EDEE 409 Midterm

1.  (Chapter 1) (Special Education Foundations) Discuss the role the Civil Rights Movement had on contributing to new approaches in special education. Be sure to include reference to pertinent court cases and legislation to support your discussion.

The Civil Rights movement initially began as a movement to create equality for African Americans but ended up influencing people with disabilities.  For example in 1954, the Brown v. Board of Education case occurred in the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled that “it was unlawful under the Fourteenth Amendment to discriminate arbitrarily against any group of people” (Friend/Bursuck, 2009).  The court decision introduced the idea of integration into public schools and ensured that diverse student groups learned together, which the students with disabilities were soon recognized as a group of children whose rights had been violated because they were not integrated into regular schools.  Another act that came about as a result of the Civil Rights Act is Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  This act prevents discrimination against all individuals with disabilities in programs that receive federal funds, which includes all public schools.  Also, through this act, students with any type of disability are entitled to receive specific types of assistance to help them succeed in school.  The most significant disability ever passed, the Americans with Disabilities Act, was also based on the Civil Rights Act.  This act “protects all individuals with disabilities from discrimination and it requires most employers to make accommodations for them” (Friend/Bursack, 2009).  It also ensures that transportation, buildings, and many places open to the public are accessible to people with disabilities.  These three cases are just a few examples of how the Civil Rights act opened many opportunities for equality, not just for African Americans, but people with disabilities as well.

2.  (Chapter 2)  (Special Education Laws and Services) Identify and explain the tiers of Response to Intervention (RtI).  When is this process implemented and what is its significance for educators and students?   (Suggested resources – the Friend text and the IRIS Center -- http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/rti01_overview/chalcycle.htm.)

Response to Intervention is a procedure for analyzing studnets’ learning problems.  It believes that approximately 75-80 percent of students will be able to learn if they receive high-quality instruction, that approximately 15-20 percent will benefit from moderately intensive instruction, and approximately 5-10 percent will need highly intensive instruction and possibly special education services.  RtI is usually implemented at the elementary level and can occur whenever professionals determine a student is experiencing learning problems that are significant and that are interfering with achievement.  There are three tiers to this process and an example of Tier 1 intervention is a district-adopted reading program that has shown to be effective with students that is used in the regular classroom with a group of students.  An example of a Tier 2 Intervention would be if a student was struggling with this reading program, he would participate in a supplemental reading program in a small group that is led by the school’s reading specialist.  This would most likely occur 4 times a week for a certain amount of time each day.  An example of a Tier 3 intervention would be if that particular student was still having difficulty, then he would be enrolled in an even more intense skills based reading program that is carried out for a longer period of time each day.  If the third tier intervention does help the student, then they are referred for special education services.  It is very significant for general education teachers, because they are the ones that must carry it out by meeting with a small group of students in the classroom and assisting in gathering data concerning student skill acquisition.  The goal of Response to Intervention is to prevent some students from ever needing special education and to ensure that students who do need specialized instruction will receive it as soon as possible.

3. (Chapter 3) (Collaboration) You are having a parent conference with Jerome’s father tomorrow about Jerome’s progress in controlling his disruptive behavior. This is the first meeting since initiating a behavior management plan that you and Jerome’s father worked out at your last conference. Using the shared problem-solving model described in chapter 3, describe what you should do to prepare for tomorrow’s conference.  What steps should be taken after the conference?

After identifying the problem and brainstorming to propose a solution, I must evaluate the ideas by considering whether they seem likely to resolve the problem and are feasible.  I can do this by selecting criteria by which to judge the ideas and creating a decision sheet.  Then I would need to plan the specifics by listing the major tasks that need to be completed to implement the solution, and decide who will take responsibility for each task.  Also, it will be important to decide how long to implement the solution before meeting to evaluate its effectiveness.  While implementing the decided solution, it will be important to keep some type of record documenting my efforts and how the intervention affects the student.  After the plan is implemented, I, along with the rest of my team would need to evaluate the outcomes and the effectiveness.  If we decide that it has been effective, it would be judged a success and will be continued to maintain the results.  If the solution has a somewhat positive effect, but is not perfect, then it can be modified to make the plan be more feasible.  If a solution does not seem to be working at all, it can be deemed ineffective and then we would either find a different solution, or reconsider whether the original problem has been accurately identified or not.  All in all, the teacher should be extremely prepared before meeting with a parent and should be flexible in reaching ideas, especially when working with a collaborative effort.

4. (Chapter 5) (Planning Instruction – INCLUDE Strategy) You have just learned that the new student who is to join your class has a speech impairment. The student’s file does not thoroughly describe the areas of strength or need, but rather indicates generally that the student has trouble with articulation. Based on this limited information, outline how you would use the INCLUDE strategy to help meet the educational needs of your new student. 

• Identify the classroom demands:
• Make sure the classroom management is appropriate for this new.  Make sure that the classroom climate is appropriate by teaching the rest of the students the right attitudes to have towards children with differences.  Use flexible grouping in the classroom when students work in groups, make sure that there are small group work so the child can feel comfortable enough to speak out loud, despite his speech impairment.  Have a variety of instructional materials available and use different instructional methods in order to accommodate to his learning needs.  I would use any type of aid in order to assist him to work to his fullest potential on all of his assignments. 
• Note Student Learning Strengths and Needs:
• Make sure to point out student’s strengths and be positive so they can see themselves, others, and learning in a positive light.  I would make sure the student is using his academic skills by especially using his survival skills, where he must attend school regularly, being organized, completing tasks in and out of school,  taking an interest in school and displaying positive interpersonal skills.  Since the child has a speech impairment, he might have trouble with some of these survival skills, so it would be important to make sure he stays on track with these.  He might especially have trouble with interpersonal skills, so it is important to enhance his social-emotional development by pairing him with a student who is sensitive to others who have disabilities. 
• Step 3- Check for Potential Areas of Student Success: 
• I would analyze this student strengths and paying attention to the activities or tasks that he can do successfully and acknowledge these strengths, because that will help to improve his self-esteem.
• Step 4: Look for Potential Problem Areas-  
• In this step I would review his learning needs within a particular instructional context and identify potential mismatches. 
• Step 5: Use Information to Brainstorm Ways to Differentiate Instruction
• Make accommodations for the student such as bypass or compensatory strategies, where I would allow him to demonstrate mastery in a particular subject in alternative ways.  Another way for accommodating him would be to provide accommodations in instructional methods, materials, grouping and classroom management. 
• Step 6: Differentiate Instruction
• I would select age-appropriate strategies, give the student choices, and selecting strategies that demonstrate effectiveness
• Step 7: Evaluate Student Progress
• I would evaluate the strategy effectiveness by tracking his grades, observing him, analyzing his student work, using portfolios, performance assessment, and teacher, parent, and student ratings.  This will help me determine whether to continue, change, or discontinue a particular intervention.