M2U4A1
PERSONALIZED
LEARNING
IN SPECIAL EDUCATION
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Special Education (SE) is designed
to meet the needs of students who have disabilities indentified in the law IDEA
(Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). This writing will reflect why we
need such a law in the States and what Special Education is, what types of
disabilities are defined by IDEA, and why personalized education is so
important for students with disabilities.
Let’s look at the chart below. By
2012-13, the number of children and youth receiving services under IDEA 6.4
million. Out of 49.8 million
enrollments in the school year 2012-13, 6.4 million served under IDEA,
equivalent 13 percent are indentified with
disabilities.
According to IES (Institute of Education
Sciences), among all children and youth ages 6–21 who were served under IDEA,
the percentage who spent most of the school day (i.e., 80 percent or more of
time) in general classes in regular schools increased from 33 percent in
1990–91 to 61 percent in 2012–13. About 95 percent of school-age children and
youth ages 6–21 who were served under IDEA in 2012–13 were enrolled in regular
schools. Some 3 percent of children and youth ages 6–21 who were served under
IDEA were enrolled in separate schools (public or private) for students with
disabilities.
The chart below indicates the
percentage distribution of children served under IDEA in the school year 12-13.
The total enrollment in public
schools differed by race/ethnicity. The percentage of children and youth served
under IDEA was highest for American Indians/Alaska Natives (16 percent),
followed by Blacks (15 percent), Whites (13 percent), children and youth of two
or more races (13 percent), Hispanics (12 percent), Pacific Islanders (11 percent),
and Asians (6 percent). In most racial/ethnic groups, the percentage of
children and youth receiving services for specific learning disabilities
combined with the percentage receiving services for speech or language
impairments accounted for over 50 percent of children and youth served under
IDEA.
In 2004, IDEA (The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was
signed to ensure free services for 14 categories of disabilities, consisting
Autism, Deaf-blindness, Deafness, Developmental delay, Emotional disturbance,
Hearing impairment, Intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, Orthopedic
impairment, Other health impairment, Specific learning disability, Speech or
language impairment, Traumatic brain injury, Visual impairment including
blindness.
By IDEA’s effect, in the States, schools
have been equipped with assistive technology, with trained special teachers,
and classroom teachers have been trained and worked harder to ensure the
personalized/individualized learning for individuals with special needs. Beside
interventions and modifications in instructional strategies, assistive
technology plays an integrated and vital role for students with special needs,
especially for students with physical disabilities. Students who have been
served under IDEA have a free access to I.E.P (the Individual Education
Programs). In order to obtain this free access, a referral process must be
followed including eight phrases in order to ensure the student’s disabilities
being assessed, supported, and progress being measured.
Similarly in Finland, the
government strongly supports education, especially SE via the law, policy, and
investment. They emphasize on the early detection and interventions for cases
of disabilities, and they equip schools with supportive resources like trained
special teachers and assistive technology to measure progress of individuals.
Welfare teams meet twice monthly to discuss about the progress of individuals.
In order to reinforce the
education system, President Obama signed into law a new education law in
October 2015, the Every Student
Succeeds Act (ESSA), the nation’s largest education law and
will impact every public school. Two important things about ESSA
regarding SE is to keep students with disabilities on track for
success and promotes Innovation in Education, including many provisions to
expand innovative practices in states and school districts, including
expanding personalized
learning, multi-tiered
systems of support (MTSS), and universal
design for learning, and integrating
technology and competency-based
education initiatives. Importantly, ESSA limits the use of
the Alternate
Assessment based on Alternate Achievement Standards to only
students who have the most significant cognitive disabilities, capped at 1
percent of a State’s total student population.
Personalized or individual
learning with assistive technology best suits students with disabilities.
Simply students can assess to learning at their own space and at their own pace
while reducing challenges and difficulties in learning with other normal peers.
Like one student says in the video clip, it is always easy to ask questions on social
networks than posing the questions directly to her teachers. Assistive
technology for learning helps to reduce stress for both students and teachers.
Another genius trend supporting
personalized/individualized learning must be listed in the popular Khan
Academy. Personally, I learn and use this website every week in self-learning
and teaching my child and my students. Flipped classroom concept is also a good
approach in order to turn class work into homework and homework into class
work.
In order for every student
succeed, especially for students with special needs, beside the framework of
IDEA and ESSA, the constant efforts of UNESCO, and current assistive
technology, teachers play the most important role in impacting students’ life
and changing their future. Through their patience and flexible interventions to
accommodate students with disabilities, the world one day will have more
Stephen Hawking, an extraordinary ability despite of his disability.
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