What’s Special about Special Education?
7th and 8th Grade
Social Studies
Ms. Kay
INTRODUCTION
What is Special Education?
Special education describes an educational
alternative that focuses on the teaching of students with academic,
behavioral, health, or physical needs that cannot sufficiently be met using traditional educational
programs or techniques.
The various types of disabilities that
qualify individuals for special education programs include specific learning
disabilities, speech or language
impairments, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities,
hearing impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism,
combined deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and other health
impairments.
Students are classified under one of the categories, and special education
teachers are prepared to work with specific groups. Early identification of a
child with special needs is an important part of a special education teacher’s
job. Early intervention is essential in educating children with disabilities.
In recent years, the number of schoolchildren
receiving special education services has grown more than one in every 10
students, more than half of whom have been placed into the rapidly expanding
category of learning
disabled. While the expansion
has occurred among all groups, racial and
ethnic disparities persist, especially in categories that carry the greatest
stigmas.
Since its passage in 1975, the IDEA has brought tremendous
benefits: today, approximately six million children with disabilities enjoy
their right to a free appropriate public education. The benefits of special education,
however, have not been equitably distributed. Minority
children with disabilities all too often experience inadequate services,
low-quality curriculum and instruction, and unnecessary isolation from their
non-disabled peers. Moreover,
inappropriate practices in both general and special education classrooms have
resulted in overrepresentation, misclassification, and hardship for minority
students, particularly black children.
Your group will be working as
public policy consultants to Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City and Joel
Klein, the Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools to analyze and
provide feedback about Special Education in the New York City Public
schools. This feedback will include what
you believe is working and what you would like to have changed or
improved. Your group will make
suggestions to Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein that would impact on the
lives of all the students receiving Special Education services in
TASK
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein have asked for feedback
about Special Education services in the New York City Public Schools. As Public Policy Analysts you
will develop an oral presentation with a memo sharing your research, your
personal experience, and what suggestions you think may help students receiving
Special Education services. Your group of five will complete the SIX
STEPS IN THE PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST to decide on the best public
policy solution that will result in the best Special Education services. After completing the six steps in the
process, your group will make an oral poster presentation outlining the public
policy analyst process you experienced for Special Education services and
focusing on the public policy position you have chosen.
PROCESS
You will work in groups of three. Each member of the group will have a role to
play. Your teacher will assign you your
role as follows:
ROLES IN GROUPS
Group Leader- The Group Leader will coordinate all group
activities.
Will be responsible for taking notes on the worksheets and writing the
poster presentation.
Presenter- This member will present the findings of the
group to the class. The presenter will
direct the oral presentation assigning roles to the group participants.
Poster Creator- This group member will be
responsible for organizing and creating the poster of the presentation. This group member will check all written and
oral reports for grammar and English mechanics.
Your group
will be responsible for the following:
1.
Writing a written investigation on both the positive
and negative parts of Special Education in
Resources
New York City Board of Education Parent Guide
2.
Define Special Education services that are available
to students in the
a.
Group
A: Will define, as related to Special
Education:
* Minority children with
disabilities all too often
experience inadequate services, low-quality curriculum and instruction, and
unnecessary isolation from their nondisabled peers. Moreover, inappropriate practices in both general and special education
classrooms have resulted in overrepresentation, misclassification, and hardship
for minority students, particularly black children.
Resources
Racial Disparity among Special Education Students
b. Group B: Will define, as related to Special
Education:
*Speech or language
impairments
*mental retardation
*emotional
disturbance
*multiple
disabilities
*hearing
impairments
*orthopedic
impairments
*visual impairments
*autism
*combined deafness
and blindness
*traumatic brain injury
*other health
impairments
Resources
c.
Group
C: Will define,
as related to Special Education:
*academic
disabilities
*behavioral
disabilities
*health
disabilities
*physical disabilities
Resources
Special Education
terms-definitions
d.
Group
D: Will define,
as related to Special Education:
*learning
disabilities
Resources
3.
Each student must locate one story online of a person
who was in Special Education classes, or experienced some type of learning
disability, and how this affected them.
Each student should copy the part of that person’s story, or
testimonial, and then either write or record your own experience, whether you
agree or disagree.
Resources
kids’ stories about learning disabilities
famous people who have learning disabilities
history
of famous people with learning disabilities
http://www.metrokc.gov/dias/ocre/match.htm
famous
people with disability matching game
famous
people with learning disabilities
4. Students
will be required to follow the process of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) by
reviewing the following steps to guide them in the process with their group:
Your group will then complete the worksheets under each of the six steps. These worksheets will then be used as
resource material for completing your task.
A.
Identifying the
Problem, and Worksheet #1
B.
Gathering Evidence,
and Worksheet # 2
C.
Identify Causes of
the problem, and Worksheet # 3
D.
Evaluate the
Policy, and Worksheet #4
E.
Develop a solution
to the Problem, and Worksheet #5
F. Select the Best Solution
and Worksheet #6
5.
Create a poster that details your group’s position and prepare an oral presentation that explains each step of
the public policy analysis process.
6.
Make a
poster for presentation.
·
Poster
should include information on each of the six steps of the Public
Policy Analyst.
7.
Make an oral
presentation.
·
Presentation
must be 5 minutes long.
·
The
presentation should clearly state your groups’
i.
analysis of
Special Education services available in
ii.
solution to
problem to be used for future students to be served through the
iii.
reasons for
the solution selected;
8.
Follow these
steps to complete the process above.
EVALUATION
|
|
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
PPA Policy Followed |
All
questions were answered completely and rationales for the answers were
clearly stated. |
All
questions were answered completely, but rationales for the all the answers were
not clearly stated. |
Not
all questions were answered completely, or greater than 2 rationales for the
all answers were not clearly stated. |
All
questions were not answered completely. |
____ |
|
Poster Presentation |
- Clear and full presentation of material -
Includes information from all 6 steps of the Public
Policy Analyst. - Demonstrates full control of language conventions |
- Clear presentation of material -
Includes information from most steps of the Public
Policy Analyst. - Demonstrates control of language conventions with very
few mistakes
|
- Basic presentation of material -
Includes information from less than 4 steps of the Public
Policy Analyst. - Some errors in language conventions get in way of
presentation |
- Insufficient and/or unclear presentation of material -
Includes information from less than 4 steps of the Public
Policy Analyst. - Significant errors in language conventions which get in
way of presentation |
____ |
|
Process: Teamwork |
It
is evident that a mutual effort and cohesive unit created the final product. |
The
team worked well together, but could have utilized each other's skills to a
better degree. |
The
team had problems working together. Little collaboration occurred. |
The
final product is not the result of a collaborative effort. The group showed
no evidence of collaboration. |
____ |
|
Process: Originality |
The ideas expressed by the body of
work demonstrate a high degree of originality. |
The ideas expressed by the body of
work are mostly original. |
The ideas expressed by the body of
work demonstrate lack of originality. |
There were no original ideas
expressed in this project. |
|
Conclusion
Through this project you have learned about how Special Education policy
affects the lives of students identified as needing Special Education services
in
This Web Quest addresses the following Social Studies and English
Language Arts Standards:
Social Studies
Standard 5: Civics,
Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of
intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for
establishing governments; the governmental system of the
English Language Arts
Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and
understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and
ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge
generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers
and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted
conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit
information.
Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and
Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis
and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences,
ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of
established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written
language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to
present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on
experiences, ideas, information and issues.
Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social
interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the
accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the
social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and
their views.