What is a special educator's job?
"Teaching children with disabilities" - right, but wrong.
General education teachers have that same responsibility, so what is a special educator's job? What would make the Director of Special Education so very happy? Your principal or superintendent happy, too?
The special educator's job must include:
- Documenting benefit of special education servics
- Proving your teaching is effective
- Documenting that the student is learning the skills for which you are responsible for providing instruction
Document ... prove ... that must mean, OH NO! Data, numbers!
Now just a minute. Back this train up a second. How do I know what "skills for which you are responsible for providing instruction"? Am I not responsible to teach everything to a student with a disability?
Special education is responsible for instruction of skills identified at the end of the evaluation report. FIRST the student has a disability and THEN the evaluation identifies what educational needs derived from that disability are special education's responsibility. Educational needs are given as skill statements, like:
- Needs to improve reading skills
- Needs to improve anger management skills
- Needs to improve fine motor skills
The evaluation report sets the road, for the next three years, as to what the IEP must address. Nowhere in law does it state that the IEP team determines needs, but rather that the IEP team must determine how to meet the student's needs (which were identified through evaluation. See there is a reason to do a great evaluation.)
The IEP team cannot go "off roading" and write goals and modifications for whatever concern comes up. The IEP team is to address the evaluated educational needs. The team can design a Rolls Royce-IEP or a Geo Metro-IEP, as long as the student's needs are being met.
Drum roll please!!
Special education was never intended to be a replacement system. It is a support system to general education.
The student is ALWAYS a general education student, first and foremost. General education is responsible for this student's education. Special education is to provide the support (and skill instruction) needed for this student to access general education instruction.
Research has shown that 33% of all students struggle in school. If special education finds 13% eligible, then what about that other 20% who struggle? (Do you see the basis for No Child Left Behind developing here?)
So, in any general education classroom, you will find students who cannot read, write, do math, have poor social skills, get into fights, fail classes, don't attend school, are hyperactive or attention deficit AND are correctly NOT in special education.
Students found to have a disability (have been evaluated and meet eligibility criteria) AND have an educational need to develop skills that will help them participate/access general education instruction. Students with disabilities need to learn to manage their disability and learn to self-advocate for accommodations.
One more controversial comment before we close this section. are you ready?
If a student has a true disability, that disability will never go away.
Students can learn to compensate - how to "work around" the disability or how to self-manage the disability. But the disability never goes away.
Despite current rhetoric, we are not all wired to be average or better in every aspect of life. Being different in some way does not make the individual less capable. Rather we must maintain high expectations that also accepts the individual capabilities of each student.
High expectations. Individual performance.