Outline of Chapter 6: Accommodating Student Variability in Psychology Applied to Teaching
Chapter 6
Accommodating Student Variability
This chapter will describe different ways to deal w/ student variability. Teachers can expect to have a wide variety of students who differ in abilities, talents, & backgrounds. The reasons for such diversity include compulsory attendance laws, patterns of immigration, & laws that govern which students can & cannot be placed in special classes. Other factors include normal variations in physical, social, emotional, & cognitive development.
I. Historical Developments
A. The Growth of Public Education & Age-Graded Classrooms
By 1920 variability had become an issue.
1. Schools became diverse because
a. by 1918 all states had passed compulsory attendance laws,
b. Congress had passed child labor laws (1916) to prohibit children's & adolescents' working in mines & factories
c. large numbers of immigrant children had arrived in the United States from 1901 through 1920, resulting in a vast increase in the number & diversity of children attending elementary & high school.
2. Educational leaders assumed that homogeneous classrooms were more efficient & effective learning environments than heterogeneous classrooms; therefore,
a. students were separated by age levels into grades (e.g., no more one-room schoolhouses),
b. students were also grouped by ability, &
c. special students were placed in special classes or schools.
B. Ability-Grouped Classrooms
1. Ability grouping involved the use of standardized mental ability or achievement tests to create groups of students who were considered very similar to one another in learning ability.
2. Ability grouping was another means for school authorities to deal w/ the large influx of immigrant students. These children scored much lower on standardized tests when compared to American-born children, mainly because these children were not fluent in English. At the time, their assignment to a low-ability group seemed logical & appropriate.
3. The first part of this chapter will look at current applications of ability grouping, which nowadays takes several forms & is still used to reduce the normal range of variability in cognitive ability & achievement in a typical classroom.
C. Special Education
1. Compulsory laws brought to school many children w/ severe mental & physical disabilities. These students were deemed incapable of profiting from any type of normal classroom instruction & were assigned to special schools. Unfortunately, labeling students as mentally retarded or physically disabled often resulted in their receiving a significantly inferior education.
2. This chapter will detail the varied types & degrees of special class placement for children whose intellectual, social, emotional, or physical development falls outside (above as well as below) the range of normal variation.
3. Particular attention is given to Public Law (PL) 101-476, the Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which was enacted to counter past excess of special class placement & to encourage the placement of children w/ disabilities in regular classes.
II. Ability Grouping
Ability grouping is a widespread practice. In the elementary grades, virtually all teachers use some form of separate grouping w/in their classrooms for instruction in reading & many do so for math as well. In the middle grades, some form of ability grouping exists in approximately two-thirds to three-fourths of schools in one or more subjects on the basis of standardized test scores. This proportion rises to about 85 percent at the high school level. This section describes the most common ways in which teachers group students by ability, examines the assumptions that provide the rationale for this practice, summarizes research findings on the effectiveness of ability grouping, & looks at alternative courses of action.
A. Types of Ability Groups (four)
1. Between-class ability grouping. Students are separated into ability groups (homogeneous) in different classes throughout the day by achievement or intelligence test scores.
a. There are usually three levels (high, average, & low), which appear in high school as tracking. The tracks have been labeled academic (or college preparatory), vocational, & general. Currently, these terms have been replaced by designations as advanced (honors), regular, & basic.
b. The rationale is that separation allows teachers at each level to address the needs of their students in terms of pacing, autonomy, task difficulty, & so forth.
2. Regrouping. These plans are more flexible in assignments & narrower in scope than between-class plans.
a. Regrouping involves bringing homogeneous students together for only a subject or two (such as mathematics or reading) & keeping them in heterogeneous classes the rest of the day.
b. Children can change groups as their test scores change.
c. There are two disadvantages of regrouping:
(1) the need for cooperative scheduling among teachers for specific subjects
(2) the discomfort some teachers feel in dealing w/ a student only one or two hours per day
3. Joplin Plan. This plan resembles regrouping, but groups are across rather than w/in grade levels, bringing together students of different ages but similar achievement levels in special subjects. The advantages & disadvantages are the same as in regrouping.
4. W/in-class ability grouping. Since it has the advantages of regrouping but lacks one of the disadvantages (the need for cooperative scheduling), this form of ability grouping is the most popular.
a. Groups form w/in the class for special instruction in certain subjects (especially reading & math).
b. One disadvantage is that the teacher needs to be skilled at keeping the other students in class productively occupied while working w/ a particular group.
B. Assumptions Underlying Ability Grouping
1. One of the assumptions earlier in this century was that intelligence, which affects the capacity to learn, was a fixed trait & that little could be done to change an individual's learning capacity.
2. A second assumption was that intelligence was adequately reflected by the intelligence quotient (IQ) score.
3. A third assumption was that all students would learn best when grouped w/ those of similar ability. Although these assumptions are still believed to be true by many educators, the research evidence summarized throughout the textbook casts doubt on their validity.
C. Evaluations of Ability Grouping
Ability grouping in one form or another has been studied for several decades, & its effects have been intensively studied. The main findings of these analyses are as follows:
1. There is little to no research support for the rationale behind between-class ability groupings. Students assigned to low-ability classes generally performed worse than comparable students in heterogeneous classes. Students assigned to average-ability classes performed at about the same level as their nongrouped peers. High-ability students sometimes performed slightly better in homogenous classes than in heterogeneous classes.
2. Research on the effect of regrouping for reading & mathematics is inconclusive. A few studies have been done which suggests that it can be beneficial if the level of the text matches the performance level, which is not necessarily at the child's grade level.
3. The Joplin Plan yields substantially better effects than heterogeneous classes.
4. W/in-class grouping for math & science instruction in grades 1 to 12 produced moderately better results compared w/ whole-class instruction & even smaller positive effect when compared w/ mixed-ability groups. Average-achieving students profit most from being placed in homogenous-ability groups, while low-achieving students benefit most from being placed in w/in-ability groups. The same result can be expected for reading instruction, but since such groupings for reading are commonplace, there has been little opportunity for research.
5. Students in homogeneously & heterogeneously grouped classes scored the same as students in heterogeneously grouped classes on measures of self-esteem.
6. Students in high-ability classes had more positive attitudes toward school than students in low-ability classes.
7. Between-class ability grouping affected the quality of instruction received by students.
a. The best teachers were often assigned to teach the highest tracks, whereas the least experienced or weakest teachers were assigned the lowest tracks.
b. Teachers of high-ability classes stressed critical thinking, self-direction, creativity, & active participation, whereas teachers of low-ability classes stressed working quietly, following rules, & getting along w/ classmates. This effect was particularly noticeable in math & science.
c. Teachers of low-ability groups covered less material & simpler material than did teachers of high-ability groups.
d. Teachers of low-ability students expected & demanded less of them than did teachers of high-ability students.
C. To Group or Not to Group?
The findings just summarized suggest three courses of action:
1. The research suggests between-class grouping strategies should be discontinued. Students do not learn more or feel more positive about themselves & school. The fact that schools continue to group students in this manner demonstrates how difficult it is to modify certain beliefs.
2. Use the forms of grouping that produce positive results; w/in-class grouping & the Joplin Plan for reading & mathematics. It is unclear at present why these forms of grouping are effective. It is assumed that the increase in homogeneity allows for more appropriate & effective forms of instruction.
3. Perhaps all forms of grouping should be eliminated & methods of instruction known to be effective should be used w/ all students.
III. The Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Many of the criticisms & arguments marshaled against ability grouping have come to be applied as well to special classes for students w/ disabilities. As a result, laws were established for providing students w/ disabilities an equal opportunity for a free & appropriate education. This law was initially passed in 1975 (PL 94-142) to assure the free, appropriate public education of all handicapped children. It has been revised & expanded twice since its first inception, in 1986 as the Handicapped Children's Protection Act (PL 99-457) & most recently in October 1990 as the Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, PL 101-476). IDEA was then amended in 1997 to broaden & clarify a number of its provisions. As an example, children w/ disabilities must be provided w/ whatever modifications are necessary (e.g., large print for children who have visual impairments, extended time limits for children w/ a learning disability) to be allowed to participate in state- & district-wide assessments. If a child w/ a disability does not participate in a standardized assessment; school district officials must explain why they feel such an assessment is inappropriate & how the child will be assessed.
A. Major Provisions of IDEA
1. A free & appropriate public education. The basic purpose of IDEA is to ensure that all individuals from birth through age twenty-one who have an identifiable disability, regardless of how severe, receive at public expense supervised special education, & related services that meet their unique educational needs. These services can be delivered in a classroom, at home, in a hospital, or in a specialized institution & may include physical education & vocational education as well as instruction in the typical academic subjects (Office of the Federal Register, 1994).
2. Preplacement evaluation. Before an individual w/ a disability can be placed in a program that provides special education services, a full & individual evaluation of the child's educational needs must be conducted that conforms to the following criteria:
a. Tests must be administered in the child's native language.
b. A test must be valid for the specific purpose for which it is used.
c. Tests must be administered by trained individuals according to the instructions provided by the test publisher.
d. Tests administered to students who have impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills must reflect aptitude or achievement rather than the impairment.
e. No single procedure, such as an IQ test, can be the sole basis for determining an appropriate educational program. Data should be collected from nontest sources such as medical records, parental interviews, & observations by other professionals such as teachers.
f. Evaluations must be made by a multidisciplinary team that consists of at least one teacher or other specialist w/ knowledge in the area of the suspected disability.
g. The child must be assessed in all areas of the suspected disability.
3. Individualized education program. Every child who is identified, as having a disability & who receives special education services must have an individualized education program (IEP) prepared. The IEP is to be planned by a multidisciplinary team composed of the classroom teacher in collaboration w/ a person qualified in special education, one or both parents, the student (if appropriate), & others at the discretion of the parents or school. It is to contain statements of the following:
a. the child's present level of educational performance
b. annual goals & short-term instructional objectives
c. specific educational services to be provided & extent of participation in regular educational programs
d. dates for beginning services & duration of services
e. objective criteria for short-term objectives' being met
4. Least restrictive environment. This provision stipulates that a student w/ a disability needs to be placed in the least restrictive environment that the disability will allow. In practice, these children are placed w/in the least restrictive setting that the student's educational needs will allow. This provision is often referred to as mainstreaming, since the goal is to have as many children as possible, regardless of the severity of the disability, enter the mainstream of education by attending regular classes w/ nondisabled students.
In recent years, mainstreaming has frequently evolved into inclusion.
5. Procedural safeguards were written into PL 101-476 to establish legal safeguards to protect the legal rights of the parents & their child. Elements include:
a. right of the parents to examine all of their child's records
b. prior notice to parents of placement or change in identification
c. parental consent before evaluation is conducted or placement made
d. due process hearing to ensure that the rights of the child have been respected between the school district & the parent
B. The Policy of Inclusion
IDEA allows for more restrictive placements than those of the regular classroom when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes cannot be achieved satisfactorily (Office of the Federal Register, 1994).
However, there has been a movement in recent years to eliminate this option. Known variously as inclusion or full inclusion, this extension of the mainstreaming provision has become one of the most controversial outgrowths of IDEA. It means keeping special education students in regular classrooms & bringing support services to the children, rather than the other way around.
Full inclusion, on the other hand, implies providing regular classroom teachers w/ training in teaching special needs students so that they can teach these students in the regular classroom.
1. The Debate About Inclusion
The proponents of inclusion often raise three arguments to support their position:
a. Research suggests that special needs students who are segregated from regular students perform more poorly academically & socially than comparable students who are mainstreamed.
b. Given the substantial body of evidence demonstrating the propensity of children to observe & imitate competent children, it can be assumed that students w/ disabilities will learn more by interacting w/ nondisabled students than by attending homogeneous classes.
c. The Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education declared the doctrine of separate but equal to be unconstitutional. Therefore, pullout programs are a violation of the civil rights of children w/ special needs because these programs segregate them from their nondisabled peers in programs that are assumed to be separate but equal.
2. Research Findings
The evidence that bears on the inclusion issue is somewhat limited & inconsistent, but it seems to indicate, at least for now, that inclusion is a mostly workable & somewhat beneficial practice. On the basis of anecdotal & experimental evidence, three conclusions seem warranted:
a. Inclusion may not be an appropriate course of action for every child w/ a disability, although it can probably be made to work for many students.
b. Inclusion will likely work best where the presence of a disabled student stimulates the teacher to improve the general quality of classroom instruction.
c. For students who are mainstreamed, IEPs should be written to reflect what a given student probably could & could not accomplish.
C. What IDEA Means to Regular Classroom Teachers
1. Some general considerations
PL 94-142 was implemented in each state by 1978, but guidelines for implementation differ from one place to another, so find out what the local ground rules are. If orientation guidelines are not clear, ask for an orientation on IDEA.
2. What kinds of disabling conditions are included under IDEA?
a. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2000), during the 1998-1999 academic year, 5.25 million children & youths from ages six through seventeen (about 11 percent of the total number of individuals in this age group) received special education services under IDEA. Thirteen categories of students w/ disabilities are recognized. These categories significantly affect a child's educational performance & require special educational services. Many states use the same categories; others use fewer, more inclusive classifications. A brief description of the thirteen categories follows:
(1) autism: significant difficulty in verbal & nonverbal communication & social interaction.
(2) deaf-blindness: impairments of both hearing & vision, the combination of which causes severe communication, developmental, & educational problems. The combination of these impairments is such that a child's educational & physical needs cannot be adequately met by programs designed only for deaf or blind children.
(3) deafness: hearing impairment so severe that even w/ hearing aids, a child has problems processing speech.
(4) hearing impairment: permanent or fluctuating difficulty in understanding speech, difficulty that adversely affects educational performance & is not included under the definition of deafness.
(5) mental retardation: significant subaverage general intellectual functioning accompanied by deficits in adaptive behavior.
(6) multiple disabilities: two or more impairments that cause severe educational problems such that a child's needs cannot be adequately met by programs designed solely for one of the impairments.
(7) orthopedic impairments: impairments in a child's ability to use arms, legs, hands, or feet.
(8) other health impairments: conditions such as asthma, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, epilepsy, heart disease, & diabetes that limit a child's strength, vitality, or alertness that significantly affects that child's educational performance.
(9) serious emotional disturbance: personal & social problems exhibited in an extreme degree over a period of time that affect a child's ability to learn & get along w/ others.
(10) specific learning disability: a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, that leads to learning problems not traceable to physical disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or cultural/economic disadvantage.
(11) speech or language impairment: a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, or a language or voice impairment.
(12) traumatic brain injury: a brain injury caused by an accident, which causes cognitive or psychological impairments.
(13) visual impairment including blindness: a visual impairment so severe that a child has difficulty seeing, even w/ corrective lenses.
b. The most common types of children w/ disabilities receiving services were those classified as having a specific learning disability, a speech or language impairment, mental retardation, or a serious emotional disturbance (Table 6.1).
3. What are the regular classroom teacher's responsibilities under IDEA?
Regular classroom teachers may be involved in activities required directly or indirectly by IDEA in four possible ways: referral, assessment, preparation of the IEP, & implementation & evaluation of the IEP.
a. Referral. Most referrals for assessment & possible special instruction are made by a child's teacher or his or her parents because they are the ones most familiar w/ the quality of the child's daily work & progress as compared to other children.
b. Assessment. Initial assessment procedures are carried out by a school psychologist, who administers several tests. If results indicate special services, a multidisciplinary assessment team of specialists is formed (including the classroom teacher, who may need to describe the child's performance in physical, social, emotional & cognitive domains). If the assessment team agrees w/ the initial assessment, an IEP is prepared.
c. Preparation of the IEP. The assessment team works w/ the teacher (& parents) to formulate an individualized education program (Figure 6.1).
d. Implementation & evaluation of the IEP. If the student is to attend the regular classroom at least part of the day, the teacher will be expected to
(1) put into practice the items for the classroom described on the IEP.
(2) possibly determine whether objectives listed on the IEP are being met & provide evidence of attainment.
e. Because the IEP is planned by a multidisciplinary team, you will be given direction & support in providing regular class instruction for students who have a disabling condition. The remainder of the chapter will describe students from both categories & techniques for teaching them. Students w/ mental retardation, learning disabilities, &/or emotional disturbance often require special forms of instruction. In addition, students who are gifted & talented require special forms of instruction, though not mentioned in IDEA, require special forms of instruction, as we will also discuss.
IV. Students w/ Mental Retardation
A. Classification of Children w/ Mental Retardation
1. As defined by the American Association of Mental Retardation (AAMR), mental retardation refers to individuals who have an IQ score of 67 & below, & who have concurrent problems functioning in social environments.
2. AAMR classifications (w/ corresponding IQ ranges) are as follows:
a. mild retardation (67-52)
b. moderate retardation (51-36)
c. severe retardation (35-20)
d. profound retardation (below 19)
3. Children who are mildly retarded are most likely to be mainstreamed into classroom activities. Moderately to severely retarded children are unlikely to be mainstreamed because of need for specialized forms of care & instruction.
B. Characteristics of Children w/ Mild Retardation
1. Children w/ below-average IQs follow the same developmental pattern as those w/ above-average IQs, but they differ in the rate & degree of development. They are characterized by apparent immaturity when compared w/ their age-mates.
2. Immature students are likely to experience & have frustration & low tolerance.
3. Frequent frustration brings about a tendency toward low self-esteem, low confidence, & low motivation.
4. Cognitively, children w/ mild retardation exhibit a limited amount of knowledge about how one learns & the factors that affect learning (known as metacognition), a tendency to oversimplify concepts, limited ability to generalize, smaller memory capacity, shorter attention span, the inclination to concentrate on only one aspect of a learning situation & to ignore other relevant features, the inability to formulate learning strategies that fit particular situations, & delayed language development. These characteristics can be understood more completely if they are related to Piaget's description of cognitive development. Middle & high school students w/ mild mental retardation may never go beyond the level of concrete operations.
V. Students w/ Learning Disabilities
The greatest number of children qualifying for special services are those classified as learning disabled.
A. Characteristics of Students w/ Learning Disabilities
1. In the 1960s groups of concerned parents called attention to a problem in American education: a significant number of students in public schools were experiencing difficulties in learning but were not eligible for special classes or remedial instruction programs. In 1963 parents of such children formed the Association for Children w/ Learning Disabilities to call attention to the scope of these problems. In 1968, the U.S. Office of Education developed a definition of learning disabilities & inserted it into PL 94-142 (the predecessor of IDEA).
2. The definition of learning disabilities includes the following:
a. a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes which are a prerequisite to learning (such as memory, oral language, visual perception, etc.)
b. difficulty in learning basic skills, specifically in the areas of speaking, listening, writing, reading, & mathematics.
c. a severe discrepancy between the student's apparent potential for learning & low level of achievement.
d. the problem not due primarily to other causes, such as visual or hearing impairments; motor handicaps; mental retardation; emotional disturbance; or economic, environmental, or cultural disadvantage.
In addition to these problems w/ cognitive processing & learning, many students w/ a learning disability have more poorly developed social skills than their nondisabled peers which contributes to lowered self-esteem & poor academic performance.
B. Problems w/ Basic Psychological Processes
The fundamental problem that underlies a learning disability is, as the law states, a disorder in one or more basic psychological processes. This generally refers to problems w/ how students receive information, process it, & express what they have learned. Specifically, many students w/ learning disabilities have deficits in perception, attention, memory encoding & storage, & metacognition.
C. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
1. Children w/ extreme deficits in attention &/or unusual high levels of activity & impulsiveness may be diagnosed as having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
2. The symptoms have to first appear before the age of seven; they have to be displayed in several settings, such as home, at school, & at play; & they have to persist over time.
3. The main symptoms of ADHD are attention, hyperactivity, & impulsivity. The American Psychiatric Association recognizes three types of ADHD:
a. children who are predominantly inattentive
b. children who are predominantly hyperactive & impulsive
c. children who exhibit a combination of all three behaviors
4. It is estimated that 3 to 5 percent of all children have ADHD, w/ boys outnumbering girls six to one (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).
5. Services for children w/ ADHD can be funded under the "specific learning disabilities: category, the "seriously emotionally disturbed" category, or the "other health impaired" category of IDEA.
6. ADHD is usually treated w/ a combination of drug & behavioral therapies. The most popular class of drug prescribed is amphetamines (such as Ritalin or Dexedrine).
7. The effect of such medications is highly specific. Some children do better on Ritalin, others on Dexedrine, while others show no improvement w/ either.
8. As an adjunct to medication, children should also receive daily report cards, frequent positive reinforcement, social skills training, & individualized therapy.
VI. Students w/ Emotional Disturbance
A. Estimates of Emotional Disturbance
1. In 2000, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 436,845 students between the ages of six & seventeen were classified as seriously emotionally disturbed for the 1998-1999 school year. This figure represents 8.3 percent of all schoolchildren classified as disabled & slightly less than 1 percent of the general student population.
2. Not everyone agrees that these figures accurately reflect the scope of the problem. Up to 20 percent of children may exhibit emotional problems, but the lower figure reported identifies the children w/ severe, persistent difficulties.
B. Definitions of Emotional Disturbance
1. Different interpretations of emotional disturbance have led to different definitions, but the one included in IDEA defines it in this way:
a. The term means behavior exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over an extended time & to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:
(1) an inability to learn despite normal intellect, sensory, or health, factors
(2) an inability to build or maintain interpersonal relationships w/ peers or teachers
(3) inappropriate behavior or feelings under normal circumstances
(4) a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression
(5) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated w/ school problems
b. The term includes schizophrenia, but does not apply to socially maladjusted children unless it is determined they have a serious emotional disturbance.
2. The definition creates some problems.
a. The phrase a long period of time, for example, is not defined in the law. Behaviors such as satisfactory interpersonal relationships, a general pervasive mood, & inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances are difficult to measure objectively & can be observed in normal individuals.
b. Behaviors can be directly & objectively assessed. Although there are subtle differences among the terms emotionally disturbed, socially maladjusted, & behavior disordered, they are essentially interchangeable.
3. Your first step in cases of suspected emotional disturbance is to make a referral. In most cases where a child exhibits an emotional disturbance, it may be necessary to refer to a child as seriously emotionally disturbed since that is the label used in IDEA, in order for the child to obtain special assistance.
C. Characteristics of Students w/ a Serious Emotional Disturbance
1. Most classifications of emotional disturbance include only two large categories of behavior: externalizing (aggression) & internalizing (withdrawal).
a. Externalizing students are often aggressive: uncooperative, restless, & negative. They tend to lie & steal, & to defy teachers, & to be hostile to authority figures.
b. Internalizing students are often withdrawn: shy, anxious, depressed, & lacking self-confidence.
2. Withdrawn students are more likely to develop severe emotional problems such as depression & may even be at risk of suicide during the adolescent years.
VII. Gifted & Talented Students
A. Definition
1. Although not covered by IDEA gifted & talented students also require special instruction if they are to make the most of their abilities.
2. These students are defined as children & youth who give evidence of high performance capability in intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership endeavors, or in specific academic fields, & who require services & activities not ordinarily provided by the school to develop such capabilities (Title IV-H.R., 1988).
B. Identification of Gifted & Talented Students
1. Eligibility for gifted & talented programs has traditionally been based on standardized test scores, particularly IQ tests. An IQ cutoff of 130 was usually used for admission to such programs. But criticism emerged when IQ scores for giftedness was found to focus on a narrow range of skills (mainly Gardener's linguistic & logical-mathematical intelligence & Sternberg's analytical ability). As a result, most states have eliminated the use of a numerical cutoff score for identification.
2. Critical weaknesses remain in the area of identification, particularly for gifted children from minority cultures.
a. There is little correspondence among definition, identification, & instructional methods.
(1) The definition usually calls for a superior IQ, superior achievement test scores, superior aptitude test scores, evidence of creativity, or a high level of motivation.
(2) Educators' are unfamiliar w/ ways of measuring human characteristics other than by standardized tests is another weakness. In addition to standardized tests, checklists, rating scales, & nominations by peers & adults can also be used.
(3) There is a general ignorance of characteristics that are more highly valued by minority culture than by the majority culture.
3. The result is significant placement (& nonplacement) error & failure to match instruction w/ talents.
4. Errors of nonplacement may be especially significant for minority group members, whose culturally valued talents may not be reflected in IQ test scores.
5. There is an insensitivity to & ignorance of the characteristics valued by minority cultures (for example, storytelling, knowledge of tribal traditions, artistic abilities).
6. A child's giftedness may, therefore, be evident only when examined from the perspective of a particular culture.
C. Characteristics of Gifted & Talented Students
1. Gifted students are physically, socially, & emotionally similar to the general student population.
2. Gifted students, however, as a group are often noticeably different. Here are some of the main characteristics that gifted & talented students share:
a. They excel on tasks that involve language, abstract logical thinking, & mathematics.
b. They are faster at encoding information & retrieving it from memory.
c. They are highly aware of how they learn & the various conditions that affect their learning. As a result, they excel at transferring previously learned information & skills to new problems & settings.
d. They exhibit such high levels of motivation & task persistence that the phrase "rage to master" is sometimes used to describe their behavior. Their motivation to learn is partly due to high levels of self-efficacy & appropriate attributions.
e. They tend to be more solitary & introverted than average children.
f. They tend to have very intense emotional lives. They react w/ intense feelings, such as joy, regret, or sorrow, to a story, a piece of music, or a social encounter. They also tend to be emotionally sensitive & will sometimes surpass adults in their ability to notice & identify w/ the feelings of others.
3. For the most part gifted & talented students see themselves as they were just described. However, despite their academic self-concept they score at the same level on measures of physical & social self-concepts (Hoge & Renzulli, 1993).
D. Instructional Options
Gifted & talented students constantly challenge a teacher's skill, ingenuity, & classroom resources. This section will describe three possible solutions.
1. Accelerated instruction: pros & cons
a. Acceleration can occur in four ways:
(1) through grade skipping
(2) through a compressed curriculum (e.g., a three-year high school)
(3) through an extended school year (summer school)
(4) through college courses in high school (the AP program)
b. Arguments for acceleration include the following:
(1) In grade skipping, the work w/ older students is more challenging & keeps gifted children from becoming bored.
(2) Schoolwork that matches abilities helps students to develop a more positive attitude toward learning & subjects.
c. Arguments against acceleration are as follows:
(1) Social & emotional demands may not be met as easily as intellectual ones.
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(2) Acceleration produces the undesirable side effect of elitism.
d. Research (Kulik & Kulik, 1984) supports the intellectual claim of acceleration (to speed up learning), but not enough studies have been done on other effects to draw other conclusions. The unique needs of the individual & the situation must be considered before the course of action can be determined.
2. Gifted & talented classes & schools
Some public schools offer separate classes for gifted & talented students either as an alternative to accelerated instruction or as something that follows accelerated instruction. In addition, so-called magnet schools are composed of students whose average level of ability is higher than those typically found in a typical school. Many states sponsor high-ability schools, particularly in mathematics & science. Recent findings:
a. Placements do not necessarily produce positive results & should be made only after the characteristics of the students & the program have been carefully considered.
b. In terms of achievement, the typical gifted student can expect to score moderately higher (at about the 63rd percentile) on tests than comparable students who remain in heterogeneous classes.
c. The effects of separate class or school placement on measure of academic self-concept have been inconsistent.
3. Enrichment & differentiated instruction
Because of the potential negative effects of grade skipping, the limited availability of special classes & schools, & the fact that such classes & schools are not options for some gifted & talented students, teachers find themselves w/ such students in a regular classroom. A solution for meeting the special needs of these students is a practice often referred to as differentiated instruction (mentioned earlier). Renzulli & Reis (1985) describe three levels of curriculum enrichment for gifted & talented learners:
a. Type I enrichment involves exploratory activities designed to expose students to topics, events, books, people, places not ordinarily covered in the regular curriculum.
b. Type II enrichment involves instructional methods & materials that are aimed at the development of such thinking & feeling processes as thinking creatively, classifying & analyzing data, solving problems, appreciating, & valuing.
c. Type III enrichment consists of activities in which students investigate & collect data about a real topic or problem.
VIII. Using Technology to Assist Exceptional Students
There is perhaps no place in education today where technology is making as significant an impact as in the field of special education. For instance, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1980 (PL 99-457) mandate the provision of adapted technology for any need related to the learning or development of a child. There has been a simultaneous proliferation in assistive technologies to help students w/ special learning needs succeed academically. This type of technology refers to "any item, device, or piece of equipment that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional abilities of persons w/ disabilities." Such tools may range from less expensive low-tech equipment such as adapted spoons or joysticks, to more high-tech devices such as voice-recognition devices or touch screens.
A. Technology for students w/ hearing impairments
Hearing-impaired students can be assisted w/ technology tools in a number of ways, including:
1. closed captioning,
2. multimedia technologies, &
3. electronic networking
Multimedia programs & other technologies are emerging to help hearing-impaired students develop their sign language & lip-reading skills, vocabulary & reading comprehension, & spoken & written communication skills. For example, one highly visible electronic network-based classroom known as ENFI (Electronic Networks for Interaction) was developed by Gallaudet University. Collaborative writing tools like Realtime Writer are included w/in ENFI to teach writing to hearing-impaired students by conducting all class discussion & interaction in electronic writing.
B. Technology for students w/ visual impairments
Speech synthesizers & voice-recognition devices offer similar liberating assistance to the visually impaired. W/ speech synthesizers, the user can select a word, sentence, or chunk of information from any written or scanned text & hear it pronounced by a speech synthesizer. For example, DECTalk is a speech synthesis program that analyzes, synthesizes, & converts plain text into high-quality speech, nearly as comprehensible as recorded speech.
C. Technology for students w/ orthopedic impairments
1. For students who have physical limitations, pointing devices held in the mouth or attached to the head may provide the needed device control.
2. Students w/ more limited fields of motion who have acceptable fine motor skill may also benefit from condensed or mini keyboards that position the keys more closely together & require less strength to use.
3. Students w/ less fine motor control, touch-sensitive expanded keyboards offer more space between keys & are often programmed to accept overlay plastic sheets for different applications or user needs.
4. Free programs (called freeware) & inexpensive ones (called shareware) for helping individuals w/ physical & other disabilities more effectively use computers.
D. Technology for students w/ speech or language impairments
Individuals w/ communication impairments can be helped by the use of computer software w/ a speech synthesizer & expanded keyboard for training in vocabulary, early grammar skills, & social communication.
E. Technology for students w/ learning disabilities
New technology tools can help students w/ learning disabilities spend less time concentrating on such surface-level task demands as the spelling & formatting of papers, & more time analyzing problems, interpreting information, & reflecting on answers. A variety of tools are now available for students w/ learning disabilities to reduce the cognitive demand of a task by serving as external memory aids.
1. In the area of reading, some software programs can help young learning disabled (LD) readers focus on basic phoneme identification & segmentation, while hypertext applications can help younger children develop pre-reading skills. For high school students, hypertext can create multiple ways to interact w/ text material & learn new information.
2. In the area of writing, there are many tools for students w/ disabilities. Given the writing deficits of LD students & the many demands they have to face, there fortunately exist writing tools to help LD & other students w/ basic sentence generation, transcription, & revision. Technology itself does not improve middle school LD student writing, instead, sound instructional practices such as peer tutoring on the word processed text raises the quality & number of student revisions & overall quality of their writing. For instance, talking calculators provide auditory feedback or confirmation of basic mathematical operations.
3. There are also tools for LD students to set writing goals, generate content, & plan & evaluate their writing. Personal data managers, for instance, might help LD students record writing deadlines, remember important due dates & plan their writing schedule. Computerized post-it notes, outlining aids, & semantic webbing tools, moreover, can also facilitate student organization of their ideas.
F. Technology for gifted & talented students
Distance education is being used w/ gifted students to provide year-round programs. At Stanford University, for example, they are providing year-round accelerated instruction in mathematics & physics through the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY).
G. Special education technology recommendation & projections
The following guidelines have been proposed for proper use of technology in special education classes.
Technology programs & products should:
1. be intuitive & straightforward to learn,
2. allow alternative ways to present & access information,
3. contain uncluttered screen displays w/ few font types,
4. require minimal keyboarding skills,
5. provide adequate praise & clear feedback,
6. include opportunities to review concepts,
7. embed learner control adaptable to the nature & degree of the disability,
8. contain only graphic elements that contribute to the instructional function of the program,
9. challenge & pique learner interest, &
10. be reliable, cost-justifiable, easily transported, & useful across various contexts.
While the above factors are important, Larsen (1995) notes that the most critical issues relate to the pedagogical decisions surrounding the use of these tools, not necessarily what technology to choose.
Accommodating Student Variability
This chapter will describe different ways to deal w/ student variability. Teachers can expect to have a wide variety of students who differ in abilities, talents, & backgrounds. The reasons for such diversity include compulsory attendance laws, patterns of immigration, & laws that govern which students can & cannot be placed in special classes. Other factors include normal variations in physical, social, emotional, & cognitive development.
I. Historical Developments
A. The Growth of Public Education & Age-Graded Classrooms
By 1920 variability had become an issue.
1. Schools became diverse because
a. by 1918 all states had passed compulsory attendance laws,
b. Congress had passed child labor laws (1916) to prohibit children's & adolescents' working in mines & factories
c. large numbers of immigrant children had arrived in the United States from 1901 through 1920, resulting in a vast increase in the number & diversity of children attending elementary & high school.
2. Educational leaders assumed that homogeneous classrooms were more efficient & effective learning environments than heterogeneous classrooms; therefore,
a. students were separated by age levels into grades (e.g., no more one-room schoolhouses),
b. students were also grouped by ability, &
c. special students were placed in special classes or schools.
B. Ability-Grouped Classrooms
1. Ability grouping involved the use of standardized mental ability or achievement tests to create groups of students who were considered very similar to one another in learning ability.
2. Ability grouping was another means for school authorities to deal w/ the large influx of immigrant students. These children scored much lower on standardized tests when compared to American-born children, mainly because these children were not fluent in English. At the time, their assignment to a low-ability group seemed logical & appropriate.
3. The first part of this chapter will look at current applications of ability grouping, which nowadays takes several forms & is still used to reduce the normal range of variability in cognitive ability & achievement in a typical classroom.
C. Special Education
1. Compulsory laws brought to school many children w/ severe mental & physical disabilities. These students were deemed incapable of profiting from any type of normal classroom instruction & were assigned to special schools. Unfortunately, labeling students as mentally retarded or physically disabled often resulted in their receiving a significantly inferior education.
2. This chapter will detail the varied types & degrees of special class placement for children whose intellectual, social, emotional, or physical development falls outside (above as well as below) the range of normal variation.
3. Particular attention is given to Public Law (PL) 101-476, the Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which was enacted to counter past excess of special class placement & to encourage the placement of children w/ disabilities in regular classes.
II. Ability Grouping
Ability grouping is a widespread practice. In the elementary grades, virtually all teachers use some form of separate grouping w/in their classrooms for instruction in reading & many do so for math as well. In the middle grades, some form of ability grouping exists in approximately two-thirds to three-fourths of schools in one or more subjects on the basis of standardized test scores. This proportion rises to about 85 percent at the high school level. This section describes the most common ways in which teachers group students by ability, examines the assumptions that provide the rationale for this practice, summarizes research findings on the effectiveness of ability grouping, & looks at alternative courses of action.
A. Types of Ability Groups (four)
1. Between-class ability grouping. Students are separated into ability groups (homogeneous) in different classes throughout the day by achievement or intelligence test scores.
a. There are usually three levels (high, average, & low), which appear in high school as tracking. The tracks have been labeled academic (or college preparatory), vocational, & general. Currently, these terms have been replaced by designations as advanced (honors), regular, & basic.
b. The rationale is that separation allows teachers at each level to address the needs of their students in terms of pacing, autonomy, task difficulty, & so forth.
2. Regrouping. These plans are more flexible in assignments & narrower in scope than between-class plans.
a. Regrouping involves bringing homogeneous students together for only a subject or two (such as mathematics or reading) & keeping them in heterogeneous classes the rest of the day.
b. Children can change groups as their test scores change.
c. There are two disadvantages of regrouping:
(1) the need for cooperative scheduling among teachers for specific subjects
(2) the discomfort some teachers feel in dealing w/ a student only one or two hours per day
3. Joplin Plan. This plan resembles regrouping, but groups are across rather than w/in grade levels, bringing together students of different ages but similar achievement levels in special subjects. The advantages & disadvantages are the same as in regrouping.
4. W/in-class ability grouping. Since it has the advantages of regrouping but lacks one of the disadvantages (the need for cooperative scheduling), this form of ability grouping is the most popular.
a. Groups form w/in the class for special instruction in certain subjects (especially reading & math).
b. One disadvantage is that the teacher needs to be skilled at keeping the other students in class productively occupied while working w/ a particular group.
B. Assumptions Underlying Ability Grouping
1. One of the assumptions earlier in this century was that intelligence, which affects the capacity to learn, was a fixed trait & that little could be done to change an individual's learning capacity.
2. A second assumption was that intelligence was adequately reflected by the intelligence quotient (IQ) score.
3. A third assumption was that all students would learn best when grouped w/ those of similar ability. Although these assumptions are still believed to be true by many educators, the research evidence summarized throughout the textbook casts doubt on their validity.
C. Evaluations of Ability Grouping
Ability grouping in one form or another has been studied for several decades, & its effects have been intensively studied. The main findings of these analyses are as follows:
1. There is little to no research support for the rationale behind between-class ability groupings. Students assigned to low-ability classes generally performed worse than comparable students in heterogeneous classes. Students assigned to average-ability classes performed at about the same level as their nongrouped peers. High-ability students sometimes performed slightly better in homogenous classes than in heterogeneous classes.
2. Research on the effect of regrouping for reading & mathematics is inconclusive. A few studies have been done which suggests that it can be beneficial if the level of the text matches the performance level, which is not necessarily at the child's grade level.
3. The Joplin Plan yields substantially better effects than heterogeneous classes.
4. W/in-class grouping for math & science instruction in grades 1 to 12 produced moderately better results compared w/ whole-class instruction & even smaller positive effect when compared w/ mixed-ability groups. Average-achieving students profit most from being placed in homogenous-ability groups, while low-achieving students benefit most from being placed in w/in-ability groups. The same result can be expected for reading instruction, but since such groupings for reading are commonplace, there has been little opportunity for research.
5. Students in homogeneously & heterogeneously grouped classes scored the same as students in heterogeneously grouped classes on measures of self-esteem.
6. Students in high-ability classes had more positive attitudes toward school than students in low-ability classes.
7. Between-class ability grouping affected the quality of instruction received by students.
a. The best teachers were often assigned to teach the highest tracks, whereas the least experienced or weakest teachers were assigned the lowest tracks.
b. Teachers of high-ability classes stressed critical thinking, self-direction, creativity, & active participation, whereas teachers of low-ability classes stressed working quietly, following rules, & getting along w/ classmates. This effect was particularly noticeable in math & science.
c. Teachers of low-ability groups covered less material & simpler material than did teachers of high-ability groups.
d. Teachers of low-ability students expected & demanded less of them than did teachers of high-ability students.
C. To Group or Not to Group?
The findings just summarized suggest three courses of action:
1. The research suggests between-class grouping strategies should be discontinued. Students do not learn more or feel more positive about themselves & school. The fact that schools continue to group students in this manner demonstrates how difficult it is to modify certain beliefs.
2. Use the forms of grouping that produce positive results; w/in-class grouping & the Joplin Plan for reading & mathematics. It is unclear at present why these forms of grouping are effective. It is assumed that the increase in homogeneity allows for more appropriate & effective forms of instruction.
3. Perhaps all forms of grouping should be eliminated & methods of instruction known to be effective should be used w/ all students.
III. The Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Many of the criticisms & arguments marshaled against ability grouping have come to be applied as well to special classes for students w/ disabilities. As a result, laws were established for providing students w/ disabilities an equal opportunity for a free & appropriate education. This law was initially passed in 1975 (PL 94-142) to assure the free, appropriate public education of all handicapped children. It has been revised & expanded twice since its first inception, in 1986 as the Handicapped Children's Protection Act (PL 99-457) & most recently in October 1990 as the Individuals w/ Disabilities Education Act (IDEA, PL 101-476). IDEA was then amended in 1997 to broaden & clarify a number of its provisions. As an example, children w/ disabilities must be provided w/ whatever modifications are necessary (e.g., large print for children who have visual impairments, extended time limits for children w/ a learning disability) to be allowed to participate in state- & district-wide assessments. If a child w/ a disability does not participate in a standardized assessment; school district officials must explain why they feel such an assessment is inappropriate & how the child will be assessed.
A. Major Provisions of IDEA
1. A free & appropriate public education. The basic purpose of IDEA is to ensure that all individuals from birth through age twenty-one who have an identifiable disability, regardless of how severe, receive at public expense supervised special education, & related services that meet their unique educational needs. These services can be delivered in a classroom, at home, in a hospital, or in a specialized institution & may include physical education & vocational education as well as instruction in the typical academic subjects (Office of the Federal Register, 1994).
2. Preplacement evaluation. Before an individual w/ a disability can be placed in a program that provides special education services, a full & individual evaluation of the child's educational needs must be conducted that conforms to the following criteria:
a. Tests must be administered in the child's native language.
b. A test must be valid for the specific purpose for which it is used.
c. Tests must be administered by trained individuals according to the instructions provided by the test publisher.
d. Tests administered to students who have impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills must reflect aptitude or achievement rather than the impairment.
e. No single procedure, such as an IQ test, can be the sole basis for determining an appropriate educational program. Data should be collected from nontest sources such as medical records, parental interviews, & observations by other professionals such as teachers.
f. Evaluations must be made by a multidisciplinary team that consists of at least one teacher or other specialist w/ knowledge in the area of the suspected disability.
g. The child must be assessed in all areas of the suspected disability.
3. Individualized education program. Every child who is identified, as having a disability & who receives special education services must have an individualized education program (IEP) prepared. The IEP is to be planned by a multidisciplinary team composed of the classroom teacher in collaboration w/ a person qualified in special education, one or both parents, the student (if appropriate), & others at the discretion of the parents or school. It is to contain statements of the following:
a. the child's present level of educational performance
b. annual goals & short-term instructional objectives
c. specific educational services to be provided & extent of participation in regular educational programs
d. dates for beginning services & duration of services
e. objective criteria for short-term objectives' being met
4. Least restrictive environment. This provision stipulates that a student w/ a disability needs to be placed in the least restrictive environment that the disability will allow. In practice, these children are placed w/in the least restrictive setting that the student's educational needs will allow. This provision is often referred to as mainstreaming, since the goal is to have as many children as possible, regardless of the severity of the disability, enter the mainstream of education by attending regular classes w/ nondisabled students.
In recent years, mainstreaming has frequently evolved into inclusion.
5. Procedural safeguards were written into PL 101-476 to establish legal safeguards to protect the legal rights of the parents & their child. Elements include:
a. right of the parents to examine all of their child's records
b. prior notice to parents of placement or change in identification
c. parental consent before evaluation is conducted or placement made
d. due process hearing to ensure that the rights of the child have been respected between the school district & the parent
B. The Policy of Inclusion
IDEA allows for more restrictive placements than those of the regular classroom when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes cannot be achieved satisfactorily (Office of the Federal Register, 1994).
However, there has been a movement in recent years to eliminate this option. Known variously as inclusion or full inclusion, this extension of the mainstreaming provision has become one of the most controversial outgrowths of IDEA. It means keeping special education students in regular classrooms & bringing support services to the children, rather than the other way around.
Full inclusion, on the other hand, implies providing regular classroom teachers w/ training in teaching special needs students so that they can teach these students in the regular classroom.
1. The Debate About Inclusion
The proponents of inclusion often raise three arguments to support their position:
a. Research suggests that special needs students who are segregated from regular students perform more poorly academically & socially than comparable students who are mainstreamed.
b. Given the substantial body of evidence demonstrating the propensity of children to observe & imitate competent children, it can be assumed that students w/ disabilities will learn more by interacting w/ nondisabled students than by attending homogeneous classes.
c. The Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education declared the doctrine of separate but equal to be unconstitutional. Therefore, pullout programs are a violation of the civil rights of children w/ special needs because these programs segregate them from their nondisabled peers in programs that are assumed to be separate but equal.
2. Research Findings
The evidence that bears on the inclusion issue is somewhat limited & inconsistent, but it seems to indicate, at least for now, that inclusion is a mostly workable & somewhat beneficial practice. On the basis of anecdotal & experimental evidence, three conclusions seem warranted:
a. Inclusion may not be an appropriate course of action for every child w/ a disability, although it can probably be made to work for many students.
b. Inclusion will likely work best where the presence of a disabled student stimulates the teacher to improve the general quality of classroom instruction.
c. For students who are mainstreamed, IEPs should be written to reflect what a given student probably could & could not accomplish.
C. What IDEA Means to Regular Classroom Teachers
1. Some general considerations
PL 94-142 was implemented in each state by 1978, but guidelines for implementation differ from one place to another, so find out what the local ground rules are. If orientation guidelines are not clear, ask for an orientation on IDEA.
2. What kinds of disabling conditions are included under IDEA?
a. According to the U.S. Department of Education (2000), during the 1998-1999 academic year, 5.25 million children & youths from ages six through seventeen (about 11 percent of the total number of individuals in this age group) received special education services under IDEA. Thirteen categories of students w/ disabilities are recognized. These categories significantly affect a child's educational performance & require special educational services. Many states use the same categories; others use fewer, more inclusive classifications. A brief description of the thirteen categories follows:
(1) autism: significant difficulty in verbal & nonverbal communication & social interaction.
(2) deaf-blindness: impairments of both hearing & vision, the combination of which causes severe communication, developmental, & educational problems. The combination of these impairments is such that a child's educational & physical needs cannot be adequately met by programs designed only for deaf or blind children.
(3) deafness: hearing impairment so severe that even w/ hearing aids, a child has problems processing speech.
(4) hearing impairment: permanent or fluctuating difficulty in understanding speech, difficulty that adversely affects educational performance & is not included under the definition of deafness.
(5) mental retardation: significant subaverage general intellectual functioning accompanied by deficits in adaptive behavior.
(6) multiple disabilities: two or more impairments that cause severe educational problems such that a child's needs cannot be adequately met by programs designed solely for one of the impairments.
(7) orthopedic impairments: impairments in a child's ability to use arms, legs, hands, or feet.
(8) other health impairments: conditions such as asthma, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, epilepsy, heart disease, & diabetes that limit a child's strength, vitality, or alertness that significantly affects that child's educational performance.
(9) serious emotional disturbance: personal & social problems exhibited in an extreme degree over a period of time that affect a child's ability to learn & get along w/ others.
(10) specific learning disability: a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language, that leads to learning problems not traceable to physical disabilities, mental retardation, emotional disturbance, or cultural/economic disadvantage.
(11) speech or language impairment: a communication disorder such as stuttering, impaired articulation, or a language or voice impairment.
(12) traumatic brain injury: a brain injury caused by an accident, which causes cognitive or psychological impairments.
(13) visual impairment including blindness: a visual impairment so severe that a child has difficulty seeing, even w/ corrective lenses.
b. The most common types of children w/ disabilities receiving services were those classified as having a specific learning disability, a speech or language impairment, mental retardation, or a serious emotional disturbance (Table 6.1).
3. What are the regular classroom teacher's responsibilities under IDEA?
Regular classroom teachers may be involved in activities required directly or indirectly by IDEA in four possible ways: referral, assessment, preparation of the IEP, & implementation & evaluation of the IEP.
a. Referral. Most referrals for assessment & possible special instruction are made by a child's teacher or his or her parents because they are the ones most familiar w/ the quality of the child's daily work & progress as compared to other children.
b. Assessment. Initial assessment procedures are carried out by a school psychologist, who administers several tests. If results indicate special services, a multidisciplinary assessment team of specialists is formed (including the classroom teacher, who may need to describe the child's performance in physical, social, emotional & cognitive domains). If the assessment team agrees w/ the initial assessment, an IEP is prepared.
c. Preparation of the IEP. The assessment team works w/ the teacher (& parents) to formulate an individualized education program (Figure 6.1).
d. Implementation & evaluation of the IEP. If the student is to attend the regular classroom at least part of the day, the teacher will be expected to
(1) put into practice the items for the classroom described on the IEP.
(2) possibly determine whether objectives listed on the IEP are being met & provide evidence of attainment.
e. Because the IEP is planned by a multidisciplinary team, you will be given direction & support in providing regular class instruction for students who have a disabling condition. The remainder of the chapter will describe students from both categories & techniques for teaching them. Students w/ mental retardation, learning disabilities, &/or emotional disturbance often require special forms of instruction. In addition, students who are gifted & talented require special forms of instruction, though not mentioned in IDEA, require special forms of instruction, as we will also discuss.
IV. Students w/ Mental Retardation
A. Classification of Children w/ Mental Retardation
1. As defined by the American Association of Mental Retardation (AAMR), mental retardation refers to individuals who have an IQ score of 67 & below, & who have concurrent problems functioning in social environments.
2. AAMR classifications (w/ corresponding IQ ranges) are as follows:
a. mild retardation (67-52)
b. moderate retardation (51-36)
c. severe retardation (35-20)
d. profound retardation (below 19)
3. Children who are mildly retarded are most likely to be mainstreamed into classroom activities. Moderately to severely retarded children are unlikely to be mainstreamed because of need for specialized forms of care & instruction.
B. Characteristics of Children w/ Mild Retardation
1. Children w/ below-average IQs follow the same developmental pattern as those w/ above-average IQs, but they differ in the rate & degree of development. They are characterized by apparent immaturity when compared w/ their age-mates.
2. Immature students are likely to experience & have frustration & low tolerance.
3. Frequent frustration brings about a tendency toward low self-esteem, low confidence, & low motivation.
4. Cognitively, children w/ mild retardation exhibit a limited amount of knowledge about how one learns & the factors that affect learning (known as metacognition), a tendency to oversimplify concepts, limited ability to generalize, smaller memory capacity, shorter attention span, the inclination to concentrate on only one aspect of a learning situation & to ignore other relevant features, the inability to formulate learning strategies that fit particular situations, & delayed language development. These characteristics can be understood more completely if they are related to Piaget's description of cognitive development. Middle & high school students w/ mild mental retardation may never go beyond the level of concrete operations.
V. Students w/ Learning Disabilities
The greatest number of children qualifying for special services are those classified as learning disabled.
A. Characteristics of Students w/ Learning Disabilities
1. In the 1960s groups of concerned parents called attention to a problem in American education: a significant number of students in public schools were experiencing difficulties in learning but were not eligible for special classes or remedial instruction programs. In 1963 parents of such children formed the Association for Children w/ Learning Disabilities to call attention to the scope of these problems. In 1968, the U.S. Office of Education developed a definition of learning disabilities & inserted it into PL 94-142 (the predecessor of IDEA).
2. The definition of learning disabilities includes the following:
a. a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes which are a prerequisite to learning (such as memory, oral language, visual perception, etc.)
b. difficulty in learning basic skills, specifically in the areas of speaking, listening, writing, reading, & mathematics.
c. a severe discrepancy between the student's apparent potential for learning & low level of achievement.
d. the problem not due primarily to other causes, such as visual or hearing impairments; motor handicaps; mental retardation; emotional disturbance; or economic, environmental, or cultural disadvantage.
In addition to these problems w/ cognitive processing & learning, many students w/ a learning disability have more poorly developed social skills than their nondisabled peers which contributes to lowered self-esteem & poor academic performance.
B. Problems w/ Basic Psychological Processes
The fundamental problem that underlies a learning disability is, as the law states, a disorder in one or more basic psychological processes. This generally refers to problems w/ how students receive information, process it, & express what they have learned. Specifically, many students w/ learning disabilities have deficits in perception, attention, memory encoding & storage, & metacognition.
C. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
1. Children w/ extreme deficits in attention &/or unusual high levels of activity & impulsiveness may be diagnosed as having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
2. The symptoms have to first appear before the age of seven; they have to be displayed in several settings, such as home, at school, & at play; & they have to persist over time.
3. The main symptoms of ADHD are attention, hyperactivity, & impulsivity. The American Psychiatric Association recognizes three types of ADHD:
a. children who are predominantly inattentive
b. children who are predominantly hyperactive & impulsive
c. children who exhibit a combination of all three behaviors
4. It is estimated that 3 to 5 percent of all children have ADHD, w/ boys outnumbering girls six to one (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).
5. Services for children w/ ADHD can be funded under the "specific learning disabilities: category, the "seriously emotionally disturbed" category, or the "other health impaired" category of IDEA.
6. ADHD is usually treated w/ a combination of drug & behavioral therapies. The most popular class of drug prescribed is amphetamines (such as Ritalin or Dexedrine).
7. The effect of such medications is highly specific. Some children do better on Ritalin, others on Dexedrine, while others show no improvement w/ either.
8. As an adjunct to medication, children should also receive daily report cards, frequent positive reinforcement, social skills training, & individualized therapy.
VI. Students w/ Emotional Disturbance
A. Estimates of Emotional Disturbance
1. In 2000, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 436,845 students between the ages of six & seventeen were classified as seriously emotionally disturbed for the 1998-1999 school year. This figure represents 8.3 percent of all schoolchildren classified as disabled & slightly less than 1 percent of the general student population.
2. Not everyone agrees that these figures accurately reflect the scope of the problem. Up to 20 percent of children may exhibit emotional problems, but the lower figure reported identifies the children w/ severe, persistent difficulties.
B. Definitions of Emotional Disturbance
1. Different interpretations of emotional disturbance have led to different definitions, but the one included in IDEA defines it in this way:
a. The term means behavior exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over an extended time & to a marked degree that adversely affects a child's educational performance:
(1) an inability to learn despite normal intellect, sensory, or health, factors
(2) an inability to build or maintain interpersonal relationships w/ peers or teachers
(3) inappropriate behavior or feelings under normal circumstances
(4) a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression
(5) a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated w/ school problems
b. The term includes schizophrenia, but does not apply to socially maladjusted children unless it is determined they have a serious emotional disturbance.
2. The definition creates some problems.
a. The phrase a long period of time, for example, is not defined in the law. Behaviors such as satisfactory interpersonal relationships, a general pervasive mood, & inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances are difficult to measure objectively & can be observed in normal individuals.
b. Behaviors can be directly & objectively assessed. Although there are subtle differences among the terms emotionally disturbed, socially maladjusted, & behavior disordered, they are essentially interchangeable.
3. Your first step in cases of suspected emotional disturbance is to make a referral. In most cases where a child exhibits an emotional disturbance, it may be necessary to refer to a child as seriously emotionally disturbed since that is the label used in IDEA, in order for the child to obtain special assistance.
C. Characteristics of Students w/ a Serious Emotional Disturbance
1. Most classifications of emotional disturbance include only two large categories of behavior: externalizing (aggression) & internalizing (withdrawal).
a. Externalizing students are often aggressive: uncooperative, restless, & negative. They tend to lie & steal, & to defy teachers, & to be hostile to authority figures.
b. Internalizing students are often withdrawn: shy, anxious, depressed, & lacking self-confidence.
2. Withdrawn students are more likely to develop severe emotional problems such as depression & may even be at risk of suicide during the adolescent years.
VII. Gifted & Talented Students
A. Definition
1. Although not covered by IDEA gifted & talented students also require special instruction if they are to make the most of their abilities.
2. These students are defined as children & youth who give evidence of high performance capability in intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership endeavors, or in specific academic fields, & who require services & activities not ordinarily provided by the school to develop such capabilities (Title IV-H.R., 1988).
B. Identification of Gifted & Talented Students
1. Eligibility for gifted & talented programs has traditionally been based on standardized test scores, particularly IQ tests. An IQ cutoff of 130 was usually used for admission to such programs. But criticism emerged when IQ scores for giftedness was found to focus on a narrow range of skills (mainly Gardener's linguistic & logical-mathematical intelligence & Sternberg's analytical ability). As a result, most states have eliminated the use of a numerical cutoff score for identification.
2. Critical weaknesses remain in the area of identification, particularly for gifted children from minority cultures.
a. There is little correspondence among definition, identification, & instructional methods.
(1) The definition usually calls for a superior IQ, superior achievement test scores, superior aptitude test scores, evidence of creativity, or a high level of motivation.
(2) Educators' are unfamiliar w/ ways of measuring human characteristics other than by standardized tests is another weakness. In addition to standardized tests, checklists, rating scales, & nominations by peers & adults can also be used.
(3) There is a general ignorance of characteristics that are more highly valued by minority culture than by the majority culture.
3. The result is significant placement (& nonplacement) error & failure to match instruction w/ talents.
4. Errors of nonplacement may be especially significant for minority group members, whose culturally valued talents may not be reflected in IQ test scores.
5. There is an insensitivity to & ignorance of the characteristics valued by minority cultures (for example, storytelling, knowledge of tribal traditions, artistic abilities).
6. A child's giftedness may, therefore, be evident only when examined from the perspective of a particular culture.
C. Characteristics of Gifted & Talented Students
1. Gifted students are physically, socially, & emotionally similar to the general student population.
2. Gifted students, however, as a group are often noticeably different. Here are some of the main characteristics that gifted & talented students share:
a. They excel on tasks that involve language, abstract logical thinking, & mathematics.
b. They are faster at encoding information & retrieving it from memory.
c. They are highly aware of how they learn & the various conditions that affect their learning. As a result, they excel at transferring previously learned information & skills to new problems & settings.
d. They exhibit such high levels of motivation & task persistence that the phrase "rage to master" is sometimes used to describe their behavior. Their motivation to learn is partly due to high levels of self-efficacy & appropriate attributions.
e. They tend to be more solitary & introverted than average children.
f. They tend to have very intense emotional lives. They react w/ intense feelings, such as joy, regret, or sorrow, to a story, a piece of music, or a social encounter. They also tend to be emotionally sensitive & will sometimes surpass adults in their ability to notice & identify w/ the feelings of others.
3. For the most part gifted & talented students see themselves as they were just described. However, despite their academic self-concept they score at the same level on measures of physical & social self-concepts (Hoge & Renzulli, 1993).
D. Instructional Options
Gifted & talented students constantly challenge a teacher's skill, ingenuity, & classroom resources. This section will describe three possible solutions.
1. Accelerated instruction: pros & cons
a. Acceleration can occur in four ways:
(1) through grade skipping
(2) through a compressed curriculum (e.g., a three-year high school)
(3) through an extended school year (summer school)
(4) through college courses in high school (the AP program)
b. Arguments for acceleration include the following:
(1) In grade skipping, the work w/ older students is more challenging & keeps gifted children from becoming bored.
(2) Schoolwork that matches abilities helps students to develop a more positive attitude toward learning & subjects.
c. Arguments against acceleration are as follows:
(1) Social & emotional demands may not be met as easily as intellectual ones.
.
(2) Acceleration produces the undesirable side effect of elitism.
d. Research (Kulik & Kulik, 1984) supports the intellectual claim of acceleration (to speed up learning), but not enough studies have been done on other effects to draw other conclusions. The unique needs of the individual & the situation must be considered before the course of action can be determined.
2. Gifted & talented classes & schools
Some public schools offer separate classes for gifted & talented students either as an alternative to accelerated instruction or as something that follows accelerated instruction. In addition, so-called magnet schools are composed of students whose average level of ability is higher than those typically found in a typical school. Many states sponsor high-ability schools, particularly in mathematics & science. Recent findings:
a. Placements do not necessarily produce positive results & should be made only after the characteristics of the students & the program have been carefully considered.
b. In terms of achievement, the typical gifted student can expect to score moderately higher (at about the 63rd percentile) on tests than comparable students who remain in heterogeneous classes.
c. The effects of separate class or school placement on measure of academic self-concept have been inconsistent.
3. Enrichment & differentiated instruction
Because of the potential negative effects of grade skipping, the limited availability of special classes & schools, & the fact that such classes & schools are not options for some gifted & talented students, teachers find themselves w/ such students in a regular classroom. A solution for meeting the special needs of these students is a practice often referred to as differentiated instruction (mentioned earlier). Renzulli & Reis (1985) describe three levels of curriculum enrichment for gifted & talented learners:
a. Type I enrichment involves exploratory activities designed to expose students to topics, events, books, people, places not ordinarily covered in the regular curriculum.
b. Type II enrichment involves instructional methods & materials that are aimed at the development of such thinking & feeling processes as thinking creatively, classifying & analyzing data, solving problems, appreciating, & valuing.
c. Type III enrichment consists of activities in which students investigate & collect data about a real topic or problem.
VIII. Using Technology to Assist Exceptional Students
There is perhaps no place in education today where technology is making as significant an impact as in the field of special education. For instance, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1980 (PL 99-457) mandate the provision of adapted technology for any need related to the learning or development of a child. There has been a simultaneous proliferation in assistive technologies to help students w/ special learning needs succeed academically. This type of technology refers to "any item, device, or piece of equipment that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional abilities of persons w/ disabilities." Such tools may range from less expensive low-tech equipment such as adapted spoons or joysticks, to more high-tech devices such as voice-recognition devices or touch screens.
A. Technology for students w/ hearing impairments
Hearing-impaired students can be assisted w/ technology tools in a number of ways, including:
1. closed captioning,
2. multimedia technologies, &
3. electronic networking
Multimedia programs & other technologies are emerging to help hearing-impaired students develop their sign language & lip-reading skills, vocabulary & reading comprehension, & spoken & written communication skills. For example, one highly visible electronic network-based classroom known as ENFI (Electronic Networks for Interaction) was developed by Gallaudet University. Collaborative writing tools like Realtime Writer are included w/in ENFI to teach writing to hearing-impaired students by conducting all class discussion & interaction in electronic writing.
B. Technology for students w/ visual impairments
Speech synthesizers & voice-recognition devices offer similar liberating assistance to the visually impaired. W/ speech synthesizers, the user can select a word, sentence, or chunk of information from any written or scanned text & hear it pronounced by a speech synthesizer. For example, DECTalk is a speech synthesis program that analyzes, synthesizes, & converts plain text into high-quality speech, nearly as comprehensible as recorded speech.
C. Technology for students w/ orthopedic impairments
1. For students who have physical limitations, pointing devices held in the mouth or attached to the head may provide the needed device control.
2. Students w/ more limited fields of motion who have acceptable fine motor skill may also benefit from condensed or mini keyboards that position the keys more closely together & require less strength to use.
3. Students w/ less fine motor control, touch-sensitive expanded keyboards offer more space between keys & are often programmed to accept overlay plastic sheets for different applications or user needs.
4. Free programs (called freeware) & inexpensive ones (called shareware) for helping individuals w/ physical & other disabilities more effectively use computers.
D. Technology for students w/ speech or language impairments
Individuals w/ communication impairments can be helped by the use of computer software w/ a speech synthesizer & expanded keyboard for training in vocabulary, early grammar skills, & social communication.
E. Technology for students w/ learning disabilities
New technology tools can help students w/ learning disabilities spend less time concentrating on such surface-level task demands as the spelling & formatting of papers, & more time analyzing problems, interpreting information, & reflecting on answers. A variety of tools are now available for students w/ learning disabilities to reduce the cognitive demand of a task by serving as external memory aids.
1. In the area of reading, some software programs can help young learning disabled (LD) readers focus on basic phoneme identification & segmentation, while hypertext applications can help younger children develop pre-reading skills. For high school students, hypertext can create multiple ways to interact w/ text material & learn new information.
2. In the area of writing, there are many tools for students w/ disabilities. Given the writing deficits of LD students & the many demands they have to face, there fortunately exist writing tools to help LD & other students w/ basic sentence generation, transcription, & revision. Technology itself does not improve middle school LD student writing, instead, sound instructional practices such as peer tutoring on the word processed text raises the quality & number of student revisions & overall quality of their writing. For instance, talking calculators provide auditory feedback or confirmation of basic mathematical operations.
3. There are also tools for LD students to set writing goals, generate content, & plan & evaluate their writing. Personal data managers, for instance, might help LD students record writing deadlines, remember important due dates & plan their writing schedule. Computerized post-it notes, outlining aids, & semantic webbing tools, moreover, can also facilitate student organization of their ideas.
F. Technology for gifted & talented students
Distance education is being used w/ gifted students to provide year-round programs. At Stanford University, for example, they are providing year-round accelerated instruction in mathematics & physics through the Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY).
G. Special education technology recommendation & projections
The following guidelines have been proposed for proper use of technology in special education classes.
Technology programs & products should:
1. be intuitive & straightforward to learn,
2. allow alternative ways to present & access information,
3. contain uncluttered screen displays w/ few font types,
4. require minimal keyboarding skills,
5. provide adequate praise & clear feedback,
6. include opportunities to review concepts,
7. embed learner control adaptable to the nature & degree of the disability,
8. contain only graphic elements that contribute to the instructional function of the program,
9. challenge & pique learner interest, &
10. be reliable, cost-justifiable, easily transported, & useful across various contexts.
While the above factors are important, Larsen (1995) notes that the most critical issues relate to the pedagogical decisions surrounding the use of these tools, not necessarily what technology to choose.
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