Synthesizes of Chapter Three - Term Paper Example

 Synthesizes of Chapter 3 In 2003, the California Department of Education developed a comprehensive manual for adapted physical education (APE). The department developed the guidelines to aid in the provision of physical education to schools in California. This paper will examine chapter 3 of the guidelines, providing a comprehensive synthesis of the pertinent issues discussed in chapter 3. The chapter provides at least 15 standards, dealing with an element that governs the provision of adapted physical education to students (California Department of Education, 2003). Chapter 3 of the guidelines focuses primarily on the provision of adapted physical education services to students. Standard 1 This standard provides that the California Education Department established viable procedures for finding, referring and assessing children who need special education such as designated instruction and services (DIS). The standard requires the identification, location and assessment of all students with disabilities residing in California. Such evaluation shall be on the basis of the students’ needs for special education and other related services. Once an APE specialist identifies a student with a disability as per the 13 areas of disability, the student will be subject to receive APE services (California Department of Education, 2003). The best practice for the realization of this standard is to include APE in all local education agencies (LEAs) to describe the procedures for identifying, referring and assessing children who require special education. Standard 2 All Special Education Local Planning Areas (SELPA) must establish local guidelines that identify an enduring child-find system, which also encompasses procedures for identifying students who need special education. This requires all local planning areas to establish written policies for enduring child-find systems. The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) provides numerous parameters for child-find initiatives although a number of different stakeholders use varied definitions for the term “screening”. Current, no state or federal policy, define the term (California Department of Education, 2003). However, the purpose of screening is to pinpoint all adaptations and modifications used in assessing a child’s need for special education. Screening entails a comprehensive review of an education program to uncover students’ needs for special education. Standard 3 Educators must document all adaptations and modifications in an existing physical education program prior to the referral of a child to the APE. When movement ability emanates from a disability, educators should try accommodation and adaptation within the specially developed physical education program prior to referral to APE. Educators must base relevant and valuable interventions on the child’s needs, as well as age, and upon the established PE curriculum. It is also pertinent to document outcomes for a sufficient period (California Department of Education, 2003). APE specialists should offer consultative services to physical educations unclear on how to modify instruction, appliances and participations for children with mild disabilities. Standard 4 Students who receive either general or specially designed PE should always consult APE when accommodations and adaptations do not attain success. Student Study Teams (SST) should meet constantly to collaborate and pinpoint viable strategies for enhancing student accomplishment in general education programs. Educators can also refer students who receive general PE services to a SST when such students show difficulty in their lessons. Referrals to APE should only occur attempting and documenting adaptations and modifications with little or no success. In certain instances, the extent of disability requires the team to make different referrals to APR as accommodations and adaptations (California Department of Education, 2003). Standard 5 Educators should create assessment plans for gathering data used in determining students’ needs and appropriate level of APE. APE specialists should establish assessment plans with specified assessment protocols aimed at revealing the needs and strengths of students relative to the school’s PE program. This entails effective review of referral data to ascertain viable assessment types (California Department of Education, 2003). These include information observations such as task analyses; administration of formal evaluation tools and review of records and assessment results done by other professionals. APE specialists should perform appropriate assessments of all children and emphasize on guaranteeing that students appreciate the instructor’s requests. Standard 6 Teachers should assess all children referred for APE using the same timelines and procedures identified in the special education law under sec. 56320. This means that APE specialists are an integral constituent of the multidisciplinary assessment team and should perform appropriate assessments of children referred to the program (California Department of Education, 2003). APE specialists must seek the approval of children’s parents and present a viable assessment plan within 15 days. They should also compile and present the assessment results within 50 days to allow the development of the IEP. Standard 7 APE specialists should assess students in all areas linked to the assumed disability. In essence, the written referral motives result in the establishment of a viable assessment plan that points out the areas of assessment (California Department of Education, 2003). APE specialists are crucial in multidisciplinary team and participate in the assessment process when the assumed disability involves movement or physical abilities. Standard 8 The California Department of Education posits that there is no single evaluation procedure useful as the only criterion for ascertaining the validity of APE services. The IDEA demands that while conducting evaluations, LEAs should utilize various assessment tools to collect viable developmental and functional data to ascertain the child’s eligibility. LEAs should not use a single procedure as the main criterion for ascertaining a child’s eligibility or establishing the appropriate educational program for the child. LEAs should make use of viable tools to assess the relative input of behavioral and cognitive factors coupled with developmental and physical factors (California Department of Education, 2003). In essence, APE specialists should have relevant skills to use the diverse forms of assessment tools to select the most appropriate tool for each child. Standard 9 APE specialists can use assessment information to develop a motor profile for all referred children to develop an appropriate PE program. APE specialists should utilize assessment data to create motor profiles for all children. Upon analyzing the data, the APE specialist should explain the data in the form of a motor profile showing student needs and strengths. Assessment practices and procedures used should be appropriate and impartial in addressing the linguistic and cultural characteristics of all children. It is pertinent that APE specialists acquire pre-service training to equip themselves with skills on assessment methods. This includes an appreciation for statistical evaluation principles such as reliability, validity, criteria referencing, and developmental norms and normative scores such as percentile and standard score (California Department of Education, 2003). Standard 10 APE specialists should consider students for APE services when the IEP team ascertains that the child is eligible for specialized education. APE specialists should ensure that children identified as having a disability provided under 20 U.S.C. sec. 1414(b) (4) and (5). Prior to ascertaining APE services for a child, the specialist should ensure that the assessment results signify that performances in PE were adversely affected, and the child requires special education services (California Department of Education, 2003). Standard 11 APE specialists should utilize the assessment results to determine whether placement in APE is fitting. LEAs utilize scores and age-equivalents to typify poor performance. These include raw scores below (1.5) standard deviation below the mean, and age equivalents that show the child’s functioning is at 30% below his chronological age and raw scores of, or below, the 7th percentile (California Department of Education, 2003). APE specialists should always consult local plans and district guidelines for suggested placement criteria that encompass functioning levels and utilization of statistical scores. In essence, IEP teams have the final decision with regard to placement decisions. Standard 12 Students identified as having temporary disabilities are ineligible for APE services since such disability occurs while a child undergoes regular education. After the culmination of the temporary disability, the student can revert to regular education (California Department of Education, 2003). This is because temporary disability such as pulled muscles or broken bones will reduce substantially or disappear with time. APE specialists act as resources to regular physical educators in suggesting accommodations and adaptations for children with temporary disability. Standard 13 After the identification and eligibility determination of children with disabilities, the IEP should identify specialized PE services based on several program options. These programs include PE, specially designed PE and APE. All programs should be available to all students as the IEP decides on the best combination of services for individual students. Regardless of the combination, the options should meet the required number of minutes of PE; 200 minutes for 10 days for elementary school students; 400 minutes for 10 days among secondary school students (California Department of Education, 2003). Standard 14 Most children identified as eligible for special education can also participate in general education to varying degrees with some modifications and adaptations. This is because their disabilities require minor adaptation and do not impact their performance in PE. Students with disabilities should have sufficient opportunities to attain success in general PE until this cannot take place (California Department of Education, 2003). Certain disabilities that require specialized classroom instruction sometimes also require minor adaptations, in PE. Standard 15 Educators should offer PE services in ways that promote maximum interactions between children with disabilities and their able-bodied peers. This is possible by selecting from the three aforementioned PE services when considering PE placement for children with disabilities (California Department of Education, 2003). APE and general educators should utilize collaborative consultation approaches to offer maximum joint participation among able-bodied and disabled children. . References California Department of Education. (2003). Adapted physical education guidelines in California schools. California: California Department of Education. Read More