What is the purpose of special education services in your state?
Mississippi Department of Education: Office of Special Education (OSE) mission is to provide students with disabilities, a positive educational experience tailored to the specific educational need of each individual. The Office of Special Education is dedicated to providing districts access with knowledgeable staff members experienced in the professional development and specialized expertise in the field. Moreover, in keeping in compliance with federal IDEA law, The Mississippi Department of Education: Office of Special Education work to aid local school districts in providing students, ages 3-20, who has a diagnosed disability with a first class education.
How would you define your state's criteria for special education?
The first step in providing service to students in identifying the student who may be in need of special services. In Mississippi, this step is known as Child Find. Child Find an ongoing process that seeks to identify and evaluate students who may qualify for services. If the student does not qualify under IDEA, a 504 plan may be considered. A 504 plan is a
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subsection of IDEA that allows a student with certain illness to qualify for services who, otherwise, would not qualify for services under IDEA. However, students must go through the RTI process before entering the Special Education eligibility process. RTI process, also known as the MTSS process is Multi-Tier Students Support system. The process consists of three Tiers, Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III. Tier I of the MTSS process is designed to identify students in the regular classroom who may be struggling to keep up. In the tier I stage of the process, students are screened for hearing and vision. If their hearing and vision is not the root cause of the issue, they proceed on to group intervention. Tier II of the process is designed for students who do not make sufficient progress in tier I. In tier II students receive targeted interventions in a small setting in addition to the universal instruction provided in the classroom. Also, students at this level are monitored very closely. Students who are not successful at this level are then recommended the school’s Local Education Committee or LEC for testing. After a comprehensive evaluation is completed the LEC make a determination of the student’s eligibility. If a student is eligible, the child will receive an Individualized Education Plan. If the child is not eligible he/she is referred to the district’s 504 Coordinator. How does this relate to how your state funds special education?
Does your state use a guaranteed amount of funding based on expected incidence rate or by linking the funding to the number of students in the program?
Mississippi uses Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) formula to allocate funds to school districts. The formula for school funding in Mississippi is ADA x Base Student Cost + At-Risk Component + Local Contribution + 8% Guarantee = MAEP Formula Allocation. With the MAEP Formula Allocation + Add-on Programs = Total MAEP District Funding. Funding for Special Education falls under add-on programs in Mississippi. Although MAEP provides for teacher salaries, it is interesting to note it does not provide for administrators or Superintendent’s salaries. These salaries are covered under local
contributions. What are the benefits and limitations to your state's approach? How might your state's funding approach be improved? Based on the current system of funding in Mississippi, there is no positive benefit to the districts. However, the limitations of the formula are detrimental to the educational process of the districts. One of the most significant limitations is that the formula used by Mississippi is based on prior the districts prior year enrollment. For example, if a district has an enrollment of 3,500 in year one, funds for year two are based on an enrollment of 3,500 students; although enroll for year two may have increased to 4,000 students. To improve this funding approach, Mississippi may want to consider including an overhead into the MAEP funding formula. The overhead would account for an increase in enrollment from one year to the next. For example, if a district enrollment is 3,500 in year one and enroll drops to 3,000 in year two, states can make necessary adjusts to compensate for the decrease in the enrollment.
In the Evan v. Board of Education of Rhinebeck Central school district, the mother of the child Frank Evans, Catherine Evans filed a case for the reimbursement of the child’s education at the Kildonan School. The Kildonan School, which specializes in special education for children with learning disabilities like dyslexia. The basis for her case is that the school did not provide her son with the appropriate education, as is required for children with learning disabilities under the provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) (Wrightslaw - Caselaw - Evans v. Rhinebeck (S.D. NY 1996), n.d.).
Emergence of the Foundation Program Concept-organizational flat rate grant approach to fair education among school districts.
Roy, Joydeep. "Impact of School Finance Reform on Resource Equalization and Academic Performace: Evidence from Michigan." Mitpress Journels, 2003: 1-31.
School funding is a recurring issue in the modern era. Debates ranging from give schools more money, to get rid of the system in place and reform a new idea have been plaguing the world over the years. “The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, signed in 2009, provided more than $100 billion in education aid to offset budget cuts..” (School Finance). Later, “Congress provided an additional $10 billion in 2010 to avert mass teacher layoffs (Education Week, "Total Recovery Act")” (School Funding). These numbers are just a sample of the struggles in school funding, that is costing a ton of money to keep afloat. “There are many ways schools fund varying from state to state and even school to school. Income taxes, corporate taxes, sales taxes, and other fees provide 48 percent of the elementary and secondary school funds. 44 percent of local districts draw money from local property taxes. The federal government makes up approximately 8 percent of state education budgets. These funds are a dealt out on a per-student basis, and categorically to ensure enough resources for each special program or facility” (School Funding). These funds play a huge role in every student's education, either positive or negative. The three main areas that need to be addressed in the school budget are extracurricular funding, building and equipment maintenance, and last but not least staff funding.
Each Federal department and agency which is empowered to extend Federal financial assistance to any education program or activity, by way of grant, loan, or contract other than a contract of insurance or guaranty, is authorized and directed to effectuate the provisions of section 1681 of this title with respect to such program or activity by issuing rules, regulations, or orders of general applicability which shall be consistent with achievement of the objectives of the statute authorizing the financial assistance in connection with which the action is taken. (Title IX section 1682)
Disproportionate identification of minority students in special education is a major concern in schools today. This paper describes the issues in the assessment process with minority students and how we have arrived at a situation where minorities are being misdiagnosed into special education programs. Additionally, several legal cases are mentioned which show numerous actions and rulings that have tried to correct the disproportionate identification in special education. Some of the legal cases discussed include Larry P. v Riles, Diana v. State Board of Education, and Guadalupe v. Tempe Elementary School, which all significantly impacted special education today. Additionally, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act has enforced that minority groups must receive an equal education in the least restrictive environment possible. It is our duty as teachers and citizens to abide by these laws and find different ways to assess and correct the disproportionality of minority groups that exists today.
Therefore, in many urban areas, the state ratio of funding remains significantly lower than 50 percent; out of the three entities, the federal government allocates the least amount of funding. Residents in these areas who are under-educated or without a high school diploma have a greater possibility of using drugs, committing crimes or unplanned pregnancies.... ... middle of paper ... ... Since people in the suburban and affluent areas have better homes, they can add a tax levy to help support their education, according to state and local guidelines.
Public Law 94-142: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, now called Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), requires states to provide free, appropriate public education (FAPE) for every child regardless of disability. This federal law was the first to clearly define the rights of disabled children to receive special education services if their disability affects their educational performance. A parent of a special education student also has basic rights under IDEA including the right to have their child evaluated by the school district and to be included when the school district meets about the child or makes decisions about his or her education. If a child is identified as in need of special education services, the school district must devise a written individual education program (IEP) for the child, which includes related services. An IEP is a statement of a student’s special education and related services including speech services, psychological services, physical and occupational therapy, counseling and assistive technology and transportation. In addition, this legally binding, individualized plan outlines reasonable educational goals for the student and is reviewed and updated yearly.
There are numerous accounts for why schools receive unequal funding. Some schools may reside within wealthy areas where the property taxes are higher. According to the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation & Institute in "Fund the Child: Tackling Inequity & Antiquity in School Finance”, the amount of money a school gets depends on where it is located. Some schools may be within wealthier neighborhoods and receive more money as a result. For Example, the 2010 Public School Review report from the Modoc Joint Unified School District in California shows that the high school spends $7,858 per student whereas the 2010 Public School Review report for Tamalpais Union High School District in California shows that the school spends $19,821 per student (2010 Pubic School Review). This serves as a great disadvantage for students who do not live in wealthy neighborhoods because their schools are not receiving the proper funding...
The Ohio Department of Education and the Federal Government gave a combined total $773 million for Special Education Programs around the state of Ohio this year. This amount includes professional development, classroom supplies, technology acquisition, testing supplies, and teacher salary. Gifted Education received $48 million from Ohio and no funding from the federal government this year. This $48 million can only spent on teacher’s salaries. This $48 million cannot be used to pay for any benefits the teacher will get by working in a school district, benefits like health insurance, and retirement. These expenses are expected to be paid by the school districts out of their funds.
I have been a Special Education Para-Educator for eleven years now. My decision to do this was based on the needs of my family and kids. When my last child was born, the doctors did not think that he would make it. He had a heart malfunction and was born with RSV and Von Villibrantds disease (which I did not find out until he was three); those factors lead me to want to work with special education kids, knowing that I could make a difference.
For my visitation I went to the public high school in my hometown. Due to time constraints I was not able to visit the school on a weekday when classes were in session. I did however get to witness another part of the special education/inclusion program called the Rooster Buddies. I did, however, get some information on the special education program from an administrator via phone and fax.
What is special education? The common belief is that it a program only dedicated to helping students with disabilities, whether physical or mentally. This is not entirely accurate in regards of what special education is. While special education does provide assistance to students with disabilities ns meet their needs in quality education (Küpper 2009)—the program extends to all students facing difficulties keeping up with the pace of learning (Huerta 2009). This brings the next question onto the table: the importance of special education. Before 1970s, majority of students with disabilities were shun into isolation with little to no education in general classes (Bradley 2016). However, with the passage of Education for All Handicapped Children
The classroom is a diverse place where learners from all different genres of life meet. Included in these learners are those that display learning disabilities. According to the British Columbia School Superintendent’s Association, ‘learning disabilities refer to a number of conditions that might affect the acquisition, organization, retention, understanding or use of verbal or nonverbal information. These disorders affect learning in individuals who otherwise demonstrate at least average abilities essential for thinking and/or reasoning’. They also posit that ‘learning disabilities result from impairments in one or more processes related to perceiving, thinking, remembering or learning. These include, but are not limited to language processing,
Writing this final essay for this course one is able to reflection on the knowledge one has gained since the beginning of the course. This course has been affective and the benefits are using the information immediately to correct mistakes and grow in the profession. After interviewing attorneys and director’s special in the education program the reality of how important following the regulations are important and must be followed. As a special educator one is more prepared and ready to provide a first rate education. Everyone who works with special needs students should be prepared and understand the law taking a class in Law and Litigation is recommended.