Special education as an intervention preventative

Special Education as an Intervention
- Preventative: designed to keep minor problems from becoming a
disability
o Primary prevention – designed to reduce the number of new
cases of a disability
o Secondary prevention – aimed at individuals who have
already been exposed to or are displaying specific risk factors
and is intended to eliminate or counteract the effects of those
risk factors
o Tertiary prevention – aimed at individuals with a disability
and intended to prevent the effects of a disability from
worsening
- Remedial: attempt to eliminate the effects of a disability
- Compensatory: enable successful functioning in spite of the
disability
Defining Features of Special Education
- Individually planned – based on needs of student and includes
goals/objectives designed based on assessment results and parental
input
- Specialized – utilizes a variety of specialized teaching techniques,
adaptive teaching procedures not used in regular education, related
services, and teaching materials
- Intensive – instruction presented with attention to detail, precision,
structure, clarity, and repeated practice
- Goal-directed – purposeful instruction
- Research-based methods – supports using only the most effective
teaching practices; procedures chosen based on demonstrated
effectiveness through research

- Guided by student performance – consistent on-going monitoring
of student progress; frequent and direct measures/assessment of
student learning that drives instruction
Special Education as Instruction
- Who – the exceptional children whose educational needs
necessitate an individually planned program of instruction
- What – special education can sometimes be differentiated from
general education by its curriculum
- How – special education differs from general education by its use
of specialized or adapted, materials and methods
- Where – special education can sometimes be identified (but not
defined) by where it takes place
Chapter 2
Pages 46 and 47
The Process of Special Education
- Prereferral Intervention
o Provide immediate instructional and/or behavioral assistance
o Responsiveness to intervention
- Evaluation and Identification
o All children suspected of having a disability must receive a
nondiscriminatory multi-factored evaluation
- Program Planning
o An individualized education program must be developed for
children identified as having a disability
- Placement
o The IEP team must determine the least restrictive educational
environment that meets the student’s needs
- Progress Monitoring, Review, and Evaluation
o The IEP must be thoroughly and formally reviewed on an
annual basis

Most Overrepresented
- African Americans – account for 15% of school age population yet
represent 33.7% and 28.8% of all students receiving sped for
mental retardation and behavioral disorders
- Native Americans – 1% of the total school age population, 1.3% of
MR and 1.5% of EBD
Page 53
Possible Reasons for Discrepancy
- Greater proportion of student from diverse groups are born to