Being a special educator, I often find myself "in between," when it comes to instruction. Other blogs will talk about the "road less travelled," but the current state of special education is more like foraging through brush. Off road, if you will. We are blazing a third trail, even less travelled by most educators. That trail is the one of tailored, individualized learning. In an earlier post, I discussed the future of customized instruction. In it, I talked about the characteristics of a 21st century learner. The reality is, in special education, that a lot of these marks are being met by special educators. I remember a staff development from earlier this year. In it, we discussed SLOs, or Student Learning Objectives. It seems funny to me how "new" of a concept this was to many teachers-that we are going to come up with annual goals, measure them throughout the year, then write new ones for the next year based on the previous year's data. This was a concept as foreign as giving less homework and more free time to students to some teachers. In essence, this is what special education is mandated to do already. Since the 2004 reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act-IDEA for short, special education teachers have been writing goals, monitoring progress, and evaluating students based on results. It isn't perfect, however- As mentioned earlier, the last time IDEA was reauthorized was 2004. It is long overdue for politicians to take a second look at, and the changes that come may not be welcome. In fact, I am sure that we may see a mass exodus of special educators when (or maybe if) IDEA is reauthorized. As the focus on education shifts from teacher to student, we will see a customization of the learning process. What that means for educators is that we will be faced with a whole range of new challenges. On top of all this, we must also consider the needs of our students. Can we meet those needs in the paperwork-laden environment of 21st century teaching and learning?
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