Exceptionality

Section 3: Exploring Issues of Gender and Exceptionality
Our society can be viewed as a melting pot which includes different ethnicities, races, gender and academic abilities. As we are all different in one way or the other, we are all the same and everyone is entitled to equal treatment and respect. As an educational leader of a school or classroom, you are often confronted with difficult decisions regarding personnel and must remember to make decisions which are fair, consistent and represent equality.
Gender:Many of the countries in which girls� enrollment still lags have expressed a strong commitment to promote the education of girls, but their efforts are constrained by three challenges. First, as countries make progress in extending educational access to education, the marginal cost of reaching those still not served increases. Second, strategies that were successful in extending educational opportunity when access was low may not yield the same returns as the proportion of children out of school shrinks. Third, the nature of the problems girls face is changing. In many countries, the emphasis on raising initial enrollment is giving way to promoting the conditions that encourage girls� persistence and achievement in schooling.
Citation of Quote: Chapman D. Promoting education access, persistence, and achievement for girls: What works.
Paper presented at the SEAMEO-UNESCO
Education Congress and Expo, 27-29 May 2004, Bangkok.
Students with Exceptionalities
Today�s classrooms contain a diverse population of students; they include diversified genders, cultural backgrounds, and different levels of intellectual abilities. Although each student is different, as educators we must value each student as a unique individual and be skilled enough to educate them and challenge them to the best of their abilities. Among the diverse student population, a large number of students are those with exceptionalities and are present in the mainstream classroom. In the United States, 5.5 million students (8 percent) have a learning disability of some sort. These students are those who have Individual Educational Plans (IEP) and require some sort of modification or accommodation in their daily instruction.
Required Reading:
Assignment 4  Week 4: Exceptionality
In 1975, the United States Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which changed the way children with exceptional are educated. Despite this legislation, children who are classified as special education are often times remove from their general education classroom and placed in a self-contained classroom. When this occurs it may result in lowered student expectations, creates a lack of student diversity, exposes the child to fewer role models, and promotes lower self-esteem and confidence for the child. Fortunately, these trends are beginning to be reversed in many schools and children with exceptionalities are being appropriately placed in their individualized least restrictive environments. Ideally, in quality special education programs, the services are being taken tthe child, as opposed to the child to the services. In general, a child with exceptionalities should be placed in self-contained environment only after all attempted modifications and accommodations to educate the child with their typically developing peers have been unsuccessful.
Required Reading
Gollnick, D. M., & Chinn, P. C. (2009) Multicultural education in a pluralistic society
Chapter 5- Exceptionality
Self-Reflection: Autism Speaks
Assignment
Gollnick and Chinn (2009) stated, �The plight of persons with disabilities has…closely paralleled that of oppressed ethnic groups.” Separation is never equal, but students with disabilities are all too often segregated and placed in self-contained classrooms, when at times their needs can be met in a general education classroom.
A new family moves into the community and their daughter who has an auditory processing disability has been placed in a resource classroom in your school. The program services the child�s needs through an appropriately certified staff member each day for forty-five minutes. The parents are advocating for the child to be placed in an out-of-district placement. They believe the auditory program being offered in your school is not the best program and the out of district placement program is far superior. Based upon the Child Study Team�s recommendations, the Director of Special Services disagrees with the parent�s decision and supports the in-district placement. The parents are planning to bring litigation against the district regarding the placement. As the school principal, you believe appropriate services are being provided through the resource room placement. Consider what documents will be needed to support the placement and illustrate how the placement is appropriate. Please craft a memo to the school board attorney supporting the current placement in your school.
Length: 3-4 pages (app. 350 words per page) including 4 to 5 peer reviewed journal articles.

Your rational memo should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts that are presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.