Personnel Preparation and Service Delivery Issues in Rural Areas: The State of the Art

2002 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane M. Williams ◽  
Suzanne M. Martin ◽  
Robert K. Hess
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Personnel Preparation ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Rural Settings ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Education Act ◽  
K 12

Preparation of high quality personnel to provide educational services to students with disabilities living in rural areas is, at best, challenging. Findings from a comprehensive study concerning the status of the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in rural settings and the issues such implementation presents to teacher education programs in these areas are discussed. Members of the American Council on Rural Special Education (ACRES) participated in the study. Results indicated that strategies for enhancing personnel preparation, recruitment, and retention of individuals to institutions of higher education and K-12 schools in rural settings include distance learning, on-site professional development opportunities, salary incentives/increments, and benefits. Linking evaluation data to the general education curriculum and determining how the student's disabilities affect his/her progress in general education are issues for practitioners implementing IDEA in rural settings. Recommendations are provided for enhancing personnel preparation and service delivery based on the results.

scholarly journals Status of Inclusive Educational Placement for Students With Extensive and Pervasive Support Needs

Inclusion ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Morningstar ◽  
Jennifer A. Kurth
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Support Needs ◽  
Educational Placement ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Disabilities Education Act ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Restrictive Environment

Abstract Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004 established procedural mandates and accountability requirements ensuring all students with disabilities participate and progress in general education curriculum. Broadly speaking, improvements toward greater access have been found for many students with disabilities; however, the extent to which this holds true for students with extensive and pervasive support needs is not evident. Past research associated with least restrictive environment (LRE) for students with extensive and pervasive support needs was considered when replicating previous research using the cumulative placement rate to analyze LRE data for students with extensive and pervasive support needs (autism, intellectual disability, deaf blindness, and multiple disabilities). Results indicate that student with extensive and pervasive support needs have substantially less positive LRE placement trends over the past 15 years with most placed in separate classrooms and settings. Recommendations for transforming federal and state policies and procedures are shared.

Curricular Philosophies Reflected in Individualized Education Program Goals for Students With Complex Support Needs

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 283-294
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Kurth ◽  
Elissa Lockman-Turner ◽  
Kathryn Burke ◽  
Andrea L. Ruppar
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Individualized Education Program ◽  
Severe Disabilities ◽  
Support Needs ◽  
Individualized Education ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
K 12

Abstract Individualized education program (IEP) goals are meant to be personalized to address the unique needs of students with disabilities, while also reflecting the student's grade-aligned general education curriculum. IEP goals describe what, how, and where students with disabilities are taught, and reflect the curriculum used to provide instruction. In this study, we analyzed how IEP goals align with the different curricular philosophies for students with severe disabilities. Using a sample of 88 IEPs for students with complex support needs (i.e., severe disabilities) in Grades K-12, we found most goals (57%) reflect curricular philosophies of the 1970s–1990s (i.e., developmental, functional, and social inclusion) eras, with only 26% of IEP goals representative of modern curricular philosophies (i.e., grade-aligned academic content). We also found secondary-aged students were less likely to have grade-aligned academic goals compared to elementary-aged students. We offer implications for ensuring individualization and goals reflecting skills needed for the 21st century.

Planning Strategies for Students with Special Needs: A Professional Development Activity

2004 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-154
Author(s):  
Amy R. Brodesky ◽  
Fred E. Gross ◽  
Anna S. McTigue ◽  
Cornelia C. Tierney
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
National Level ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
Development Activity ◽  
Professional Development Activity ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Education Act

In today's mathematics classrooms, teachers are confronted with an increasing range of learners, including students with special needs. On the national level, 13.2 percent of students have identified disabilities. This translates to 6,195,113 students, a jump of 30 percent from 1990 to 2000 (National Center for Education Statistics 2001). The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act of 1997 (IDEA) mandates that students with disabilities have access to the general education curriculum. This legislation has led to an increase in the number of students with disabilities who are included in regular education classes. Many classroom teachers feel overwhelmed by the challenges of responding to the learning needs of all their students. We often hear teachers say, “I want all my students to be successful in math, but I'm not sure what to do. I don't have training in special education and I don't have much support.”

Online Learning as a Form of Accommodation

2011 ◽  
pp. 2906-2910
Author(s):  
Terence Cavanaugh
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Special Needs Students ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
General Education Teacher ◽  
The Past ◽  
Education Act

An estimated three billion people, representing approximately half of the planet’s population, are in some way affected by disabilities, which includes an estimated 150 million from the United States of America (Half the Planet, 2001). According to the Twenty-Third Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2002a), concerning students with special needs between the ages of three and 21, the U.S. and its outlying areas are currently serving educationally more than 6,272,000 students classified as having a disability. The inclusion model, in which a special needs student participates in the “regular” classroom, has become the current classroom education standard. Today’s special needs students have increasing impacts on the general education teacher as, during the past 10 years, the percentage of students with disabilities served in schools and classes with their non-disabled peers has gradually grown to over 90% in 1998 (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). Because of the large and increasing number of special needs students, assistive educational technology is growing in importance. The population of postsecondary students with disabilities has increased over the past two decades, and currently there are approximately one million persons in postsecondary institutions who are classified as having some form of disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). In 1994, approximately 45% of the adult population who reported having a disability had either attended some college or had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, as compared to only 29% in 1986 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1999a).

Enhancing Professional Development for Educators: Adapting Project ECHO From Health Care to Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 875687052096044
Author(s):  
Canyon Hardesty ◽  
Eric J. Moody ◽  
Shira Kern ◽  
Wendy Warren ◽  
Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Hub And Spoke ◽  
Project Echo ◽  
Professional Development Workshop ◽  
Rural Settings ◽  
Behavioral Supports ◽  
Support Students

Adequately prepared educators are critical to the success of children in rural settings, but many educators receive little training on how to support students with disabilities. Professional development for educators is challenging in rural areas due to the lack of opportunities and travel requirements. Project ECHO™ was originally developed to overcome similar challenges facing physicians. The ECHO Model overcomes these challenges by creating a hub and spoke network that connects local providers with experts. These networks meet regularly over teleconferencing technology to conduct a short professional development workshop, followed by a case-study from one of the local sites. We adapted the ECHO Model for use in education and since 2014 implemented four networks: autism, assistive technology, secondary transitions, and behavioral supports. Educators found ECHO highly acceptable and reported improved skills and knowledge. ECHO for Education is effective and has the potential to improve capacity of education systems in rural settings.

What Is Different About Deaf Education? The Effects of Child and Family Factors on Educational Services

2016 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Luft
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
General Education ◽  
Hard Of Hearing ◽  
Deaf Education ◽  
Family Factors ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
K 12 ◽  
General Education Classrooms

Deaf education is characterized by several distinctive aspects, beginning with qualities unique to deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children and their families. Consisting of approximately 1.2% of the special education K-12 population, educational and disability systems often struggle to meet the unique challenges that these children and their families present. The result is that services and practices may be atypical and unlike those found to be successful with other populations. Despite new technological and personnel accommodations, far greater numbers placed in general education classrooms, and access to the general education curriculum, these children remain unable to perform commensurate with their abilities or at levels equivalent to their peers either with or without disabilities. Achievement has improved little over four decades, further attesting to the complexity of successfully mitigating the effects of early childhood hearing loss and that educating DHH children is different.

Is Special Education Improving? Case Evidence From New York City

2020 ◽  
pp. 104420732093481
Author(s):  
Leanna Stiefel ◽  
Michael Gottfried ◽  
Menbere Shiferaw ◽  
Amy Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
New York ◽  
Special Education ◽  
New York City ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
York City ◽  
Education Act ◽  
Education Of Students ◽  
Disability Education

In this study, we assess changes in the education of students with disabilities (SWDs) in the nation’s largest school district, New York City (NYC), over the decade 2005–2015. Specifically, we examine progress toward the twin legislative goals of both the federal Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA) and NYC district goals of (a) including SWDs in general education settings and (b) improving their academic performance. We find that the inclusion of SWDs with their general education peers (GENs) has increased in elementary and middle schools, but decreased in high school. Furthermore, although more SWDs are completing high school, their graduation rate remains considerably below that of GENs (50% vs. 80%). In assessing these patterns, we provide empirical evidence of the changing context of education in NYC before, during, and after policy changes that affected special education.

Online Learning as a Form of Accomodation

2005 ◽  
pp. 2209-2213
Author(s):  
Terence Cavannaugh
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Department Of Education ◽  
Special Needs Students ◽  
Students With Special Needs ◽  
General Education Teacher ◽  
The Past ◽  
Education Act

An estimated three billion people, representing approximately half of the planet’s population, are in some way affected by disabilities, which includes an estimated 150 million from the United States of America (Half the Planet, 2001). According to the Twenty-Third Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (U.S. Department of Education, 2002a), concerning students with special needs between the ages of three and 21, the U.S. and its outlying areas are currently serving educationally more than 6,272,000 students classified as having a disability. The inclusion model, in which a special needs student participates in the “regular” classroom, has become the current classroom education standard. Today’s special needs students have increasing impacts on the general education teacher as, during the past 10 years, the percentage of students with disabilities served in schools and classes with their non-disabled peers has gradually grown to over 90% in 1998 (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). Because of the large and increasing number of special needs students, assistive educational technology is growing in importance. The population of postsecondary students with disabilities has increased over the past two decades, and currently there are approximately one million persons in postsecondary institutions who are classified as having some form of disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2000b). In 1994, approximately 45% of the adult population who reported having a disability had either attended some college or had completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, as compared to only 29% in 1986 (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1999a).

Setting a Framework of Inclusive Support for Students With Disabilities

2022 ◽  
pp. 327-339
Author(s):  
Johnny R. O'Connor Jr.
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Education Curriculum ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
General Education Curriculum ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
Inclusive Settings ◽  
General Education Classroom ◽  
Social Opportunities

The purpose of this chapter is to provide guidance to parents, teachers, and school administrators, as it relates to the various elements and considerations to implementing inclusion programming in schools. The author introduces the implementation of inclusion in terms of a multidimensional framework needed to support the inclusion of students with disabilities (SWD) in general education classroom settings. Inclusive settings allow access to the general education curriculum, ensuring compliance with federal law, and enhanced academic and social opportunities for students with disabilities. A discussion of key stakeholders in inclusion, as well as preparation, implementation, and sustainability of inclusion efforts are also reviewed.

Building Inclusive Learning Environments With 1:1 Devices

2020 ◽  
pp. 016264342092306
Author(s):  
Kathryn Nieves
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
General Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Learning Environments ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Disabilities Education Act ◽  
Inclusive Learning ◽  
Education Act ◽  
General Education Classrooms ◽  
Common Device

With emphasis placed on the least restrictive learning environments under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), students with disabilities are often placed in general education classrooms. As a result, the discussion of inclusion strategies has increased in special education. The rise in 1:1 device initiatives offers the inclusionary practice of giving all students within a school access to their own device, with Google’s Chromebook and Apple’s iPad being among the most common device choices. This article explains the potential uses of 1:1 devices for students in inclusion settings, including built-in accessibility features and implementation strategies for educators.

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