CEC+1.+Foundations


 * 1. CONTENT **


 * CEC Standard: **

__**1. Foundations**__

 //**a. Special educators understand the field as an evolving and changing discipline based on philosophies, evidence-based principles and theories, relevant laws and policies, diverse and historical points of view, and human issues that have historically influenced and continue to influence the field of special education and the education and treatment of individuals with exceptional needs both in school and society.**//

Teaching and schooling have evolved in many ways throughout the years. Ever since schooling was developed to include all students by Horace Mann educational reforms have been taking place that aim to create citizens and member of society. Back in time, when a person had a disability, there were not even considered human and would be institutionalized. They were treated terribly, would just sit all day doing nothing, and were not bathed and were sometimes not even dressed. It is unbelievable to realize how people could not treat them with more care and respect and why their differences made them so inferior to others. The culture of education evolved with the culture of society, and soon students were being placed in tracks as to what type of citizen they would contribute to the community and society in the future. The beginning of labeling was due to standardization and efficiency models of society, that required student achievement to contribute to society. Boarding schools and institutions were another era for schooling that came about due to a fear of contagion in schools with special students. Soon with the civil rights acts students with disabiliites and needs began to be provided a more formal education, but still segregated from the regular classrooms. Now there are laws that were passed, such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that ensure services to all students labeled with disabilities by providing them with legal rights to have an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) and the least restrictive environment (1.a.1). Having come a long way, there are many whole school reforms that are developing to improve education and inclusion. One such form that I am very interested in is Expeditionary Learning Schools, which are very inclusive by offering students choices and problem-based activities that are relevant and enable them to collaborate with peers, where they respect each others ideas. In ED 451 I wrote a paper on expeditionary learning as a model for school reform (1.a.2). Detracking is something I also believe is a good idea for schools. Sometimes it is difficult to think of not having had AP or accelerated classes in high school, but then I often think about all the things I did not learn about from other students, and how I was never able to experience a more diverse class. Hopefully more schools will decide to detrack their classes and not separate students into different classes based on level...that should be the job of the teacher to differentiate their instruction so that all students can engage and participate in the same classes.

Many students with special needs often still find themselves faced with a struggle to receive the accomodations they need to learn. Some of the reasons for this are related to socioeconomic status and ethnic disadvantages. There is an ethnic disproportionality that exists in students with disabilities, which is created by the cultural and language differences found between families and schools. Many black students are labeled with a disability because teaching methods are ineffective at reaching the cultural understandings of these students and many teachers hold biased views (1.a.3). When these students are labeled, their parents are often not able to attend planning meetings for the child due to work hours to support their families, or these parents are not informed about the legal rights of things they can ask for their child's education. There may also be issues with race that arise on behave of both parties (the school and families) that create tension and hurt the child's chances for adequate and proper support. I also passed the Students with Disabilities CST, showing that I understand the discipline of special education, the history, relevant laws, policies, and successful practices (1.a.4).

 //**b. Special educators understand how these influence professional practice, including assessment, instructional planning, and program evaluation. Special educators understand how issues of human diversity can impact families, cultures, and schools, and how these complex human issues can interact with issues in the delivery of special education services.**//

In ED 451 we learned about disabilities in terms of families, cultures, and schools. Specifically, I wrote a response to readings that addressed this issue, stating how parents of non-disabled students often can be the issue for allowing detracking of special education students and allowing inclusive settings (1.b.1). Teachers in planning must be able to accomodate and involve each students diverse abilities and knowledge. This includes students with disabilities, as well as students from different cultures, backgrounds, socioeconomic classes, etc. Often it is seen that inclusive classrooms are feared because it is believed that students who need more needs will detract from the learning of other students who may need more enriching activities or advanced studies. Also the parents who fight for reform are often disadvantaged minorities in urban settings and find it difficult to combat dominant cultural ideas and school philosophies.

In order to get past these barriers, teachers can make a difference through planning lessons that develop instructions as a community of learners that will contribute to each others knowledge and conceptual understanding base. I have done this in my instruction of all my lessons. I have designed science investigations and lessons to surround student accommodations but not to make them explicit so that other students could identify these students. For instance, to aid students who have trouble writing and reading I provided instructions in written form, accompanied by visual aids that inform these instructions with images of the materials and actions to be taken. To enhance this understanding I also ask for student volunteers to run through a demonstration of the procedures for the entire class beforehand, which allows these students a chance to touch and experience the materials, and allows the other students to see their manipulations to understand what we are doing. I have also provided assignments that differentiate choice for students to answer (1.b.2). For instance, I made a list of questions that students could choose from to assess their final understanding of acids and bases. From these selected questions, students then had more choice in the method of answering these questions, such as writing, make a comic strip, drawing, making a presentation, etc. (1.b.3).

 //**c. Special educators understand the relationship of organizations of special education to the organization and functions of schools, school systems, and other agencies.**//

The organization of special education is crucial to the success of children in schools who have disabilities. In schools, special education helps those children who need extra services and possibly accommodations or modifications to help reach a standard or expectation. Special education helps schools function and helps school systems be successful by aiding them in reaching the needs of every child they serve. It provides individualized attention and plans for students who need it, so that they can have goals to work toward and guidance on how to gain more autonomy in their own social and academic success.

There are multiple ways that special education organizations and schools cooperate with each other to accomodate and enhance student learning. One way this is done in the schools I student taught at is through the ease of transportation. I had a student who was paralyzed from the waist down and he was accomodated through his schedule allowing him to travel to rooms in smart, successive proximity. Any change of floors required him to use an elevator that the school staff made sure was available and working for him. They also provided ramps for access into and out of the school.

 Another way these two share relationships with each other is through provisions in the classroom. This includes in and out of school education and learning. Assistive technologies have been provided and used by some of my students, such as low tech AT like pencil grips and slant boards which have helped their writing. Additionally, I provided lesson activities to outside tutors and aides from special education organizations that assisted students with learning disabilities outside of school.

 //**d. Special educators use this knowledge as a ground upon which to construct their own personal understandings and philosophies of special education.**//

Students with disability have been considered unteachable or inadequate for learning. During one of the speeches at the New Teacher Institute in Baltimore, one woman even explained that she wanted to be an educator to help urban students and students in special education succeed-- just so that they could prove everyone wrong who did not believe in them, because so many people didn't Often times there is an ethnic disproportionality that occurs in students with disability. In ED 447 I wrote a research paper on this topic that explains how ethnically disadvantaged students, especially black students, are labeled as disabled the most because of cultural and language differences that do not match to the instruction presented by schools (1.d.1). The best way to combat this ethnic disproportionality is to provide learning environments that develop critical thinking skills and provide students with real-life issues that allow them to problem solve and develop specific capabilities related to voice, autonomy, self-motivation, self-direction, and self-advocacy. I believe that students with disabilities can be very motivated but still would not be able to perform well if the assignment or lesson was not meeting their needs and able to see things from their perspective. I thought that the video we watched called "How hard can it really be?" was very powerful in showing how students with disabilities felt in the typical classroom when teachers go so fast and there is little encouragement or positive reinforcement. I believe that teachers must always have a positive attitude and high expectations when teaching any student. They need to be given options, choice, and different opportunities to engage with their preferences, interests, needs and strengths. In the science classroom this is best done through scientific inquiry investigations. I have created many lessons that include inquiry science investigations that have developed these capabilities and abilities to think critically and problem solve issues in society.

One such lesson involves students working on one of four investigations that focus on the topic of shrinking ecological footprints. The students received autonomy in their selection of which of the four investigations they wanted to study. They were then grouped based on these choices and then the students asked a testable question, designed a procedure and carried it out to collect data, analyzed this data and evaluated an answer to their question, and then presented their argument to the class (1.d.2). This process allowed all students to feel motivated about doing science, have choice in their learning, develop a voice that was supported by critical thinking and problem solving skills and thoughts, and be able to direct themselves through the investigation and find the resources they would need to do it.

|| ED 404 - Evolution of Teaching || [|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-65UJ__qztI] || ED451 - Final paper Expeditionary Learning Expeditionary Learning movie I made || [|20100330-EastHighIU#5&6-MSaunders.doc] [|20100327-EastHighAcidRainLab-MSaunders.doc] || Lesson Plan and Assessment with differentiated instruction || [|DSC00433.JPG] [|DSC00437.JPG] || Assessment of acids and bases - differentiated instruction || [|DSC00231.JPG] [|DSC00235.JPG] [|DSC00249.JPG] [|DSC00263.JPG] || SWW Investigations || References
 * **EVIDENCE #** || **EMBEDDED OR LINKED OBJECT** || **DESCRIPTION** ||
 * 1.a.1 || [[file:20091014-ED404MidtermEduParadigm-MSaunders.doc]]
 * 1.a.2 || [[file:20100811-ED451FinalPaper-MSaunders.doc]]
 * 1.a.3 || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png height="32" link="http://comprehensiveportfolio-msaunders.wikispaces.com/file/view/447finalpaperEthnic.pdf"]] [|447finalpaperEthnic.pdf] || ED 447 Final Paper - Ethnic Disproportionality ||
 * 1.a.4 || [[file:ISR_NY_PBT_31081822_20100717_20100811.pdf]] || Students with Disabilities CST score ||
 * 1.b.1 || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/msword.png height="32" link="http://comprehensiveportfolio-msaunders.wikispaces.com/file/view/20100725-ED451Response4-MSaunders.doc"]] [|20100725-ED451Response4-MSaunders.doc] || ED 451 - Cultural capital affects parental ideas in school ||
 * 1.b.2 || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/msword.png height="32" link="http://comprehensiveportfolio-msaunders.wikispaces.com/file/view/20100331-EastHigh-MSaunders+%282%29.doc"]] [|20100331-EastHigh-MSaunders (2).doc]
 * 1.b.3 || [|DSC00419.JPG]
 * 1.d.1 || Reference 1.a.2 || ED 447 Final Paper - Ethnic Disproportionality ||
 * 1.d.2 || [|DSC00187.JPG]

home