Falling through the Cracks: Deaf New Americans and Their Unsupported Educational Needs

Members of the Deaf New American community reported they arrived in the United States with no formal education, unable to read or write in their native language, and had zero fluency in English. Efforts to educate them have floundered, and the study aims to find out why and how to fix the problem. Interviews of eight Deaf New Americans yielded rich data that demonstrates how education policy in the form of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and other laws fail to address their needs, because these laws do not include them in their coverage. The study’s main findings are the deleterious effect of the home country’s failure to educate their Deaf citizens, America’s failure to provide accessible and effective instruction, and the combined effect of these institutional failures on the ability of Deaf New Americans to master English and find gainful employment. This article is an argument for a change in education policy that recognizes the unique nature of this community and provides for a role of Deaf educators in teaching Deaf New Americans.

IDEA and Inclusive Education

Federal mandates, most notably the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), guarantee education rights for children classified under one of the 13 categories of disabilities, ensuring that they are educated with their peers in the general education classroom as much as possible based on their ability and needs. State educational agencies and local educational agencies are responsible for ensuring that the pedagogical needs of all children with a disability are met in accordance with the law. This chapter discusses IDEA and the concept of inclusion and how special and general educators must increase their efforts to promote and support equitable opportunities for all students.

Teaching Students With Specific Learning Disabilities in the General Education Classroom

In many college teacher preparation programs across the United States, students who want to become a general education teacher are required to take a course focused on teaching students who have disabilities. Typically, that course provides an overview of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the characteristics of each of the 13 categories of disabilities. That course does not present various strategies a general education classroom teacher can use to educate these students, despite the fact that more and more disabled students are being educated in a general education classroom environment. Thus, this chapter provides resources and research-based reading, math, language arts, and social skills strategies general education teachers can utilize when educating a student with a specific learning disability in their classrooms. The resources presented in this chapter are not meant to take the place of special education teachers but to supplement practices for when they are not available.

Transformation of Historically Black Universities in South Africa to Provide Access to Information

South African universities were divided along racial lines of historically Black, White, and Afrikaans universities. Pieces of legislation such as the Bantu Education Act No. 47 of 1953 and the Extension of University Education Act No. 45 of 1959 were enacted by the apartheid regime to provide inferior education to Black communities. However, after the transition from apartheid to democracy, the National Commission on Higher Education was established in 1996 to develop a framework to transform higher education. The transformation of higher education led to the integration of information management systems. The governance structures, resources allocations, training and development of staff were pillars to transform higher education. The exclusion of information management implies poor administration and little access to information. Post-apartheid South Africa recognized the significance to access information for university internationalization.

Defying Deficit Thinking

Bolstered by the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), inclusion became part of the education vernacular. This chapter provides a review of key highlights in the history of inclusive education. The impact of deficit thinking and role of social justice are emphasized as undercurrents driving legislative changes. The authors propose systems thinking as a method to identify actionable items for advancing inclusive education. An overview of promising inclusive frameworks, specifically Universal Design for Learning and social-emotional learning, are described and recommended for embedding inclusive practices into daily practice within the education system.

Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Disability Categories

This chapter is a collection of case studies, discussion questions, and enrichment activities addressing each of the 13 disabilities covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), in addition to the disability categories of dyslexia and developmental delay. These case studies, questions, and enrichment activities address services that occur in a wide variety of public school settings. The purpose of this chapter is to serve as a supplemental text to courses in special education, psychology, counseling, nursing, and social work. Currently, there are scarce supplemental application resources available to instructors who are conducting teacher preparation courses and other disability-related courses.

Culturally Responsive Teaching and Inclusion for Online Students With Exceptionalities and Other Needs

Teaching learning-diverse students, English learners (Els), and students with disabilities has become of paramount importance as it relates to each unique student's need, directed by an Individual Education Plan (IEP), 504, English Language Plan, and related services, especially for those students served primarily under the Individual Disabilities Education Act. The students' unique cultural and familial needs also become important used to promote achievement in both the F2F and online educational setting, inclusive of multiple intelligences (MI), learning styles, and appropriate differentiated instruction. As such, the purpose of this chapter is to examine the learners and the diversity that they bring to the online learning community so that instructors may prepare culturally responsive and inclusive pedagogy and online universally designed learner-centered (UDLC) and differentiated practices that include them beyond their disability or exceptionality and to become culturally responsive instructional leaders (CRIL).

Disability as a Social Justice Imperative

Educators in the United States have the legal obligation to ensure that students with disabilities are given equitable access to an education. Under the Individuals with Education Act (2004), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (1973), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), individuals with disabilities cannot be discriminated against based on their disability and must be provided the same educational opportunities as their non-disabled counterparts. While most teacher preparation programs as well as educators in higher education are knowledgeable of these laws, there is a striking absence of learning about the historical implication of segregation, abuse, and maltreatment of individuals with disabilities that led to these laws being enacted. Most teacher preparation programs do not teach future educators about the history regarding disability rights and the social construct of disability. This chapter will present the major theoretical and historical movements in the disability rights movement, as well as the practical implications for educators today.

Response to Intervention in the State of Florida

The 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act led to an era of educational reform that called for scientifically based curriculum and data-driven decision-making when devising instructional strategies. Response to intervention was subsequently endorsed. Because students with disabilities were being included within the general education setting during this time, many states like Florida, made use of the multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS). This process was used to plan and problem-solve effective teaching strategies to improve student performance in reading and in mathematics. This chapter explores how Florida has used MTSS to narrow achievement gaps and create educational opportunities for all students.

Strategies for Teaching Math to Middle and High School Students With Special Needs

This chapter is designed to inform and educate 6th- through 12th-grade teachers on how to provide math activities for students with an identified learning disability as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The chapter provides an introduction to the topic, background information on teaching math at the secondary level, research-based instructional strategies that can be used for teaching math to students with identified special needs, and specific manipulatives that can be created and utilized to teach the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics to this population. Additional resources and readings are included as well.