Special Education Inclusion - Assignment Example

Special Education Inclusion Introduction The concepts of inclusion and mainstreaming are fundamental to the principle of ‘special education’ asthose imply the true purpose of educating exceptional children (Sydoriak, 1996). In order to extend special education services to exceptional children on a cross categorical basis, it is important to verify those in need of special education. The primary task is to identify and locate the children. Within a classroom of general education the class teacher can identify exceptional children from class performance and assessment tests. Inclusion or mainstreaming of exceptional children is done on the basis of evaluation. The results of the evaluation decide whether the children have some kind of disability and need to attend special education schools besides general education or not. There has always been a debate over the meaning of ‘special education’ and how it could be delivered (Sydoriak, 1996). Today inclusion and mainstreaming are considered to be generating good response from exceptional children in terms of overall development. The State policy on special education Inclusion and LRE The State policy promotes inclusive education as the best and effective way of special education. Observation shows that the learning outcome of exceptional children in inclusive classroom is far better than those relegated to only special education schools or agencies. Though there is divided opinion regarding the efficacy of inclusion into general educational set up for exceptional children, parents are banking on inclusive or mainstream mode of special education. As per the policy, education provided to exceptional children or to children with potential disability in the ‘least restrictive environment’ or LRE (Sydoriak, 1996) could be considered as the aim of special education. However, there is confusion regarding what kind of environment could be considered as least restrictive. As a matter of fact each child responds differently in a given situation but it can be assumed that the least discriminating the environment is the more relaxing it would be for the child to learn and participate. And this is where inclusive classroom succeeds in providing exceptional children the comfort level. But before all, an evaluation of exceptional children is important to find out the requirements of the children and the nature of special education they need. The State policy clearly states the necessity of initial evaluation as the key factor in furthering with any form of special education. Initial evaluation as the deciding factor for special education The evaluation process begins by seeking the permission of parents of the concerned child. The parents are to be informed formally through correspondence or telephone. In absence of parental consent the public agency or school authority might go ahead with the evaluation on the grounds of ‘procedural safeguards’ (Regulations III: Identification and Evaluation, 2007). Parents too might seek evaluation of their children by requesting a public agency through formal letter. There has to be a specific time frame within which the evaluation and data collection from the tests have to be completed. It is usually sixty days from the time of placing the request to the agency by the parents or sending notice to the parents by the agency. The evaluation is done on individual basis by which the eligibility criteria of the disabled child are observed and hence decision on the nature of services required by the child is determined (Regulations III: Identification and Evaluation, 2007). IEE (Independent Educational Evaluation): a challenge to inclusive education According to IDEA, parents who are dissatisfied with the functioning of the public agency in the evaluation of their child or not happy with the pace of development of their child, they can opt for IEE. The IEE questions the validity of inclusive education and poses challenge to the whole aspect of the inclusion of exceptional children in general education classroom. However, the IEE after being sanctioned by the Congress has become an integral part of special education. And in a way it has made inclusive schools sit up and plan out effective teaching models that would have universal appeal to both exceptional and general education students. How special education is imparted to students through inclusive curriculum in general education classroom? The pre-requisites of inclusive curriculum and teacher preparation While constructing inclusive curriculum the teacher educator should prioritize proper planning of the selected content and course work (Sydoriak, 1996). It is important to strike a balance between the educational needs of exceptional children and general students. The accommodation of exceptional children within general education classroom can actually put the teacher under acute stress in understanding and therefore meeting with their educational needs (Sydoriak, 1996). For such cases teachers might resort to a number of special education service deliveries meant for general education classroom. The teacher can work in consultation with a special education teacher; can work in collaboration or cooperation with other teachers within the same classroom or using the support resource programs (Idol, 2006). Moreover, teachers have to be creative and innovate interesting ways of implementing inclusive education within general education classrooms (Sydoriak, 1996). The evaluation strategy and tools designed to facilitate inclusive and mainstream models of learning. As the main perspective behind inclusive education is equal educational facility for all there has to be a sound, and impartial mode of evaluation as stated by the State policy. Continuous evaluation is necessary in order to accumulate information about the child so that while designing the curriculum the child’s educational needs are met. The evaluation tools and strategies are to be valid, reliable and give accurate and relevant information about the child. Specialized and knowledgeable professionals should be allotted to conduct the evaluation procedures. Within general education classroom an expert counsellor besides the class teacher is helpful in mediating between the child and the teacher where the teacher has no training on special education (Idol, 2006). The strategies employed should not be discriminatory both racially and otherwise, that is, it must not put any kind of psychological pressure on the concerned child by making him conscious of his disability. The approach of the evaluation programme must take into consideration cross categorical aspects and to that end should also involve different strategies to meet different criteria (Regulations III: Identification and Evaluation, 2007). This proves the point that there can be no fixed and universal criterion. The aim of the assessment tools used in the evaluation process is to gather accurate information regarding the educational needs, limitations, cognitive and behavioural developments and academic performance of the children. Teacher’s strategy to supervise exceptional children in inclusive classroom Moving around It is imperative that teachers develop a continuous method of evaluation within the classroom to track down exceptional children or children with potential disability (Alexandrin, 2003). The strategy of continuous evaluation would help the teacher to identify the child at the initial stage so that steps could be taken accordingly depending on the degree of deviation from the norm. The continuous evaluation method calls for certain simple yet effective techniques that a teacher should follow for proper classroom management. The teacher must make it a point to be mobile that is, move around the classroom. Mobility of the teacher creates a strong impact on the students as they feel more secure and at the same time enables the teacher to check out individual progress of students. This helps in building up an ‘inclusive’ atmosphere within the classroom with all the students receiving equal attention from the teacher (Alexandrin, 2003). This strategy also helps to rule out discriminatory approach to exceptional children who are evaluated on the same scale with general students. Close monitoring Teachers need to closely monitor student performance while the child is ‘on-task’ in any given assignments. The teacher has to check out on the students while they are at assignment tasks to see how far each has understood and assimilated the topic (Alexandrin, 2003). It helps to figure out the exceptional children and the nature of their disability or difficulty. For example, in case of a child who has learning difficulty, the child would have problems in grasping the meaning of the lesson along with a host of associated difficulties like reading and writing. The assumptions are more accurate when regular observation of student assignments are combined with holding informal discussions with students while they are at work. Teachers can interrogate them about their views on the topic or ask further questions on answers they think are correct. Noting down behavioural indicators Teachers have to be on the look out for behavioural indicators that imply that the student is uncomfortable or un-responsive to the teaching learning process. Behavioural indicators mean repeated visits to toilets, drinking water and other behaviours symptomatic of attention deficit due to lack of interest among children (Alexandrin, 2003). In such instances teachers should talk it out with the student and find out what ails the child and what would make him comfortable. In so doing the teacher can find out whether the child has disability of any kind and require intervention services or can work with a little more support. Developing independent problem solving and peer support Evaluation based on independent problem solving and peer support reinstates the non-discriminatory and inclusive classroom ambience. It not only encourages children to support each other and share out information, and resources (Alexandrin, 2003) but at the same time inculcates strong faith in the children about their respective potential. The problem solving model of evaluation helps teachers to assess the progress and the drawbacks in individual child (McNamara & Hollinger, 2003). It also gives an insight into the core of the problem faced by the child and determines the seriousness of the drawback. Constructive evaluation/Formative assessment: the best method of inclusive education. Constructive evaluation (Alexandrin, 2003) and formative assessment (Carr, 2008) by the teacher are necessary in evaluating exceptional children as these create positive impact on the children. This mode of evaluation is based on self-evaluation and peer evaluation where the evaluating norms are set by the teacher. Self evaluation is effective both ways as it allows the child to reflect on his potential, explore his problem areas and come up with his own way of beating it and therefore acts as agent of motivation. At the same time it helps the teacher in gaining significant knowledge about the exceptional child and what kind of support he requires. Peer evaluation is another way of developing critical thinking and understanding of quality performance in students. Exceptional children can begin with self-evaluation under the guidance and direction of teachers for best outcome (Carr, 2008). Implementation techniques In establishing formative assessment or constructive evaluation through self or peer evaluation the teacher can take the help of rubrics, checklists, and questionnaires. Students have fun in evaluating themselves against the checklist and it has also been observed that such active model of evaluation motivates students (Carr, 2008). Regular teacher student conferences are most effective to determine exceptional children as the technique calls for direct interaction and discussion with the teacher. This helps in drawing shy students to participate in the conference. Whichever format the teacher selects it must serve the purpose of initiating self-evaluation. The teacher is to explain the technique of both self-evaluation and peer-evaluation and initiate the students into the process. Moreover, it is important to teach self-evaluation by applying a format. The evaluation process is incomplete without feedback from teachers (Carr, 2008). Conclusion It could be concluded by saying that inclusive education is the best way to motivate exceptional children in learning. It not only saves the children from the pangs of being the outcast, but at the same time nurtures healthy relation and competition between exceptional and general students. In this regard, State policy on special education takes into consideration cross categorical aspects in providing education and extending support to exceptional children. The evaluation strategies and tools are structured on the basis of cross categorical utility and are specified to be relevant, reliable and providing accurate information of the child. The focus is on inclusive mode of education and in developing inclusive learning atmosphere within classroom. To this end teachers are to formulate appropriate curriculum that would appeal to both general as well as exceptional children. Inclusion education is the solution to impart effective and meaningful education to exceptional children. References Alexandrine, J.R, (2003). Using continuous, constructive, classroom evaluations. Teaching Exceptional Children. Retrieved 28th October 2008 from High Beam Research. Carr, S.C, (2008). Student and Peer Evaluation: Feedback for All Learners. Teaching Exceptional Children. Retrieved 28th October 2008 from High Beam Research. Idol, L, (2006). Toward inclusion of special education students in general education: a program evaluation of eight schools. Remedial and Special Education. retrieved 30th October 2008 from High Beam Research.. McNamara, K, & Hollinger, C, (2003). Intervention-based assessment: evaluation rates and eligibility findings. Exceptional Children. Retrieved 28th October 2008 from High Beam Research. Regulation III-Identification and Evaluation. 2007. State Plan for Special Education. retrieved 28th October 2008 from dese.mo.gov/divspeced/stateplan/index.html Sydoriak, D, (1996). Defining Inclusion. The Exceptional Parent. Retrieved 30th October from High Beam Research. Read More