Understanding Special Education: Definition, Services, and Impact

Special education is a multifaceted field focused on providing tailored instruction and support to students with disabilities. It aims to address their unique needs while fostering integration into the broader educational environment. This article delves into the definition of special education, its various components, the legal framework surrounding it, and its impact on students and schools.

Defining Special Education

Special education encompasses programs designed to serve students with a wide range of disabilities, including mental, physical, emotional, and behavioral challenges. It is not a place but rather specially designed instruction to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability. It is not separated from the academic content that students are supposed to learn for their grade but is meant to support the learning of that academic content.The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) emphasizes that special education needs to ensure that students with disabilities have access to the general curriculum that all students are expected to learn.

At its core, special education is about providing the necessary support to help students with disabilities achieve self-sufficiency, academic success, and the ability to contribute to their communities in the future. This support addresses their differences while integrating them as much as possible into the typical educational environment of their peers.

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A cornerstone of special education is the Individualized Education Program, or IEP. An IEP is a program tailored to meet the individual needs of students with disabilities. It is a collaborative effort, involving the child’s school district, their parent or guardian, and sometimes the student themselves. The IEP outlines the student's specific educational needs based on their identified disability and sets measurable annual goals.

The Legal Framework: IDEA and FAPE

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law governing special education. This new setting may include fewer students in the classroom, more teachers, or a higher level of support. IDEA ensures that services are provided to children with disabilities throughout the nation. It mandates that all public school systems offer free services to children with disabilities from ages 3-21 to support their learning.

A key component of IDEA is the guarantee of a "Free Appropriate Public Education" (FAPE). "Free, appropriate public education" means special education and related services that are provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction and without charge; meet the standards of the department; include an appropriate preschool, elementary school or secondary school education in the State; and are provided in conformity with the individualized family service plan or individualized education program.

IDEA also includes Part C, which focuses on early intervention services for infants and toddlers (ages birth to 2 years old) with disabilities and their families.

Special Education Services and Support

There are many kinds of special education services. Special education services are educational services provided by qualified individuals as defined by the commissioner. A student may also get accommodations, which are changes to the classroom environment that make it easier for the student to learn. You and the school team will develop a specific plan that describes the services your child needs. These services are designed to address a wide array of needs, and may include:

Specially Designed Instruction: Tailored teaching methods and strategies to address the student's specific learning challenges.
Related Services: Additional support services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, counseling, and transportation.
Accommodations: Changes to the classroom environment or instructional methods that help students access the curriculum (e.g., extended time on tests, preferential seating).
Modifications: Changes to the curriculum itself to better suit the student's learning needs.
Consultant Teacher (CT) Services: Services of a special education teacher provided to an individual student or a small group of students with disabilities to adapt, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible student, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to support the student to successfully participate and progress in the general curriculum during regular instruction, so that he or she can meet the educational standards that apply to all students.
Integrated Co-Teaching Services:
Special Class: Special class size is defined as the maximum number of students who can receive instruction together in a special class and the number of teachers and paraprofessionals assigned to the special class (e.g., six students to one teacher and one teaching assistant or teacher aide).
Special Transportation: Special transportation means services and supports necessary for the student to travel to and from school and between schools; in and around school buildings; and includes specialized equipment (such as special or adapted buses, lifts, and ramps), if required to provide special transportation to a student with a disability.

Placement and Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

Whenever possible, the needs of students with disabilities should be met in the same environment where other peers learn. Moving a child from the typical classroom or educational setting to a specially structured one is gradual. Different classroom placements can be selected for their education only when progress is lacking in this mainstream setting. This new setting may include fewer students in the classroom, more teachers, or a higher level of support.

LRE refers to the extent special education services are provided to a student in a setting with the student's nondisabled peers and as close to the student's home as possible. A majority of special education students-67 percent of those ages 6-21 and 5-year-olds in kindergarten-spend 80 percent or more of their time in classes with students without disabilities, according to 2022 data. That number has more than doubled in recent decades. In 1989, only 31.7 percent of students ages 6-21 spent 80 percent or more of their time in general classes. Getting students with disabilities into general education classrooms is not a silver bullet, researchers say. Read more to learn what else needs to happen to raise academic outcomes for students with disabilities.

Supports for School Personnel

The IEP must describe the supports for school personnel that will be provided on behalf of the student in order for the student to advance toward attaining the annual goals, to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum and to participate in extracurricular and other nonacademic activities. Supports for school personnel are those that would help them to more effectively work with the student. These could include, for example, special training for a student’s teacher to meet a unique and specific need of the student.

Teaching Assistants and Teacher Aides

A teaching assistant, under the general supervision of the special education teacher, can assist in the delivery of special education services but cannot serve in place of a special education teacher. As an example, for each resource room period, while the special education teacher may be instructing three of the students, a teaching assistant, under the supervision of the special education teacher, may be working with the other two students.

Integrated Co-Teaching Services

There is no regulatory maximum number of nondisabled students in an integrated co-teaching class. However, the number of nondisabled students should be more than or equal to the number of students with disabilities in the class in order to ensure the level of integration intended by this program option.

The Process of Receiving Special Education Services

Identification of Concerns: The process typically begins with the identification of concerns about a child's learning or development. Identify your areas of concern. Talk to your child’s teacher or principal about your concerns.
Informal Strategies: Ask the teacher about trying informal strategies. Sometimes simple changes in the daily routine, classroom set-up, or the teacher’s approach can make a difference.
Evaluation: If concerns persist, parents can request a special education evaluation. Ask for your child to have a special education evaluation. The school district will do an evaluation to see if a child qualifies and to decide what services they need. The evaluation will help decide if your child meets these criteria.
IEP Development: If the evaluation determines that the child has a disability that affects their learning and requires specially designed instruction, an IEP is developed. You will work with a school team to decide on a plan of services.
Service Delivery: Once the IEP is in place, the special education services are provided to the student.

Demographics and Trends in Special Education

Overall, 15.2 percent of all students were special education students (ages 3-21) in 2022-23. In the past decade, the number of students with disabilities as a percentage of total enrollment has increased a small amount, from 12.9 percent in 2012-13 to 15.2 percent in 2022-23. The mix of disabilities those students have, however, has changed dramatically. The percent of students with disabilities who had a specific learning disability, like dyslexia, decreased from 35.4 percent in 2012-13 to 32 percent in 2022-23. The specific learning disabilities category is the most common one covered under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act-in 2022-23, 32 percent of students with disabilities had specific learning disabilities.

There are also demographic disparities in special education. The highest percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native students (19%) were identified as needing special education services. Asian students are less likely to be served under IDEA, with only 8 percent receiving services. Federal law requires that states monitor their districts for overidentifying students with disabilities. Several studies have found that minority students are actually being underidentified for disabilities. But some newer studies are uncovering more nuanced findings, suggesting that minority students are overidentified in some contexts and underidentified in others.

Read also: Becoming a Neonatal Nurse

Funding and Teacher Shortages

In fiscal year 2018, the federal government earmarked $12.3 billion for the education of children ages 3-12 with disabilities. That’s only about 15 percent of the excess cost of educating students with disabilities, compared with the cost of educating a general education student. The federal government under the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act set a goal to pay states up to 40 percent of the excess cost.

Teacher shortages are a significant concern in special education. 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.

Although research has shown that students often do better in school when they have a teacher of the same race, just over 81.8 percent of special education high school teachers in public schools are white, higher than the teaching population as a whole, according to the most recent data available.

Addressing Misconceptions and Clichés

It is important to dispel common misconceptions about special education. Special education is not a "one-size-fits-all" approach. It is highly individualized to meet the unique needs of each student. It is also not a separate system, but rather a set of supports and services designed to help students with disabilities access the general education curriculum.

Don’t be scared by the term Special Education! It only means that your child will get special services to help them learn in school. To qualify, a child must have a disability that affects their learning, and they must need specially designed instruction in order to make progress in school.

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