education

1. HISTORICAL,
PHILOSOPHICAL, AND
LEGAL FOUNDATION OF
SPECIAL EDUCATION

2. Philosophical Foundations
◦ To create and provide a positive environment with individualized programs specifically designed to maximize all
students' potential and meet the students' needs, learning styles, abilities, and goals.

3. Historical Foundations Timeline
◦ 1965- Congress adds Title IV to the Elementary & Secondary Education Act of 1965, which created a Bureau of Education
for the Handicapped (today, this bureauis called the Office of Special Education Programs or OSEP).At this time, educating
students with disabilities is NOT mandated by federal or state law.
◦ 1972-Supreme Court Decisions apply the equal protection argument to students with disabilities [PARC v. Pennsylvania
(1972) and Mills v. D.C. Board of Education (1972)]. Some students with disabilities start going to school as a result of
these court decisions.
◦ 1973-Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is enacted, which protects qualified individuals from discrimination based
on disability. Since this law was enacted without excitement, most educators did not know that it applied to public schools.
◦

4. ◦ 1974- The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is enacted, which allows parents to have access to
all personally identifiable information used by the school district regarding their child.
◦ 1975- The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA or P.L. 94-142) is authorized and is now known as
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).This mandated that all school districts to educate students
with disabilities. This included: providing federal funding, FAPE, LRE, Procedural safeguards, Non-discriminatory
evaluations, and IEPs.
◦ 1977- The final regulations for EAHCA are determined, which include rules for school districts to follow when
providing an education to students with disabilities.
◦ 1986-The EAHCA adds the Handicapped Children's Protection Act, giving parents and students rights under
EAHCA (now IDEA) and Section 504

5. ◦ 1990-The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) uses Section 504 regulations - "504 Plans" are now made for
individual students and have become much more common in schools now.
◦ 1990- The EAHCA is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). One of the biggest changes
to this Act is the transitional services for students with disabilities. This included changes such as:
• The word "handicap" was changed to "disability"
• Person first language
• Added Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Autism categories
• Transition services
• Assistive technology & related services

6. ◦ 1997-IDEA amends that students with disabilities are to be included in on state and district-wide assessments.
Regular Education teachers are now also required to be part of the IEP team. These changes included and/or
affected:
• FAPE
• Nondiscriminatroy evaluation
• IEP
• LRE
• Discipline
• Related Services
• Parents Rights

7. ◦ 2001- No Child Left Behind: This states that all students (including those with disabilities) to be proficient in math
and reading by the year 2014.
◦ 2004- IDEA changes again in many ways. The biggest change creates more accountability at the state and local
levels. Another change is that school districts must provide instruction and intervention for students to help keep
them out of special education, if possible.
◦

8. Legal Foundations for SPED
◦ Special Education litigation became more common in the 1960s and by 1974 there were over 36 lawsuits filed for
the "right to education" in 25 states. Lawsuits involving education started as early as in the 1800s and included
topics such as:
• Exclusion & School Attendance
• Rights/Services
• Litigation Rights & Services
◦ P1 94-142 (Education for all Handicapped Children Act - 1975)

9. Function and Key Elements of
IEPs and 504 Plans

10. Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
◦ Purpose: The IEP is an an important document and when it is done correctly, it "should improve teaching, learning
and results. Each child's IEP describes, among other things, the educational program that has been designed to
meet that child's unique needs" (A Guide to the Individualized Education Program, 2007).

11. • Current level of performance
• Annual goals and short-term objectives
• Who provides services & where are they provided?
• Start date and duration of services
• Participation in general education settings
• Participation in state-and district-wide tests
• Explanation of not being in general education
• Evaluation plan for objectives
• Transitional plans (by age 14)
• Age of majority
• Measuring progress

12. 504 Plans
◦ "Section 504 is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Section 504
ensures that the child with a disability has equal access to an education. The child may receive accommodations
and modifications." Section 504 has fewer procedural safeguards in place for the child with a disability as well as
the child's parents, as opposed to IDEA.

13. Disorders of Attention
◦ Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD):
• Inattentive ADHD: student cannot get focused or stay focused on a task/activity
• Does not pay attention to details
• Cannot stay focused on work or play
• Doesn't follow through with instructions or finish work
• Cannot organize tasks
• Gets distracted easily
• Loses things easily
• Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD: student is very active and often acts with impulsivity

14. • Fidgits and squirms
• Gets out of seat when he/she is not supposed to
• Run and climb constantly
• Cannot play quietly
• Talks too much
• Blurts out answers and interrupts others
• Has trouble waiting for own turn
• Butts into games others are playing.

15. Reading Difficulties
◦ "Reading provides a fundamental way for individuals to exchange information. It also a means by which much of
the information presented in school is learned.As a result, reading is the academic area most often associated with
academic failure" (Characteristics of Children with Learning Disabilities, n.d., 2).
◦ Approximately 90% of students with learning disabilities have reading difficulties
◦ Most educators believe that the problem with reading skills is directly correlated to deficient language skills,
especially phonological awareness (speech can be broken down into smaller sound units - words, syllables,
phonemes).

16. ◦ According to Kirk, Gallagher, & Anastaiow (2003, 224) in Characteristics of Children with Learning Disabilities
(n.d.), these problems could prevent a child with learning disabilities from learning how to read.
• Faulty auditory perception without hearing impairment
• Slow auditory or visual processing
• Inability to distinguish or separate the sounds of spoken words
• Lack of knowledge of the purpose of reading
• Failure to attend to critical aspects of the word, sentence, or paragraph
• Failure to understand that letters represent units of speech

17. Poor Motor Abilities
◦ Handwriting using fine motor skills. If a student has poor fine motor skills, he/she will have difficulty with
handwriting.
◦ Motoric Dysfunction: This is a nonverbal learning disorder (NLD) that includes a lack of coordinatin, severe balance
problems, and difficulties with graphomotor skills.

18. Written Language Difficulties
◦ Written Language Difficulties
◦ Students with learning disabilities often experience deficits with written language skills. Written language refers to: composition, spelling, and handwriting.
Those with written language problems often exhibit the following:
• Feeling overwhelmed by the idea of getting started
• Struggling to organize and use the mechanics of writing
• Struggling to develop fluency
• Having difficulties spelling and construction written products in a legible fashion
• Submit written work that is too short
◦ Handwriting Difficulties can include the following:
• Dysgraphia
• Dyslexic Dysgraphia
• Motor Dysgraphia
• Spatial Dysgraphia
◦

19. Oral Language Difficulties
◦ Oral language deficits can affect both academic and social interactions. The following are common problems that
students with oral language problems have:
• Choosing the appropriate word. Often times the child will use a less appropriate word because the right word will
not come to him/her.
• Understanding complex sentence structures
• Responding to questions
• Difficulties in retrieving words. The response rate is often times slower than that of students without disabilities,
therefore students with difficulties with oral language may speak more slowly.

20. Social Skills Deficits
◦ Many students with disabilities experience social skills deficits, which can include the following:
• Acceptance by peers
• Difficulty making friends
• Being seen by peers as overly dependent
• Being less likely to become leaders
• Resolving conflict
• Managing frustrations
• Initiating or joining a conversation or play activities
• Listening
• Demonstrating emphathy
• Maintaining a friendship
• Working in groups

21. Psychological Process Deficits
◦ Individuals with disabilities can have psychological problems including feelings of inadequacy, anxiety, frustration,
and anger (Bender, 2002 as qtd. in Characteristics of Children with Learning Disabilities, n.d., 24).

22. Quantitative Disorders
◦ Quantitative Disorders
◦ These usually affect students in mathematics such as those with calculation disorders or written symbol system
disorders.
◦ According to Characteristics of Children with Learning Disabilities, "mastery of fundamental quantitative concepts
is vital to learning more abstract and complex mathematics, a requirement for youth with learning disabilities who
are seeking to complete high school and attend colleges or universities" (n.d., 13).

23. Information Processing
Problems
◦ Individuals with disabilities often...
• process information in a linear, sequential fashion, and are therefore unable to see multiple dimensions of a
situation.
• have slow auditory and/or visual processing
• have an inability to accurately and fluently decode single words

24. Purposes of
Assessments & Evaluations

25. • Assessment is an integral part of good teaching.
• Assessment involves identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a student.
• Tesing is only one component of the assessment process.
• Teaching is associated with putting information in (assessment with drawing evidence of skills out of pupils).
• Results of assessments, including tests, should inform testing.

26. Types of Assessments
Functions of Assessments
Diagnostic
• Takes place before instruction to determine the presence, or lack thereof, of prerequisite skills.
• This could include the administration of: standardized achievement tests, standardized diagnostic tests, teacher-made
tests, observation, and checklists.
• Screening
• Referral
• Classification
• Instructional Planning
• Monitoring Progress
• Checking Mastery
• Developing Understanding
• Therapeutic
• Empowering the Pupil

27. ◦ Summative
◦ This is a process which takes place after instruction and measures achievement up to the time of the assessment
for the purposes of accountability or selection.
◦ Formative
◦ This takes place during instruction. This provides progress checks in relation to what is being taught.

28. Functions of Assessments
• Screening
• Referral
• Classification
• Instructional Planning
• Monitoring Progress
• Checking Mastery
• Developing Understanding
• Therapeutic
• Empowering the Pupil

29. ◦ Evaluations are the initial evalution that is required by IDEA before special education services can be provided.
The purposes for conducting evaluations include:
• To see if the child is a "child with a disability, as defined by IDEA
• To gather information that will help determine the child's education needs
• To guide decision making about appropriate educational programming. (Evaluating Children for Disability, 2014).

30. Culture, Ethnicity, & Diversity
◦ The primary aims of educational diversity are to "recognize, foster and develops sensitivity to the needs of
students in various identity categories" (Zannu & Dixon, n.d., 3).
◦ Culturally Responsive means to "acknowledge the presence of culturally diverse students and the need for those
students to find relevant connections among themselves and the subjectmatter and the tasks teachers ask them to
perform" (Zannu & Dixon, n.d., 3).
◦ Cultural Reciprocity in special education includes more than the differences in people that are easily recognizable
(skin, dress, food preferences, accents, etc.); it includes more subtle aspects such as "deep-seated values that
underlie our attitudes and behaviors" (Kalyanpur & Harry, 2012).

31. Instructional Effectiveness
◦ "'School effectiveness' refers to effectiveness enhancing conditions defined at school level and 'Instructional effectiveness'"
[refers] to effectiveness enhancing conditions situated at the teacher and classroom level" (Scheerens, 2004, 1).
◦ Effectiveness-enhancing factors:
• Achievement orientation & high expectations
• Educational leadership
• Consensus and cohesion among staff
• Curriculum quality & opportunity to learn
• School climate
• Evaluative potential
• Parental involvement
• Classroom climate
• Effective learning time.
◦ (Scheerens, 2004, 10-12)

32. Teaching Strategies
◦ Paraeducators provide academic support in the following areas:
• Adaptations
• Accommodations: "changes in how a student accesses information and demonstrates learning;" and
• Modifications: "changes in what a student is expected to learn" (Strategies for Paraprofessional Support, 2011, 18).
• General strategies
• Content specific strategies
• Assistive technology: especially any technology that is used by a student; once identified as necessary, assistive
technology should always be available to the student.

33. Elements of Successful Use of
Paraprofessionals
• The paraprofessional provides supplementary instruction (not primary instruction)
• Instruction is designed in a way that does not require significant instructional decision making by the para
• Proven instructional methods are used
• Paraprofessionals are trained in the instructional approach they are required to implement
• Paraprofessionals are supervised and monitored to ensure consistency of instruction (Strategies for
Paraprofessional Support, 2011, 27).

34. Elements of Successful Use of
Paraprofessionals
• The paraprofessional provides supplementary instruction (not primary instruction)
• Instruction is designed in a way that does not require significant instructional decision making by the para
• Proven instructional methods are used
• Paraprofessionals are trained in the instructional approach they are required to implement
• Paraprofessionals are supervised and monitored to ensure consistency of instruction (Strategies for
Paraprofessional Support, 2011, 27).

35. Professionalism
◦ Paraeducators "advocate for their profession by maintaining positve, supportive, collaborative, and professional
relationships with other members of the education team" (Supporting Paraeducator Professionalism, 2015).
◦ Professionalism is important to understand as a paraeducator because "it is the unerstanding that everything you
do has an effect on the development of the student" (Lóser, 2009, 20).
◦

36. Confidentiality & Ethics
◦ "Maintaining confidentiality is mandated by the Federal Eductional Rights and Privacy Act. It is the law and it is
imperative that school personnel follow this ethical code of conduct. We are expected to respect the legal and
human rights of children and their families. Therefore, maintaining confidentiality is essential" (Paraeducator
Handbook, n.d., 10).
◦ 1. Never violate confidentiality
◦ 2. Differentiate between public
◦ and private self
◦ 3. Always ask before accessing
◦ or sharing information

37. ◦ Paraeducators must always "maintain confidentiality; respect the legal and human rights of children, youth and
their families; follow district policies for protecting the health, safety, and well-being of children and youth; ... [and]
demonstrate dependability, integrity, respect for individual differences and other standards of ethical conduct"
(Paraeducator Handbook, n.d., 10).

38. School & Safety
◦ Always have the "knowledge of and ability to follow health, safety, and emergency procedures of the agency"
(Paraeducator Handbook, n.d., p. 5).
◦ To ensure the safety of both yourself and of your students, ALWAYS consult the school health office and/or school
or district procedures and policies when you have questions or concerns.

39. ◦ If you are to perform any health care procedures, you must ensure that the children under your care are safe by
being "trained and supervised by a licensed health care professional" (Paraeducator Handbook, n.d., p. 27)
◦ You should be trained in techniques for "universal precautions" to use with all students.
◦ Finally, it is important to comply with a "direct order, unless you feel you will jeopardize the safety of the student"
(Paraeducator Handbook, n.d., 27).

40. Duty to Engage in Profesional Developments
◦ The purpose of professional developments for paraeducators is to provide opportunities for paraeducators to gain
knowledge and skills to enhance their professional growth.
◦ The NEA believes that education support professionals, such as paraeducators, professional development should
be required throughout their entire careers. "To have high standards for students, there must be high standards for
the staff members who work with them" and "appropriate training is vital to the quality of paraeducator participation
in the entire program of any state or school district" (Providing Ongoing Professional Development, 2015).
◦ More like this

41. Plan to Provide Paraeducator with Staff
Development Related to Content
◦ "Educational opportunities begin with a foundation of basic knowledge skills, and competencies, followed by more
purposeful learning that builds on previous experiences [which] enables the paraeducator to take part in classes
that become progressively more focused, in-depth, and tailored to the individual job situation or career goals"
(Providing Ongoing Professional Development, 2015).
◦ Professional development can be broken into two categories
• Programs required for all paraeducators
• Optional programs that allow individuals to make their own decisions for their continued professional growth.

42. Possible Delivery Systems for Professional
Development:
• Paraeducator inservice sponsored by the school district
• Teacher inservice, sponsored by the school district, in which paraeducators are full participants
• Universities, community colleges, and technical institutes
• Educational service districts
• Business, professional, and community organizations
• National, state, and local Associations
• UniServ offices or councils
• Private vendors