Quality Special Education Program Essay

Recent reforms in education have emphasized the need for sensitivity and responsiveness to students’ social contexts. This is to increase not only the effectiveness of educational programs but also to create individual relevance to the student learning. Behavioral management is critical in special education programs because students’ behavior are often used by the public to determine the social roles and value of special-needs children. This can prove to be challenging for special education programs since social standards may vary in communities and therefore behavioral and social integration requirements will vary as well (Kopelowicz et al, 2006). Therefore, there is a need for special education teachers to have the means to evaluate individual student socialization requirements to ensure that they accomplish not only academic and behavioral educational goals but also to enhance their social integration and empowerment. Proposal The development of academic and behavioral programs that highlight socialization requires educators’ access to relevant research and the capacity to both research and their individual experience in developing interventions. In either case, Williams and Reisberg (2003) point out that teachers depend greatly on institutional support of such objectives and often have little direct participation in program development. This may be because of the need to develop general policies, procedures or methodologies but it also limits social context input thus diminishing the social relevance of interventions (Sailor et al, 2007). Therefore, there is a need for individual educational programs to develop their own evaluation methods to determine the socialization and social integration requirements of their students Recognizing the limitation on resources and manpower common to special education initiatives in public schools, the research’s target population will be limited to its existing students and extent of integration will only range from family to the school community interactions (Kopelowicz et al, 2006). It should be noted that the project should emphasize community and professional collaboration to create awareness and collect to multi-dimensional perspectives in improving socialization components to currently implemented academic and behavioral programs. Moreover, the evaluation or assessment programs must be easy to replicate so that it can be utilized in other educational settings and provide a baseline for socialization component evaluation. Rationale The assessment will then serve to develop high-impact low cost interventions, each intervention or program having a duration of twelve weeks. According to the studies conducted by Barry and Burlew (2004), Smith and Gilles (2003) and Koh and Robertson (2003), educators’ level of commitment to educational programs is often used as an indication of institutional commitment and concern to an issue. Thus, it is important for educators to take an active role in initiatives particularly where external stakeholders are involved. This is not only to utilize the social recognition of teachers’ role in education but also to utilize their professional practical experience. This becomes even more critical in special education programs since there is a limitation to public awareness and understanding of the socialization requirements of special needs students (Sailor et al, 2007). Even more critical is that without direct involvement in the evaluation or assessment program, educators will diminish their capacity to rational research and study results which in turn will impair the development of individual interventions and programs. Considering that the component of concern is socialization, the degree of sensitivity and relevance of the programs to specific social contexts will directly impact the level of social competency developed by students (Kopelowicz et al, 2006). More importantly, the assessment or evaluation program will be able to create a means to discuss perceived limitations in special education programs in addressing social stigmas and misconceptions regarding special education students, curriculum and requirements (Sloan et al, 2003). This will afford educators insights to the socialization impediments not only in education settings but society as a whole. In addressing such issues, programs will not only be able to sustain the relevance of programs after school but also initiate long-term social support systems for students. Conclusion In the case special education, this has become even more critical as the advocacy for social recognition and participation become critical to policies and treatments (Kam et al, 2004). Furthermore, research suggests that social skills development has been linked directly with perceived quality of special education and overall social acceptance of conditions being addressed by special education curriculum (Koh & Robertson, 2003). This has translated to the inclusion of social integration objectives in both academic and behavioral interventions. This has increased the demand for collaborations between schools, parents and community (Sailor et al, 2007). However, to be able to fully meet this need, education stakeholders must not only develop programs but also institute evaluation and feedback systems to ensure the fulfillment of not only program objectives but also create opportunity to develop competencies, collaborations and public knowledge about special education concerns and issues. References Barry, Leasha M. and Burlew, Suzanne B. ( 2004). Using Social Stories to Teach Choice and Play Skills to Children With Autism.Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, Jan; 19: 45 – 51. Kam, Chi-Ming, Greenberg, Mark T. and Kusche, Carol A. ( 2004). Sustained Effects of the PATHS Curriculum on the Social and Psychological Adjustment of Children in Special Education. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Jan; 12: 66 – 78. Koh, Myung-Sook and Robertson, Janna Siegel ( 2003). School Reform Models and Special Education. Education and Urban Society, Aug; 35: 421 – 442. Kopelowicz, Alex, Liberman, Robert Paul and Zarate, Roberto ( 2006). Recent Advances in Social Skills Training for Schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull, Oct; 32: S12 – S23. Sailor, Wayne, Stowe,Matthew J. , Turnbull, H. Rutherford and Kleinhammer-Tramill, P. Jeannie ( 2007). A Case for Adding a Social—Behavioral Standard to Standards-Based Education With Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support as Its Basis Remedial and Special Education, Dec; 28: 366 – 376. Sloan,Morris, Hughes, Marie Tejero, Elbaum, Batya and Sridhar, Dheepa ( 2003). Social Skills Interventions for Young Children with Disabilities: A Synthesis of Group Design Studies. Remedial and Special Education, Jan; 24: 2 – 15. Smith, Stephen W. and Gilles, Donna L. ( 2003). Using Key Instructional Elements to Systematically Promote Social Skill Generalization for Students with Challenging Behavior. Intervention in School and Clinic, Sep; 39: 30 – 37. Williams, Gregory J. and Reisberg, Leon ( 2003). 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