International schools in Beijing are becoming more inclusive of students with special needs. About 20% of students may need some type of special support during their academic careers, even without a specific medical diagnosis. Schools are recognizing this and working to identify student needs and provide appropriate support services either through hiring specialists or partnering with outside organizations. It is important for parents to evaluate a school's commitment to inclusiveness, their ability to meet a student's particular needs, and the qualifications of teaching and support staff when selecting a school.
This document outlines an action research plan to improve school attendance rates at a high school. It discusses establishing an attendance team to identify students with high unexcused absence rates and intervene early through parent contact and education about attendance policies. The goal is to improve learning and graduation rates by reducing truancy. Background information provides the state attendance requirements and the school's current procedures for handling truant students. The methodology section describes dividing the attendance team into grade-level groups to contact parents of at-risk students by phone and letter about their child's absences.
This document is a guide for early childhood educators in Maryland that provides best practices for supporting young learners from birth to age 8. It emphasizes the importance of high-quality early learning experiences, strong relationships between children and caring adults, and collaboration between families, schools and communities to help children develop school readiness skills. The guide is informed by research and aims to be a comprehensive resource for early childhood educators across different settings. It highlights the critical role of the early years in establishing a positive learning trajectory and presents strategies for ensuring developmentally appropriate experiences that honor children's diversity.
Deconstructing SEN to Construct Inclusion - David BartramChallenge Partners
The document discusses the challenges of leading inclusion and special educational needs (SEN) in schools. It notes that excellent leadership skills are needed and leadership plays a pivotal role in determining the school's ethos and improving outcomes for students with SEN. It also discusses debates around issues related to inclusion, such as whether SEN coordinators should be part of the senior leadership team and whether students with SEN should be supported in class or withdrawn for interventions. Finally, it provides guidelines for groups to plan the restructuring of an inclusion department in a challenging urban secondary school, considering the school's context, funding, staffing, management structure, and student achievement data.
The new legislation and SEN code of practice will change how schools support students with special educational needs. Under the new framework, classroom teachers will be directly responsible for students in their class with SEN. Schools will also need to focus on involving students and their parents in decision making, and using evidence-based interventions to support students' education and transition to adulthood. The reforms aim to improve support for all students through high-quality, differentiated teaching and ensuring equal opportunities regardless of background.
1) Out of students enrolled in primary schools in India, 46.7% drop out by grade 5, showing deficiencies in the foundation of India's education system. The proposed solution is the Indian Council for Elementary Education (ICEE) to address teacher training, parent awareness, and student counseling.
2) ICEE would have cells focused on teacher training, parent awareness, and student counseling. It would recruit qualified professionals and implement programs like workshops and surveys to improve primary education.
3) ICEE aims to reduce dropout rates by 30-35% initially, increase new enrollments by 50-60%, and boost economic and social benefits through a strengthened educational foundation. It would work to transform over 10 million
Social Work at Schools- Helikx School Social Work and Research Department newsletter on Cross learning, Remedial Teaching, School Social Work, Pretend Play and Presentation Skills. Helikx Open School for Children with Specific Learning Disabilities
Special education presentation letty and vanessavpipkin
The document discusses differentiated instruction for special education students. It provides an overview of key components of Texas' special education program including its purpose of building collaborative relationships, tools like ARC and Section 504 plans, and the identification and ARD process. This involves child find referrals or parent/teacher referrals, evaluations, and ARD committee meetings to develop IEPs. The document advocates for classroom differentiation and inclusive service delivery models to help all students succeed.
The project is about the learning needs of talented and gifted learners and discusses the importance of communication, language and speech with respect to the child development.
This document outlines an action research plan to improve school attendance rates at a high school. It discusses establishing an attendance team to identify students with high unexcused absence rates and intervene early through parent contact and education about attendance policies. The goal is to improve learning and graduation rates by reducing truancy. Background information provides the state attendance requirements and the school's current procedures for handling truant students. The methodology section describes dividing the attendance team into grade-level groups to contact parents of at-risk students by phone and letter about their child's absences.
This document is a guide for early childhood educators in Maryland that provides best practices for supporting young learners from birth to age 8. It emphasizes the importance of high-quality early learning experiences, strong relationships between children and caring adults, and collaboration between families, schools and communities to help children develop school readiness skills. The guide is informed by research and aims to be a comprehensive resource for early childhood educators across different settings. It highlights the critical role of the early years in establishing a positive learning trajectory and presents strategies for ensuring developmentally appropriate experiences that honor children's diversity.
Deconstructing SEN to Construct Inclusion - David BartramChallenge Partners
The document discusses the challenges of leading inclusion and special educational needs (SEN) in schools. It notes that excellent leadership skills are needed and leadership plays a pivotal role in determining the school's ethos and improving outcomes for students with SEN. It also discusses debates around issues related to inclusion, such as whether SEN coordinators should be part of the senior leadership team and whether students with SEN should be supported in class or withdrawn for interventions. Finally, it provides guidelines for groups to plan the restructuring of an inclusion department in a challenging urban secondary school, considering the school's context, funding, staffing, management structure, and student achievement data.
The new legislation and SEN code of practice will change how schools support students with special educational needs. Under the new framework, classroom teachers will be directly responsible for students in their class with SEN. Schools will also need to focus on involving students and their parents in decision making, and using evidence-based interventions to support students' education and transition to adulthood. The reforms aim to improve support for all students through high-quality, differentiated teaching and ensuring equal opportunities regardless of background.
1) Out of students enrolled in primary schools in India, 46.7% drop out by grade 5, showing deficiencies in the foundation of India's education system. The proposed solution is the Indian Council for Elementary Education (ICEE) to address teacher training, parent awareness, and student counseling.
2) ICEE would have cells focused on teacher training, parent awareness, and student counseling. It would recruit qualified professionals and implement programs like workshops and surveys to improve primary education.
3) ICEE aims to reduce dropout rates by 30-35% initially, increase new enrollments by 50-60%, and boost economic and social benefits through a strengthened educational foundation. It would work to transform over 10 million
Social Work at Schools- Helikx School Social Work and Research Department newsletter on Cross learning, Remedial Teaching, School Social Work, Pretend Play and Presentation Skills. Helikx Open School for Children with Specific Learning Disabilities
Special education presentation letty and vanessavpipkin
The document discusses differentiated instruction for special education students. It provides an overview of key components of Texas' special education program including its purpose of building collaborative relationships, tools like ARC and Section 504 plans, and the identification and ARD process. This involves child find referrals or parent/teacher referrals, evaluations, and ARD committee meetings to develop IEPs. The document advocates for classroom differentiation and inclusive service delivery models to help all students succeed.
The project is about the learning needs of talented and gifted learners and discusses the importance of communication, language and speech with respect to the child development.
The document discusses the creation of a practice group called "Building Collaborative Cultures" by several national organizations focused on school mental health and student well-being. The practice group aims to [1] establish connections across stakeholder groups, [2] build representation from various organizations, and [3] establish routine communication to identify shared interests and collaborate. [END SUMMARY]
Preparing Youth of Today for the Workforce of 2030Michael Horwitz
The document discusses challenges facing the workforce of 2030 and skills gaps. It proposes that early childhood development programs can help address these gaps and close the skills gap by promoting skills like teamwork, self-awareness and social skills. Such programs include Head Start, Junior Achievement, Village Academies and Urban Youth Impact, which aim to develop leadership skills in youth. Evaluations found these programs improved student achievement, motivation and understanding of how the real world works.
DISCUSSION ISSUES ON DISPARITIES IN ACHIEVEMENTFatin Amira
This document discusses disparities in educational achievement between rural and urban students in Malaysia. It begins by providing context on the importance of education for economic development but notes ongoing issues with rural-urban performance gaps. The Malaysian government has invested heavily in education to improve rural student achievement and reduce these disparities. However, perceptions of inferior rural school performance persist. The document then examines some factors contributing to differences in academic achievement between rural and urban students, including family background/support, teacher quality, and school resources.
This document argues that extracurricular activities should be required for middle and high school students. It provides several benefits of extracurricular activities, including improved behaviors, academic achievement, social skills, and school completion rates. Extracurricular activities allow students to apply knowledge from classes, develop leadership skills, and gain experiences that can help in college and careers. The document concludes that due to these wide-ranging benefits, extracurricular activities are important for students' learning and development.
The Dropout Prevention Center in Tel Aviv, Israel provides an after-school program for at-risk youth ages 12-18 from underprivileged families. The program aims to reduce dropout rates by providing education, tutoring, counseling and enrichment activities in an alternative setting to the traditional school day. Services include one-on-one tutoring, computer classes, homework assistance, counseling, financial support and guidance for further education. Evaluations show students improve their academic performance by 20% annually in the program. Since beginning over 20 years ago, about 1,000 students have graduated high school through participation in the center.
This annual report from Wheeling Country Day School provides information about the school for the 2014-2015 school year. It establishes that the school was founded in 1929 and had an enrollment of 176 students in junior kindergarten through 5th grade during that year. It discusses the school's mission, philosophy, memberships, accreditations, and financial information including revenue sources and expenses. It also highlights several student programs and initiatives focusing on creative thinking and outlines ways that alumni and donors can continue to support the school.
Dat kan bij ons wel-niet translation Preface chapter 1 and 9Hanno Ambaum
Mijn School in Doetinchem offers an alternative intermediate vocational education program for students who did not fit within the regular education system. The school allows students to discover their talents and create their own learning paths through projects and experiences within the community. Teachers act as guides rather than instructors, and the school environment encourages creativity, mistakes, and student ownership over the learning process. This personalized approach helps reengage students and find their motivation to learn.
This document provides guidance and resources for engaging students in their learning. It emphasizes getting students actively involved through authentic projects, student choice, feedback, and understanding different types of student motivations. Teachers are encouraged to know their students and themselves to adapt their teaching methods, and should provide a blend of traditional and innovative teaching approaches like real-world projects to prepare students for future challenges.
The school you researched during this course is being taken over the by the state for poor performance. Based on your educational philosophy, your classroom management plan, lesson plan, and the learning activities and assessment you developed in this course, the new principal has asked you to interview for the lead teacher position. This position would allow you to teach the grade of your choosing and give you the authority to enact significant changes across the school. You are one of only 20 candidates asked to apply for this prestigious position. You have been asked to submit a multimedia interview presentation instead of interviewing in person. The principal has requested that you include the following in your presentation:
The school you researched during this course is being taken over the by the state for poor performance. Based on your educational philosophy, your classroom management plan, lesson plan, and the learning activities and assessment you developed in this course, the new principal has asked you to interview for the lead teacher position. This position would allow you to teach the grade of your choosing and give you the authority to enact significant changes across the school. You are one of only 20 candidates asked to apply for this prestigious position. You have been asked to submit a multimedia interview presentation instead of interviewing in person. The principal has requested that you include the following in your presentation:
This document discusses trends and issues in education for mathematical sciences. It begins by noting the consensus that educating children is key to economic development, but that rural-urban disparities in education performance remain a problem in developing countries despite government efforts. The document then examines differences in academic achievement between rural and urban students in Malaysia. It identifies family factors like parental education levels and encouragement, as well as teacher quality as influencing rural student performance. Effective teachers are described as loving teaching, demonstrating care for students, and having strong content knowledge.
This document contains 4 readings related to gifted education:
1. Summarizes an interview with Joe Renzulli who defines giftedness as above average ability, task commitment, and creativity. Issues in gifted education include lack of support, training, and differentiated learning models. Improvements are needed such as specialized training and mentoring programs.
2. Argues gifted students' needs are often overlooked due to assumptions of high achievement. Their needs include faster learning, passion for topics, and challenging tasks to build confidence. Teachers can compact curriculum and provide differentiated content, processes, products, environment and assessments.
3. Discusses how gifted students differ greatly in their abilities. Lack of funding raises questions about
This document provides information about child-friendly schools and conducting a self-assessment of a school's alignment with child-friendly principles. It begins by defining what a school and learning environment are. A child-friendly school respects children's rights, ensures quality learning, and involves families and community. The document outlines seven goals of a child-friendly school and provides a checklist to assess a school's progress in achieving each goal. Completing the checklist allows a school to evaluate its strengths and areas for improvement in becoming fully child-friendly.
This document provides information about child-friendly schools and conducting a self-assessment of a school's alignment with child-friendly principles. It begins by defining what a school and learning environment are. A child-friendly school respects children's rights, ensures quality learning, and involves families and community. The document outlines seven goals of a child-friendly school and provides a checklist to assess a school's progress in achieving these goals related to participation, health, safety, academic achievement, and community support. Scoring the checklist allows a school to evaluate its strengths and areas for improvement in better serving students.
Creating Parent- Teacher Partnership in Promoting Learningiosrjce
Children and young people are proud of their learning, their progress, attainment and achievements.
Their work is displayed well in classrooms, in public areas and where possible in the wider community.
Learners and their families receive supports through the provision of effective behaviour support programmes.
It is no news to proffer a way to letting the pupils/students learn appropriately for better future for them but be
determined to achieve the fact that tomorrow is more promising than today if excellent partnership is built
between parents and teachers for promoting children’s learning. This paper sets out to find out how parents and
teachers network and form synergy to provide an enhancement for school students or pupils to learn
appropriately and positively for learning goals to be achieved. In conclusion, a range of formal and informal
activities contribute to the development of positive attitudes and self-assurance amongst learners.
This document discusses global problems in education from an interdisciplinary perspective. It argues that education faces political, economic, psychological, and other issues that contribute to its complexity as a problem. Politics and money have become prioritized over education itself, directing funds away from learning. A truly interdisciplinary solution would make education the top priority and allocate resources accordingly across different contexts to provide more equitable access to quality schooling worldwide.
This document provides an agenda and overview for a specialized student services professional development conference. The conference will focus on specializing and strengthening skills to support student needs, and will include sessions on strategies for working with parents and paraprofessionals. The parent session will discuss approaches, attitudes, atmosphere, and actions to build shared responsibility for student progress between parents and teachers. The paraprofessional session will cover defining appropriate paraprofessional roles, introducing them to the classroom, delegating tasks, and strategies for collaboration challenges.
This document is a letter from an Ofsted inspector to the headteacher of Southmead School regarding a short inspection of the school. The 3 main points are:
1. Southmead School continues to be rated as "good". Leadership has maintained quality of education and effectively deals with higher pupil mobility.
2. Leaders have developed strategies to improve writing and pupils' work shows high standards. They also provide support for disadvantaged pupils' progress.
3. Next steps include teachers providing more challenge to stretch the most able pupils in writing, and governors analyzing data more rigorously to fully understand the impact of initiatives.
1. The document outlines the roles and responsibilities of a school social worker at Chicago International Charter School, including providing mandated social work minutes per IEPs, facilitating social-emotional learning, and overseeing homeless education programs and mandated reporting.
2. It discusses mandated reporting requirements for all school personnel, including the legal obligation to report suspected child abuse or neglect immediately by calling the DCFS hotline.
3. Key terms related to mandated reporting are defined, such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, indicated vs. unfounded reports, and the timeline for making and confirming reports of abuse or neglect.
The document discusses the creation of a practice group called "Building Collaborative Cultures" by several national organizations focused on school mental health and student well-being. The practice group aims to [1] establish connections across stakeholder groups, [2] build representation from various organizations, and [3] establish routine communication to identify shared interests and collaborate. [END SUMMARY]
Preparing Youth of Today for the Workforce of 2030Michael Horwitz
The document discusses challenges facing the workforce of 2030 and skills gaps. It proposes that early childhood development programs can help address these gaps and close the skills gap by promoting skills like teamwork, self-awareness and social skills. Such programs include Head Start, Junior Achievement, Village Academies and Urban Youth Impact, which aim to develop leadership skills in youth. Evaluations found these programs improved student achievement, motivation and understanding of how the real world works.
DISCUSSION ISSUES ON DISPARITIES IN ACHIEVEMENTFatin Amira
This document discusses disparities in educational achievement between rural and urban students in Malaysia. It begins by providing context on the importance of education for economic development but notes ongoing issues with rural-urban performance gaps. The Malaysian government has invested heavily in education to improve rural student achievement and reduce these disparities. However, perceptions of inferior rural school performance persist. The document then examines some factors contributing to differences in academic achievement between rural and urban students, including family background/support, teacher quality, and school resources.
This document argues that extracurricular activities should be required for middle and high school students. It provides several benefits of extracurricular activities, including improved behaviors, academic achievement, social skills, and school completion rates. Extracurricular activities allow students to apply knowledge from classes, develop leadership skills, and gain experiences that can help in college and careers. The document concludes that due to these wide-ranging benefits, extracurricular activities are important for students' learning and development.
The Dropout Prevention Center in Tel Aviv, Israel provides an after-school program for at-risk youth ages 12-18 from underprivileged families. The program aims to reduce dropout rates by providing education, tutoring, counseling and enrichment activities in an alternative setting to the traditional school day. Services include one-on-one tutoring, computer classes, homework assistance, counseling, financial support and guidance for further education. Evaluations show students improve their academic performance by 20% annually in the program. Since beginning over 20 years ago, about 1,000 students have graduated high school through participation in the center.
This annual report from Wheeling Country Day School provides information about the school for the 2014-2015 school year. It establishes that the school was founded in 1929 and had an enrollment of 176 students in junior kindergarten through 5th grade during that year. It discusses the school's mission, philosophy, memberships, accreditations, and financial information including revenue sources and expenses. It also highlights several student programs and initiatives focusing on creative thinking and outlines ways that alumni and donors can continue to support the school.
Dat kan bij ons wel-niet translation Preface chapter 1 and 9Hanno Ambaum
Mijn School in Doetinchem offers an alternative intermediate vocational education program for students who did not fit within the regular education system. The school allows students to discover their talents and create their own learning paths through projects and experiences within the community. Teachers act as guides rather than instructors, and the school environment encourages creativity, mistakes, and student ownership over the learning process. This personalized approach helps reengage students and find their motivation to learn.
This document provides guidance and resources for engaging students in their learning. It emphasizes getting students actively involved through authentic projects, student choice, feedback, and understanding different types of student motivations. Teachers are encouraged to know their students and themselves to adapt their teaching methods, and should provide a blend of traditional and innovative teaching approaches like real-world projects to prepare students for future challenges.
The school you researched during this course is being taken over the by the state for poor performance. Based on your educational philosophy, your classroom management plan, lesson plan, and the learning activities and assessment you developed in this course, the new principal has asked you to interview for the lead teacher position. This position would allow you to teach the grade of your choosing and give you the authority to enact significant changes across the school. You are one of only 20 candidates asked to apply for this prestigious position. You have been asked to submit a multimedia interview presentation instead of interviewing in person. The principal has requested that you include the following in your presentation:
The school you researched during this course is being taken over the by the state for poor performance. Based on your educational philosophy, your classroom management plan, lesson plan, and the learning activities and assessment you developed in this course, the new principal has asked you to interview for the lead teacher position. This position would allow you to teach the grade of your choosing and give you the authority to enact significant changes across the school. You are one of only 20 candidates asked to apply for this prestigious position. You have been asked to submit a multimedia interview presentation instead of interviewing in person. The principal has requested that you include the following in your presentation:
This document discusses trends and issues in education for mathematical sciences. It begins by noting the consensus that educating children is key to economic development, but that rural-urban disparities in education performance remain a problem in developing countries despite government efforts. The document then examines differences in academic achievement between rural and urban students in Malaysia. It identifies family factors like parental education levels and encouragement, as well as teacher quality as influencing rural student performance. Effective teachers are described as loving teaching, demonstrating care for students, and having strong content knowledge.
This document contains 4 readings related to gifted education:
1. Summarizes an interview with Joe Renzulli who defines giftedness as above average ability, task commitment, and creativity. Issues in gifted education include lack of support, training, and differentiated learning models. Improvements are needed such as specialized training and mentoring programs.
2. Argues gifted students' needs are often overlooked due to assumptions of high achievement. Their needs include faster learning, passion for topics, and challenging tasks to build confidence. Teachers can compact curriculum and provide differentiated content, processes, products, environment and assessments.
3. Discusses how gifted students differ greatly in their abilities. Lack of funding raises questions about
This document provides information about child-friendly schools and conducting a self-assessment of a school's alignment with child-friendly principles. It begins by defining what a school and learning environment are. A child-friendly school respects children's rights, ensures quality learning, and involves families and community. The document outlines seven goals of a child-friendly school and provides a checklist to assess a school's progress in achieving each goal. Completing the checklist allows a school to evaluate its strengths and areas for improvement in becoming fully child-friendly.
This document provides information about child-friendly schools and conducting a self-assessment of a school's alignment with child-friendly principles. It begins by defining what a school and learning environment are. A child-friendly school respects children's rights, ensures quality learning, and involves families and community. The document outlines seven goals of a child-friendly school and provides a checklist to assess a school's progress in achieving these goals related to participation, health, safety, academic achievement, and community support. Scoring the checklist allows a school to evaluate its strengths and areas for improvement in better serving students.
Creating Parent- Teacher Partnership in Promoting Learningiosrjce
Children and young people are proud of their learning, their progress, attainment and achievements.
Their work is displayed well in classrooms, in public areas and where possible in the wider community.
Learners and their families receive supports through the provision of effective behaviour support programmes.
It is no news to proffer a way to letting the pupils/students learn appropriately for better future for them but be
determined to achieve the fact that tomorrow is more promising than today if excellent partnership is built
between parents and teachers for promoting children’s learning. This paper sets out to find out how parents and
teachers network and form synergy to provide an enhancement for school students or pupils to learn
appropriately and positively for learning goals to be achieved. In conclusion, a range of formal and informal
activities contribute to the development of positive attitudes and self-assurance amongst learners.
This document discusses global problems in education from an interdisciplinary perspective. It argues that education faces political, economic, psychological, and other issues that contribute to its complexity as a problem. Politics and money have become prioritized over education itself, directing funds away from learning. A truly interdisciplinary solution would make education the top priority and allocate resources accordingly across different contexts to provide more equitable access to quality schooling worldwide.
This document provides an agenda and overview for a specialized student services professional development conference. The conference will focus on specializing and strengthening skills to support student needs, and will include sessions on strategies for working with parents and paraprofessionals. The parent session will discuss approaches, attitudes, atmosphere, and actions to build shared responsibility for student progress between parents and teachers. The paraprofessional session will cover defining appropriate paraprofessional roles, introducing them to the classroom, delegating tasks, and strategies for collaboration challenges.
This document is a letter from an Ofsted inspector to the headteacher of Southmead School regarding a short inspection of the school. The 3 main points are:
1. Southmead School continues to be rated as "good". Leadership has maintained quality of education and effectively deals with higher pupil mobility.
2. Leaders have developed strategies to improve writing and pupils' work shows high standards. They also provide support for disadvantaged pupils' progress.
3. Next steps include teachers providing more challenge to stretch the most able pupils in writing, and governors analyzing data more rigorously to fully understand the impact of initiatives.
1. The document outlines the roles and responsibilities of a school social worker at Chicago International Charter School, including providing mandated social work minutes per IEPs, facilitating social-emotional learning, and overseeing homeless education programs and mandated reporting.
2. It discusses mandated reporting requirements for all school personnel, including the legal obligation to report suspected child abuse or neglect immediately by calling the DCFS hotline.
3. Key terms related to mandated reporting are defined, such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, indicated vs. unfounded reports, and the timeline for making and confirming reports of abuse or neglect.
1. GSurprising as it may sound, special
education isn’t exclusively designed
for a child with a specific medical
diagnosis. Major life changes, like uproot-
ing to another country or changing schools,
may be reason enough to seek assistance.
“Recent research is showing that 20 percent
of children without diagnoses need some
type of special support at some point in their
academic career,” explains John Giszczak,
general manager of Eliot’s Corner, a center
for pediatric therapy.
That’s good news for Beijing parents
concerned about access to special educa-
tion. “Teachers with international education
experience are coming to Beijing with the
expectation that this is how schools should
be,” says Giszczak. Inclusiveness is a philoso-
phy that encourages the practice of educat-
ing disabled children with their peers. The
practice fosters acceptance among differently
abled groups, and stops the educational iso-
lation that has hindered disabled children in
the past.
Stephen Zissermann, elementary
school counselor at Beijing International
Bilingual Academy (BIBA) in Shunyi echoes
this change, “We have a lot of ethically
minded faculty, and some very passionate
advocates, who understand that if we didn’t
take some of these kids, then maybe no one
would, and we simply believe all kids need to
be supported.” BIBA currently has three chil-
dren with physical disabilities from Little
Flower Orphanage on full scholarships.
Growing Chinese awareness
International educators are not the only
ones concerned with
advancing educational
opportunities for chil-
d r e n w it h s p e c i a l
ne e d s . Wit h g row-
ing public awareness
about autism among
Chinese children, do-
mestic organizations
have sprung up to offer
services that will meet
this growing demand.
Yvon ne Wa ng,
a local mother, was enthusiastic about find-
ing special education resources when her
son Qi Tianyi, age 5, was diagnosed with
autism. She received parent training from
Stars and Rain, took several trips to the U.S.
for research and investigated the many spe-
cial education organizations all over China.
“I believe that helping my child requires a
long-term commitment; I don’t see dedica-
tion to the long-term from these [domestic]
organizations. I think they just want to make
money.” Her solution to these frustrations
was starting her own inclusive kindergarten.
As Chinese and international parents
alike begin to expect inclusiveness, schools
will be met with two primary challenges. Spe-
cial Education Network in Asia (SENIA) board
member Noel Erik Simon, a speech-language
pathologist with Global
Speech Services in Bei-
jing, elaborates: “[First
schools need to be] able to
recognize [and] identify
what the needs are within
their student popula-
tions and [secondly to]
adequately staff schools
to meet those needs.”
Simon is also concerned
that “while more and
more schools are becom-
ing inclusive either through philosophical or
economic demands, most international schools
seem to shy away from being labeled as ‘that
school’: the special education school.”
To gauge the inclusiveness of potential
schools, consider the following points:
Do they embrace inclusiveness?
Ask administrators about the school’s specif-
ic policy on inclusiveness. Request to speak
with anyone who will teach or support your
EDUCATION
Inclusive
Education
What does this mean for
children with special needs?
Even when schools
aren’t able to hire their
own full-time support
staff, Beijing has several
clinics, organizations
and private providers
that can assist schools
Photo courtesy of
Beijing International
Bilingual Academy
Beijing Parents & Kids | 47
2. child; the homeroom teacher; the guidance
counselor; all special subject teachers and
extracurricular activity leaders.
Special Education Network in Beijing
(SENIB) chair member Dr. Reed Rhodes, the
elementary school learning support teacher
with Beijing City International School (BCIS),
says that all teachers need to share in this
vision. “All teachers [at BCIS] actively differ-
entiate instruction according to a student’s
individual needs [along with learning sup-
port staff].” Zissermann elaborates on BIBA’s
inclusiveness: “[BIBA] follows a response-to-
intervention model, where the dean of stu-
dents and I offer that next layer of classroom
assistance in the form of a student support
team, but the focus is to teach all children in
their homerooms all of the time.”
Will they meet my child’s needs?
Ask about all in-school contract services the
school provides for special-needs learning
support and physical accommodation. “To
be fully inclusive, there needs to be a com-
mitment to providing the resources needed
by the students,” Andi O’Hearn, director of
communications at BCIS explains. “I would
expect that [schools] would hire specialists
educated and skilled to work with the stu-
dents such as counselors, learning support
specialists, whether occupational, physical
or speech therapists, depending on the needs
of the children [schools] are serving.”
Even when schools aren’t able to hire
their own full-time support staff, Beijing has
several clinics, organizations and private
providers that can assist schools in providing
learning support. SENIB, the Beijing chap-
ter of SENIA, has a list of external providers
listed on their website, www.senib.org.
Know assessment test criteria
Ask which assessment tests the school ad-
ministers and why. Also inquire about the
qualifications of the teacher or counselor in
charge of administering these tests.
“The issue with assessments is that
most of the common ones are standardized
on native English-speaking populations,” ex-
plains Simon. “A school with a good support
services department will be able to work as
a team to distinguish whether the issues a
student is facing are due to language acqui-
sition or learning needs, or both. A common
assessment that an educational psychologist
will administer is the Wechsler Intelligence
Scale for Children (WISC). However, it’s good
to understand that there are a variety of as-
sessment tools available. The specific tool
is not as important as making sure that it is
administered by a qualified professional who
has the training to interpret the results. A
responsible school will also be able to iden-
tify if a student’s needs are beyond what they
are able to provide for and not just mask or
ignore issues in order to collect tuition.”
Individual education plans
Expect a parent-teacher meeting to review
and discuss an Individualized Education
Plan (IEP). Remember that the IEP is nego-
tiable and should serve your child in his or
her weaknesses and strengths.
Dr. Reed says, “The most important
parts of any IEP are a delineation of a stu-
dent’s strengths and needs, learning targets
with strategies and resources, how outcomes
will be measured and who is responsible
for the implementation. As with any plan, it
needs to be reviewed periodically.”
Simon echoes this: “When an IEP is
created, a professional school will want to
meet with the parents to go through and
explain it to them. Parents should look for
measurable goals, the date that the IEP
will be revised, the frequency in which
their child will receive services, the setting
(small group or individual) and who will be
providing services. I think that it is reason-
able for the parents to want to ensure that
the teachers providing services are quali-
fied special education teachers with mas-
ter’s degrees or a related specialist field.
Also, what is the philosophical approach of
the school? Is the school student-centered
or more program-centered?”
Parental education
Zissermann points out that his job as the
BIBA counselor includes periodic informa-
tional sessions for parents. “I’m planning a
parent workshop where we discuss a few key
values ... inclusion tops the list. From this, I
will gauge parents’ understanding of special
education, and build from there. For the fac-
ulty, I have planned training on autism spec-
trum disorder, tics and Tourette’s, and inclu-
sion generally. I’ve trained a few individual
teachers and parents as needed.”
Red flags to watch for
Look out for overambitious or understaffed
schools. “One [red flag] would be if a family
with two children applies to a school and
only one of their children is admitted and the
other is told no [because of learning needs].
A school that wants to split up a family is
not very community-minded,” says Simon,
“and isn’t looking at how best to serve the
entire family. I would say that a school or
organization that doesn’t ask a lot of fam-
ily and medical history questions might not
be experienced enough to meet the needs of
your child. Does the school have an interven-
tion program? How integrated are the differ-
ent professions in the school? Will there be
a team who will individualize the support or
is it just one person? Does the school involve
the parent and family as integral members of
the support plan for their child?”
“No matter how good a school or or-
ganization is,” adds Simon, “progress will
be limited without the parents taking an
active role in their child’s education. This
should be continually communicated to the
parents by the school and be an expecta-
tion of the school.”
Specialist credentials
“Parents should expect that, if a school or
clinic has specialist teachers, they are actu-
ally qualified and experienced in special edu-
cation, speech-language pathology, educa-
tional psychology, literacy intervention and
English as an additional language,” explains
Simon.
“Special education organizations are
largely unregulated in China, so parents
should stay informed and vigilant in making
sure organizations have the proper creden-
tials they need to provide adequate service.”
Also check to see if special education
professionals are continually updating their
expertise. Stars and Rain sets this example
through its partnership with Harpers Green,
a school in the U.S. with over 85 years of
special education support. “We partner with
them in order to provide comprehensive sup-
port for autistic children,” says Scott Sun
of Stars and Rain. “We have a volunteer
exchange so our teachers and their teachers
can gain valuable experience.” SENIB also
provides workshops at its meetings and con-
ferences to help support professionals and
schools when setting best practices.
Seeds of change
Even if all schools in Beijing became fully
inclusive overnight, Zissermann points out a
huge hitch. “Despite what we as faculty think
of inclusion, it’s hard to gauge how the par-
ent body will react in private or public. [T]his
social aspect can scare parents into denial or
silence.” Zissermann and other BIBA faculty
hope to “educate parents that acknowledging
their child’s special needs is actually a good
thing.” His comments point to a key way in
which parents can support this global move-
ment toward supporting children who have
naturally different learning styles and needs.
Parents can contact their school’s board to
vocalize support for inclusiveness. Support
for this change can also be done through vol-
unteer work or even just clicking a few social
sharing buttons to increase awareness about
inclusiveness and special
needs in Beijing.
Vanessa Jencks
thinks no child should
be left behind
EDUCATION
48 | December 11 - January 6