Contents
Special Educationcoming soon!
Special Education
Special education, in a broad sense, involves the education of a student with a special need. It is aimed at addressing an individual student’s areas of need and adapting a teaching lesson that can effectively help the student learn the materials. Special education allows the student with challenges to achieve a higher level of learning than being enrolled in a typical classroom setting. General education is the polar opposite of special education.
It is practically useless to group special needs students into one big group. There are learning disabilities, communication challenges, physical disabilities and even emotional disorders and each of these cases should be treated differently. A special needs program should be constructed to address a student’s unique needs. Each student should be assessed professionally, placed in the right programs and expected to perform at their appropriate pace.
There are different ways schools go about working with special education students. These methods can be roughly grouped into four categories: inclusion, mainstreaming, segregation and exclusion. Inclusion involves having the student spend the majority of the school day with all the general education students. Mainstreaming is less inclusive and involves having the student spend some time with general education students, but mostly in a special education setting. Segregation has the student in a separate classroom environment or even a different school that is catered to the student’s needs. Exclusion is having the student literally excluded from a school setting.
Since special needs involves maximizing the potential for the student to understand the material being taught, it often involves some level of accommodation or modification to the general teaching curriculum. Some of these modifications include (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_education):
- Skipping subjects: Students may be taught less information than typical students, skipping over material that the school deems inappropriate for the student’s abilities or less important than other subjects. For example, students whose fine motor skills are weak may be taught to print block letters, but not cursive handwriting.
- Simplified assignments: Students may read the same literature as their peers but have a simpler version, for example Shakespeare with both the original text and a modern paraphrase available.[24]
- Shorter assignments: Students may do shorter homework assignments or take shorter, more concentrated tests, e.g. 10 math problems instead of 30.
- Extra aids: If students have deficiencies in working memory, a list of vocabulary words, called a word bank, can be provided during tests, to reduce lack of recall and increase chances of comprehension. Students might use a calculator when other students are not.
- Extended time: Students with lower processing speed may benefit from extended time in assignments and/or tests in order to comprehend questions, recall information, and synthesize knowledge.
A disability that affects one’s ability to learn can be tough and even with all the accommodations out there today, there are barriers that will always cause discouragement or poor performance. We understand that everyone is different and needs specific attention in their area of difficulty. If you feel that you can use some guided help on any of your school subjects, look below and find a private tutor that will cater to your needs.
Tutorspree can connect you with a private tutor that will create a lesson plan just for you and bring the education straight to your home. Nothing is more helpful than a private tutor that will give you one-on-one guidance.