Students with Disabilities CST

Preparing to take CST in Students with Disabilities? Follow guidelines below for study:

1) Pick up study materials and watch videos in CH 333. We have several videos from workshops on Special Education.   The Education Resource Room has lots of special education books. Prominent titles include:

2) Go to library or take out a general special education textbook to study

3) Form study groups

4) Practice test questions State will send you when you sign up for exam

5) Continue your observation and teaching placements in inclusive and
special education settings; such experiences are the best ways to prepare.

6) Visit some of the links listed below on special education:

http://www.cec.sped.org/law_res/doc/law/index.php

http://www.cec.sped.org/pp/idea_97.html

http://www.parrotpublishing.com/Inclusion_Chapter_3.htm

NYCDOE Special Education Services [PDF]

NYCDOE "Creating a Quality IEP" [PDF]

NYSED "Test Access and Accommodations Guidebook for Students with Disabilities"

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/adhdmenu.cfm

http://www.cec.sped.org/ps/ - The Council for Exceptional Children

http://www.cec.sped.org/ps/perf_based_stds/standards.html#standards - CEC Standards

7) Study the special education terms listed below:

Multicultural and Bilingual Aspects of Special Education

Education for cultural diversity involves managing tension between microcultural diversity and common macrocultural values.  Multicultural education aims to change educational institutions and curricula so that they will provide equal educational opportunities to all students, regardless of gender, social class, ethnicity, race, disability, or other cultural identity.  It also seeks to socialize students to a multicultural norm—tolerance of and respect for those whose culture is different from their own.  Of particular concern to special educators is how exceptionalities are related to cultural diversity and the way in which special education fits within the broader general education context in a multicultural society.  Cultural diversity presents challenges to special educators in the areas of assessment of abilities and disabilities, instruction, teaching tolerance and appreciation, working with families, improving instruction for language-minority students, adopting effective teaching practices and socialization.

Learners with Mental Retardation

Approximately 1.0 to 1.5 percent of the school-age population are identified as mentally retarded.  The definition of mental retardation has undergone significant changes, and today a more conservative approach is used to identify students.  The cause of mental retardation can be traced in only about 10 to 15 percent of the cases.  Mild mental retardation is typically attributed to poor environmental and/or hereditary factors.  Causes of retardation for persons whose retardation is more severe generally fall into two broad categories:  genetic factors and brain damage.  Professionals assess intelligence and adaptive skills to determine whether persons are mentally retarded.  Although there is great variability in their behavior, persons with mental retardation have learning problems related to motivation. Academic, self-help, community living and vocational skills are stressed in educational programs for students with mental retardation.  

Learners with Learning Disabilities

The term learning disabilities was first used in the 1960’s by professionals and parents to describe children who, despite normal or near-normal intelligence, displayed a puzzling array of learning problems. Learning disabilities is the largest category of special education, constituting over half of all students identified as eligible for special education services.  Although most cases of learning disabilities are unknown, more and more evidence is accumulating that students with learning disabilities have central nervous system dysfunction that may be related to genetic, teratogenic or medical factors.  Standardized, formative, informal and authentic assessments are the most commonly used types of evaluation used to assess learning disabilities.  Persons with learning disabilities have many interindividual and intradividual variations in their psychological and behavioral characteristics.  

Learners with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

In 1902, Dr. George Still used the phrase “defective moral control” to describe the children who seemed unable to refrain from inappropriate behavior. To this day, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is still considered to be primarily a deficit involving behavioral inhibition.  ADHD is not recognized as its own special education category; however, many students with ADHD are served by special education under the category of “other health impaired.”  Most professionals rely on the American Psychiatric Association’s criteria to determine whether an individual has ADHD.  Estimates of ADHD indicated that 3 to 5 percent of school-age children have ADHD, with boys outnumbering girls 3 to 1.  Assessment of ADHD should consist of a medical examination, a clinical interview, and teacher and parent rating scales.   The most characteristic problem associated with ADHD is the inability to inhibit or regulate one’s own behavior.  Children and adults with ADHD also have difficulty in adaptive behavior and in relationships with peers

Learners with Emotional or Behavioral Disorders

Emotional or behavioral disorders involve inappropriate social interactions and transactions between the individual and his or her social environment.  The most current definitions incorporate several statements regarding behavior:  that the behavior goes to an extreme, that is unacceptable because of social or cultural expectations, and that the problem is chronic. Statistical analysis of behavioral characteristics have established two broad dimensions of behavior: externalizing (acting-out, under controlled behavior) and internalizing (withdrawn, over controlled behavior).Within these broad dimensions, more narrow and specific dimensions such as attention problems, conduct disorder, depression, and psychotic behavior have also been identified.  Because it is almost impossible to identify a single cause of emotional or behavioral disorders, we typically can point only to casual factors associated with biological influences, families, schools, and cultures that may contribute to the likelihood that a child will develop an emotional or behavioral disorder.

Learners with Communication Disorders

Communication involves sending and receiving meaningful messages. Two of the tools of communication are speech and language.  A communication disorder may involve speech, language, or both. Disorders of speech and language are among the most common disabilities of children.  Disorders of language are typically classified according to the five subsystems of language:  Phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics.  Speech disorders include disorders of voice (pitch, loudness and quality), articulation and fluency.  For some individuals, because of physical or cognitive disability, a system of augmentative or alternative communication must be designed.  Professionals are concerned with advancing the communication of children whose cultural heritage or language patterns are not those of the dominant culture.

Learners who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The definition and classification of hearing loss differs according to the viewpoint of the professional.  Educators are concerned with the extent to which the loss affects the person’s ability to speak and understand spoken language.  About 0.14 percent of the school-aged population are identified as deaf or hard of hearing by the public schools.  Hearing loss can be the result of impairments to the outer, middle or inner ear.  In general, children with hearing loss have low academic achievement and are at risk for loneliness.  Issues surrounding the extent to which people with hearing loss socialize with others who have hearing loss and the system of signing that should be used in the classroom are controversial. 

Learners with Blindness or Low Vision

The two most common ways of describing visual impairment are the legal and educational definitions.  The educational definition is based on how well students can function in the classroom. Less than .05 percent of school-aged children are visually impaired.  The most common visual problems are the result of errors of refraction.  It is virtually impossible to compare the abilities of sighted children and those with limited or no sight because it is difficult to find comparable tests. Mobility is a very important ability for the successful adjustment of many people with visual impairment. In addition to mobility training, the student with little or no sight typically requires special modifications in three other major areas in the classroom:  Braille, use of remaining sight and listening skills.

Learners with Low Incidence, Multiple and Severe Disabilities

Severe and multiple disabilities are often linked conceptually because nearly any severe disability will involve extensive and ongoing support in more than one major life activity.  Although the IDEA has identified autism as a separate category of disability, other disorders that are similar to it (Asperger Syndrom, Rett’s Disorder and childhood disintegrative disorder) are now typically identified in broader terms:  autistic spectrum disorder and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD).  The main focus areas for teachers is helping students with brain injuries recover cognitive abilities, which are critical to academic and social progress, and use coping mechanisms and alternative strategies for whatever abilities cannot be recovered.

Learners with Physical Disabilities

Children and youth with physical disabilities are those whose physical limitations or health problems interfere with school attendance or learning to such an extent that special services, training, equipment, materials, or facilities are required.  One of the most common causes of physical disability in children is damage to the central nervous system (the brain or the spinal cord), such as found in cerebral palsy, seizure disorder (epilepsy), and spina bifida.  Some children are disabled by musculoskeletal conditions, such as muscular dystrophy and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, in which there are defects or diseases of the muscles or bones.  Other physical disabilities may include congenital malformations or physical conditions brought about by accidents, diseases, infections, or child abuse and neglect.  Students with physical disabilities represent a group of children and youths with a total range of impairment, with varied behavioral and psychological characteristics.  Physical disabilities may limit students’ experiences and it may be difficult or impossible for some students to manipulate educational materials or to respond to educational tasks the way most students do.  

Learners with Special Gifts and Talents

There is little agreement about how to define giftedness and no federal law requires special education for students with special gifts or talents. Identification of giftedness is complicated because measurement of some components cannot be assessed by traditional means.  The stereotypes of persons with extraordinary abilities as physically weak, socially inept, having a narrow range of interests, and prone to emotional instability or as superheroes are incorrect.  Giftedness includes a wide variety of abilities and degrees of difference from average.  Students with special gifts or talents who underachieve, are members of a minority, have disabilities, or are female are likely to be neglected.  In general, educational plans for children and adolescents with extraordinary abilities provide for acceleration or enrichment.

Professional Collaborative Partnerships

Roles in the Collaborative Process

General education teacher– has knowledge of the school’s general education curriculum requirements and helps the Committee determine appropriate positive behavioral interventions, instructional strategies, supplementary aids and services, program modifications and supports for school personnel that are necessary for the student to participate in general education classes.

Special education teacher – must be a teacher qualified to provide special education in the type of program in which the student may be placed and be the teacher likely to implement the student’s IEP. The student’s special education teacher can provide information on the specially designed instruction needed to address the student’s unique needs.

Related service professionals – At least one individual must participate in the Committee meeting who can provide information on the results of the student’s individual evaluation report and assist the Committee in identifying the implications of those results for the instruction of the student.  The school district representative must be someone who is qualified to provide or supervise special education and who is knowledgeable about the general education curriculum and the availability of resources of the district.  In addition, all parties have discretion to include other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student.  A school psychologist contributes an understanding of the individual evaluations conducted on the student, assists to identify the positive behavioral intervention supports and strategies needed by the student, assists to plan school programs to meet the student’s needs and to identify, plan and manage any psychological services the student might need.  Other agency representatives may include a transitions representative and/or a representative of a private school that is being operated by another State department or agency that the student is attending.

Parents – Parents bring a history as well as current information on their child’s strengths and needs and concerns and ideas for enhancing their child’s education.  They can also provide information on their child’s interests that can be used to motivate the child’s learning, the skills that the child shows at home and in other settings and whether skills learned in school are being demonstrated elsewhere.

Child – The concerns, interests and recommendations of the student need to be considered.  An IEP that builds on the strengths of the student and includes recommendations that the student can support is more likely to result in successful outcomes for the student.  Each student, beginning at age 14, must be invited to any meeting at which his or her transition service needs will be discussed. 

Elements to Successful Collaboration

Shared sense of responsibility

Open and continuous communication

Regularly scheduled planning sessions

Freedom to take risks

Benefits of Collaboration

It lowers the student-teacher ratio

Students with disabilities have a better sense of belonging

Students are held to higher expectations

Shared learning occurs between collaborative partners

It decreases teacher frustration levels

“Two heads are better than one”

Collaborative Models

Station teaching:  Students rotate through centers manned by collaborative partners.  In this co-teaching approach, teachers divide content and students. Each teacher then teaches the content to one group and subsequently repeats the instruction for the other group. If appropriate, a third station could give students an opportunity to work independently.

Parallel teaching:  Students are divided into two groups and two teachers teach simultaneously.  On occasion, student learning would be greatly facilitated if they just had more supervision by the teacher or more opportunity to respond. In parallel teaching, the teachers are both covering the same information, but they divide the class into two groups and teach simultaneously.

Co-teaching:  Two teachers are involved in teaching the same lesson. Team Teaching: In team teaching, both teachers are delivering the same instruction at the same time. Some teachers refer to this as having one brain in two bodies. Others call it tag team teaching. Most co-teachers consider this approach the most complex but satisfying way to co-teach, but the approach that is most dependent on teachers' styles.

One teach, one drift:  One teacher is teaching while the other provides assistance.  In a second approach to co-teaching, one person would keep primary responsibility for teaching while the other professional circulated through the room providing unobtrusive assistance to students as needed.

Tag-team teaching:  One teacher is teaching while one teacher interjects as necessary.  In most class groups, occasions arise in which several students need specialized attention. In alternative teaching, one teacher takes responsibility for the large group while the other works with a smaller group.

One Teach, One Observe.One of the advantages in co-teaching is that more detailed observation of students engaged in the learning process can occur. With this approach, for example, co-teachers can decide in advance what types of specific observational information to gather during instruction and can agree on a system for gathering the data. Afterward, the teachers should analyze the information together.