Speaking of Special Ed''

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• Speaking of Special Ed..
• Saima Fewster Special Education Association
  (SEA)
• With thanks to Laurie Meston President BC
  CASE

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• 1. How did we get here?
• -Evolution of Special Education
• 2. Issues in Educational support
• -Specialist teacher issues
• -Impacting variables
• -Trends in student demographics
• 3. Current initiatives

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The Evolution of Special Education
In the 60s and 70s 97 of students were
referred to as typical learners.
3 of students were in institutions and
segregated programs Disability was serious and
defined with clear criteria
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The Evolution of Special Education
Sped
LA
In the 70s and 80s 90-92 of students were
referred to as typical learners.
Sped students enter schools, but with separate
curriculum -some limited integration begins -more
students beginning to be identified as having
special needs
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The Evolution of Special Education
GREY AREAS
Sped
SPED
Grey Areas
LA
Mental Illness
LA
In the late 90s to present 65-70 of students
referred to as typical learners.
Disability now many shades of normal -incidence
enormously increased -more pressure to code
differences -criteria less defined
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Each year, we seem to add more labels to our
students

• Anxiety disorder
• Conduct disorder
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
• Any depressive disorder
• Pervasive developmental disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Schizophrenia
• Tourette's disorder
• Eating disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Reactive Attachment Disorder
• Post traumatic Disorder

Complex Developmental Behaviour
Disorder Developmental Coordination
Disorder Autism Spectrum Disorder PDD
NOS Aspergers Syndrome Tourettes
Syndrome Tourettes plus Auditory Processing
Disorder Sensory Integration disorder FAS FAE
FASD Williams syndrome Conversion
Disorder Oppositional Defiant Disorder Fragile X
Syndrome
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The Evolution of Special Education
If we continue this trend, in 10 years, only
30-35 will be referred to as typical learners
Special Education
Grey Area students are now a rainbow of needs
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Specialist Teachers Issues

• Decrease in numbers of qualified Special Ed
  teachers
• Retirement
• Reassignment (both voluntary and involuntary)
• Fractured or multiple roles within assignment
• Increased reliance on use of Special Education
  assistants
• 172 more teachers within the educational system
  in 2007
• 407 more Special Education Assistants in same
  time period
• Trained Spec Ed teaching/resource staff can be
  viewed as unnecessary
• Teacher preparation and specialist training
  limited
• More university coursework and professional
  development needed
• Inexperienced colleagues put in support/resource
  assignments
• District practices
• Becoming entry level positions (part-time,
  limited duration, add-ons)
• Use of non-enrolling teachers as TOCs
• More administrators being given resource as
  partial assignment

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Turn to your neighbor

• What other factors are impacting the expansion of
  special education and the shrinking of regular
  education?

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Whats impacting the expansion of special
education and the shrinking of regular
education

• Medical advances
• Sophistication of testing
• Shrinking of the definition of average
• C used to be average
• Now B seen as average (many parents want students
  to get As)
• Narrowing of curricular focus
• More university focussed primarily academic
• Change in family structure and cultural dynamics

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Whats impacting the expansion of special
education and the shrinking of regular
education

• Societal/technological changes
• Change of focus of Public Health, Mental Health,
  MCFD, RCMP, etc.
• Attempts to continue the medical model
  structure
• Identify, Test, Label, Fix it
• Our need to provide support to all expert at
  risk of disempowering classroom teachers
• Challenge finding classroom/support teachers with
  the appropriate skills, knowledge and attitudes
  to address the needs of all students

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Student trends

• Looking at the data
• What important points seem to pop out?
• What is missing? What do the data not tell us?
• What is surprising or unexpected?
• How does this data compare with other
  information?
• What factors may have contributed to these
  results?
• What other information/data sources would be
  useful to us in confirming emerging theories?

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Total Funded School-Age FTE Enrollment
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Special Needs Enrollment
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High Incidence 1987 to Present
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Low Incidence 1988 to Present
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Physical Disabilities/Chronic Health Impairment -
1982 to present
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Autism/Autism Spectrum Disorder 1982 to Present
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Learning Disability 1987 - present
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Moderate Behaviour Support/Mental Illness 1986 -
Present
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Education for All

• Education for all begins by embedding knowledge,
  strategies and practices used for students with
  special needs
• into the classroom as a whole
• Teaching to strengths and interests
• Differentiating instruction and curriculum
• Identifying individual needs and learning styles
• Celebrating, acknowledging and addressing
  diversity

Special Education works inside this model (one
education system not two) providing
specialized service for those students who need
specific interventions beyond the above to access
an educational program.
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(No Transcript)
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Current Initiatives

• Partnerships
• PSAs, Ministry, CASE, Postsecondary, Parents
• Promising instructional practices
• Differentiated Instruction
• Universal Designs for Learning
• Response to Intervention models (RTI)
• Professional learning opportunities
• Resource Teacher Mentorship projects
• Teacher Inquiry (PQT), Professional Learning
  Teams
• BC CASE Resource Teacher Learning Series

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BC CASE Resource Teacher Learning Series

• Orientation for newly assigned resource teachers
• Connections to ongoing support (mentoring, peer
  groups,
• professional learning opportunities)
• Enabling resource teachers to feel more
  confident/competent in their efforts to support
  students with special learning needs

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BC CASE Learning Series

• Cornerstone Workshops
• Four full-day sessions by trained facilitators
• Delivered regionally through district scheduling
• Bi-annually (October / February?)
• Summer Institute could be combined with
  modules
• Up to 5 days in August ?
• Online Learning Modules
• 7-10 modules
• Participants would complete each module in 3-5
  hours independent work
• Posted on BC CASE Website
• Registration controlled cohorts connected to a
  facilitator for a specified time period

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BC CASE Learning SeriesCornerstone Workshops

• 1. Case Management
• 2. Individual Program Development (IEP)
• 3. Understanding and Responding to
  Challenging Behaviour
• 4. Learning Support

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BC CASE Learning SeriesOn-line Learning Modules

• 1. SPECIAL EDUCATION IN BC
• 2. SERVICES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
• 3. GETTING TO KNOW YOUR FOCUS STUDENT
• 4. DEVELOPING PROGRAMS FOR STUDENTS WITH
  DESIGNATIONS
• 5.1, 5.2, 5.3. UNDERSTANDING AND
  RESPONDING TO
• CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR (TIER 1, TIER
  2, TIER 3)
• 6. DIFFERENTIATING INSTRUCTION / UDL
• 7. CONSULTATION/COLLABORATION

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• Diversity is the new norm.
• Our task is to provide an education
• for the kinds of kids we have.
• Not the kinds of kids
• we used to have.
• Or want to have.
• Or the kids that exist
• in our dreams.

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• Saima Fewster sfewster_at_sd57.bc.ca