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Special Education Referral Process 9597503_orig By Vicky Vallee, This…

- - - - Does the student struggle academically or behaviorally? If it's a behavioral issue, the strategies and teaching techniques will highly differ than if it's an academic issue.
      - Involve the parents
        In order to evaluate a child's learning abilities, teachers should work in collaboration with parents. Parents should be involved as early as possible to provide the right support for their kid.
      - What signs does the student show?
        Is he/she disruptive?
        Does he/she can't focus well or get easily distracted?
        Does he/she struggle with a specific subject?
        Is he/she falling behind other students?
    - - Step 1: Referral for eligibility
        In South Korea, there are three steps to follow to decide if a student is eligible to have access to special education services.
        
        The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) has developed a screening test to assess students learning abilities and their need for special education. According to the academic achievement scores, they might be diagnosed with a learning disability.
      - Step 2: Assessment and identification of students with learning disabilities (LD)
        
        Special Education Promotion Act (1994) provides specific guidelines according to the learning disability. Different types of tests will be given to the children such as IQ test, test of visual perception, learning skills test, etc. According to the results on each of these tests, a specific learning disability can be identified.
      - Step 3: Selection of students with learning disabilities
        
        "When learning problems are not explained explicitly by exclusionary factors, students should be identified as LD if students meet all three requirements (referral, IQ tests and achievement tests." (Choi, N., Shin, M., & Cho, E. M., 2017)
      - 3. Plan of Action
        
        IEP
        
        If a student has been diagnosed with a severe learning disability (autism, blindness, hearing impairment, etc.) an elaborate IEP should be implemented. Professionals, parents and teachers should work together to develop an individualized plan that can help to determine the best learning curve for the student.
        
        If a student has been diagnosed with a mild learning disability (dyslexia, language disability, ADHD, etc.) an IEP is still necessary because these students will need special care and attention as they have a hard time following a regular class. The only difference might rely in the extend of the IEP. Maybe only minor accommodations or adjustments might be necessary for these students compared to severe learning disabilities.
        
        4. Placement
        According to their needs, students will be placed in different environments.
        
        Can the student be acclimated in a regular public school?
        
        Yes
        
        There are few placement options possible:
        
        Regular classes with special accommodations
        
        Special classes within regular schools
        
        Special aids in regular classes
        
        No
        
        From my interviews, I understood that options are a bit more limited:
        
        Special education schools
        
        Home Schooling
        
        Private tutors
        
        5. Differentiated Instruction
        How can teachers adapt their teaching strategies for students with special needs?
        
        Collaboration with other parties
        
        Co-teaching with an intervention specialist
        If the homeroom teacher has to teach a large group of students, it can be hard to offer individual time to each student. Therefore, using the help of a special educator / intervention specialist can help to regulate the flow as students in need will be giving special attention.
        
        Cooperating with the counselor
        The counselor has an expertise that subject teachers might not have. So, by collaborating it's easier to develop personalized learning strategies considering counselors are more aware of the psychological needs of struggling students. For instance, the homeroom teacher could ask the school counselor to stop by his class and observe certain students in action. Then, it'll be easier to come up with strategies.
        
        In terms of cooperation, I thought the idea of having a students welfare team was excellent as all parties can share their opinion and the progress of struggling students. All the specialists and concerned teachers can have weekly meetings to update one another on specific students and discuss the plan of action for the following week.
        
        Seeking advice
        From my interviews, I concluded that our coworkers can be very helpful. Everyone has different experiences and unique teaching style/methods. By sharing successful strategies, teachers can come up with innovative ideas to differentiate their instructions. Teachers can learn a lot from their coworkers.
        
        Project-based learning
        
        According to Miller (2016), lots of advantages have been found in terms of creating a project-based learning environment:
        
        Grouping students
        - help to challenge them and encourage collaboration among students with different skills
        
        Goal setting
        - give students ownership over their goals
        
        Mini-lessons
        - offer variety of resources from which to learn (games, videos, audio files, silent reading, etc.)
        
        Voice students
        - allow students to work and learn on a topic related to their passions and interests
        
        Formative assessments
        - assessments can be conducted in different ways such as presentation, infographic, role play, etc.
        
        Balance
        - teamwork VS individual work should be balanced to ensure the class is inclusive while meeting individual needs as well
        
        6. Annual Review
        
        To develop a successful special education referral process, it's important to review its results. Getting feedback from all concerned parties and analyzing the results is critical for the well-being of struggling students.Reviewing the learning progress and the adequacy of the individualized education plan(or other strategies put in place) will help to make the proper adjustments and ensure the student is still heading in the right direction.