The Role of National Organizations
in Policies and Strategies for Students with Disabilities is wide and varied. Many
teacher, parent, and government organizations have a hand in helping students
with disabilities, and in this blog I will talk about how several of these
organizations are involved in bettering the lives of students with
disabilities.
They:
Research
Several
dedicated associations conduct research studies to help discover the cause of
problems students with disabilities face. The American Federation of Teachers
(2016, pg. 6) stated that “One in five school-age children has a mental health
disorder.” However, they speculate that many of these students are dealing with
negative childhood experiences. As a result, they looked into the Adverse Childhood
Experiences Study to discover the cause of these problems, and have come up
with a strategy to help these students with behavior and attention problems.
The AFT (2016) are hoping to help students through their acronym, THRIVE: Teach students about mental health, Help build protective factors and
resilience, Reduce risk factors, Intervene to provide support, Voice your concerns, and Eliminate barriers.
Develop Strategies
Many of these reports and studies lead to
strategies, like the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support suggested by the Council
of Great City Schools. In this strategy, there are three tiers of student
instruction--from small group to whole class instruction--that teachers may use
to engage and help not only the disabled learner, but others as well. (Gamm et all, 2012)
In addition, research
studies such as these often lead to new and needed legislation to widen and
deepen the breadth and depth of help we are able to give children with disabilities.
The Common
Core State Standards website explains how to modify the common core for
disabled students, whilst reminding the reader how important it is to hold
disabled students to the high standards that the common core expects. (Core
Standards, pg 2)
Advocate and Advise
Organizations
such as the Council for Learning Disabilities provide a “powerful national
voice for all individuals with any type of disability” (CDL, para. 1) They use
that voice to rally for initiatives and keep voters informed of the newest
policies and laws they are trying to have ratified.
The National
Education Association (2015) not only pushed for changes during the IDEA
reauthorization process, but also produced articles to help legislators,
parents, and teachers better understand that, though IDEA 2004 did not fully
fund the 40% of student cost promised for special education students, it would
be possible to fully fund it within six years.
Share and Promote Knowledge
Many of
these websites share knowledge that will help parents, teachers, and district
officials understand the laws that they helped put in place or are trying to
change.
As I’m
sure you can now see, these organizations are very important to learners with
disabilities, and as a parent of a child with a disability, a teacher, and a
responsible member of society, I intend to do what I can to help move the work
of these organizations forward. Perhaps you might like to ask yourself what you
can do to help as well.
References
Background of Special Education and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), (n.d.). National Education
Association. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/19029.htm
Child
Health, Mental Health, (2016) American
Federation of Teachers. Retrieved from http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/childhealth_mentalhealth_2016.pdf
Gamm,
S., et all., (2012). Common
Core State Standards and Diverse Urban Students: Using Multi-Tiered Systems of
Support. Council of the
Great City Schools Retrieved from
http://www.cgcs.org
Council
for Learning Disabilities, (n.d.). Advocacy. Retrieved from http://www.council-for-learning-disabilities.org/liaison-committee-represents-cld-in-its-advocacy-for-students-with-learning-disabilities
Application
to Students with Disabilities. (n.d.) Common
Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/wp-content/uploads/Application-to-Students-with-Disabilities-again-for-merge1.pdf
