1. Planning and Providing Special Education Services
Chapter 2
Planning and Providing Special Education Services
Developed by:
Blanche Jackson Glimps
Tennessee State University

2. Chapter Objectives
Identify and describe the function of each step of the special education process.
Define disproportionate representation, identify groups that are over and underrepresented in special education, and explain why this is problematic.
Compare and contrast the three teaming models.
List the required components of an IEP.

3. Chapter Objectives
Explain how the least restrictive environment for a given student is not necessarily the regular classroom.
Identify several arguments for and against full inclusion.
Name the most crucial variable in the effectiveness of special education.

4. The Process of Special Education
Prereferral
Provide immediate instructional and/or behavioral assistance
Prereferral intervention is conducted by a building-based early intervention assistance team
Response to intervention is a more formal and systematic prereferral process
Evaluation and Eligibility Determination
All children suspected of having a disability must receive a nondiscriminatory multi-factored evaluation (MFE)
The MFE is conducted by a school-based multidisciplinary evaluation team

5. The Process of Special Education
Program Planning
An individualized education program must be developed for children identified as having a disability
Placement
The IEP team must determine the least restrictive educational environment that meets the student’s needs
Progress Monitoring, Annual Review, and Reevaluation
Ongoing monitoring of student progress
The IEP must be reviewed on an annual basis
Reevaluation at least once every three years

6. Disproportionate Representation
Definition- Disproportionate representation exists when a particular group receives special education at a rate significantly higher or lower than would be expected based on the proportion of the general student population the group represents.
Risk Ratio-relative likelihood of a member of a given group to be receiving special education compared to members of the general population.
Risk ratio greater than 1.0=overrepresentation; less than 1.0=underrepresentation
Native Americans-1.7; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islanders-1.6;African Americans-1.4; Asian Americans-0.5

7. Disproportionate Representation
Are children wrongly placed in special education programs resulting in being denied appropriate educational interventions?
Are children overlooked because of their membership in specific ethnic groups resulting in being denied access to needed special education?
Causes
Are students from some ethnic groups more likely to have a disability?
Do inherent problems in the referral and placement process bias the identification of “minority” children?

8. Combating Cultural and Racial Bias in Referral and Identification
Factors that Contribute to Disproportionality
Cultural differences between teachers and students and families, leading to biased referrals
Inaccurate assessment of culturally diverse students
Lack of culturally responsive curriculum and instructional practices
Solutions require educators to become culturally responsive, implement appropriate assessment strategies, and implement culturally responsive practices that support a multicultural approach to curriculum and instruction

9. Collaboration and Teaming
Special education is a team game
The team plans, delivers, and evaluates the program of specially designed instruction and related services to meet unique needs.
Collaboration
Teachers are better able to diagnose and solve problems in the classroom when they work together
Coordination - ongoing communication and cooperation to ensure that services are provided in a timely and systematic fashion
Consultation - team members provide information and expertise to one another

10. Teaming
Multidisciplinary team - composed of professionals from different disciplines who work independently of one another.
Interdisciplinary team - characterized by formal channels of communication between members.
Transdisciplinary teams - members seek to provide services in a uniform and integrated fashion by conducting joints assessments, sharing information and expertise across discipline boundaries, and selecting goals and interventions that are discipline-free.

11. Co-Teaching
Co-teaching-a general educator and a special educator planning and delivering instruction together in an inclusive classroom.
Forms
One teaching/one helping
Parallel teaching
Station teaching
Alternative teaching
Team teaching
Meticulous planning, open communication, and flexibility are keys to successful co-teaching.

12. The IEP
The IEP is the “heart of IDEA” and the “make or break component of FAPE for every child with a disability.”
IDEA requires that an IEP be developed and implemented for every student with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 years.
Individualized family service plans are developed for infants and toddlers from birth to age 3 years.

13. IEP Team The IEP team must include the following members:
Parents and, when appropriate, the child with a disability
General education and special education teachers
LEA representative
An individual who can interpret evaluation results
Others at the discretion of the parent or school

14. IEP Components
A statement of present levels of academic achievement and functional performance
A statement of measurable annual goals
A statement of how the child’s progress will be assessed
A statement of special education and related services and supplementary aids and services

15. IEP Components
An explanation of the extent to which the student will not participate with non-disabled children in general education
A statement of any Individual assessment accommodations
The projected date for the beginning, frequency, location, and duration of services
Beginning at age 16, an individual transition plan must be developed

16. IEP Components: Special Factors
In the case of a child whose behavior impedes the child’s learning or that of others, consider the use of positive behavior intervention and supports
In the case of a child with limited English proficiency, consider the child’s language needs related to the child’s IEP.
In the case of a child who is blind or visually impaired, provide for instruction in Braille and the use of Braille unless the IEP team determines that instruction in Braille is not appropriate.

17. IEP Components: Special Factors
Consider the communication needs of the child and in the case of a child who is deaf or hard of hearing consider the child’s language and communication needs.
Consider whether the child needs assistive technology devices and services.

18. IEP Functions and Formats
IEP functions to provide
teachers and families with the opportunity to be realistic about children’s goals and creative in how to meet these goals
a measure of accountability for teachers and schools
IEP formats vary widely across school districts

19. IEP Functions and Formats
The IEP is not the same as curriculum
IEP objectives are not comprehensive enough to cover the entire scope and sequence of what a student is to learn.
Each area of functioning that is adversely affected by the student’s disability must be represented by an annual goal

20. IEP Problems and Potential Solutions
Inconsistencies between what is written on the document and the instruction that students receive in the classroom.
Students’ presence at meetings can at best be viewed as tokenism
General educators do not know the reason for IEP meetings or feel good about the meetings
High quality instruction is needed for students to make progress.
IDEA 2004 requires teachers to use evidence-based practices to ensure their students receive the highest quality instruction.

21. Continuum of Alternative Placements
Definition: A range of placement and service options
Types: Least Need for Specially Designed Instruction & Supports-Many Number of Students
General education classroom
General education classroom with consultation
General education classroom with supplementary instruction and services
Resource room

22. Continuum of Alternative Placements
Types: Most Need for Specially Designed Instruction & Supports-Few Number of Students
Homebound or hospital
Residential school
Separate school
Separate classroom

23. Determining LRE
LRE is the setting that is closest to a general education classroom and also meets the child’s special educational needs
LRE is a relative and wholly individualized concept
Removal from the general education classroom should take place when the severity of the disability is such that an appropriate education cannot be achieved
Placement must not be regarded as permanent
Proper placement for a child is determined by the IEP team

24. Inclusive Education
Inclusion means educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms
The LRE principle requires that students with disabilities be educated in settings as close to the general education classroom as possible in which an appropriate program can be provided and the child can make satisfactory educational progress.
For many students with disabilities, an inclusive classroom and the LRE are one and the same, but that is not always so.

25. Promoting Inclusion With Cooperative Learning
Cooperative learning activities provide a strategic approach for differentiating instruction and integrating students with disabilities into both the academic and social fabric of the classroom.
Cooperative learning arrangements should include
Group goals
Individual accountability
Classwide Peer Tutoring is a research-based form of cooperative learning

26. Arguments For and Against Full Inclusion
Advocates of full inclusion contends that the LRE
Confuses segregation and integration with intensity of services
Requires a readiness model
Sanctions infringements on students’ rights
Requires people to move as they develop and change
Directs attention to physical settings rather than to the services and supports people need

27. Arguments For and Against Full Inclusion
Very few special educators supports eliminating the continuum of alternative placements in favor of universal full inclusion.
CEC believes that the continuum of services and program options must be maintained and that IEP teams must make decisions based on the student’s individualized educational needs.
The bedrock of special education is instruction based on individual needs.

28. Where Does Special Education Go From Here?
The promise of a free, appropriate public education for all children with disabilities is an ambitious one.
There are problems and concerns with the implementation of IDEA
Insufficient funding from the federal government
Excessive paperwork, unclear guidelines, and inappropriate grouping of students with disabilities

29. Where Does Special Education Go From Here?
Overrepresentation of students from diverse groups
Lack of training or support for general education teachers when students with disabilities are included in their classrooms

30. Where Does Special Education Go From Here?
Special education is at a crossroad.
Today, all children identified with disabilities receive special education and related services.
The educational outcomes for the majority of students with disabilities are disappointing.
As a group, they fare poorly on virtually every measure of academic achievement and social adaptation.
Good teaching must occur.