Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Higher Education

Region V (Bicol)
LIBON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Libon, Albay

Chapter 4
III. Placement
Submitted by: Submitted to:

Group 4 Mrs. Aurora C. Rosaros

Monique Requio – Leader

Cyrell E.Rieza

Mary Mae Sario

Devy Jean Villareal

Jhosua Talagtag

Acel Reocasa

Rey Roselada

Sunshine Rey

Keam R. Rebagay
III. PLACEMENT

Assessment results are used to decide a child’s appropriate education placement within
a continuum from the least to the most restrictive settings. During the evaluation, student
performance is assessed and the team determines if there would be any changes in the
educational placement within the continuum. Teams will base this on their observations,
assessment results, and other factors, with the goal to move toward the least restrictive
learning environment. Sound decisions are made to allow for fluidity in the child’s placement
based on the child’s strengths, abilities, and needs.

A general education classroom is the least restrictive environment for a child with
additional needs. Access to the same learning experiences and opportunities is provided as to
typically developing students. Thus it is considered as the "most normalized or typical setting"
(Gargiulo, 2012). Additional support in the form of accommodations or changes in expectations
through curriculum modifications may be provided but still within the same classroom as peers
within the year level.

Another option for placement is to be in a general education class but the child receives
supplementary instruction and services such as speech, physical, and occupational therapy or
counseling services during the school day. Options may be provided when such sessions are
conducted, either during school or as an after-school service.

Students who may be part of a general education class are pulled-out of their class to
receive instruction from a specialist teacher in a resource room. In such a placement, it is
assumed that the child will benefit more from either a small-group or individualized instruction
with a specialist teacher who will be able to more intensively target his learning needs.

Other students need more intensive support that is not provided in a general education
class. Teams may decide to recommend placement for a child in a more restrictive setting such
as a self-contained special education class but still located in a general education school. In this
learning environment, all students receive individualized and group instruction with peers with
disabilities and additional needs from a special education teacher. Depending on the program
goals, students may be given the opportunity to interact with typically developing peers
through school community-building activities.

Moving up in the placement continuum, some students who need more intensive
instruction and supports are educated in a special education class in a special education school.
Teams of professionals, along with the special education teacher, work with students with
disabilities and additional needs in a highly specialized setting.
 On the other end of the continuum is the most restrictive or isolated setting, such as a
residential facility where students live and receive their educational support twenty-four hours
a day. Finally, children with multiple disabilities, often of the severe kind, are provided with
home- or hospital- based programs to manage their medical condition and learn as much as
they could.

Inclusive education espouses that all students, to the maximum extent possible, is provided
access to general education classroom with the provision of support to remove barriers to
enable success. Figure 4.2 presents this continuum of educational placement options (Spinelli
2012)

Home/
Hospital
program

Residential
facility

Special education class

in a special education

self-contained special education

class in a general education

General education class with resource

center instruction

General education class (inclusion or co-taught

with a special education teacher

General education class with related services

General education class with modificaitons

Figure 4.2 Educational Placement Options

IV. ACCOMMODATIONS AND CURRICULAR MODIFICATIONS

Students with disabilities and additional needs who are studying in an inclusive general
education classroom may need accommodations in the form of instructional support and other
supplementary services. Others who need more intensive support are provided with curricular
modifications.

A. Accommodations

Based on the definition, accommodations are supports provided to students to help gain
full access to class content and instruction, without altering the curriculum standards and
competencies expected and to demonstrate accurately what they know. When
accommodations are provided in a general education classroom for children with disabilities,
barriers are removed from accessing education. As a result, children can work around the effect
of their disabilities. Examples of accommodations are altering instruments, toys or materials,
changing the room during specific activities, providing time extensions or allowances for tests
and tasks, and changing response formats in worksheets.

Accommodations may be provided both during assessment and instruction, depending

on the learning profile and needs of a child and may vary in terms of presentation, response,
setting, and scheduling (Beech 2010).

1. Presentation Accommodations

Children with disabilities may need specialized presentation formats especially those
with sensory impairments so they can learn the same content alongside typically developing
peers. Table 4.1 presents examples of accommodations in presentation.

Table 4.1. Accommodations in presentation

Learning Needs Examples of Accommodations

Visual Support Minimize visual distraction
Visual cues (e.g,,,use color-coded text,
highlighting)
Use of larger print materials (font size,
illustrations)
Use of sign language
Videos with closed captioning
Auditory and Comprehension support Read aload by a peer
 Audio books
Digital text that reads aload or gives definition
of words
Text-to-speech software
Advance organizer or story guide
Highlighting of color coding
Listening and focusing Advance organizer
Explicit verbal or visual cues: physical prompts
Repeat/Clarify directions and important
information
Note-taking support
Copy of directions

2. Response Accommodations

Response accommodations allow students with disabilities and additional needs a

variety of ways to complete assignments, written tests, performance tasks, and other activities.
Providing such instructional and assessment supports allows them to access the same learning
experiences as other students in a general education classroom. Table 4.2 summarizes
examples of response accommodations for students with disabilities and additional needs.

Table 4.2. Response accommodations

Learning Needs Examples of Accommodations

Writing difficulty (e.g.,,errors in spacing, Different size/diameter of pencil, marker, or
visual-perceptual or spatial-orientation, crayon
illegible handwriting) Pencil or pen grip (triangular, pear-shaped)
Scribe to record dictated responses
Finger spacer
Handwriting template/guide on the student’s
desk
Visual cues on paper
Different types and sizes of paper
Written expression difficulty Electronic dictionary with spell check
Online dictionary
Word processor with spelling and grammar
check
Writing cue cards
Writing templates, outlines, and graphic
organizers
Math difficulty Calculator
 Concrete models and manipulatives
Visual representation
Problem-solving guides
Graphic organizers
Special paper- graphing paper for
computation.

3. Setting Accommodations

Changes in the location or conditions of the educational setting or environment may be

necessary for students who need support in terms of behavior, attention, and organization of
space and materials. Accommodation in a setting may allow a child who gets easily distracted to
work in a quiet corner of the classroom in his own study carrel so that he will not be
sidetracked by environmental stimuli. Or a child who is still unable to read fluently may be
allowed to take a silent reading comprehension test in another room with a supervising adult
just so she could hear herself read aloud which helps her better understand the story.

4. Scheduling Accommodations

Changing time allotment, schedule of tasks and assessments, and management of time
are some types of scheduling accommodations. Students with slower ability in processing
information and directions well as with focusing issues may need these types of
accommodation. Some examples of accommodation that can modify scheduling are: (1)
extending time for assignments and assessments; (2) providing breaks in between tasks; (3)
providing a visual schedule or a checklist of individual responsibilities; (4) providing predictable
routines and procedures; and (5) providing an electronic device with alarms and cues.

B. Modifications

Curriculum modifications are provided for students with significant or severe disabilities
where content expectations are altered, and the performance outcomes are changed in
relation to what are expected of typically developing students of the same age (DEC 2007).
When instruction and assessment are modified, a student with disability is still given the right
to access the same learning opportunities as other students in the general education class, but
the tasks are more respectful and appropriate to the student's abilities and needs.

Curricular modifications include changes in instructional level, content and performance

criteria, as well as the breadth and depth of content being learned by students. Students with
disabilities or additional needs may be given more, less, or different content and resource
materials altogether. They may also be assessed using different standards that are more
appropriate to the student's needs and abilities, such as being provided with fewer objectives,
shorter lessons, or a smaller number of vocabulary words to learn.

Educational teams responsible for instructional planning may indicate curricular

modifications in the student's Individual Educational Plan (IEP). Such modifications are needed
so that students also have access to the general education curriculum.

Let us have a look at Carl's learning profile. Does he need accommodations or curricular
modifications? The text below presents the learning supports Carl receives in the context of his
reading and spelling difficulties.

Carl's Learning Supports

Centered Given the significant delays in Carl's reading and spelling performance, the
team decided to provide him with different types of accommodation that adjusted the
presentation of what is learned, how he responds, as well as the timing when tests are given.
Ms. Santos prepared his reading materials and worksheets using a bigger font size and more
space in between lines to allow him to point to words as he reads, and to use a ruler so he
would not lose his place while reading. In tests that require extensive writing, he is still made to
write as much as he could and after which he is asked to either give a verbal explanation to
support what he has written or he dictates his oral responses to a scribe. The teacher now
considers the oral exam as a respectful accommodation as Carl is still able to access the same
learning standards and opportunities despite his difficulties.

V. PARENT INVOLVEMENT

Another component of an inclusive and special education is parent involvement. It has

long been established that parent involvement in education, planning, and management of
children with disabilities and additional needs is essential as they are the primary caregivers
and have direct influence on their children. This is anchored on Bronfenbrenner's Human
Ecological Theory, which states that there are five environmental systems that comprise a
child's social context. For the purposes of this book, focus is given on the microsystem, where
the child and his/her family belong, along with peers, school, and the immediate community
(i.e., neighborhood). Within these microsystems, a child has direct interactions with parents,
teachers, peers, and others; while the mesosystem refers to the linkages or relationships
between microsystems such as the connections between family experiences and school
experiences and between family and peers (Santrock 2011).

Figure 4.3. Ecological Systems Theory

The Division of Early Childhood of the Council of Exceptional Children (DEC) espoused the
use of family-centered practices in the assessment and instruction of young children. Turnbull
and Turnbull (2002 cited in Kirk et al. 2015) provided the principles of a family-centered model:
(1) honors the family choice by changing the power relationship between professional and
families, (2) abandons a pathology orientation and adopts a strengths orientation, and (3)
where the entire family becomes the unit of support and not just the child with a disability and
the child's mother (p. 19). In this way, the whole family is provided support, capitalizing on the
child and family members' strengths and resources, not on their deficits and needs. Teachers
and administrators may also be guided by these principles when communicating and
collaborating with parents and families of students with disabilities.

Parent involvement has been found to be directly related to academic achievement and
improvements in the school performance of children. Educational support and collaboration
with teachers have been found to promote child success in school (Reschly & Christenson
2009). Moreover, programs for children with disabilities become more effective and successful
when children and families are involved (Newman 2004 cited in Heward 2013).
A. Home-School Communication

Having established the critical role of parents in a student's developmental and academic
progress and achievement, it is essential that there is a close home and school collaboration
and communication. To establish partnerships, problem-solving, two- way communication, and
shared decision making are some of the practices needed. Communicating with parents may be
done in several ways.

1. Parent-Teacher Conferences

Parent-teacher conferences are face-to-face meetings held between parents and

teachers. Conducting such meetings is necessary so parents of students with disabilities and
additional needs will be able to share about their child's background, strengths and abilities,
history of difficulties, and practices they have been implementing at home as well as
interventions done with other specialists. Together with teachers, they can coordinate their
efforts and services to support their child both in school and at home.

Schools differ when it comes to the frequency of parent teacher conferences. One best
practice is to hold a meeting with parents at the beginning of a school year as part of goal
setting for the student with a disability. In this way, both parents and teachers can set
expectations for the year and agree on goals and objectives for the child. This is also a good
opportunity for teachers to establish rapport with parents. Conferences are also held after
every grading period (e.g., every quarter, trimester, and semester) so that progress, changes,
and results can be communicated and discussed with parents and agree on necessary action
plans.

2. Written Communication

Home-school communication may also be conducted through written messages, such as the use
of a home-school communication notebook, where teachers and parents write homework
assignments, the student's behavior in the classroom, as well as progress on program goals. A
written communication may be time consuming, but some parents prefer this form of
collaboration as the messages are documented and they can provide a copy to a developmental
specialist when needed.

3. Digital communication

With the influx of mobile devices, many parents and families are more able to communicate
through electronic and digital means such as email, text messages, and social network
messaging systems. A study found that parents and teachers perceive technology as an
effective tool to promote parent involvement and thus value its use for communication
(Olmstead 2013). Because it is instant and real-time, parents and teachers are immediately able
to receive messages and updates about the student. However, drawbacks can also occur such
as when both parties are not mindful of parameters in communication; hence, it is necessary
that parties agree on certain boundaries in order to be respectful of everyone's time and
personal space.

4. Home-School Contracts

A home-school contract contains an agreement between teachers and parents regarding

behavioral and/or academic goals for a student with disability. Just like any formal contract, this
is a written agreement between teachers, parents, and students (when appropriate) on specific
objectives and corresponding reinforcements or rewards when they are met.

One example of a home-school contract is a Daily Report Card, an individualized

intervention used in schools that is anchored on the behavioral principles of operant
conditioning. The card indicates specific behaviors targeted for a child with disability that are
framed as positive statements and targets for improvements. The use of a daily report card has
been found to be beneficial in helping a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in
school and in promoting daily collaboration between teachers and parents (Moore et al. 2016;
Mautone et al. 2012). This will be further discussed in Chapter 6.

B. Other Ways to Involve Parents

Parents also have strengths, abilities, intuitive knowledge, and the commitment to help their
own child. They become advocates of their own children. To maximize their involvement,
schools provide other opportunities such as parent education training, workshops, and parent
support groups.

A. Parent education may take the form of providing seminars and workshops to
parents to equip them with a better understanding of their child's disability and accompanying
strengths, uniqueness, as well as specific techniques and strategies that they can practice at
home. Such training sessions can be for a few hours done on a quarterly basis or for a regular
period, such as every Saturday, depending on the needs of the parents and the training capacity
of the school. In this way, parents become educated in evidence- based approaches so that
there will be continuity in the practices implemented between the home and school.

B. Parent support groups are also helpful as parents are able to ask other parents
about tips and techniques to work with their children. Parents should be empowered so that
they can participate in planning and organizing parent support groups. Through such groups,
parents can draw support from one another during meetings as they share techniques and
strategies, even frustrations and successes about their children.
In summary, this chapter has presented the different components of inclusive and special
education, which include the following: pre-referral, assessment, placement, accommodations