Education System

Jamie Curtis

March 6, 2013

EDU101- Introduction to Careers in Teaching

Mrs. Mimi McCully

Research Project

Table of Contents

Title Page

Inclusion (e.g. types of disabilities, IEPs, RTI) 2

No Child left behind 3

Protecting Students Rights 4

Works Cited 5

Inclusion (e.g. types of disabilities, IEPs, RTI) Inclusion is the concept of putting children with disabilities in the general education class rooms instead of keeping them all by themselves. This concept brings the things children may need to them instead of isolating them with children with just disabilities. In classrooms with inclusion you have two teachers, one general education teacher and one special education teacher. For some reason this is a controversial topic. On one side you have the parents who worry about how this system will effect their non-disabled children. “James Kauffman of the University of Virginia views inclusion as a policy driven by an unrealistic expectation that money will be saved. Furthermore, he argues that trying to force all students into the inclusion mold is just as coercive and discriminatory as trying to force all students into the mold of a special education class or residential institution.” (Special Education Inclusion) Then you have the other side of the argument that says that all children should have the opportunity to be in a general education classroom. I agree with the second argument. I believe that all children should have the chance to be in a “normal” classroom. I understand that this will not work for all children. They tried mainstreaming my disabled sister when she was younger, but it did not work. Unlike inclusion, mainstreaming does not have a special education teacher in the classroom. All disabilities put aside, children should have the right to live as normal as possible. There are laws that say exactly this. For example the IDEA law. “This law requires that children with disabilities be educated in the "least restrictive environment appropriate” to meet their “unique needs.” And the IDEA contemplates that the "least restrictive environment" analysis will begin with placement the regular education classroom.” (Special Education Inclusion) All though this does not say that inclulsion is a law, but inclusion is the concept of this law.

No Child left behind
The no child left behind act was a revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. It was put into place as a way to help schools improve their grades and help reduce the achievment gap. This act makes it wear all students are tested in math and reading. Unfortunately under this act many teachers now teach to the test. I say unfortunately for many reasons. Teaching to the test means that many teachers are focusing on math and reading and forgetting about the other important areas of study. For instence, science and history. These are also a very important part of the learning atmosphere, without science we would not have doctors and nurses. Without history we would not be able to learn how to make our future better. When I say this I mean we learn from our past, in the classroom this could mean educating students about the great depression. One of the students may then go on to change our economic standing to help prevent that by learning the mistakes of that. Along with teaching to the test, standardized testing is not always the best way to measure how much a student knows. I believe that the better way to teach in the classroom is by authentic testing. This is a way to get children to think outside of the box a bit more. With this method of teaching instead of asking a student to answer a multiple choice question you ask them to demonstrate their understanding of the topic with projects, and portfolios of their work. (What Is Authentic Assessment? )I believe that this is a better way of teaching because teaching to the test can be more difficult on a student, it does not take those in low economic statuses accounted for and it puts more pressure on the educators in fear of being fired or losing school funding. I believe that more studies need to be done to try and figure out which way is better or find a middle ground to put both of these methods of teaching in the classroom.
Protecting Students Rights
Protecting students privacy and rights are a very important part of the education system. Having our rights protected in general is a right we are all born with due to the constitution. To help enforce this we have a federal law in effect called FERPA, which makes it where a students record can not be disclosed to just anyone, only the childs parent, untill the student is 18, and the student have the right to this file. Along with that this law also makes it so that you can disagree with your file and take the proper measures to have it changed. Over recent years this law has been changed due to school violence. I do not mean a little fight changed this, school shootings like Virginia Tech have made law makers change it. With recent changes, police personel can now access a student file without the student or parents permission as long as they have a supena. Some of the things not protected under this act include ssn, transcripts, gender, and race. I believe the new laws that allow police to see your file are a good idea. Maybe they can help us prevent more school shootings. Along with protecting students rights, there is also a legal responsibility being a teacher. For example, if you believe child abuse is happening to a student you must report it. This is very important because a lot of times a student has no one to turn to. Some school districts require you to complete child abuse seminars before you can have your own classroom. I believe that this should be for every school district. So many children slip threw the cracks and if you can save just one child from being in a abusive atmosphere that is one more child saved. Some students who are being abused love going to school to escape the abuse, not going to lie when I was a child there was much emotional and some physical abuse in my house hold and my teachers and school were my outlet.
Works Cited
Dusen, William V., JR. "FERPA Overview." FERPA Overview. Clearing House, 15 Oct. 2004. Web. 11 Mar. 2013.
“Special Education Inclusion." Wisconsin Education Association Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.
What Is Authentic Assessment? (Authentic Assessment Toolbox)." What Is Authentic Assessment? (Authentic Assessment Toolbox). N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.

White, Danielle M. "Standardized Testing vs. Authentic Assessment." - Critical Issues in Literacy Education. N.p., 5 Oct. 2007. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.

Cited: Dusen, William V., JR. "FERPA Overview." FERPA Overview. Clearing House, 15 Oct. 2004. Web. 11 Mar. 2013. “Special Education Inclusion." Wisconsin Education Association Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. What Is Authentic Assessment? (Authentic Assessment Toolbox)." What Is Authentic Assessment? (Authentic Assessment Toolbox). N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Mar. 2013. White, Danielle M. "Standardized Testing vs. Authentic Assessment." - Critical Issues in Literacy Education. N.p., 5 Oct. 2007. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.