Working with Special Needs Students The Transformed School Counselor Chapter 10 ©2012 Cengage...

Working with Special Needs Students

The Transformed School CounselorThe Transformed School Counselor

Chapter 10Chapter 10

©2012 Cengage Learning. These materials are designed for classroom use and can be used for educational purposes only. Reproduction for commercial use is in violation of copyright laws.

All school personnel should be sensitive to the time needed to learn, especially for students who struggle to achieve a level of minimum proficiency.

Learning ability is distinct to the individual; each child has unique talents, skills, and limitations.

Each student acquires and applies information differently. Effective educators challenge all students to focus on their

strengths and overcome the obstacles that are inhibiting their ability to learn.

Providing for the Instructional Needs of all Students


A Social Justice Agenda

Learning ability is a student’s capacity to master a skill, task, or concept while the term disability describes a student’s incapability to accomplish the same skills, task, or concept in certain situations.

School counselors can ensure that students with learning differences are treated with the same respect as the students who are considered part of the mainstream.


Response to Intervention a framework for organizing, allocating, and a framework for organizing, allocating, and

evaluating educational resources to meet the evaluating educational resources to meet the instructional needs of all students.instructional needs of all students.

integrates assessment and intervention within a integrates assessment and intervention within a multilevel prevention system to maximize student multilevel prevention system to maximize student achievement and to reduce behavior problems.achievement and to reduce behavior problems.

a multitiered approach to help struggling learners.a multitiered approach to help struggling learners. targets instruction with the appropriate levels of targets instruction with the appropriate levels of

time and support.time and support.


Response to Intervention

RtI and Special Education

Eligibility for special education can occur when a student’s response to both the core instruction and supplemental interventions still does not result in achieving grade-level objectives such as academic benchmarks or expected peer performance levels.


Response to Intervention A Multitiered Approach Tier 1

Is the teacher’s approach to providing a quality grade-level curriculum to ALL students.

Tier 2 Targets students in need of additional support and

focuses on identified learning needs. Tier 3

Is intensive support and ensures that every student who needs it receives it in addition to the core instruction.


Response to Intervention

The School Counselor’s Role in RtI is to:The School Counselor’s Role in RtI is to: assist teachers with differentiated instructional

service delivery, closely monitor student progress, and use data to make informed decisions.

participate in the identification process of students who are struggling in the core academic areas.

serve as advocates for parents and/or families to best understand what RtI services are and how to maximize the instruction given in school.


RtI and the ASCA National Model

FoundationFoundation The faculty, administration, and students collaborate with

the school counselor to identify which standards and competencies are needed by the students as the program is delivered, managed, and assessed for impact.

DeliveryDelivery As with classroom instruction, some students will need

additional “reinforcement” or group counseling, while a few students may require Tier 3 support through individual counseling.


RtI and the ASCA National Model, cont’d.

System SupportSystem Support School counselors can use the collaborative consultation

process with teachers and extend it to the parent/family members, utilizing everyone’s expertise.

Management SystemManagement System Managing data, developing action plans, and organizing

the delivery of strategies through the use of calendars and counseling logs are some examples of school-counselor-led activities that complement Tier 1, 2, and 3 interventions.


RtI and the ASCA National Model

Accountability SystemAccountability System When RtI is aligned with the ASCA National

Model and MEASURE, school counselors demonstrate their commitment to an effective, efficient, data-driven, and highly collaborative process.


Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) PBIS is the application of the RtI framework for the

prevention of behavior difficulties. Tier 1 - A school-wide behavioral plan. Tier 2 - Working with at-risk students on problem

behaviors. Tier 3 - Specific, individual interventions for high-

risk students.


Special Education Special education began with institutions that identified,

segregated, and controlled children whose disabilities were seen as difficult or dangerous.

The disability rights movement started between the 1960s and the 1980s.


Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (1975), later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA), required states to provide a “free and appropriate education” for all children between the ages of 3 and 21, regardless of the handicapping condition or disability.

The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is the written record of the needs of each student and the procedures to provide services.


Special Education and School Improvement AgendasIDEA focuses on the performance of individual students in an array of areas, while the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) is more interested in system-wide outcomes.

Under NCLB and IDEA a school can be identified as in need of improvement when it fails to meet standards for students with disabilities.

Blueprint for ReformBlueprint for ReformBlueprint for Reform requires school personnel to provide a wide range of resources and support to ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed in college and in a career.

The blueprint also increases support for inclusion and encourages the use of assessments.


The Over Identification Debate Learning disabilities is by far the largest category of special education.Learning disabilities is by far the largest category of special education.

Some criticism has been leveled against the teachers.Some criticism has been leveled against the teachers.

Social and cultural changes, such as poverty, may have raised children’s Social and cultural changes, such as poverty, may have raised children’s vulnerability to developing learning disabilities.vulnerability to developing learning disabilities.

Black students have been overrepresented in special education for the Black students have been overrepresented in special education for the past three decades. past three decades.

Also a higher percentage of males are identified for special education.Also a higher percentage of males are identified for special education.


Procedural Steps in Special Education Placement

1. Giving Parents/Guardians Notice

2. Evaluation

3. What the Notice Must Contain

4. Timeframe for Initial Evaluation

5. The Scope of Evaluation

6. Review Existing Data

7. Determine Eligibility

8. Triennial Evaluations


Inclusion

Inclusion involves integrating students with Inclusion involves integrating students with disabilities into the traditional mainstream disabilities into the traditional mainstream classroom setting.classroom setting.

The goal is to make life for those with disabilities The goal is to make life for those with disabilities as culturally normative as possible.as culturally normative as possible.

School counselors have a responsibility to seek School counselors have a responsibility to seek not only the least restrictive environment but also not only the least restrictive environment but also provide to every student the most challenging provide to every student the most challenging educational opportunity possible. educational opportunity possible.


The Dominant Classification: Learning Disabilities

A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations (USDOE, 2004).

Genetic, teratogenic, or medical factors may contribute to learning disabilities.

Learning disabilities are manifested frequently in reading, specifically decoding, fluency, and comprehension.


Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 It was the first congressional action to mandate that

individuals with disabilities could not be discriminated against or denied benefit by any program receiving federal funding solely based on being disabled.

Also applies to the provision of students whose disabilities are not severe enough to warrant classification but could benefit from supportive services and classroom modification.


The School Counselor’s Role in the Special Education Identification Process

School counselor should provide support in the referral process, but should not have the dominant responsibility.

EligibilityEligibility

First a student must be identified as having a disability under the definition established by Section 504.

The provisions in Section 504 regulate four areas: pre-placement evaluation, evaluation, placement, and revaluation.


Supporting Every Student’s Right to a Quality Education School counselors advocate for students with disabilities, create a

healthy climate in the schools, and serve as an essential resource for students, teachers, parents, and administrators.

School counselors have an ethical responsibility to not stray beyond the bounds of their training to take on inappropriate administrative or supervisory responsibilities.

School counselors use group management skills to facilitate the work of the IEP team.


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