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Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, accessible settings, and other interventions designed to help learners with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and community than would be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.

Common special needs include learning difficulties, communication challenges, emotional and behavioral disorders, physical disabilities, and developmental disorders.^[1] Students with these kinds of special needs are likely to benefit from additional educational services, different approaches to teaching, access to a resource room and use of technology.

Intellectual giftedness is a difference in learning and can also benefit from specialized teaching techniques or different educational programs, but the term "special education" is generally used to specifically indicate instruction of students whose special needs reduce their ability to learn independently or in a classroom, and gifted education is handled separately.

The opposite of special education is general education. General education is the standard curriculum presented with standard teaching methods and without additional supports.

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Dyslexia is a type of learning disorder that affects the ability to write, and speak. Much research has concentrated on the relationship between dyslexia and learning different languages. The article discusses the difficulties that dyslexics face when learning a new language.

Story boards have lots of great uses, but are you getting the most out of yours? Read the tips below to maximize your story board use. From academic lesson plans to self esteem workshops for students with ADHD, the story board has a multitude of uses you may never have thought of!

High school can be difficult, academically and socially, for typical students. For students with disabilities, these four years can pose greater challenges. Continue reading about inclusion and high school and how educational research and reform is needed to fully include students with disabilities.

Developing community based instruction is a way to reinforce the skills that students with a severe handicap or visual impairment are developing during the school day. This gives them a way to gain real world experience and learn to monitor their behaviors in varying settings.


Many children are born with a hearing or visual impairments or may acquire them because of illness or injury. Children that have these impairments need an extra hand while in school as their learning needs may differ from other children. Providing aids could supplement their learning and success.

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Special Education Services

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), children with disabilities will receive a "free appropriate public education" (FAPE) in the "least restrictive environment" (LRE). In other words, children will receive a free educational program that is appropriate to their needs and the program will be administered in an environment that is helpful to the child's education, but not necessarily keeping them out of a regular classroom. These services, called special education services, are available for children over the age of three through age 21 and are administered by the school district in which the child resides. An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is required for a child enrolled in a special education program. For children with disabilities under the age of three, early intervention services are available.

Links to More Special Education Resources

The following are links to other resources and organizations about special education for children with disabilities. OLRS attempts to verify that the links referenced are helpful for people with disabilities to find the resources needed to advocate for their needs. However, OLRS does not guarantee that the information provided within the destination link is accurate or right for the particular needs of the person. Once you follow a link away from the OLRS Web site, refer to that site's privacy policy and disclaimer statements.

Some links in this section are to documents created in Adobe® Portable Document Format (PDF). To view and print PDF documents, you need to have Adobe® Reader®, a free software program, installed on your computer.

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By Nanette Asimov | February 19, 2006

At Woodside High in San Mateo County, college-prep classes awaited a 15-year-old boy with learning disabilities and anxiety. He would blend in with other college-bound students, but also receive daily help from a special education expert. He would get a laptop computer, extra time for tests -- and an advocate to smooth any ripples with teachers. If an anxiety attack came on, he could step out of class. But Woodside High wasn't what his parents had in mind. Instead, they enrolled him in a $30,000-a-year prep school in Maine -- then sent the bill to their local public school district.

By Frank Bien, Bill Bivins | March 22, 2006

Imagine a world without special education, a world in which disabled children are no longer gobbling up scarce public-school dollars that could be used to educate "normal" kids. No more strange and troubling children taking up classroom space and teachers' time. No more taxpayers' money spent on paraprofessionals and therapists -- not to mention the occasional equestrian program and private boarding school. Imagine if all these kids -- along with their wheelchairs and walkers and hearing aids -- were simply to disappear.

By Tamar Lewin | May 31, 2009

In a case with potential financial repercussions for school districts and families, the U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide when public schools must reimburse parents of special-education students for private-school tuition. The case before the court involves a struggling Oregon high school student whose parents enrolled him in a $5,200-a-month residential school after he became a heavy marijuana user and ran away from home. Although his guidance counselor had noticed his difficulties and arranged an evaluation, the boy, who is identified in court documents only as T.A., was found ineligible for special-education services at his high school in the Forest Grove School District.

By Liz Bowie | Liz Bowie,liz.bowie@baltsun.com | October 24, 2008

Clarification: An article in yesterday's editions about the Maryland High School Assessments might have left the incorrect impression about when results of last spring's tests will be released. The results will be released to members of the state school board Tuesday morning, before board members might take a vote on whether to delay requiring that students pass the exams to earn high school diplomas, according to a state



M onday's announcement that federal oversight of Baltimore City's special education programs will be ending within two years was rightly hailed by civic and educational leaders as a major milestone. It is a testament to how far the city school system has come recently and a reminder of how dysfunctional it was for most of the 26 years the lawsuit has been in effect. But as good news as the announcement was, one has to ask: Why did it take the city schools so long to persuade the plaintiffs in this case that it was finally prepared to do the things that it should have been doing all along?

When Lillian Gonzalez started out in public education 20 years ago, she began in a classroom in the South Bronx teaching mentally retarded children. Since then, she has built a career on helping students with special needs -- the developmentally disabled, those who don't speak English, the homeless, children born to drug-addicted mothers.It is a journey that brought her to the Washington public school system 2 1/2 years ago, to a job in which she has overseen the delivery of services to special education and bilingual students, as well managing adult and community education.


Marie Anita Bailey, 71, special education teacher Marie Anita Bailey, a retired Baltimore public school educator and African-American history buff, died of cardiovascular disease Tuesday at her Forest Park home. She was 71. She was born Marie Anita Jefferson in Baltimore and raised on Etting Street. After graduating from Douglass High School, she attended what was then Morgan State College before transferring to Coppin State College. Mrs. Bailey earned her bachelor's degree in education from Coppin State College in 1963, and returned to the college to earn a master's degree in special education in 1973.

By Arin Gencer | Arin Gencer , arin.gencer@baltsun.com | October 7, 2009

The Baltimore County school board unanimously approved a $2.5 million contract Tuesday night for special-education services for children from birth to age 5. The five-year contract, to be funded with federal stimulus money, will provide behavioral consultation, and assessment and support services for children with developmental delays or disabilities. "The first five years of life, we're providing the foundation for learning for the rest of that child's career in school," said Paula Boykin, the district's birth-to-5 supervisor, who also directs the Infants and Toddlers Program.

articles in special education

All Special Education Articles

What Is This Thing Called RTI?

Response to Intervention (RTI) is a complex subject and states and districts have a lot of discretion with the implementation of this three-step, research-based approach to intervention and placement. Learn about some of the common misconceptions of the RTI process and read about additional RTI web sources.

When dealing with a bureaucracy, and school districts are bureaucracies, you need to keep detailed records. Logs, journals, and calendars provide answers and support memories and testimonies. This article provides examples of how to keep a paper trail.

Teachers: How do you convince your principal, fellow teachers, and other school staff to help the student in your class who has a learning disability? Rick Lavoie, world-renowned expert, speaker, and author on teaching children with LD, tells you how to get your voice heard. Learn how to handle common road blocks and become a proactive and successful advocate in the hallways, the teacher's lounge, and the administrative suite.

Learn to develop the evidence you need to support your belief that your child is not receiving the right help in school. Peter and Pamela Wright, from Wrightslaw, tell you how to interpret and chart your child's test scores, graph your child's progress, and successfully communicate with the educators who make decisions about your child.

This overview from the PACER Center walks parents through each step of the special education process, describing what happens from the time a child is referred for evaluation through the development of an individualized education program (IEP).

When an advocate negotiates with the school on a special needs child's behalf, the odds are increased that the child will get an appropriate education. Learn who can advocate, what they do, and how you can get started advocating for your child.

This article discusses the challenges in providing psychoeducational services to the rapidly increasing minority populations in the U.S. and offers a brief elaboration of the role and function of school counselors and school psychologists and how they can meet the mental health and educational needs of this large and growing population.

When a doctor develops a treatment plan for a sick child, the doctor uses objective data from diagnostic tests. Your child's individualized education program is similar to a medical treatment plan, and you need objective tests to know that your child is acquiring reading, writing, and arithmetic skills.

Individualized education program (IEP) goals cannot be broad statements about what a child will accomplish. Goals that cannot be measured are non-goals. Learn how to help the IEP team devise specific, measurable, realistic goals.

If a Title I school repeatedly underperforms, federal law provides opportunities for students to change schools or obtain additional instructional support. This parent advocacy brief looks at the information parents of students with disabilities need to know and understand in order to maximize these options.

This article provides an overview of the federal No Child Left Behind law and includes information to help parents use provisions of NCLB to ensure that their child has access to appropriate instruction.

IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) is our nation's special education law. Below you'll find important information about IDEA 2004, which went into effect on July 1, 2

This article discusses current research-supported instructional practices in reading and writing. It also reviews alternatives to ability-achievement discrepancy in identifying students for special education services, as well as introduces the idea that ability-achievement discrepancies should be based on specific cognitive factors that are relevant to specific kinds of learning disabilities rather than Full Scale IQ.

From annual goals to special education services, there are certain categories of information required by law to be included in a student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Learn what these categories are in this overview of the content of IEP's.

Problem Behaviors and Special Ed

Tools for Dealing with Challenging Behavior

Resources for behavior management range from classroom management to Behavior Intervention Plans.

Do We Need National Standards?

Thursday March 11, 2010

March 10th, National Public Radio featured a story on the release of the draft report on National Standards. The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State Education Officers have put together a set of national educational standards. It has fewer standards than most state standards, and they are set higher. You can see the draft at the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

So, will they do any good? It has been argued that standards in and of themselves do not improve school performance. In fact, one way states have gotten around No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been to dumb down their standards and modify their tests until they got the results they wanted. That has been clearly illustrated by the difference between performance on state tests and the National Assessment of Educational Performance.

If the reauthorization takes the new standards seriously, and we have a national test, we might just end up in a great place, where we see states compared to one another, not just their own performance. It would make it clear that states that spend money on education actually have better performance than states who don't.

So, for me the jury is still out. I plan to spend some time looking over them (the link is above.) Let me know what you think!

What Kind of Teacher Are You Building?

Sunday March 7, 2010

Okay, I think I'm in love!! (don't tell my wife.) Today's New York Times Magazine (disclosure: they own me,) has a great feature article, "Can Good Teaching Be Learned?" about the work of Doug Lemov. A former teacher, administrator and charter school founder, Doug became curious as to what made a great teacher. Research has shown that excellent teachers are the single most important element in raising student performance. So, how do you get excellent teachers? And, can you make an excellent teacher? Can you build a better teacher?

What Doug discovered was that excellent teachers not only shared certain qualities, but they developed a certain set of skills, especially when it came to classroom management. He enumerated 49 techniques, which he will describe in detail in his upcoming book Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College. As I read, I went away with the conviction that I was a pretty good teacher. I use most of the techniques described, though a new one I really loved is "Cold Calling" which eliminates the problem of round robin reading without abandoning reading aloud entirely. I have always been a big fan of "Positive Framing," a technique where you describe what you want in a positive way and then begin to praise students for doing it. "Everyone clear your desk, please. Thanks for getting your desk cleared so nicely, Rodney. Oh, and I see Mary Beth has her's cleared, too. Thanks, Mary Beth."

I can't wait to get my hands on the book, which has a late April release date. With any luck, I'll convince the publisher, Jossey Bass, to get me an advanced review copy, so I can review it and give you a preview of the 49 techniques. In the mean time, check out the article online at the New York Times: it even includes video clip examples of many of the techniques! I'm hoping it helps you make yourself into the kind of excellent teacher that encourages excellent student performance and academic growth.

Scaffold or Crutch?

Saturday March 6, 2010

It's funny how the stars sometimes align. I have been talking to the people over at Ablenet, as I just reviewed their new special education math curriculum, Equals . At the same time I am working on the IEP for a new student from New York. She understands one to one correspondence and can count, though she creates very little independent language. I try hard not to write IEP goals that dictate instruction, but as I plan, I'm definitely thinking about using Touch Math.

I have seen students do really well with Touch Math. I do wonder if it doesn't become a crutch rather than a strategy that they can leave behind as they gain confidence. I like number lines rather than counters for that reason. Like prompt dependence, some strategies are hard for kids to leave behind. Is Touch Math one of them?

I know the touch math people market the program for all children, but I wouldn't use it with typically developing children, since typically developing children are capable of math fluency (the ability to remember and recall math facts quickly.) I think it's a good tool for children with learning disabilities, but I think it is still fraught: fraught with the danger of developing a dependency on a strategy that keeps them from memorizing math facts. Even though they do know that two plus two is four, they have routinized the way they do math. Much like finger counting, it can become a crutch that follows them through life. How many adults stand by while people take advantage of them because the only way they can check the math is with their fingers, and they don't want other people to see?

What do you think?

Where Are the Jobs?

Sunday February 28, 2010

I don't think I'm going to be able to answer this quickly, though you might be able to help (see my email under my picture.) Today I had coffee with my graduate adviser, Dr. Vicki McGinley, to talk about technology with her students at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. The topic of employment came up. Dr. McGinley is best acquainted with employment in the mid-Atlantic. She had two suggestions:

• Go west, young man (or woman,) go west. Western states still seem to need special education teachers. You will need to check their state departments of education for certification licensing, and be sure you find out what tests (Praxis or state tests) they require for certification. Some states have websites to inform you of their teacher needs, such as Nevada.
• Country Mouse or City Mouse? The two areas in more populous states that will be hiring recent graduates are inner city districts and rural school districts. Because of the glut of unemployed certified special education graduates, these areas should not be hiring teachers on emergency certifications, though some districts may still be counting on Troops to Teacher grants and Teach for America Interns to keep their costs down.

Good luck! If you have suggestions for employment opportunities for this spring's graduates please share them. But don't despair. Dr. McGinley says state departments of education were expecting huge retirement this year, but the economy means that many retirees are waiting for their retirement portfolios to recover. It's still coming guys! Hang in there, and substitute, if you must!