Draft Education Policy
January 16, 2006
EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.
Students with special educational needs in the school system
RATIONALE Intellectual disability or autism are not singular disorders, it is unlikely that one intervention approach will benefit all subgroups equally. Therefore a range of intervention strategies must be developed. It is the policy of the NPSA that children with special educational needs should be given every opportunity to achieve their full potential in society. Integration should be seen as an important tool towards achieving this aim. Therefore, this document is based on the assumption that education provision will be aimed at achieving the maximum possible integration given the abilities of the child. It is also assumed that this will be achieved by giving appropriate supports and funding throughout the process. This includes teachers being properly trained for their duties and being supported by qualified learning assistants. It is also assumed that necessary therapeutic and psychological assistance will be available to the school/service. INTRODUCTION Access to Education It is often the experience of the NPSA that access to education for children with special educational needs, unlike their non-disabled siblings, is a process that requires some or all of the following: · Luck
· Parental determination · Cooperation from a school principal · Money · A court case The alternative to the above is a system which accepts people with special educational needs as valued members of society and ensures that they have as easy an access to an appropriate education as the rest of society. This requires that the Government and, in particular, the Departments of Education and Health should establish the necessary planning and organisational strategies to ensure this. To do so the following are needed: · A properly supported and updated database of all those with special educational needs
· A properly organised assessment process which aims at early identification of special educational needs · An appropriate early intervention service · An agreement that all schools, or at least all that are instructed by the Department of Education to do so, should operate a special needs class. · Government acceptance that such classes need proper support We accept that, with the Education for Persons with Special Needs Act currently being “rolled out”, there is at least a legislative framework within which the above matters might be tackled. However, we believe that this must be accompanied by the will and vision on the part of the people who make decisions on behalf of our children. That is, the National Council for Special Needs and the Department of Education and Science and the Minister for Education must be prepared to work together in a cooperative effort to ensure that our children finally get a fair deal NOTE: In this document when we refer to children with special educational needs we mean a child who has been diagnosed as having an intellectual disability or autism. Part I
GENERAL 1. PLACEMENT OF CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM Education in a School Setting: It is important to emphasise that the actual place where a child is educated should be influenced by the assessed needs of the child following consultation with the child’s parents. All places available should have the necessary resources and expertise to ensure that the child’s needs are met. Therefore a variety of different settings would have to be established including: i. Total integration in a mainstream class in a mainstream school with no assistance.
Some high functioning children with an intellectual disability or Asperger’s syndrome would have such a placement. ii. Integration into a mainstream class but with the help of a learning assistant. iii. Membership of a special class in a mainstream school with some part of the day being spent in a mainstream class. iv. Membership of a special class in a mainstream school with little or no time being spent in a mainstream class but with opportunities to integrate during play-time where appropriate to the child’s needs. v. Placement in an appropriate class in a special school. In all the above cases there should be appropriate support by therapists and psychologists. 2. SCHOOL ORGANISATION a. Whole School Policy: Where a school has a child with special educational needs it is important to have close collaboration within the school to ensure that all responses are supported by everyone working in the school. Such a Whole School Policy should encompass the points made in this document. b. Catering for special educational needs. The main aims for any school catering for students with special needs should be as follows: i. Maximum integration. ii. Maximum support for pupils with special needs: ·
Ideally, this would mean that any school with children with special
educational needs who are fully integrated, with or without a learning
assistant, should also have a special class on the premises. In
this way the expertise to provide support would be available to all
pupils with special educational needs, both in the special class and in
the mainstream classes. In other words, it is the view of the
NPSA that, where possible, mainstream schools should specialise in a
particular disability. That is, where possible, the special class
should not have children with a variety of special needs. In this
way, expertise would be developed in the school and would better enable
it to provide support to its pupils with this disability.
· We are conscious that the above suggestion would require coordination from the Department of Education, the SENO and possibly the Special Needs Council. However, we believe that such an approach would provide the best system for the schools and all the students in their care, including those with disabilities. · All staff must be aware that the special class is meant to cater for those with special needs and should not be seen as a place to put children with issues other than special needs. · In some situations it might be necessary to extend the school year into the holidays to prevent a loss of knowledge and skills. c. Curriculum ·
Ideally, the curriculum should follow the normal school curriculum and
the concepts in the NCCA Draft Guidelines for Teachers of Students with
General Learning Disabilities should be used. That is, the aim of
the curriculum should be to provide the child with a broad ranges of
skills such as Enabling Skills, Life Skills, Communication Skills,
Mathematical Skills, IT skills and Physical Skills
These are skills which should be the goal for all children. The degree and amount of skill possible in each category would be dictated only by the disability. In other words, it should not be influenced by shortage of resources or other forms of cutbacks. · Clearly, the curriculum will be of no value to the child if it is presented purely in terms of knowledge acquisition. The needs of the child must be balanced with their entitlement to the formal curriculum. It should be ensured that children with special educational needs, particularly those in the lower ability range, are given a broad range of experiences. d. Professional Support for Mainstream Schools: The current trend towards integration of all children with disabilities is welcomed by the NPSA. It is important to achieve the maximum degree of integration possible for each child with a disability, not only for the sake of children with a disability, but also for the rest of the population. In a truly integrated society people with disabilities must be seen as an integral part of the community from the time they are born. However, in moving towards the integration model it must be remembered that many professional supports for the child and also family supports such as counselling and information dissemination which were a common feature of the old system of having special segregated units for people with disability are often not available to the parents of children in mainstream schools. Therefore, it is vital that such support structures be set up on a regional basis. In relation to schools this would mean: i. Consultant Support:
To ensure that children with special needs receive the tailor made programme that they require it would be necessary for the schools to have available to them: · Educational Psychologists:
It is important for even the best-trained teacher to be advised on the
very specific needs of the child. To ensure this, the school must
have access as required to an appropriate educational consultant.
All decisions made by consultants should be carefully explained to the
teachers and the parents at appropriately convened meetings· Behavioural Consultants: The issue of behaviour management is a major one when dealing with children with special educational needs. Again, schools cannot be expected to provide an adequate service unless they receive support in this area. ii. Therapeutic Support: Within the regional support teams there should also be Speech & Language Therapists and Occupational Therapists to service the schools. iii. Emergency Support: To ensure the smooth running of the educational process it is vital that an emergency advice line be available to teachers to help resolve the kind of problems which arise from time to time. In this way, rather than spending large amounts of energy in trying to resolve difficulties which have developed over a period, they would be dealt with before they reach crisis level. e Other: Where a student or students with special needs is/are assigned to a mainstream class, the numbers in that class should be reduced to allow for the extra work involved in catering for the child with special needs. 3. CHILDREN AND SPECIAL EDUCATION: The ideal situation for all children during their time in education is that they be members of a mainstream class group. Correctly, this is the aim of recent education legislation. However, the fact is that, for some people with special educational needs, it is simply not a reality. For these, a mainstream class is not possible. Therefore, when considering appropriate settings for children with special needs it must be accepted that the needs of the child must dictate the appropriate educational setting. With the exception of children in a mainstream class who are capable of being there, all other classes must be specific for the disability. That is, children with an intellectual disability should be together and children with autism should be together. Children with autism should not be placed in classes with children who have an intellectual disability or be given educational intervention meant for children with an intellectual disability and vice versa. The following are the probable places where children with special educational needs might find themselves: a. A Mainstream Class Clearly children with special educational needs should only be in a mainstream class when the SENO, the school and the parents are satisfied that such a setting best suits the child and where that class and teacher will provide a meaningful and worthwhile learning experience suitable for the child’s abilities. In planning their schedule the school and the teacher need to take account of: i. the provision of ancillary or teaching support and the hours per week specified.
ii. the provision of a withdrawal facility for curriculum support or social skills training iii. the provision of speech and language therapy or other agency involvement and the number of hours specified iv. the provision of additional materials and resources, e.g. pictorial or written timetables, cue cards to support different subject areas, adapted equipment b. A Special Class in a Mainstream School or Special School The approach used must be highly individualised and also highly structured. It must be a learning environment: i. Which is based on clarity
ii. With well-defined routines and expectations. iii. Where extensive use is must be made of personal timetables and visual clarification through sign, symbol or picture. c. Other Children in the Mainstream School. Where children with special educational needs are in a mainstream school their presence must be seen by all the stakeholders as a positive and enriching addition to the school culture and ethos. This should be acknowledged by: i. Taking the
opportunity to introduce Education on Difference to all students,
including the difference of disability.
ii. Taking steps to help the children with special needs to integrate into the school’s mainstream classes and activities. While this would vary, depending on the degree of severity of the disability, it could range from peer support for a high functioning child to a “buddy system” run for a special class. 4. TEACHERS AND LEARNING ASSISTANTS The most important element of the success or failure of the integration of children with special needs in mainstream schools rests with the staff, both teachers and learning assistants, who must implement school policies “on the ground”. It is vital that they be selected for their talents and interest in this area. Equally, it is vital for the teachers and learning assistants to be appropriately trained to undertake the duties being asked of them. Also, in a school with a special class, the rest of the staff should have a degree of knowledge of special educational needs. Note: In this document we us the term “learning assistant” rather than SNA because we believe that it is time to publicly acknowledge the fact that, in many schools, SNAs are not just carers but also work in a teaching capacity. We believe it is appropriate for this to be the case and that the situation in terms of remuneration, qualifications and training should be regularised to take account of this reality. a. Selection of Teachers: Teachers who are teaching children with special needs should be selected by using the following criteria: i. They should have empathy with children who have special needs.
ii. They should have knowledge of special educational needs or a willingness to learn. iii. They should have the ability to handle behaviour problems iv. They should have good organisational skills v. They should have the ability to manage other adults (learning assistants) and be willing to teach in a room with other adults. vi. They should have an understanding of the need to work closely with parents in planning and implementing learning/teaching strategies. vii. They should have a positive and active teaching style which involves a calm, sensitive but persistent intervention with high expectations. b. Selection of Learning Assistants: Learning assistants should be selected using the following criteria: i. Empathy with children who have special needs
ii. Ability to handle behaviour problems iii. Knowledge of special educational needs or willingness to learn about special educational needs. iv. Understanding of the need to work closely with parents in planning and implementing learning/teaching strategies. c. Staff Training. It seems almost unnecessary to state that teachers and learning assistants working with children with special educational needs should have proper training. However, experience indicates that in many situations staff are inadequately trained or are not trained at all. This situation is unfair to the staff involved and is even more unfair to the students under their care. Therefore, teachers of children with special educational needs and learning assistants must be appropriately trained. They must be given a thorough understanding of special educational needs. They must be given an understanding of: i. The nature of intellectual disability and autism
ii. The learning difficulties of children with special educational needs iii. The development of normal language acquisition. iv. Policies on the integration of pupils with special educational needs. v. How to work with parents and professionals vi. Therapeutic approaches which support children’s learning vii. They must be fully trained in behaviour management. viii. In the case of autism: a. The specific
language difficulties of children with autism and how their language
learning differs from normal language acquisition:
b. The cognitive and psychological explanations of the autistic disorder c. The importance of directly aiming instructions at the student with autism, if this is needed by the student. d. The difficulties children with SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS may have and the resulting influences on learning outcomes of the following: ·
Memory: Children with autism very often have excellent memory
skills. It must be remembered that good recall is not the same as
understanding.
· Problem solving: Children with autism very often have poor problem solving skills. · Perception: Children with autism very often do not understand the subtleties of language but interpret in a very literal way. · Attention: Many children with autism experience different levels of attentiveness. With subjects in which they have a strong interest (obsession) their attention is excellent. With other things they may suffer from severe deficits. These difficulties will particularly affect someone taught in a subject-based curriculum. · They must be trained in the theory of the main interventions ABA, TEACCH, PECS, Precision Teaching, etc · They must be given practical experience (teaching practice) in using the above methods In addition teachers must: i. Understand how to plan the learning environment and the curriculum
This training must involve a practical (teaching practice) element.ii. Understand how to how to assess pupils and write individual education plans. iii. Understand how to monitor and report the progress of special needs students. iv. Be aware that no assumptions can be made on what the student should or should not know. v. Be aware that pupils might not necessarily have a strong ability to generalise. That is, training does not easily translate to other situations. For example, the use of a fake shop in a classroom is often not obviously transferred to the real situation. vi. Be trained in the use of Learning Assistants d. The Training of Other Staff Within the School All teaching staff in a school should have a basic knowledge of children with special educational needs and ideally should have been involved with the development of the Whole School Policy and should support it. Such training should be formal and should be aimed at imparting knowledge of special educational needs to the teacher and should also allow the teachers to talk through their concerns and reservations about such a venture. e. General training for all teachers: It is now a likelihood that most teachers, particularly at primary level, will teach children with special educational needs during their teaching career. It is vital that training colleges acknowledge this fact by having compulsory and examinable modules on special educational needs on the trainee teachers’ course. Equally, all teachers currently working in schools should be given the maximum amount of in-service possible in this whole area. f. Training for Principals: As the people driving the education process in schools it is vital that principals be given the necessary knowledge and understanding of special educational needs to be able to adequately plan, organise and employ staff. g. Teaching Children with special educational needs should not necessarily be seen as a permanent arrangement within the School: To ensure that teaching children with special educational needs is not seen as a “cul-de-sac” duty it is essential that such teachers should have the opportunity to move back into mainstream classes after a certain period of time. The facility for retraining another teacher must therefore be made available to the school. Apart from ensuring that teachers of special classes would be happy in their work, such a facility would also enhance the expertise of the whole staff. h. Training for Learning Assistants: Training for learning assistants must also include enough teaching training to enable them to do this part of the work in a satisfactory way. i. Support for a School Taking on a Special Class A school which takes on a special needs class of any description also takes on an enormous pastoral/caring role both in relation to the students with autism and their parents. The demands put on the school can be quite enormous and are sure to challenge the talents of the staff and the principal. For this reason a disability support officer should be appointed to each such school. The job of the disability support officer would be to support both the staff and principal in the pastoral care of the families of these students. j. Classroom Management Learning Assistants:
i. The job of the teacher is to plan and organise the work done in the class including that done by the learning assistants. ii. As with all teaching such planning should be long, medium and short term. iii. The learning assistant should be aware of all medium and short term teaching plans for the pupil(s) under their care. iv. Should the teacher be absent for a short period the teaching assistants should then be in a position to continue with the plan. k Management of Inclusion – The purpose of an inclusive education is to allow the child with special needs to be educated close to his/her “typical” peers and to allow typically developing children to become aware of and accepting of the diversity of difference that exists. In order to achieve this the following points should be part of a school’s approach to inclusion: i. The school
should be aware that it is not always appropriate for a learning
assistant to be assigned only to one student. The way a learning
assistant is assigned should depend on the child’s needs and
attitudes.
ii. There may be a need for the learning assistant to be available at play time (recess) as some children need to learn how to play as well as how to learn. iii. Learning assistants should be able to avail of expert ‘teacher/tutor’ advice for some hours each week. iv. No child should be placed in mainstream without support or adequate notice to the teacher to allow him/her to make appropriate plans for inclusion. 5. PARENTS Even the best trained teacher will always lack the one characteristic which parents of children with special educational needs possess. That is, the experience of living with a child with special educational needs throughout their waking and sleeping times. This experience is of such importance that, even disregarding the parents’ right to be consulted, it must be regarded as a vital resource in caring for the child with special educational needs. To tap into this resource, schools must set up structures to ensure maximum parental consultation and decision-making. Equally, it is important for schools to realise that parents receive little feedback from their child with special educational needs and therefore need to interact regularly with the school on their child’s progress. a. So, it should be remembered that parents need: i. To be
informed of how their child is behaving in the class. This
applies to unacceptable behaviour and to acceptable
behaviour/improvements.
ii. To be informed of how the child is progressing in the class. Again, this includes negative and positive reports. iii. To be respected for their wide knowledge of their own child. iv. To be respected for their knowledge of special educational needs as manifested in their child. v. To be respected for the fact that they have intimate day-to-day knowledge of how one child with special educational needs responds to his/her environment. vi. To be involved in the process of behaviour management with the aim of having a “seamless” approach between school and home. vii. To have contact with all those involved in their child’s education, including learning assistants and other professionals. b. Parental involvement should include: i. Consultation when behavioural issues manifest themselves.
ii. Involvement when education plans are being prepared. iii. Involvement in any other decisions being made about their child. 6. INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLANS (IEPs) For schools to provide an appropriate service to children with special educational needs it is vital that proper planning should take place. To ensure this, every child should have an Individual Education Plan which should be reviewed every year or more often if required. The targets in the IEP should be realistic, relevant and reachable. It should be remembered that, for most children, the teaching content for any class is more or less governed by the official school curriculum. Their progress is then measured against that curriculum in order to see if the child and the teacher are achieving. This is not the case for a child with special needs. In this case, the IEP should replace the official curriculum as a measuring tool. a. Elements to be included in the IEP: i. The nature of the child’s difficulties
ii. Actions required: · the special education provision needed
· the staff required, including frequency of support · specific programmes, activities, materials, equipment required iii. Help required from parents at home
iv. Targets to be achieved in a given time. These targets must be aimed at “stretching” the ability of the child. v. Any pastoral care or medical requirements vi. Monitoring and assessment arrangements vii. Other support agencies involved viii. Arrangements for review and the date it is to happen. ix. Issues affecting the child’s response to the learning environment (there must be suggested educational responses to these) · The child’s communication skills
· The child’s cognitive skills · The child’s behaviour · Any additional difficulties that the child experiences such as epilepsy or physical disabilities. b. Information sources for the IEP: i. Assessments
ii. Teacher observations iii. Reports from professionals involved with the child c Web sites with information on IEPs www.sess.ie www.iatseireland.com d. Who should prepare the IEP? 1. The NPSA
supports the section in the Education for Persons with Special
Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act which states that the team should
consist of:
· The parents of the child concerned
· The principal of the relevant school, or a teacher of that school nominated by that principal to be a member It may also include one or more of the following—
(a) the child where this is
considered appropriate by the special educational needs organiser
having regard to the age of the child and the nature and extent of the
child’s special educational needs,
(b) a psychologist employed by the Minister or the National Educational Psychological Service, or a person determined by the special educational needs organiser (SENO) to have sufficient expertise in psychology and nominated, as the case may be, by the Minister, the said service or the SENO to be a member of the team (c) any other person whom the parents or the SENO consider appropriate and nominate to be a member of the team, being a person who holds a qualification granted or awarded by a professional body, which qualification— (i) relates to the education of children with special educational needs, and
(ii) stands recognised for the purposes of this paragraph by the Council. [EPSEN Act Section 8 (4)] 2. In the case of children with an intellectual disability or autism the inclusion of those referred to in sections (b) and (c) above should be the norm. 3. IEPs should be signed off by the professionals involved and the parents. 4. In accordance with the EPSEN Act, IEPs should be reviewed at least every year. 7. ASSESSMENTS. When we refer to assessments in this section we mean the ongoing process of checking a child’s progress which is part of the routine of any school structure. For some children, these assessments would include State Exams, for others it might be purely at classroom level. In all cases such assessments would also feed into the more formal multi-disciplinary assessments which are needed for long-term planning. Clearly, such assessments should always make allowances for the particular disabilities of each child. Therefore: a. Assessments should take account of the following: Personal Factors i. the child’s strengths and weakness
ii. the child’s developmental level and any emerging skills iii. the child’s communications skills iv. the child’s independence skills v. the child’s personality Social Factors i. How the child relates to peers and adults
ii. If the child prefers be alone iii. How he/she manages in a group iv. How he/she responds to the learning environment v. How easily distracted is he/she Behaviour i. What types of behaviour he/she displays
ii. If the child has any aggressive or self-injurious behaviours iii. When and where the behaviours occur iv. The nature of obsessional interests v. His/her reaction to intervention b. Methods of Assessing the Child: i. Teacher record keeping
ii. Consultation with parents iii. Video Records iv. Written tests which assess knowledge and performance. In certain circumstances o this might not include comprehension tests.
o this might be done on computers (where writing is poor). v. Multiple choice tests.
c. In Designing Tests: i. Care should
be taken not to underestimate what the child knows. Otherwise the
outcomes may reflect the child’s lack of response to learning.
ii. The questions must reflect their capacity to absorb certain information as opposed to other information (for example with some children a test involving social interaction is not going to produce good results) iii. The tests should attempt to measure understanding as opposed to mimicking iv. Account must be taken of the fact that the child may know how to do something but does not have the ability to express the skills verbally or in certain social situations. 8 OTHER a. Code of Practice There is need for a Code of Practice, to ensure that the children receive their entitlement to an appropriate education. This code should provide guidelines for schools on how to make the best use of the resources devoted to the education of children with special educational needs b. Resource teaching: The work of the Resource Teacher should have the following components: i. Assisting
the classroom teacher(s) in catering for the child. In other
words, the very specific knowledge of the child and his/her needs
possessed by the resource teacher should be shared with the classroom
teacher. This could mean that some resource hours would at times
be used in training the classroom teacher to deal with the
student’s specific needs. The result would be that the
classroom teacher could concentrate on covering the areas recommended
by the Resource Teacher. It would also mean that there would be
coordination between the work done by both.
ii. Withdrawing a child from a class for particular assistance. Great care should be given to what he/she is missing during withdrawal period. Again this points to the need for a large degree of coordination between the resource teacher and the classroom teacher. iii. Assessing the student. Where this is being done both capabilities and progress must be measured. c. Time for Planning and Coordination: It necessary for the DES to understand that the process of coordination and consultation is a very necessary part of the appropriate provision of education to children with special educational needs. Without it there is no hope that all the partners in the process can give of their best. Therefore, it is vital that teaching staff be allowed the time to consult and coordinate. With it, the end result will be an education system which is efficient and, more importantly, successful. Without it the expenditure will have been wasted. Part II
ISSUES RELEVANT TO PARTICULAR EDUCATION AREAS 1. PRE-SCHOOL/EARLY INTERVENTION. It is important for many children with special needs to experience intervention at as early a stage as possible. Such intervention must begin with an early assessment process followed by an IEP and finally an appropriate placement in a pre-school. Pre-schools · Pre-schools must be available to parents
o as a place where the process of early intervention begins
· There must be clear guidelines for
pre-schools. This should include a quality system, monitored
properly by the authorities, for example, the Department of Education
and Science (DES). o to prepare children with special needs for primary school. · Such pre-schools might be part of the service given by a special needs service provider, a mainstream school or a stand alone pre-school · The curriculum (for all pupils) should include appropriate social behaviour and communication skills. · Some children might need specialist “kick start” pre-schools. These would “kick start” children with particular physical or behavioural difficulties and would be aimed at giving them particular assistance in helping them to catch up with their peers when they enter “big school”. · The period spent by special needs children in pre-schools should be dictated by the needs of the child as opposed to the child’s age. 2. SECOND LEVEL The nature of second level schools creates a particular difficulty for its students with special educational needs, no matter what level they function at. The need many people with special needs have for a degree of predictability and consistency provides a challenge to the authorities of second level schools. In this section we look at the needs of students with special educational needs in this regard. Also, as stated earlier, our aim is to produce a document which covers the needs of all children with special educational needs at whatever level they function. However, as second level schools encompass formal assessment and accreditation we include a section on this which is for the benefit of those children who will be capable of reaching that level. a. Admission, Induction and Pastoral Care i. There should
be a careful induction process for students with special educational
needs. This would include
· School timetable
ii. The transition arrangements from primary to post
primary should be in place long before the child is due to leave the
primary. Such issues as the child’s capacity to cope in
different settings in the second level school and the age at which the
child should move must be considered and taken into account . · School layout · Support structures iii. The issue of SNAs transferring with the child must also be decided at an early stage. If the SNA is prepared to go then the decision should be based on parents’, teachers’ and professional advice and opinion. iv. It is important that the school facilitates friendships from primary school and aims at ensuring that the students with special educational needs have the company and support of such friends. iv. The school must be aware of the problems some people with special educational needs have with change. Serious and regular efforts must be made to keep the student informed in a sensitive way of any changes which might occur. v. All aspects of the physical environment within the school should be taken into account. For example, schools should ensure that drop-off points for transport of children with special educational needs should be safe vi. The ideal situation is that the student should attend a local school. vii. There is a need to transfer information to the second level school. viii. Where the child is in a mainstream class one teacher should have responsibility for the child’s well being. ix. The child must be facilitated to take a reduced number of subjects. x. It might be necessary to consider increasing the time a special needs student is allowed to spend taking courses. xi. It is necessary to streamline and facilitate the process whereby a pupil is partly in a mainstream school and partly in a special school. b Staffing of Special Class: The staffing arrangement must be flexible: i. For each permanent member of the class there must be one learning assistant.
ii. The pupil-teacher ratio for a permanent class must be 3:1. iii. A part-time member of the class must have a personal learning assistant who moves with the student. iv. The special class should have one primary-trained teacher. c. Mainstream Class. Where a student with special needs is in a mainstream class it is important that the needs of the student be taken into account. Therefore: i. Where possible the class should have regular routines.
ii. Careful consideration must be given to the amount of support provided and when it is provided so that the child does not feel singled out by having an adult with them or that he/she spends so much time with the learning assistant that there is little opportunity for them to work with others in the class. e. What is required of second level teachers: All the characteristics given in Part 1 particularly: i. An understanding of special educational needs and the needs of a child with special educational needs.
ii. An understanding of parents’ concerns. f. Curriculum: In a situation where the student might be considered capable of taking State Exams, part of the child’s IEP must give a clear indication as to what subjects he/she might take and in what way he/she may be capable of taking them. The following examples of the strengths and weaknesses of children with autism illustrate the point: i. Subjects which may cause difficulty for students with ASD:
·
Subjects requiring peer interaction (e.g. group discussions in English
and History). Where such subjects cause difficulties alternative
approaches may be needed.
ii. Subjects which might be easier for students with ASD:· Subjects which require an understanding of language and fiction such as English, History and Languages. Certain students will have serious difficulty with these subjects. · Subjects which require group work such as Drama and PE. Again certain students with ASD may have grave difficulties with these · These include Mathematics, Art, Music, Computers, History, Geography, Home Economics.
· Students should be able to pick subjects that they are good at. · The Students with ASD should not be placed in a class of low achievers because of a perceived need for additional supports. g. Accreditation The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that 92% of people with disabilities who have gone through our education system have received no formal accreditation. Assessment is at the heart of the process of learning. Assessment for learning (formative assessment) plays a crucial role in progressing learning and in developing effective learners. In Ireland and internationally, assessment of learning (summative assessment) is intrinsic to senior cycle education where the results of such assessment convert into certification, qualifications, a passport to Higher Education and becomes an important factor in the future work and life prospects of learners. For this reason it is important that suitable assessment models be found for students with special educational needs. The NPSA accepts that some people with special educational needs may never aspire to achieving success in the Junior and Leaving Certificate Exams as they are currently structured and in some cases could never hope to achieve any kind of formal state exam recognition. Nevertheless we believe that State exams should attempt to cater more for people with all disabilities. Even for those who cannot achieve such a level, there is no reason why their actual abilities should not be recognised. Therefore, work should be undertaken on looking at an assessment process which is disability-friendly and which aims at presenting a positive view of the person’s talents and abilities. The points below are made with that issue firmly in mind. Examples of methods which should be investigated and which are already being used: i. Formative
Assessment as seen in the Transition Year. This is characterised
by a strong emphasis on assessment methods that inform, and are
informed by, the teaching and learning process.
ii. Stand-alone Qualifications: Many Transition Year programmes offer stand-alone qualifications, for example in the area of ICT. iii. The Link Modules of the LCVP have pioneered the use of prepared material and of video material within formal examination contexts. iv. The LCVP has also given rise to a growth in expertise within the system in the area of portfolio assessment. The Leaving Certificate Applied has also pioneered new assessment approaches in the area of crediting module completion and in the assessment of project-based student tasks. v. The use of interview in which learners discuss their work has proved particularly successful as an assessment method. 3. AUTISM Education in the home setting for children with autism – home tuition i. Home
Tuition: It is most important that children with autism,
especially in the early years, should have intensive educational
support. This must include an acceptable process of home
tuition. As it is part of the overall education process it should
be seen as an extension of the school day and, as such, should be
coordinated by the class teacher.
NOTE: Ideally,
autistic children should follow the path of: home tuition, pre school
(specific in many cases) and then primary school. Where no pre-school
provision is available then gradual introduction must be applied.ii. Home Tuition as an aid to the mainstream school: ·
Preparation for a mainstream school: Many autistic children
would need home tuition as a means of preparing them for a mainstream
school (assuming they were capable of such). In short, without
the use of home tuition they could not, or should not enter regular
classes, even with supports. This must be geared, where possible, to
preparing the child to cope with primary school. Common things that
could be done include toilet training, training the child to sit for a
teaching period, learning how to be taught, general academic work, such
as letters, numbers, colours, matching etc.
· If a child with autism is going to primary school for a number of days per week then home tuition might also be used to improve academic and social communication skills. Many children in this category use school time to improve social skills with their peers. They are not able to fully, if at all, cope with the academic side of school life. · Ideally autistic children should be introduced into the classroom environment gradually. As more time is spent in the classroom then home tuition could be reduced. The rate of reduction will vary from child to child. iii. Home Tuition as an Alternative to the Classroom Situation: The importance of home tuition as an extension of school cannot be over-emphasised. However, it is important to note that it must not be used as an alternative to the classroom situation. Therefore, long periods of home tuition per week instead of fulltime schooling are acceptable only as the most temporary of solutions to a child’s educational needs (See (iii) below). 4. SPECIAL SCHOOLS It is the view of the NPSA that special schools should be used only where it is not possible to adequately cater for the child in a mainstream school. For this reason such schools must be centres of expertise and excellence in what they do. Equally, if they are to achieve an acceptable degree of excellence then: · They
should cater for specific disabilities. That is either the school
as a whole should specialise in a particular disability or related
disabilities or the school should have sections, each of which
specialise in one disability or clearly related disabilities.
· The corollary of the above point is that they should not be catch-all schools where every person is catered for in a general way. · This also means that the service provided for children in such schools should be governed by the child’s needs and not by the facilities that the school has available to it. · The students of special schools are a vulnerable group. For this reason, there must be regular inspection and supervision by the departments of Education and Health. · As special schools should be examples of best practice in the teaching of special needs children it is important not only to ensure that they maintain such high standards but also that they share their expertise with mainstream teachers and schools. Therefore a system must be found whereby mainstream teachers and schools have access to the methods being used in special schools. · It is important that the age profile of special schools should correspond with that of mainstream schools. That is, students should leave a primary special school at the age of twelve as other students do and should move on to a special second level school. It is possible that both first and second level schools might be on the one campus (although it is preferable if it were otherwise) but in terms of the schools’ students and their approach to service provision, there should be clear differences between both levels. |