Understanding Special Education: Definitions, Practices, and Evolution

Special education, also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED, is a multifaceted approach to educating students that acknowledges and accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. It encompasses individually planned and systematically monitored teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. While some scholars include gifted education under the umbrella of special education, it's important to recognize that this pedagogical approach differs significantly due to the students' advanced capabilities.

Core Principles of Special Education

At its core, special education is instruction that is specially designed to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. This means education that is individually developed to address a specific child’s needs that result from his or her disability. The definition of special education emphasizes specially designed instruction, provided at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. Adaptations may be made in the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to ensure access to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards within the jurisdiction of the public agency that apply to all children.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A cornerstone of special education is the Individualized Education Program, or IEP. An Individualized Education Program, or IEP, is a program tailored to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities. The program is written in collaboration with a child’s school district, their parent or guardian, and sometimes, the student. The IEP is meant to address each child's unique learning issues and include specific educational goals. The IEP must also contain a statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child.

The IEP outlines the special educational needs based on the student’s identified disability. Like the statement of annual goals, it arises out of, and is directly connected to, the “present levels” statement, where the child’s current performance levels and needs are described. How is the child currently doing in school? How does the disability affect his or her performance in class? Once a child’s needs are identified, the IEP team works to develop appropriate goals to address those needs. Benchmarks or short-term objectives are required only for children with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards. Each child’s IEP must also contain a description of how his or her progress toward meeting the annual goals will be measured and when it will be reported to parents. The IEP must contain a statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services to be provided to the child, or on behalf of the child.

The IEP process also considers peer-reviewed research. States, school districts, and school personnel must select and use methods that research has shown to be effective, to the extent that methods based on peer-reviewed research are available. This does not mean that the service with the greatest body of research is the service necessarily required for a child to receive FAPE. Likewise, there is nothing in the Act to suggest that the failure of a public agency to provide services based on peer-reviewed research would automatically result in a denial of FAPE. The final decision about the special education and related services, and supplementary aids and services that are to be provided to a child must be made by the child’s IEP Team based on the child’s individual needs.

Read also: The CPB Logo: A Visual History

Related Services and Supplementary Aids

To help a child with a disability benefit from special education, he or she may also need extra help in one area or another, such as speaking or moving. This additional help is called related services. Supplementary aids and services are intended to improve children’s access to learning and their participation across the spectrum of academic, extracurricular, and nonacademic activities and settings. Also part of the IEP is identifying the program modifications or supports for school personnel that will be provided. The IEP must also include an explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with nondisabled children in the regular class and in other school settings and activities. IDEA requires that students with disabilities take part in state or districtwide assessments. The IEP team must decide if the student needs accommodations in testing or another type of assessment entirely. When will the child begin to receive services? Where? How often? How long will a “session” last? Beginning at least one year before the student reaches the age of majority, the IEP must include a statement that the student has been told about the rights (if any) that will transfer to him or her at age of majority.

Accommodations and Modifications

Sometimes a student may need to have changes made in class work or routines because of his or her disability. Sometimes people get confused about what it means to have a modification and what it means to have an accommodation. Usually a modification means a change in what is being taught to or expected from the student. Making an assignment easier so the student is not doing the same level of work as other students is an example of a modification. An accommodation is a change that helps a student overcome or work around the disability. Allowing a student who has trouble writing to give his answers orally is an example of an accommodation. What is most important to know about modifications and accommodations is that both are meant to help a child to learn.

Settings for Special Education

Special education instruction can be provided in a number of settings, such as: in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings (§300.26). Schools must ensure that a continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities. This continuum must include the placements just mentioned (instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions). Special education instruction must be provided to students with disabilities in what is known as the least restrictive environment, or LRE. IDEA includes provisions that ensure that children with disabilities are educated with nondisabled children, to the maximum extent appropriate.

Inclusion

In this approach, students with special needs spend all, or most of the school day with students who do not have special needs. Due to the fact that inclusion can require substantial modification of the general curriculum, most schools use it only for selected students with mild to moderate special needs, which is accepted as a best practice. Specialized services may be provided inside or outside the regular classroom, depending on the type of service. Students may occasionally leave the regular classroom to attend smaller, more intensive instructional sessions in a separate classroom, resource room, or to receive other related services that might require specialised equipment or might be disruptive to the rest of the class, such as speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, rehabilitation counseling.

Mainstreaming

Mainstreaming refers to the practice of educating students with special needs in classes with non-disabled students during specific time periods based on their skills.

Segregation

Segregation in a separate classroom or special school for students with special needs: In this model, students with special needs do not attend classes with non-disabled students. Segregated students may attend the same school where regular classes are provided, but spend all instructional time exclusively in a separate classroom for students with various disabilities. If their special class is located in an ordinary school, they may be provided opportunities for social integration outside the classroom, such as by eating meals with non-disabled students. Alternatively, these students may attend a special school. It may also occur when a student is in hospital, housebound, or detained by the criminal justice system. These students may receive one-on-one instruction or group instruction.

Co-teaching

Co-teaching: In this setting, students with special needs are placed in a general education classroom to learn along with their disabled peers and non-disabled peers. A general education teacher and a special education teacher work as partners in instruction.

Special Schools and Classrooms

A special school is a school catering for students who have special educational needs due to learning difficulties, physical disabilities, or behavioral problems. Special schools may be specifically designed, staffed and resourced to provide appropriate special education for children with additional needs. Special schools provide individualized education, addressing specific needs. Student to teacher ratios are kept low, often 6:1 or lower depending upon the needs of the children.

An alternative is a special unit or special classroom, also called a self-contained classroom, which is a separate classroom dedicated solely to the education of students with special needs within a larger school that also provides general education. This classroom is typically staffed by a specially trained teacher, who provides specific, individualized instruction to individuals and small groups of students with special needs. Separate classrooms, because they are located in a general education school, may have students who remain in the separate classroom full-time, or students who are mainstreamed in certain general education classes. An alternative to the separate classroom full-time for a student would be a one-to-one aide in the general education setting. In the United States, a one-on-one aide for a student with a disability is called a paraprofessional. In the United States a part-time alternative that is appropriate for some students is sometimes called a resource room.

Identifying Students for Special Education

Some children are easily identified as candidates for special needs due to their medical history. On the other hand, for students with less obvious disabilities, such as those who have borderline intellectual disability or specific learning difficulties (dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.), two primary methods have been used for identifying them: the discrepancy model and the response to intervention model.

The Discrepancy Model

The discrepancy model depends on the teacher noticing that the students' achievements are noticeably below what is expected, at which point the teacher may make the decision for the student to receive support from a special education specialist. Before doing so, the teacher must show documentation of low academic achievement. In the discrepancy model, a student receives special education services for a specific learning difficulty (SLD) if the student has at least normal intelligence but the student's academic achievement is below what is expected of a student with his or her IQ.

Response to Intervention (RTI)

The alternative approach, response to intervention, identifies children who are having difficulties in school in their first or second year after starting school. They then receive additional assistance such as participating in a reading remediation program. The response of the children to this intervention then determines whether they are designated as having a learning disability or otherwise. Those few who still have trouble may then receive designation and further assistance. Sternberg (1999) has argued that early remediation can greatly reduce the number of children meeting diagnostic criteria for learning disabilities.

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS)

Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) is an educational framework increasingly adopted to meet the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs of all students, including those receiving special education services. This approach promotes early identification of needs and reduces inappropriate referrals to special education by providing timely, data-driven support within general education settings.

Historical Context and Legal Framework

Special education has a long history marked by significant changes in the treatment and education of individuals with disabilities. In the early years, children with disabilities were often excluded from public schools or placed in separate institutions. Many were denied access to education altogether, as societal attitudes often viewed individuals with disabilities as incapable of learning or contributing meaningfully to society.

The mid-20th century saw the beginning of changes in the approach to the education of children with disabilities. The concept of special education started to take shape as schools began to implement separate programs specifically designed to meet the needs of children with disabilities.

Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) / Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

A pivotal moment in the history of special education occurred in the United States with the passing of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) in 1975, later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This landmark legislation, signed into law by President Gerald Ford, mandated that public schools provide free appropriate education (FAPE) to children with disabilities.

One of the key provisions of IDEA was the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) mandate, which emphasized that children with disabilities should be educated alongside their non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate.

The Department of Education's Role

Congress put the Department of Education in charge of running special education at the federal level in 1979. The department is responsible for upholding the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA). This law gives students with disabilities the right to a “free appropriate public education,” or FAPE. The education department performs a number of functions when it comes to special education. They include:

Sending federal funds to the states to use on special education programs. (Congress sets the amount of money available.)
Enforcing the regulations of IDEA, which requires schools to provide special education services to eligible students.
Advising states and school districts on how to comply with IDEA.
Investigating complaints of violations.

Challenges and Ongoing Efforts

Although the passage of IDEA marked a major step toward inclusion, global challenges persist. It is estimated that 23 million children with disabilities worldwide still lack access to education, especially in developing countries and rural areas.

Teacher Shortages

Teacher shortages are hard to track on the national scale. The October 2024 School Pulse Panel survey found that 34 percent of public schools report being understaffed in special education positions, the highest of all the teaching specialties. And an EdWeek Research Center survey in April 2024 found that 62 percent of principals and district leaders said it had been more challenging to fill special education teaching positions in 2023-24 compared with 2021-22.

Special Education in Michigan

The Michigan Department of Education Office of Special Education (OSE) is responsible for the general supervision, administration, and funding of special education programs and services for children and youth with disabilities ages 3 through 25. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) established two separate age segments for students with special needs. Part B refers to special education services for students ages 3 through 21. Michigan special education services extend from birth through age 25 (beyond the federal requirement of 21). The OSE is tasked with implementing and monitoring Part B improvement plans. The Office of Great Start, in collaboration with the OSE, manages Part C services through its Early On® program.

The OSE has several units to handle its general supervision responsibilities: administration, program finance, program accountability, and performance reporting. The Administration Unit provides leadership to and oversight of the office and ensures compliance with all federal and state statutory and regulatory requirements. The Program Accountability Unit develops and implements special education policy. Policy is developed to align with-and clarify-federal and state requirements. The Program Finance Unit provides oversight for state aid and federal funding structures for special education programs and services. The Performance Reporting Unit coordinates the collection, verification, analysis, and reporting of special education student and personnel data for required federal and state reports.

The Michigan Department of Education Low Incidence Outreach (MDE-LIO) is funded through the OSE. The MDE-LIO also has direct oversight of Camp Tuhsmeheta (Camp T), located in Greenville. The Michigan School for the Deaf (MSD) is a public residential school in Flint for students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) and was established by the Michigan Legislature in 1848. Students are referred to the school by their local school district and placement is determined by an IEP team. Michigan provides special education services for eligible children from birth.

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