.

Providing Special Education Services

Unit iii

Objectives: At the end of the unit, student-teachers

should be able to:
❏ Articulate the steps involved in the special
education identification process.
❏ Analyze the service delivery options available
for students with special needs.
❏ Provide arguments for and against inclusion.
❏ Describe the Special Education protocol and
initiatives of the Ministry of Education
 Referral and Assessment
Reasons for Referral
A child is often referred for
assessment because of his or her
persistent ability to respond to the
general education programme.
Sometimes the reason for this
inability lies in the student’s
exceptionality, or it can be that the
teaching programmes are
ineffective (Samuel et al., 1994).
 What is Assessment?

Assessment is the systematic process

of gathering educationally relevant
information to legal and instructional
decisions about the provision of
special educational services (Samuel
et al., 1994).
The Prime Purpose of Assessment

❏ Assessment looks at whether a school

performance problem exist.
❏ Determines the child’s strengths and
weaknesses, the content areas affected,
and the relationship of any academic
problems to learning.
❏ Prescribe educational goals and
objectives and strategies to improve the
teaching and learning process (Samuel et
al., 1994).
 The Five Steps in the Assessment Process

Step 1: Step 2: Step 3: Step 4: Step 5:

Screening Diagnosis, Instructional Student’s Programme
classification, Planning Evaluation Evaluation
and
placement
.
Finding Collect Using diagnostic Administering test Determining the
children who additional information to to determine effectiveness of
still exhibit information to design and whether the a special
academic and determine individualized student is making education
behavioural which special education expected progress programme
challenges after programme programme and meeting the through test and
intervention the child based on the objectives that are observation.
programmes needs. child’s needs. being established.
The Individualized Education Programme

This is a documented plan that

outlines how to differentiate the
curriculum and experiences of the
exceptional child to meet his or her
individual needs (Samuel et al.,
1994).
 Components of an IEP

❏ The identified challenge/challenges

❏ The program’s long term goals
❏ Short term objectives
❏ Special educational and related services that the child will receive
 References

Samuel, K., Gallagher, J & Anastasiow, N. (1994). Educating exceptional children.

(8th edition).Houghton Mifflin Company.