Court Cases And Students With Disabilities Education Essay

1970: Diana v. State Board of Education: This case found that using IQ test to identify Hispanic students having a mental retardation was discriminatory. (Smith & Tyler 2010).

1971: Larry P v. Riles: This case brought to attention the overrepresentation of African American children in classes for students with intellectual disabilities and possible discrimination through biased testing. (Smith & Tyler 2010).

1974: Lau v. Nichols: In this case the U.S. Supreme court ruled that schools must offer services to help students overcome language barriers. Since then students who language at home is not English have been given access to curriculum and participation in instruction at school (Smith & Tyler 2010).

1982: Phyler v. Doe: In this case the Supreme Court decided that children residing in Texas without proper documentation the right to free public school education (Smith & Tyler 2010).

1954: Brown v Board of Education: This case lead to the decision that children with disabilities could not be excluded from schools (Smith & Tyler 2010).

Describe the concepts of disability and people-first language. (2 points).

Disability is the result of conditions or impairments (Smith & Tyler 2010). Across world through different cultures, disciplines, and individuals there is not an agreeable concept of what disability are or even how to explain them (Smith & Tyler 2010). It is often associated with descriptions according to the cultures ideas of what is normal, typical, or even average (Smith & Tyler 2010).

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People first language is appropriate way to refer to most groups of people with disabilities (Smith & Tyler 2010). People first language deals with the students who have intellectual, learning, and other things such as speech impairments (Smith & Tyler 2010). It is important to remember that not all members of any of the groups agree on any singular issue (Smith & Tyler 2010).

List and describe the seven steps in the IEP process. (2 points).

According to Smith & Tyler the seven steps in the IEP process are:

Prereferral: It is in the first step that it is being processed on the student’s eligibility for special education services.

Referral: In the second step there is more of a process in learning more about the student and his or her problems. It depends on how severe or if the child has multiple severe disabilities on how soon the referral process begins.

Identification: Is the third step in the process and it is where it is determined if a student has a disability and if special education is required for the student. This step also helps come to a conclusion of what services are determined for the special needs of each student.

Eligibility: This is the step that determines if the student is qualified for individualized education. In this step there are also many tests.

Development of IEP: This is the step where the individualized plan is made out for the student.

Implementation of the IEP: In this step it is now time to put into motion the steps determined in the individualized education plan.

Evaluation and Reviews: This is the last and final step in the process and it is here that in most states the plan is reviewed yearly and is evaluated. This is also a continuing of the cycle.

Provide a brief history of special education. (2 points).

In the film (The Wild Child) it gave the insight to the concepts of what was going on at the time and created debates over the issues (Smith & Tyler 2010). In 1848 Samuel Gridley Howe was the first director of Perkins institute for the blind in Boston (Smith & Tyler 2010). It was something feared and they were asked to keep their numbers down but by 1917 all states but four of them had institutions for people with disabilities (Smith & Tyler 2010). Like many other things that are told not to be done it usually happens the other way around and not only were there more institutes around but they were large places too. Many advances have happened through this time and many more both small and large as well. Through the passing of IDEA the students with disabilities and making sure they were getting the education and services needed became available and consistent though the board (Smith & Tyler 2010).

Describe the process and implementation of RTI (response to intervention). Explain the importance of early intervening. (2 points).

RTI is a multitiered prereferral method of increasing intensive interventions; used to identify “non-responders” or students with learning disabilities (Smith & Tyler 2010). The first step in the process is for struggling children from kindergarten-forth grade to be screened. Second, in the process is for the students who are identified with reading trouble are taken care of. The next part in the process is for the students to be measured frequently through data based procedures. Next if students are not meeting measurements or are getting worse they are given more intensive instructions. Last those students who do not make progress are dealt with through the district and they are either identified with learning disabilities or sent for further assessments by a larger team (Smith & Tyler 2010). It is important to intervene early because it is early in a child’s life that their learning stages grow the most and when disabilities are identified they can be dealt with in the correct matter.

List and describe the major principles of IDEA. (2 points).

IDEA was passed to guarantee a free appropriate public education for all students with disabilities; the special education law (Smith & Tyler 2010). Main concepts of IDEA according to the text are as followed:

FAPE: Ensures that students with disabilities receive necessary education and services to the family (Smith & Tyler 2010)

LRE: Education placement with the most inclusion and integration with typical learners as possible and appropriate (Smith & Tyler 2010)

ADA: Guaranteeing basic civil rights to those with disabilities (Smith & Tyler 2010)

Making sure that the schools work with the parents and allows them in the decisions being made about their children (Smith & Tyler 2010)

Provide a definition for intellectual disabilities or mental retardation, and how has the definition changed over the years? What supports can be provided to students with intellectual disabilities or mental retardation? (2 points).

Mental retardation is defined in the text book as “significant sub average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child’s educational performance” (Smith &Tyler, 2010). The definition has changed over the years and many of the ways have been the slang used to turn the meaning into a negative way to hurt those who are mentally retarded. Some of the names used were not meant to harm people but they were turned like so many other terms and definitions into a negative thing. The most obvious source of support for students with mental retardation would be those in his or her community such as friends, family, church, and other out reaches. There are also those which are provided through schools such as speech therapy, special education classes, and other schools that help transition (Smith &Tyler, 2010).

Define gifted or talented children and list common characteristics. Describe the challenges gifted or talented students face, and what can teachers do to address the challenges? (2 points).

Gifted children are defined in the textbook by Smith and Tyler as “Terms describing individuals with high levels of intelligence, creativity, outstanding abilities, and capacity for high performance” (Smith &Tyler, 2010). Some challenges that gifted children face are being thought of as not needing special attention or unique education, and not having the proper funding to support education for those who are gifted (Smith &Tyler, 2010). Teachers can do many things that teachers can do to address the challenges faced by gifted students through things such as “differentiated curriculum” (Smith &Tyler, 2010). Teachers can also teach the lessons and add more things to them that create more of a challenge to those students who are gifted.

Some common characteristics of gifted children according to Smith and Tyler:

Focuses on topics for longer periods of time than normal

Shows high levels of verbal ability

Able to remember great numbers of material

Disliked routines and drills

Shows high levels of curiosity and interest in wide selection of topics

Has a mature sense of humor

Is sensitive to others and self

Concerned with ethical issues

and many many more…

Explain the concepts of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). How does FAPE impact the family of a child with a disability? (2 points).

FAPE ensures that students with disabilities receive necessary educational and services without cost to the family (Smith & Tyler, 2010). FAPE is determined per each individual student due to the fact that not all the same things are appropriate for each student with disabilities. FAPE impacts the families of a child with disabilities because it is insuring that the family gets a free education that is set for those individual students and his or her needs. LRE is educational placement with the mist inclusion and integration with typical learners as possible and appropriate (Smith & Tyler, 2010). This is to make sure that students get the help that they need without causing them to be isolated from mainstream classrooms if possible.

What challenges do cultural and linguistically diverse students face? How can teachers and schools help CLD students overcome the challenges? (2 points).

There are many different challenges that cultural and linguistically diverse students face such as living in or below poverty, having poor or no health care, having different cultural beliefs than students around them, and issues with English learning. These issues also lead to high rates in drop outs amounts CLD students. I think that there are many things that teachers can do to help CLD students overcome these challenges such making sure that he or she is aware of the diverse cultures in the classroom and know how each student might act in certain situations. Teachers can also make sure that they are doing their best to make sure that the students have help outside of school id their parents or others at home do not speak English. Teachers can try and help students get proper healthcare through the school.

Please electronically sign (i.e., type name) that the work on the exam is your own, is not plagiarized from the text or copied from someone else’s work.

_____Ashley I. Cox____________ __________3-16-10______

Full name date

Fair & Frequent Feedback to Faculty (Dr. Cote; SPED 371; 3/17/10)

Please consider only those things over which I have control. Please be honest!

What are the strengths of Dr. Cote and or the course?

This course is giving me more knowledge in the subject of special education. Through this course Dr. Cote is not only giving me the material and information needed, but also a hands on approach to working with special education

students.

What are the weaknesses of Dr. Cote and or the course?

I think that the only weakness of this course is the time line of when the assignments are due. I think that like me many students are taking online courses because they are on campus a lot and are carrying a lot of units. I think that part of an online class is that you have the week to do things or they are not due till midnight which creates more time for those who need it. I am on campus three days a week and work full time and having an assignment due by 5pm causes conflict.

Is the grading for this course fair? Are expectations

clear?

The grading for this course is pretty clear. I was only

confused when it came to parts that may have conflicted

with the other courses that are using the same information,

but different grading scales.

What suggestions do you have to improve this course?

I think that the only thing that could be improved would be allowing students to have a week to finish their assignment or even extending the time from 5pm to midnight.

Highlight or Bold the number that best describes your opinion about each item.

About Dr. Cote

Agree

Agree Somewhat

Disagree Somewhat

Disagree

She provides clear and accurate information regarding course requirements and grading procedures.

4

3

2

1

She provides assignments/activities that are useful for learning and understanding the subject.

4

3

2

1

She demonstrates expertise in the subject matter.

4

3

2

1

She provides feedback on assignments.

4

3

2

1

She is responsive (email, phone, office hours, appointments).

4

3

2

1

This course is helping me become a more reflective practitioner.

4

3

2

1

This course provides me with opportunities to participate in an environment that welcomes diverse members and encourages multiple perspectives.

4

3

2

1