Does special education predict students’ math and language skills?

A large number of children are today receiving special education in Norway. The high cost to society and possible long-term consequences for the students make it important to understand the interrelationship of the causes and effects related to receiving special education services. Unfortunately, at present there are only few rigorous studies of the effects of receiving special education services. This study examined the interrelationship between receiving special education services and students’ math and language skills in upper secondary school in Norway. Data from 2756 students in the large population-based special education study (SPEED) was used that included information from questionnaires on students’ development, learning environment and family background. Results showed that students receiving special education services had slightly lower scores on their language test but similar scores on their math test compared to the group of students not receiving special education services, when conservative methodological approaches were used to control for possible covariate bias.     

Ignoring free, appropriate, public education, a costly mistake: the case of F.M. & L.G. versus Barbour County

In 2000, the 11th Circuit Court provided the largest single award in special education history to date, approximately $2.5 million, to two teenaged students who were deaf. The students were judged to have been denied a free, appropriate public education (FAPE), having spent their academic careers in generic special education classes for students with multiple disabilities without the benefit of access to a communication system; the services of a certified, qualified teacher of the deaf; or related services. This article describes the case from the perspective of FAPE, least restrictive environment, and due process in the presence of guardians who did not understand the implications of the Individual Education Program (IEP) teams' decisions; presents a chronology of the case; explores the implications for various stakeholders; and discusses the catastrophic impact on the social, emotional, communication, and academic development and earning potential of the students.     

Assistive Technology: Legislation and Legal Issues

Developing special education programs that confer a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for students with disabilities has been a challenge for local education agencies since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was first passed in 1975. Developing a FAPE has been particularly challenging when students require assistive technology (AT) services or devices to meet their unique educational needs. In this article, we consider how students' individualized education program (IEP) planning teams have met this challenge by examining administrative and judicial rulings on the use of AT services and devices by students' with disabilities. Specifically, we first examine rulings from 2005 to the first half of 2013 regarding the IDEA, FAPE, and AT. Second, we explore how courts have interpreted the AT obligations of educational agencies with a focus on cases in which parents were the prevailing party. Primary reasons for school district losses in these cases include failing to: (a) provide AT assessments (b) address AT needs, (c) provide the AT devices or services specified in a student's IEP, (d) properly implement AT services. We end by discussing the implications of these court decisions for school districts use of AT services and devices with students in special education.     

Labels Needn't Stick: "At-Risk" First Graders Rescued With Appropriate Intervention

The Orton-Gillingham(r) and TouchMath(r) systems of instruction were implemented to improve language and mathematics skill development for 6- and 7-year-olds in a 1st-grade classroom. After 2 years of intervention, the participants were found to be no longer in need of special education services. All the participants showed marked improvement in reading scores on the Wide Range Achievement Test-III. The students who were considered to be at risk for reading and mathematics difficulties at the beginning of their 1st-grade year were no longer in need of special education services at the end of their 2nd-grade year.     

Social effects of integrated classrooms and resource room/regular class placements on elementary students with learning disabilities

The social status of elementary students with learning disabilities (LD) served by the Integrated Classroom Model (ICM) was compared to the social status of elementary students with learning disabilities served in a regular class with resource room support. The ICM serves elementary special education and non-special-education students (1:2) together as one class. The comparison group was composed of students with learning disabilities who received special education services outside of their regular classroom for a portion of their school day. Social status was determined by assessing interpersonal relationships among students, using a peer rating method. The results of analyses of various dimensions suggest that while special education students in both programs have significantly lower social status on average than their non-special-education peers, the children in the ICM have a better opportunity to blend successfully into the classroom than the children who go out to a resource room.     

Teachers with learning disabilities: a view from both sides of the desk

The purpose of this qualitative multicase study was to explore the perceptions of individuals who could speak from both sides of the special education desk--as students and as teachers. The three participants for this study each received special education services for learning disabilities while in school and were currently teaching students with learning disabilities. Specifically the study focused on how participants' past experiences with receiving special education services influenced their current practice as special education teachers. Participants' views on service delivery models, the importance of teacher expectations, and the value of conceiving a learning disability as a tool rather than a deficit are discussed.     

The prevalence of social maladjustment among school-age children

PL 94-142 mandates that students who are seriously emotionally disturbed be provided with a free and appropriate public education. Embedded in the federal definition of serious emotional disturbance is a clause that excludes socially maladjusted students from the diagnostic category. Although socially maladjusted children may therefore not receive special education services, their presence in the schools may have implications for society and particularly for the educational system. However, there is little data concerning the prevalence of socially maladjusted students in the schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of social maladjustment in two rural/suburban school systems in the southeastern United States. Results of the study indicate that the percentage of students reported as exhibiting characteristics of social maladjustment is sufficiently high to indicate that services beyond special education may be necessary to meet their educational and social needs.     

Implications of distance education on children with disabilities

Once the COVID-19 was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization at the beginning of 2020, almost all countries around the world shifted from traditional face to face education to distance education to prevent the spread of the virus. Türkiye implemented distance education practices through a web-based platform named education information network (EBA) and EBA TV channels. However, the rapid shift from traditional face to face education to distance education was challenging especially for students with disabilities, their parents and teachers because these students needed individualised education and some services which were impossible to implement remotely. The purpose of this study was to explore (a) the challenges that teachers and students faced during distance education; (b) the implications of distance education on students with disabilities. Further, this study explored opinions of special education teachers regarding how to make distance education more effective for students with disabilities. A semi-structured interview was conducted with 12 special education teachers. Findings demonstrated that distance education through EBA was neither sufficient nor convenient for most students with disabilities. Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were discussed.     

Leading Inclusive Reform for Students With Disabilities: A School- and Systemwide Approach

It is of great importance to maximize access to general education for all students with disabilities. This article focuses on how leaders create inclusive schools for all students—inclusive school reform. Inclusive school reform can result in all students with disabilities being placed into general education settings (including students with significant disabilities, students with mild disabilities, students with emotional disabilities, students with autism … all students) and providing inclusive services to meet their needs while eliminating pullout or self-contained special education programs. In this article, we outline a 7-part process, as well as a set of tools for schools to use to create authentically inclusive schools.     

Economic Recession and Inequality in Education: Children needing special services in focus

This study examines equality in education during a national recession when the supply of special services has decreased. Who gets selected for the scanty services? The need for and the availability of special services (remedial instruction, special education and psychological counselling) were studied with reference to students' social, family and personal factors. The sample included 906 sixth-graders from southern Finland and the study was carried out by means of questionnaires to students and teachers. A considerable gap was found between need and supply of special services. The need for services was widely related to the background factors. The selection process was biased against boys in remedial instruction, internalising children in psychological counselling, and it favoured students with more resources: those achieving well, being motivated and having a higher socio-economic status. The study reveals one possible pathway aggravating inequality in education.     

Homeschool Parents and Satisfaction with Special Education Services

ABSTRACT

Homeschooling is controversial for a variety of reasons. One concern is whether families are sufficiently equipped to serve students with disabilities. We investigate this issue by assessing parental satisfaction with the special education services that their child is receiving in various educational sectors (e.g., homeschool, traditional public, public charter, and private). Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. households from the National Household Education Survey, we find that parents who homeschool are more satisfied than parents of children in traditional public schools and a variety of private schools with the special education services that they are receiving. Despite obvious selection bias in our sample, we view parental satisfaction as one of many important indicators for the quality of special education services. The results from this study suggest that homeschooling is a potentially beneficial option for serving students with disabilities, though additional research examining other student outcomes would be invaluable.     

Revamping the funding formula for special education programs in Taiwan

The purpose of this study was to determine the services required by students in special education programs and to estimate the cost of adequately funding special education in Taiwan. Questionnaires were administered to 300 special education teachers at the elementary school level to identify the services required. Thereafter, two focus group interviews were organized to determine the service categories and their cost. The results show that the costs for special education programs vary significantly according to severity of disability, and the weighting for mildly, moderately, and severely disabled students was found to be 3.7, 4.5, and 5.2, respectively. The costs also vary significantly according to the category of disability, and the weighting was found to range from 3.6 for emotionally disabled students and to 5.9 for hearing impaired students. These findings suggest that the current special education funding formula in Taiwan, which ignores these cost differences, should be revamped.     

Assessing the needs of training on inclusive education for public school administrators

This study assessed the needs of urban school leaders for special education preparation in a large public school district in the USA in order to assist the school administrators with improving their knowledge and skills for providing appropriate services to students with disabilities and their families to support inclusive education. The needs survey was created based on the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC 2009) standards for school administrators in the USA and the literature in special education. The validity and reliability of the instrument were verified. The needs assessment measures 10 aspects regarding special education knowledge and skills as indicated by 10 factors in the exploratory factor analysis. Quantitative data analyses on a sample of 289 participants revealed that there were significant differences in the needs of training in special education knowledge based on the school administrators’ backgrounds. The current research supports the call for the professional development and inclusive education for school leaders. The findings of the current study indicated that school leaders wanted the knowledge to make them more successful in serving students with disabilities to answer the call for inclusive education.     

Children with epilepsy in school: Special service usage and assessment practices

Special services usage and related assessment procedures were investigated for 50 students with epilepsy. Fifty‐six percent of students with epilepsy received special education services, with mental retardation designation and self‐contained placement common, especially among individuals with epilepsy plus a coexisting neurological diagnosis. Sixteen percent of participants had an “other health impairment” designation, and several of these were deemed eligible in at least one other special education category. The majority of students who had been evaluated were administered IQ, adaptive behavior, speech/language, and sensorimotor components, whereas few were assessed for executive or memory functions. Little information about antiepileptic drugs, their effects, or the actual manifestation of students' seizures appeared in special services school documents. Additional empirical information regarding services for children with chronic health conditions, such as epilepsy, is necessary to improve school psychologists' practice. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 169–181, 2006.     

How Good Are Our Schools

ABSTRACT

Research suggests a positive relationship between schools’ efforts to engage parents and parents’ involvement in their child's education. The authors investigated school socioeconomic status, school size, grade level, and student–teacher ratio as predictors of schools’ efforts to engage parents of students receiving special education services. The dependent variable was the Schools’ Efforts to Partner with Parents’ Scale, which has been validated for states’ use in their federal accountability systems. Mean school-level scores were calculated for 265 schools in a large southeastern state. Results indicated that student–teacher ratio was the strongest predictor of parents’ perceived school engagement efforts. Implications are drawn for ways in which all schools, including those with high student–teacher ratios, can improve their collaboration with parents of students receiving special education services.     

Interactive Teaming (book)

The constraints and complexity entailed in the provision of comprehensive special education services at a school site argue for the importance of using whole schools as a unit of analysis in special education efficacy research. The case studies summarized in this special issue represent an important step forward in understanding how schools that support positive academic outcomes for all students are configured. All studies found support for the importance of collaboration (although the forms varied by school). Other common themes were peer support, shared responsibility for student learning, administrative support for collaboration, and informal communication mechanisms that supplemented more formal contacts between general and special education. The case studies can serve as a stimulus for further debate about how to define exemplary outcomes in special education and the critical dimensions for characterizing schools' services to students with disabilities. They also provide directions for future research in understanding the processes that contribute to positive outcomes for students in special education.     

Fixing Special Education

The current system of educating disabled students provides financial incentives to schools to overidentify students as disabled and underserve those that are identified. The incentive to overidentify is caused by providing schools with additional funds as more students are placed in special education categories that are ambiguous to diagnose and require relatively low additional expenditures to address. The incentive to underserve is caused by high information and transaction costs imposed on parents using the legal process to obtain desired services. An efficient alternative to the current system is to offer disabled students vouchers worth the cost of their education in public schools with which they can attend a private school if they wish. This article considers empirical analyses of the relationship between financial incentives and overidentification as well as the potential benefits of vouchers for special education. It concludes that vouchers for special education are a promising idea for improving the quality of education for disabled students while constraining growth in special education enrollments.     

Traumatic Brain Injuries and Special Education Services in the Schools

The purpose of this study is to replicate a study conducted by Hux, Marquardt, Skinner, and Bond (1999) in which the researchers explored the frequency of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the special education population as compared to the frequency of TBI among students in general education. Hux and colleagues (1999) found that roughly one-quarter of their sample received evaluations for special education services at some point, and that almost half their sample had sustained at least one TBI. Similarly, the current study explored the frequency of TBI in both general education and special education groups in a kindergarten through twelfth grade school. Results indicated that the sample in the current study reported a lower incidence rate of TBI than the general population as well as that in the 1999 study by Hux and colleagues. Additionally, only one student in the current sample (5% of TBI group) reported a history of TBI along with receiving special education services. Discrepancies between the current study and the Hux and colleagues (1999) study are explored, and possible reasons for the discrepancies are discussed.     

A Survey of General and Special Education Teachers' Perceptions and Inservice Needs Concerning Inclusion

To improve educational services to students with disabilities, the United States government has mandated that each state develop a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development. The following article highlights the results of a state-wide needs assessment conducted by one state's Department of Education in order to tailor their system of personnel development. Four percent of the state's general educators, and 6% of the state's special education teachers completed the surveys for a total of 289 surveys. Perceptions of ability to positively affect students, understanding of inclusion, self-efficacy in serving students in inclusive settings, the need for inservice training in various areas, and the availability of supports to promote inclusion were examined for both special and general education teachers. In every area assessed, special education teachers rated their efficacy, ability, understanding, and resources higher than general education teachers. These results are discussed in terms of meeting professional development needs for both groups of teachers.