Special Education 101

SPECIAL EDUCATION 101 WHAT IS SPECIAL EDUCATION? Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, special education is defined as: "Specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability." Special education is in place to provide additional services, support, programs, specialized placements or environments to ensure that all students' educational needs are met. HOW MANY U.S. K- 12 STUDENTS RECEIVE SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES? TYPES OF SPECIAL NEEDS Students who have identified needs like these 13 major classifications are eligible for special education service: Specific Learning DisabilityI Language/Speech I Impairment Intellectual Disability Emotinal Disturbance Hearing Impairment I Orthopedic Impairment 1 Other Health Impairment Visual Impairement Multiple Disabilities I Deaf-Blindness I 13% Autism Traumatic Brain Injury I Special Education Population Developmental Delay I General Student Population INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP) • a detailed description of all special education services a student receives a legal document meant to improve the student's educational experience • includes: current performance | goals | settings | testing modifications COMMITTEE FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION (CSE) • responsible for ensuring the needs of all students with disabilities are met • receives referrals for special education services • arranges assessment for students to potentially receive services • reviews results of assessments • collaboratively creates and reviews a student's IEP • consists of: the CSE chair/school representative | special education teachers | the students parents/guardians | regular education teachers | assessment experts SPECIAL EDUCATION OVER THE YEARS PERCENT OF STUDENTS ENROLLED WITH A SPECIFIC LEARNING DISABILITY PERCENT OF STUDENTS ENROLLED 15- 2010 2000 1990 10- 22% 1980 35% 1976 45% 46% *76 80 98 0 10 38% SPECIAL EDUCATION ENVIRONMENTS SETTING SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES FULL FULL TIME IN REGULAR CLASSROOM BROUGHT TO THE STUDENT INCLUSION MAXIMUM TIME IN REGULAR CLASSROOM BROUGHT TO THE STUDENT WHEN IN REGULAR CLASSROOM INCLUSION SELF - FULL OR NEAR FULL TIME IN SPECIAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED, CLOSELY SUPERVISED CONTAINED LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT • Principal ensuring that students with disabilities have the opportunity to learn alongside their non-disabled peers to the greatest extent possible MORE THAN 1/2 WITH DISABILITIES SPEND 80% IN GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOMS. of students of their time TIME SPENT IN GENERAL EDUCATION CLASSROOM 1 80 OR MORE OF TIME IN GENERAL CLASSROOM 1 79- 40. OF TIME IN GENERAL CLASSROOM 80- I LESS THAN 40 OF TIME IN GENERAL CLASSROOM 60- 40- 20- 90-91 95-9 97-9 99-0 01-0 03-0 05-0 07-0 09-1 YEAR AVERAGE TEACHER - TO - STUDENT RATIO 1:15.5 HOW MUCH U.S. FEDERAL FUNDING IS SPENT ON SPECIAL EDUCATION? 16.5 PERCENT or $11.5 BILLION AVERAGE SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER - TO - STUDENT RATIO of public education funding is spent on students with disabilities. (U.S. K-12) 1:7 WHAT IS THE DEMAND FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS? (U.S. K-12) Special education is a field with many more job openings than applicants, as there is a large growth in students receiving special education and quite a bit of teacher turn- over. The field of special education offers WHY BECOME A SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER? It takes a special teacher to become a special education teacher. Special education teachers have great impact on how children with special needs learn. These teachers have an opportunity to positively affect the lives of these students by helping them reach their full potential. many employment opportunities for those interested! If you've ever thought you just might be interested in working with people with special needs, then you'll probably find yourself very happy in this field. RESOURCES FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS National Association of onaset D National Center for Learning Disabilities All Kinds of Minds Special Education Teachers ALLKINDSOFMINDS.ORG NASET.ORG NCLD.ORG SOURCES: bls.gov | naset.org | edweek.org | nces.ed | fresno.edu | DESIGN BY FRANCESCA GREGGS & LEMONWOOD DESIGN USCRossier School of Education PERCENT OF STUDENTS