Cases On Service Delivery In Special Education Programs

Educators today are challenged with the task of designing curricula and standards for students of varying abilities. While technology and innovation steadily improve classroom learning, teachers and administrators continue to struggle in developing the best methodologies and practices for students with disabilities. Models for Effective Service Delivery in Special Education Programs brings together case studies and academic research on successful classroom models and practices to provide rewarding learning environments for students with disabilities. This publication is an essential reference source for special education teachers, supervisors, directors, and administrators, as well as academicians and researchers interested in developing special education programs within school districts and classrooms.

Educators are continually pressured to create interesting and educational lessons for students of varying learning abilities. While technology steadily improves classroom learning, education systems struggle to develop more innovative teaching methods for students with disabilities. Cases on Service Delivery in Special Education Programs compiles real-world case studies on successful classroom models and practices to provide rewarding learning environments for students with disabilities. Addressing topics such as behavior modification, social development, and teacher collaboration, this publication is an essential reference source for special education teachers, supervisors, directors, administrators, principles, and policymakers, as well as academicians and researchers interested in developing special education programs within school districts and classrooms.

"This book compiles real-world case studies on successful classroom models and practices to provide rewarding learning environments for students with disabilities. It addresses topics such as behavior modification, social development, and teacher collaboration"--

Tremendous changes have occurred over the past decade in the provision of services to students with disabilities. Federal mandates continue to define requirements for a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. Additionally, there has been an increase in the number of lawsuits filed against school districts regarding the provision of educational services for students with disabilities. Case studies are a helpful way to understand these difficult issues. The case studies presented here are actual students eligible for special education and related services. The case studies are represented not to tell districts and parents that this is the only way questions about special education law can be answered, but to provide likely answers along with commentary for analysis. The cases were developed to help new (and experienced) special education leaders and supervisors survive the pressures of working with students with disabilities while working to provide appropriate services and prevent litigation.

Special educators are facing new challenges at the beginning of the 21st century as public education is being reformed by a vision focusing on measurable student outcomes. The future course of the field will be shaped by the policy and programmatic responses to several issues, including demographic changes in student populations, a lack of certified special education teachers, criticism in the public media for the rising costs of services, and debates about the preferred philosophy of service delivery for students with disabilities. Additional chapters discuss university-school collaboration, charter schools, disability studies, school violence, disproportionality in placement, male African-American teachers, and ethics. This book has been written out of a context of research and program development activities with public schools over the past decade in one of the largest Colleges of Education in a diverse metropolitan area in the country. The issues selected for analysis and the perspective guiding those analyses grew out of this work and out of a national Delphi study of the views of parents and constituent organizations and leading researchers, teacher educators, and policy makers in Special Education.

Building and supporting effective special education programs School leaders and special educators are expected to be experts on all levels and types of special education law and services, types of disability, and aspects of academic and functional programming. With the increasing demands of the job and the ever-changing legal and educational climate, few feel adequately prepared to meet the demands. Trends and Legal Issues in Special Education helps you build and support timely, legally sound, and effective special education services and programs. Readers will find: the most up-to-date information on how to effectively implement special education programs, processes, and procedures examination of a wide variety of issues, from developing and implementing individual education programs (IEPs) that confer a free appropriate public education, Section 504, least restrictive environment (LRE), and successfully collaborating with parents, to issues regarding accountability, staffing, bullying, early childhood special education, multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), evidence-based practices, transition, discipline, and the school-to-prison pipeline extensive references and resources

The belief that regular and special education administrators should work together to create and maintain successful education programs for all students is not new, nor is the assumption that administrator preparation programs should foster the development of an inclusive approach—yet this critical educational partnership has not reached its full potential. Despite the lack of agreement within the federal legislative branch on exactly what should be changed within our education system, some promising points of consensus have emerged: competitive grants, college and career readiness, multi-tiered systems of support, common core standards, a rewards-based (rather than punitive) system for school improvement, the critical role of effective teachers and principals, increased school choice options, and evidence-based learning strategies, particularly in high-need schools. The third edition stresses the importance of these key points. Each chapter features case studies that simulate real-life situations readers are likely to encounter in their careers as administrators. Within the safety of the classroom, they will rehearse controversial scenarios involving inclusive school governance, school reform, identification and placement, conflict resolution, program evaluation, fiscal issues, transportation, and discipline. Enhanced practice situations and role-play exercises emphasize the special education administrator’s role in resolving difficult situations. The case-study approach is an effective learning tool for aspiring special and regular education administrators and instructors alike, fostering enthusiastic classroom discussion and critical thinking about potential solutions to today’s complex problems in inclusive educational administration.