Kerry Ann Murphy Educating Students with Exceptionalities Assignment 1.

Why Cant We Say Handicapped Why is the language used to refer to people with disabilities so important? The language we use to refer to people with disabilities is very important. The words we choose to use shape our reality and affect our attitudes and behaviors. We should avoid terms that make a person with a disability sound like a victim, but also words that make them sound like a hero. It is better to simply state the person and the disability, because if we use adjectives to describe the disability, we are making unnecessary judgements about the person. We should also try to use person-first language, because the person is more important than his or her disability. The goal is to avoid dehumanizing stereotypes and treat people with disabilities like everyone else. 2. Common Core Standards: What Special Educators Need to Know What are Common Core Standards? Common Core Standards provide states with common standards for all students in English and Math. They were designed as the goals for learning that will prepare Americas children for success. How have these been an improvement on NCLB? The Common Core Standards give a greater deal of attention to the individualized learning needs of students with disabilities. These students are thought of a general education students first. With supports and individualized accommodations, they can be part of the general curriculum with the goal of mastering grade-level standards. What difficulties are there for ensuring special education students meet these standards? The biggest challenge in implementing the Common Core Standards for students with disabilities is preparing all teachers, especially special educators. They need to approach IEP development with knowledge of grade-level standards, be familiar with efficient ways of assessing progress, and be deeply knowledgeable about the strategies of teaching that have been shown to produce results. It is challenging to ensure that every special educator feels confident about being as knowledgeable as possible about the social and academic skills a student needs in order to successfully perform in the general curriculum. 3. The Issues of IDEA Funding: The lack of sufficient federal and state funding has made it difficult to provide all students with an appropriate education. Students with special needs may require additional services that cost extra money and can be expensive. Without this money, some students with disabilities are not being provided all that they need. Teachers: The requirements for highly qualified teachers has created teacher shortages in special education. The demands of the job and the requirements for certification have turned

many people away from teaching, causing shortages of special education teachers in many places. Civil Rights vs. Education: IDEA has been perceived as a civil rights law, which has unfortunately led to an overemphasis on the process of providing educational services rather than evaluating the outcomes of those services. Identification: The difficulty involving IDEA and identification is the belief of some people that there are too many children placed in special education. These people believe that if some of these students had been taught appropriately and received early intervention, they would not need special education services. Some people believe that certain populations of children, based on race or socioeconomic status, are unnecessarily labeled in special education. Litigation: There have been legal issues involving special education and IDEA. The article suggests that if and when these legal issues occur, they are usually significant because of the sensitive subject matter. When the article was written, it was too early to predict whether IDEA 2004 would cause more or less legal cases. The biggest issue in special education is FAPE, regarding the appropriateness of a students education.