Chloe Kusenberger 4

What is Special Education?

A very general way for one to explain what special education is would be to say Special
Education is specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child. But special
education is more than that. Special education is a legal issue. According to the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Acts website, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is
a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. IDEA governs how
states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to
more than 6.5 million eligible infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities. Infants and
toddlers with disabilities (birth-2) and their families receive early intervention services under
IDEA Part C. Children and youth (ages 3-21) receive special education and related services
under IDEA Part B. The legal side of special education includes the 504 accommodations.
According to the Department of Defense Education Activity website, The law requires school
districts with students with disabilities to be provided reasonable accommodations to allow
access to educational programs and associated activities to the same extent as students without
disabilities. A student may be eligible to receive Section 504 Accommodations if he/she: Has a
physical or mental impairment, and the impairment substantially limits one or more major life
activities. Schools provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to students with
disabilities by implementing reasonable 504 Accommodations upon establishing that a student
has a disability requiring such 504 Accommodations.
RTI
One way of finding out if a student has a disability is through RTI (response to intervention). The
purpose of RTI is to differentiate between the students who have disabilities to the students who

just are having some troubles learning. RTI is a three tiered system in which a student is placed
through different types of learning settings and will receive different interventions to see what
helps best aid the student. The setting range from the general education setting (the largest
group), the small group setting (a smaller group), and individualized instruction (the smallest
group). If a student reaches the smallest group and is still have learning problems the student will
then be assessed to find out if the student has a disability and how the school can best serve that
student to learn.
Assessment
Assessments are the way educators find out if a student has a disability and what services that
student will require to best learn. Assessments include gathering data and administering a series
of tests that help determine what disability the child may have.
IEP
If it is determined that a student has a disability the student will then receive an IEP. IEP stands
for Individualized Education Plan and is the way educators determine what best services the
student may need, what the student is capable of learning at the present time, and where they will
go from there. IEPs are is a legally binding document stating what the students needs are and
what the school will provide education as far as education goes. IEPs are the basis for a student
with disabilities school year. IEPs include goals and objectives which aim to take the student as
far as they can go in their education.
LRE

One of the most important parts of special education is making sure the student is being place in
a Least Restrictive Environment or an educational setting where the student is receiving the
most access to the general education curriculum. Special educators must make sure that students
with disabilities are learning what the students without disabilities are learning as much as
possible. Each student deserves as much access to the general education curriculum as possible.
Accommodations and Modifications
A students IEP may include certain accommodations and modifications they student may need or
be able to use. Accommodations are changes to activities, instruction, materials, or the
environment that do not dilute the state performance standards. An example of an
accommodation may be a student with ADHD being allowed extra time to take a test. There are
many different types of accommodations the students are able to use and they aid in major ways.
Modifications are changes to products, assessments, or materials that require less of the student
than the minimum state performance. Modifications are typically used for students with more
severe disabilities. An example of a modification may be a student with severe non-verbal
Autism who is in a life skills classroom.
There are many things that go into special education. It is a system that must be taken
seriously for the sake of the future of the nation and the world. A special educators job is to aid
students with (and without) disabilities to make sure they are learning as much as possible
without hindrance.