the IDEA. (2007, July 19). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/history.html
History of Special Education.
(2015). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://www.learningrx.com/history-of-special-education.htm
Section 504 - Civil
Rights Law, Protection from Discrimination - Wrightslaw. (2014, August 1).
Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://www.wrightslaw.com/info/sec504.index.htm
The History of
Special Education. (n.d.). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from
http://teach.com/the-history-of-special-education
The History of
Special Education in the United States. (2009). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from
http://www.specialednews.com/the-history-of-special-education-in-the-united-states.htm
Understanding Section
504: The American with Disabilities Act. (2009). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from
http://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/section-504.html
Understanding Special
Education Law (IDEA). (2009). Retrieved July 8, 2015, from
http://www.understandingspecialeducation.com/special-education-law.html
Special education is a topic that gets overlooked quite too often. I agree that I have seen situations from observations where students cannot have access to the resources he or she needs because of funding or the school just does not know how to handle the situation. This could be because of lack of training. It is hard to see children not get the equal education like they were promised. I currently work in the medical field and even in this field, I tend to see people handed too much workload than he or she can handle. Even in the education field during my observations, teachers have mentioned their frustration with the school system giving them so much to fit into their instruction and responsibilities that causes neglect to their student’s education. I have a friend who has a son that is deaf. He had surgery to get the cochlear implants put in. We discussed his future and concerns since now I have a view as a future educator. He is really concerned, but finds the most important concept is communication. Communication is important to all parents and faculty to encourage the best from the students. When I think from a business standpoint, process is all about communication and strategic planning. Teachers need to have the resources provided to have a successful outcome, but if that is missing then the system can never fully be successful. There will always be errors in the study.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mrs. Pack-Witmer on her point that lack of training greatly impacts special education students. Teachers aren't always equipped to handle students with certain handicaps, and (like you said) IAs are stretched so thin that they can't always be in the classrooms where they're needed. I've experienced the negative effects this has on students (both "regular" and special education) and their teachers during my furst year of teaching and I'm hoping to be better prepared coming into my second year.
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