Balancing General and Special Education Services
Historically, special education services delivery was on a pull-out model. This means that the child was removed from the general education classroom for separate instruction. It may be the child was in a self-contained classroom (all day placement) or in a resource classroom (maximum of half-day placement).
As a result of lawsuits, most districts have shifted from pull-out to inclusion models for everything except speech and language, occupational and/or physical therapy, and specialized assistance for the hearing or visually impaired students. These remain pull-out because the instruction is individualized and intense for short lengths of time, usually 1-3 times per week for 15-30 minutes a session.
In the inclusion model, students receive the same instruction as their general education peers. Sometimes the special education teacher or assistant is in the classroom with the child to assist instruction and/or task completion. Most of the time, the student remains in the general education classroom and is expected to behavior and work as all other students. Read the rest of this entry »
10 Reasons to Improve Your Negotiation Skills
You are in a conversation with the elementary school principal where you are trying to get him to agree to implement a new instructional accommodation for your special needs child. He is making all kinds of excuses why it can’t be done and you’ve made up your mind that you won’t leave his office until you have both come to a resolution…You are in the midst of a negotiation.
Negotiation is an important part of the advocacy process and parents need make sure that they have the skills to do it right.
Some things are NOT negotiable
Exceptional students may have special education needs in the following categories: academic, health, safety, physical, social, and/or emotional. Once the needs have been identified in each category, they MUST be met. However, the parent and the school may have different opinions as to how to meet them. So we don’t negotiate about which needs should be met (although priorities can be set), but rather HOW to meet them. Read the rest of this entry »