Special Education Program Delivery Models
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Special education has been faced by a myriad of problems from time immemorial. In particular, the program delivery models have not been effective across several states. Leaders have used data occasionally to evaluate the effectiveness of each of these delivery models. Though not much breakthrough has been achieved, it is still believed widely that leaders could bring positive change on some of these models if they used data properly.
It is especially important to utilize data that relates to the climate for this kind of education at the time of the desired change. It is worth noting the climates for general education and that of special education differ significantly because the students in the latter category lack some important senses that could enhance their learning capacity. Demographic data is especially important in the evaluation of the effectiveness of a particular model of instruction and subsequently in the improvement of the same. Leaders should collect data on the number of learners who have special needs, and thereby require special attention, facilities, and specialized staff. The emphasis should be placed on students asking for placement in the publicly funded system of education. For accurate data to be obtained, leaders must work in cooperation with various school boards for all public institutions that admit learners with special needs. Importantly, the number of individuals with special needs, but who are attending regular classrooms due to the inadequacy of facilities should also be recorded, and this data handed over to the relevant authorities for their further action.
The specific methods and procedures required to evaluate the effectiveness and make the necessary changes are easily applicable in virtually all schools with such programs. The procedure would include analyzing the raw data the school boards provide. The total number of the student population would be noted. From this figure, it would be easy to calculate the percentage of students with special needs, and compare the figure with the facilities available to cater for the needs of each individual. Some students with special needs are described as having been formally identified by an IPRC as ‘exceptional’. The proportion of this category of students should also be obtained and matched with the available resources. The same would also be done for those who have not been identified formally as ‘exceptional’, but who may be ‘exceptional’.
It should also be remembered some learners have special needs but do not attend regular schools. Instead, they are in correctional facilities for various reasons. Since such students are not resident students of any school authority or school board, it might be hard to fit them in any of the figures. In a bid to ensure this category is accounted for, leaders should facilitate for reservation of a portion of the funds for special education (Baker & Lewit, 2006).
Resources to be allocated as these positive changes are made would come in various forms. For instance, the teaching personnel would need to increase. The teachers would range from the special education teachers to certified ones. When teachers are sufficient, the departmentalized, collaboration, as well as the supportive instruction models are made increasingly effective. In addition, the workload on each teacher reduces, making him or her have sufficient time to attend to each student individually. Since the government may not afford to employ the large number of teachers as would be required, the leaders would also encourage volunteers to give a hand. Such people would be given basic orientation in handling students with special needs, and later assigned duties not requiring specialized training. Rather than just increasing the number of teachers, it would be important to increase the quality of training such teachers get. In today classrooms, there is much complexity due to advances in assessment and instruction, technology, as well as demographics. As such, teacher capacity would be built to a level that copes with these advances easily.
Resources would also be in the form of an effective advisory council to guide the education ministry on educational policies. Such a council would require developing a software system to facilitate its work. The installation of such a system would ensure school boards submit data and education plans for exceptional students electronically. Collaboration between this council and the leaders would be crucial so that policies from every district are well formulated prior to submission to the ministry. Collaboration between the leaders themselves would be equally important.
In providing each of these delivery models, several problems would be anticipated. Data collection, for instance, would not be expected to be a smooth process. Some school boards may exaggerate the figures to reflect a higher number of exceptional students, in a dishonest attempt to receive more funding than they deserve. Moreover, the total figure of students with special needs does not always reflect the value of facilities required. Some schools may have few cases of special needs, but have the category of students who need extremely expensive facilities. It would be difficult to capture such anomalies in the data the school boards provide.
There is limited funding for special education. Consequently, the primary focus of the money would be purchasing of the most basic equipment such as Braille and hearing aids for the students.