For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222
Call 1-800-351-0222
MAINSTREAMING RETARDED STUDENTS.
Term Paper ID:23714
Get This Paper Free! or
Essay Subject:
Goals of integrating the mildly disabled, legal issues, placement decisions, role of parents & teachers, assessment, curriculum.... More...
6 Pages / 1350 Words
6 sources, 12 Citations,
APA Format
$24.00
More Papers on This Topic
Paper Abstract:
Goals of integrating the mildly disabled, legal issues, placement decisions, role of parents & teachers, assessment, curriculum.
Paper Introduction:
The federal government's goal for instruction of mentally retarded students is their education in what is termed the least restrictive environment (LRE). This goal is set forth in the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (amended in 1986 then reauthorized and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1991. The LRE has been broadly defined as the handicapped student's full integration into his or her family, home, and community. This concept is also known as mainstreaming. Mainstreaming even mildly mentally retarded students has met with resistance in the nation's elementary and secondary schools, based partly on the perception that students identified as mentally retarded are more severely and clinically disabled. The future implications of this trend are that mildly mentally retarded students will continue to be
Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.
Teachers also noted numerous constraints toeffective mainstreaming including lack of time and lack of knowledge aboutthe characteristics of students with differing disabilities. The availability of such fundsoften affects the judgment of school administrators in providing forspecial needs students (Retish, Hitchings, Horvath and Schmalle, 1991, p.9). Methods which involved thesense of hearing were especially useful: teachers read material aloud, andemployed the technique of oral review and repetition. Parents also complain about thedifficulty of finding appropriate integrated services for their childrenand voice concerns about the adequacy of staff and resources at suchservices (Winton, 1993, p. Most based the perception of the need foradditional resources and support on the severity of the disabilities ofpotential students. Baltimore: Brookes.----------------------- 3 In addition, the school's speech therapist workedregularly with the student on language problems. Teachers' comfort in including students with mild disabilities in theclassroom varied. This concept isalso known as mainstreaming. Parents of children withdisabilities complain about the limited interaction with parents ofchildren who do not have disabilities. Major changes are necessary in the school system before mainstreamingof mildy retarded students becomes a reality. Skills for students nearingadulthood should include the following general skills areas: self-care,domestic living, community living, leisure and recreation, vocationtraining, and communication. (199 ). was mentallyretarded. Learning, p. Winton, P. Praise is another strategy that teachers learned theeffectiveness of, based on experience. Schools use the interest on these funds to pay for other aspects ofeducation, unrelated to mainstreaming. Although states are trying tomeet the federal mandate of personnel preparation to increase thecompetency of staff in mainstreamed settings, much progress needs to bemade. References Barringer, M. The majority of the teachersresponded that their training had been inadequate in equipping them toinstruct these students. (1993). Parental concern about the adequacy of staff and resources in thecommunity is not unfounded. Appropriate training would involve intensive, systematic,well-planned, and ongoing services from specialists in the field. 65-8 . (1994, Spring). The strategies used by teachers in the Betancourt-Smith (1994) studywere generally those that were easy to implement and required little or nopreparation time, outside help, or additional resources. R.J. Concepts were alsodemonstrated by the teacher visually. In the classroom, the teacher concentrated on helping thestudent develop basic math and language skills by supplementing oralinstructions with gestures and written cues, providing visual reminders,assigning the student to cooperative learning groups, and working toimprove self-esteem. Scruggs, T. In general, it was felt that secondary teachers wouldhave a more difficult experience accommodating disabled students than wouldteachers at the elementary level. Teachersfelt that the addition of a teaching assistant, or at minimum, dailycontact with special education teachers would be warranted. In Charles Peck, Samuel Odom, and DianeBricker. The futureimplications of this trend are that mildly mentally retarded students willcontinue to be placed in restricted learning environments, and deniedaccess to the education mainstream. These burdens include trying totrain the teachers themselves or coordinating special services outside theschool. The strategieswere mostly "whole group accommodative" methods which could benefit theentire class as well as the disabled student. One fear routinely voiced by general education teachers is thatinclusion of disabled students might be disruptive to the classroom. The need forspecial curriculum materials and other classroom equipment was expressed.Further, teachers felt that class size should be restricted to no more than2 students so that the additional time needed to accommodate instructionfor disabled students would not have a negative impact on the class ingeneral. Teacher perceptionsof mainstreaming/inclusion, 1958-1995: A research synthesis. Teaching students with mild and moderatelearning problems. 157). 447-45 . Peer tutoring and group work were alsoeffective techniques. ExceptionalChildren, pp. Only a fewteachers responded that they were able to obtain support from colleagues inaccommodating disabled students. Because special education is an important source of funding forschools, mainstreaming has become a political and administrative tool insome educational institutions. The teacher consulted with the student'sparents, who volunteered to hire a tutor and to assist the student withhomework. Mainstreaming even mildly mentally retardedstudents has met with resistance in the nation's elementary and secondaryschools, based partly on the perception that students identified asmentally retarded are more severely and clinically disabled. . Scruggs and Mastropieri (1996) performed aresearch synthesis of surveys of general education teachers regarding theirperception of including students with disabilities in their classrooms.The authors found that while most teachers agreed in principle with theconcept of inclusion, and were willing to implement practices to achievethat goal, the majority believed that they had insufficient time, training,and resources to do so. Retish, P., Hitchings, W., Horvath, M. High school teachers andmainstreaming: Implications for training. Although praise and recognition areimportant for all students, they are especially critical for specialeducation students: "Students in special education programs experiencefailure much too frequently . the teacher should provide sufficientopportunity for the student to realize success or at least to develop asense of accomplishment" (Retish, Hitchings, Horvath, and Schmalle, 1991,p. The curriculum required for meeting the needs of mentally impairedstudents must, of necessity, be comprehensive. A case history of effective inclusion at theelementary level involves a teacher who noted learning difficulties in a3rd grader, and suggested IQ testing which confirmed that the student waseducably mentally impaired. A need exists to encourage ongoing assessment and communicationbetween the disabled student's parents and school professionals in themainstreamed setting. and Mastropieri, M. In terms of time, the general consensus was thatteachers would need at least an hour a day to plan for students withdisabilities. Retish, Hitchings,Horvath and Schmalle (1991) advocate a four-phased vocational instructioncurriculum. New York:Longman. Another whole group strategy usedwas writing things on the chalkboard. Integrating Young Children with Disabilities into CommunityPrograms, pp. According to Retish, Hitchings, Horvathand Schmalle (1991), this model fails to meet the intent of the Educationfor All Handicapped Children Act. Individual strategies used by teachers in the Betancourt-Smith (1994)study involved grading the disabled student by a different standard. Betancourt-Smith (1994) surveyed mainstream teachers who taughtor had taught LD students in Southeast Texas. The successful transition should focus notonly on employment, but on postsecondary training and education (for ablestudents), and other major areas of life: "There are a number of barriersto the successful transition of [handicapped individuals] throughout life,and teachers must be aware of these in order to avoid some of the problemsthat may adversely affect their students" (Langone, 199 , p. For instance, various vocational educationfunding sources support preparation for work and transition from school,including federal vocational rehabilitation, social services, and privatefunds. Oftenstudents were given more time to complete tests, or given tests that wereshorter or less challenging. Phase III, preparation and training, should take place in threeenvironments: the vocational class, the special class, and the community.Phase IV, employment and transition, should assist students in becomingproductive members of society. (1996, Fall). In secondary schools, the most common placement for mildly retardedstudents is in the regular classroom with a few periods a day devoted tospecial education. An investigation of high school teachers and their accommodativestrategies for mainstreamed students who are learning disabled (LD) foundthat the majority of strategies employed by teachers were learned fromexperience rather than as a result of pre-service training or in-servicetraining. 67). Providing family support in integrated settings: Research and recommendations. Winton (1993) notes that in the absence of adequate teacher training,parents of children with disabilities often assume additional burdens toensure the services and resources needed. Training is needed forteachers to attain competency in instructing these students. This goal is set forth in the Education of AllHandicapped Children Act of 1975 (amended in 1986 then reauthorized andrenamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1991.The LRE has been broadly defined as the handicapped student's fullintegration into his or her family, home, and community. The appropriateness of education placement decisions are made throughagreements among parents, educators, and students (if able). 46). . 62). The consciousness of all involved in the educationprocess must be raised because inclusion of disabled students is in thebest interests of society. Support isneeded for parents, teachers, and other education professionals to workeffectively as teams. 46. This adds to the parents' already challenging daily responsibilityof caring for a child with disabilities. This model is known as specialclasses with integration (SCI). 59-74. Phase I, readiness and self-awareness, should prepare thestudent about the role of work and define goals for independent living.Phase II, exploration, should match students with the appropriate careercluster. In other words, job-centered instructionshould be combined with a life-centered approach. Education, pp. 68). The federal government's goal for instruction of mentally retardedstudents is their education in what is termed the least restrictiveenvironment (LRE). Thisis true more of students who are severely and clincally disabled thanstudents with mild mental retardation. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. As a result, the studentmade enough progress to keep up with his classmates, and was confidentlypromoted to 4th grade (Barringer, 1993, p. Langone, J. Winton (1993)cites research that indicates mainstreaming often creates morecomplications for parents than placing their children in traditionalspecial education learning programs (p. A need for training exists so thatteachers can be made aware of how to set clear rules and procedures forclassroom behavior and the availability of techniques to stop inappropriatebehavior promptly and consistently. (1993, November/December). The integration with students without disabilities isgenerally limited, and usually occurs during lunch periods or non-academicclasses like physical education or music. 381). and Schmalle, B. Betancourt-Smith, M. In one study, only 23 percent of the teachers surveyedsupported mainstreaming students with educable mental retardation (Scruggsand Mastropieri, 1996, p. (1991).Students with mild disabilities in the secondary school.
If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:
or
We can write a Custom Essay just for you.
Browse Essays by Subject