Friday, May 15, 2009

Asking Great Questions

Borrowing a page from David Warlick today. He was recently asked by a retired educator to identify the most controversial issues facing education today. So he asked his readers:
What do you think — in as few words as possible — are the greatest questions facing education in this digital age?
Refer to the many comments to read what's on the minds of educators.

My question to you is, what do you think are the greatest questions facing SPECIAL education in this digital age? (Do you believe it is necessary to differentiate between general education and special education or are the issues similar?)

I look forward to reading your thoughts.

4 comments:

Mary Bowman-Kruhm said...

I believe getting scheduling is a major problem. That is, giving students identified as needing special education the specialized skills instruction they need and that is specified in their IEPs w/o removing them from classes in which they are included.

==Mary

Lisa Parisi said...

I like the question in parenthesis better. No I don't believe it is necessary to differentiate between special and regular education. If all teachers were taught to teach ALL students, then all students' needs would be met and labels wouldn't be necessary anymore. This is the greatest question facing special ed today, in my opinion. How do we teach children that all of us have strengths and weaknesses and all of us need help at times?

loonyhiker said...

I think the lines between general ed and special ed have become very blurry. There are so many students who don't qualify for special ed who still need extra help. These are the kids who fall between the cracks. Teachers should be looking at ways to meet the needs of all students. When I talk about different special ed strategies, my husband is always asking why general ed teachers don't use the same strategies and I don't have an answer for him. Many could but many don't.

Michelle D. Davis said...

I think one of the biggest challenges for SPECIAL ed students is still access. We as AT consultants can do our best to let admin and teachers know what we think will work for their students, however, sometimes there are still obstacles; money, training, firewalls, policy. I have suggested recording lectures for some students as a way to help them with note taking, but admin says they can't do that b/c they are afraid of other people's privacy being infringed upon (students, teachers) or even someone posting something inappropriate. It is about acceptable use, but then they say once it is posted, the damage is done. Same goes for gen ed...we should give them all access to content and tools online w/o worrying where they go...have the discussion with them, talk about acceptable use. The barriers are crippling them even more.