Special Education

Malcolm X once said “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” The people preparing for the future are the students of today. The future they are preparing for is theirs and America’s. I have confidence that I can contribute to helping students create a future for themselves and others through working with students who have special needs. Due to students in SPED (Special Education) needing the curriculum tailored to their specific…

to receive special education services as special education eligibility is assured by the Individuals with Disability Act (IDEA, 2004). To access the core curriculum in a general education setting, a student with a disability can achieve educational benefit by using supports and other related services (optional). The student’s emotional and academic needs will play a significant role in how the student learns in the general education environment. The goal of the individualized education program…

to Arthur W. Foshay (1991), “The one continuing purpose of education, since ancient times, has been to bring people to as full a realization as possible of what it is to be a human being.” (http://www.ascd.org). In the past, our educational systems have had varied focuses transitioning to and from the goals of literacy to the development of moral character and including the goals of workforce preparation (http://www.ascd.org). Education in the 21st century is being redefined by educational…

Ethical challenges can occur during collaboration between a parent and a special education teacher regarding services provided to a student with a disability. One challenging scenario would be when a parent does not want a child to receive any special education services though the child has qualified. We do not understand the parents mental model with a different aspect of the social world then ourselves. To insure the child is receiving the proper services it is important for teachers to…

The individualized education plan (IEP) helped my brother with Asperger 's succeed throughout high school. However, after hearing about how schools were removing most self-contained classrooms, I reconsidered. At one school I volunteered at, there was a boy who had already gotten…

new referrals will be accepted for special educations services until the beginning of next school year. The school district has a large number of reevaluations that needed to be conducted and the school psychologist would be unable to complete any new evaluations at that time. Many teachers in the school district were upset because they had waited to make special education referrals after they had attempted other interventions to ensure that special education was a last resort. The students…

approximately 13,000 students and a distinctive identity as an important city in a frontier state. The larger cities of Colorado's Front Range such as Denver, Fort Collins, and Boulder are within 1-2 hours driving distnace. Tenure-Track Position The Special Education program is a NCATE Nationally-Recognized program that is responsible for preparing quialified personnel to serve students with divers learning needs. The program allows…

non-verbally with ease. Throughout this course I have come to understand the importance of an expository essay and the components that are necessary for growth in my field of study. I am working towards a dual degree in elementary and special education. Earning my special education degree will require effective communication, my strengths in my field of study, and areas of opportunities. “Lacking the skills to effectively analyze the material, these students often struggle to properly summarize…

In the article, “A Field at Risk: The Teacher Shortage in Special Education.” (Nichols, Bicard, Bicard, & Casey, 2008), I was made aware of several very tall issues. I didn’t know of the shortage problem facing the special education field, and am honestly saddened by it. The most discouraging, though, is the general lack of concern demonstrated from education officials. It seems they keep stacking bandages on cracks without ever removing the previous ones. And I’m not alone in this thought. The…

I did not choose Special Education. It chose me! I relocated to Texas with my family a little more than four years ago. The school that I wanted my daughters to attend could not enroll them since we did not live in their district. The only way for them to get in that school was if I worked for the school district. There was one para-professional job opening that I could apply for and it was for a special needs classroom. I was interviewed and hired within two weeks of my relocating to Texas. I…