Federal Disabilities Legislation Over 5 million children with disabilities ages 321 receive special education and Through the Inclusion Project, more children with special needs, http://www.nccic.org/pubs/passages/appx2.html
Extractions: DEC Position Statement on Inclusion ... Release #7, "The Benefits of Inclusive Education: Making It Work" Federal Disabilities Legislation Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal education program to provide federal financial assistance to State and local education agencies to guarantee special education and related services to eligible children with disabilities, aged birth through 5. Under the legislation, states have the responsibility to provide a free, appropriate public education and must develop an Individualized Education Program for each child served. Parts of this law were formerly known as the Education for all Handicapped Children Act of 1975, as PL 94-142 and as the Education of the Handicapped Act (EHA) of 1986. Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is the state and local grant program.
Extractions: I Can See Clearly Now Developmental Vision Therapy and Learning-Disabled Kids By Jane Giles In Chicagos city and suburban public school districts, students who have been evaluated and identified as learning disabled receive special education services. Support varies and is based on the childs Individual Education Plan, a comprehensive report developed by a team of designated school faculty. Contingent on the childs weaknesses and strengths, the plan may include reading support programs, speech/language therapy, counseling sessions with a school social worker and other services deemed appropriate to advance the childs academic and social/emotional development. While the types of learning deficits and the causes are as varied as the children who experience them, the most common learning disabilities, according to a recent poll conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, are difficulties with basic reading and language skills. As many as 80 percent of the students diagnosed with a learning disability have problems reading. Although most schools offer excellent programs to assist "reading-challenged" kids, few parents are aware of an option that, with or without a schools special education services, can produce dramatic improvements in reading-related activities. This option is called developmental vision therapy.
Special Education At A Crossroads :: CEC TODAY ONLINE But we need to remind ourselves that students with disabilities are today doing Other states offer alternate diplomas to students with special needs. http://www.cec.sped.org/bk/cectoday/oct_nov_dec_2004/crossroads.html
Extractions: Just a few of the questions special educators are asking include: Should students with disabilities be required to meet the same standards as their non-disabled peers? Will disability categories remain or will they fade away? Is a special education teacher a content specialist or an instructional strategist? What certification/ preparation does an educator need to fulfill the role of special education teacher? Because the answers to these questions will determine the future of special education and whether we are best serving students with disabilities, many experts say this is a time when we need to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the direction we are going in. Following is a discussion of the issues the field is facing in this time of change.
Extractions: Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education Columbus OH. Parents and the School-to-Work Transition of Special Needs Youth. ERIC Digest. The school-to-work transition of the nation's youth has been a major focus of vocational education efforts for the past decade. Educators help students identify their interests and abilities, engage in career education and career development activities, and develop individual education plans. Although these activities are significant, their comprehensiveness and effectiveness are limited by staff and time. "The ratio of students to counselors in public high schools is almost 300 to 1; and school guidance counselors are able to spend less than one hour of every five on career counseling" (Otto 1989, p. 161). Add to this the unique and complicated counseling needs of students with disabilities and it becomes apparent that other actors, primarily parents, must be included in the school-to-work transition of youth. Will defines transition as "an outcome-oriented process encompassing a broad array of services and experiences that lead to employment" (Friedenberg et al. 1993, p. 235). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1990 defines transition services as "a coordinated set of activities for a student, designed within an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities, including postsecondary education, vocational training, integrated employment (including supported employment), continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living, or community participation" (ibid.). This ERIC DIGEST looks at the challenges of effecting successful transitions, particularly for students with disabilities, and parents' roles in the transition process.
CCDI | Coalition Of Citizens With Disabilities In Illinois The Mission of the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities is to be The Voice In some cases, school officials need to be taught that IDEA isn t just a http://www.ccdionline.org/hotnewsarchfull.php?newsflash_id=27&
Special Education At A Crossroads (printable Version) special Education at a Crossroads. With the many changes engendered by No But we need to remind ourselves that students with disabilities are today http://www.cec.sped.org/bk/cectoday/oct_nov_dec_2004/crossroads_print.html
Extractions: Just a few of the questions special educators are asking include: Should students with disabilities be required to meet the same standards as their non-disabled peers? Will disability categories remain or will they fade away? Is a special education teacher a content specialist or an instructional strategist? What certification/ preparation does an educator need to fulfill the role of special education teacher? Because the answers to these questions will determine the future of special education and whether we are best serving students with disabilities, many experts say this is a time when we need to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the direction we are going in. Following is a discussion of the issues the field is facing in this time of change. Though many states had already instituted educational standards, No Child Left Behind pushed the stakes higher, especially for students with disabilities. While this has won proponents and detractors, many special education experts maintain that raising the bar for students with special needs is a positive move.
Links The purpose of Project CHOICES is to increase the capacities of school Wrightslaw special Education Law Advocacy. Return to Top. Disability http://www.projectchoices.org/links.aspx
Extractions: Advocacy Organizations ... Return to Resources/Publications Early Childhoon Return to Top Assistive Technology State of Virginia Training and Technical Assistance Project Articles from the College of William and Mary Infinitec Infinitec brings assistive technology to people with disabilities of all types, in the Illinois counties of Cook, DuPage, Lake and Kane.
Special Education Dropouts. ERIC Digest Despite the recent growth of literature concerning high school dropouts, special EDUCATION DROPOUTS THE INCIDENCE OF AND REASONS FOR DROPPING OUT OF http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-928/special.htm
Extractions: Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children Reston VA. Special Education Dropouts. ERIC Digest #451. POPULATION Recent state and local follow-up studies confirm this unexplainable attrition rate among students with handicaps. These studies also strongly suggest that the dropout rate among students receiving special education services significantly exceeds the dropout rate among the general school-age population. The St. Paul Public Schools conducted a retrospective examination of the records of 4,500 students in attendance between 1974 and 1977 who left school prior to graduation. They found that up to 80% of the youths who dropped out may have been eligible for special education services. Hippolitus (1980) cited the Bureau of Education for the Handicapped as documenting the dropout rate for special education students at five to six times the rate of youths without handicaps. IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The implications of these findings have special significance for educational policy and practice. More systematic procedures for identifying potential dropouts and better follow-through in providing comprehensive programs that retain students with handicaps must be addressed.
