Special Education Continues to Shift Toward Additional Training and Certification
From legislation to cultural shifts and technological innovations, trends in special education have undergone dramatic changes over the past thirty-plus years. In this article, we take a look at the field's future with a focus on distance learning as a resource for educator preparation and student benefit.
First, a bit of recent history regarding special education in the United States. In 1975, the U.S. Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA). The act served all special-needs children and provided financial incentives for states to facilitate the education of children with disabilities. The EHA has been revised numerous times, morphing into what is now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA's most recent amendment by Congress occurred in 2004.
Special education is also addressed in the comprehensive -- and controversial -- No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) passed by the U.S. Congress in 2002. With NCLB, schools set long-term proficiency goals for students by the 2013-14 school year, with additional, incremental progress targets determined for each student. Special education students are included in NCLB's accountability system. This approach has been the subject of debate in recent years, specifically its effectiveness for students with disabilities. However, additional classroom time spent working with these students preparing them for progress-measuring exams has been shown to help advance their achievement levels.
Through these legislative measures, two notable developments helped to shape special education over the past three decades: first, public schools were required to create "Individualized Education Programs" for each special needs student; and second, the education of many special needs students was transferred from disability-specific institutions to general education schools, allowing children to receive special education services in settings with non-handicapped students.
Both of these features of today's American special education scene -- carefully designed and implemented IEPs and integration of handicapped and non-handicapped students -- have made special education experience and certification for general education teachers valuable assets in today's schools.
As more inclusion in general education schools of all levels has led to more special needs students in public school classrooms, so the need for teachers to keep up to speed on how to best teach their increasingly-diverse student bodies has grown. With distance learning, teachers are afforded a convenient and valuable opportunity to earn a special education certificate or refresh their previous certification knowledge online, working around hectic schedules by learning during the summer or outside of working hours.
A 2006 U.S. Department of Education report cites 5 million special education students in U.S. public schools and projects future growth. As the inclusion of special needs students within general school populations continues to gain popularity, more and more teachers will require training in this field. Technology allows for increased availability of special education best practices information to teachers and students, and many school systems offer compensation or salary rewards for educators who advance their certification and special education knowledge. Distance learning is where technology and certification combine.
Special education is trending toward the inclusion of more students who will need assistance in general -- not divided -- school settings. For these reasons, the ready availability of special education training for teachers has, in turn, become more essential. Distance learning programs -- such as those designed by Learning House, Inc. and delivered through client colleges and universities -- are ideal solutions for many teachers and schools eager to serve these growing special education needs.
Sources
http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-9212/special.htm
