Term Paper on "What Is Special Education?"

Term Paper 8 pages (3509 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Special Education

What is Special Education? Special Education is explained as certain specialized learning activities that have been designed for those students who are generally known as 'exceptional' in any particular field of education, meaning that their innate cognitive abilities may be at fault, or they may be slow learners or students with some sort of learning or understanding disabilities. This specially designed course is meant for the betterment of such students so that they may be able to join the mainstream after finishing their education in any Institution. However, the exceptionally talented or 'gifted' students are also included within this bracket, as these children too need certain types of specially designed syllabi of education. (Definition of Special Education) The legal definition of special education is that it is a specially designed method of teaching meant for the special needs of a handicapped or a special child. (Special Education) A Special Child must be included in the mainstream of life, and this means that he must be valued equally with the other children, and must be treated with an equal amount of respect as the other normal children. (Special Education Inclusion)

Body:

The issue at stake is however, that of whether this group of special education students must be required to pass the California Entrance Exam in order to receive their High School Diplomas. Is it really necessary to force these students into writing this exam when it is not actually strictly needed? The Standards and Assessments Update of the year 2000 states that, all students will be required to pass the High School Exit Exam without fail, and parents cannot try to waive their children from writing this examination for any reason whatsoever. It is only if they pass this examination that they would be able to acquire their California High School diploma. As concerns special education students, the HSEE or the High School exit Examination would be administered with the special recommendations and exceptions as stated in the student's 'Individual Education Program' list, wherein certain accommodations would be made fro the student according to the specifications underlined. However, no further exceptions would be made, and the special education student would have to pass the Examination in order to gain the High School Diploma that he had been working for. (Standards and Assessments Update 2000)

The California High School Exit Exam is also referred to as the CAHSEE. This is a mandatory requirement for the purpose of graduation from high school, and it is stated in the State Law under the Senate Bill 2, Statutes of 1999. This is an exam that is meant for tenth graders, and though it is possible for a ninth grader to volunteer to take the exam, it is not mandatory. In the case of a ninth grader passing the exam, then he would not be required to write the exam again in the tenth grade again. The CAHSEE is divided into two parts: one section deals with reading and writing skills, and the other deals with mathematics. All the questions in the exam are based on the standard of the California State Board, and the student who attempts the exam is required to pass both parts of the exam before he can receive his High School Diploma, and special education students are no exception to this rule. The students can take the CAHSEE exam during regular school hours, and at the dates that have been designated for the examination. The results of the exam would be announced after about eight weeks after the completion of the exam.

The students will be offered plenty of opportunities for them to be able to take the exam again, or to enable them to take a part of the exam that they have not passed in any previous attempt, and as many times as they want to take it. In case any student needs or requests additional instructions on the subjects that he fares weakly in, then it would be provided to the student so that he may be able to pass the exam successfully. Students who are not fluent in the English language may be required by the district to wait for some time until the time when they are fluent enough in the language to be able to write the exam. It is possible to delay the test for these students for a period of 24 months from their enrollment in the California public school system, and it is required that the student acquire the language skills before the end of the time period, after which he will be required to write the CAHSEE in English so that he may obtain his High School Diploma. In the same way, special education students are required to pass this exam before they can obtain their High School Diplomas. Exceptions will be made, however, for these students based on the various recommendations outlined in their IEP s or their 'Individual Education Plans. (CA High School Exit Exam)

In some cases, these students will be granted an exception by the district for a period of 24 months after their enrollment in the California Public School system, so that they will be able to complete a period of six months of learning, especially if they are not fluent in English, so that at the end of the time they will be able to take the exam successfully. The Individual Education Plans of the special education students is also known as the 'Section 504 Plans', and according to this plan the student with the disability that has him enrolled in the special education program will be able to, with some adjustments in the instructional plan as well as in the examination plan, be able to take the exam along with all the other students in the mainstream who are participants in the regular education program of the state. Some of the adjustments allowed for these students are that, during the course of the exam, the student is allowed to use the word processor to write the exam, but with the spelling and grammar check turned off. This would be a great boon to a handicapped student who would find it difficult to write but easy to type.

In some cases, the student is allowed to use he calculator on a math's test, and this would help him to a large extent. These special 'adjustments' or 'modifications' are to be allowed the students under law. The catch here is however, that the test score will not be a valid one if the student is allowed to use the calculator or any other special equipment that the others are not allowed to use, even if the student had actually managed to score well on the other parts of the papers. This problem too can be sorted out if the parent or the guardian of the student requests the Principal of the school to consider waiving the passing score for the exam since the student belongs to the special education group. The Principal, in turn, will request the school district's governing board for the waiver, and the district board will approve of the waiver under certain terms and conditions, which are: the student must complete the rest of the school work appropriately, according to the district's allocated coursework for that term, and, secondly, the student must be in the possession of the necessary IEP's or the Section 504 plans that provide him with the adjustment or modifications wherever necessary, or the student must be able to receive the passing score as required by the board using the modifications that have been granted to him.

Therefore, the special education student must be able to pass the California Exit Exam in order to acquire a High School Diploma, with the help of modifications and exemptions as provided for them in their individual education plans, even if passing the exam is an extremely difficult task for certain students with disabilities or handicaps. Why must this be necessary, and why should the students be required to take the exam even if it is obvious that they may not be able to pass it, and therefore, will not bee able to achieve their school-leaving diploma? This is a highly controversial question, especially among the parents and the guardians and also the instructors of special education students. The policy makers and the students themselves find themselves in the midst of this controversy, because in the eventuality of failure to pass the exam, the student will be scarred for life. There are two sides to the coin however, and most supporters and proponents of these exit exams are of he opinion that unless all the students of a certain level are made to write such exams, there would not be a uniform high standard of education possible; in fact, the higher the standard, the better the performance of the student.

However, though this may be true for the normal student who is in possession of all his faculties, it is an… READ MORE

How to Reference "What Is Special Education?" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Special Ed Philosophy a Special Education Term Paper

Special Ed Philosophy

A Special Education Philosophy Driven by Epistemology and Axiology

It is sometimes taken for granted the Special Education philosophy generally revolves on the demand of providing an… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1433 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Education Assessment Term Paper

Special Education

Education Assessment

Assessment has played a pivotal role in the development of special education for many years now. Historically, this task was directed towards categorizing and segregating children… read more

Term Paper 3 pages (989 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Special Ed Effective Special Education Hinges Essay

Special Ed

Effective special education hinges on the individualized education program (IEP). Without the careful attention to individual differences among students and their unique needs, teachers will flounder in the… read more

Essay 3 pages (886 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Special Education Access Has Dramatically Increased Term Paper

Special education access has dramatically increased in the past decade thanks in large part to strong legislation. The passage of the 2004 IDEA Act. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act… read more

Term Paper 4 pages (1157 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Special Education Teacher Shortage Term Paper

Special Education Teacher Shortage: An Overview

In the article "The Supply of and Demand for Special Education Teachers" Flippin, Mcleskey & Tyler (2004) discuss the critical shortage of special education… read more

Term Paper 3 pages (870 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>