Let’s say all the special education students in a school are in self-contained classrooms.?

This is such an interesting question, but also quite difficult to answer with the limited information given. So, I will give my opinion. YES it is much more expensive to have self contained special education teachers. They only need to have less than half the amount of students as a general education or resource teacher. So if I”m teaching self contained, my max # of students might be 12; whereas if I was the resource teacher, my max # of students will likely be about 25. Same goes for the general education teacher. This country is leaning toward putting most kids with special needs in the general education setting with a resource teacher providing services. The claim is that it is more appropriate socially. Unfortunately, many of the general education teachers are not trained or patient enough to deal with the specific needs of these students. They are not bad teachers, but they have different training and goals (such as test scores). In my experience, I have seen a lot of my special ed kids get ignored and NOT TAUGHT by these gen ed teachers. I’m sure that this is not the norm, but it is a reality. This is a huge debate and really can’t be solved with a blanket answer. I’d love to see the needs of the kids being met without wondering what it will cost, if we have the personnel, and how it works into scheduling. I hope I’m still teaching when we finally figure that out.

I will say that as a student, you should be an advocate for yourself. Stick up for yourself and what you need (in an appropriate way). If any of your teachers are mean, find someone you can talk to. Let them know that this person doesn’t talk nicely or take the time to explain things to you. If you feel that you are in the wrong class or getting the wrong services (too many, too little) talk to someone — a school counselor, a teacher, the principal, the secretary — SOMEONE. Good luck. I know you will be fine.

I used to be a teaching assitant at an elementary school in a grade 2 class of 30 kids where the regular kids and the special-needs kids were in the same classroom. The sitation was VERY tough on the teacher as well as the students. The kids who needed more attention would never get enough it get too much on some days, which always resulted in some kids being left out because the teacher could not attend to everyone. The teacher told me that the only reason that it was like that was becasue the school’s budget was very tight and that it couldn’t afford to provide self-contained classrooms. However, even though this would be a more expensive alternative, from my experience, I belive that it is really necessary if governments and school boards want to make sure that no one’s education is compromised.

The level of needs for students, such as resource or self-contained does affect state funding, they get more dollars for special needs kids. You need to think about the difference in your teachers more. The resource teacher is MEAN because she make you learn skills. Do you think maybe she believes you can do more than you are doing? Any good teacher will push you forward, no matter where you are. It’s the kids that aren’t pushed that the teacher has given up on. I have had a student in the past that thought I was mean because I made him learn how to open his own peppermint, even though he had one working arm. Is that mean? No, and he did learn, and then he was grateful because he didn’t have to depend on someone else for a peppermint. Now, some teachers are just mean, and don’t need to be teachers. It is important that even if you are in self-contained classes, you spend as much time with your peers as you can. You have the right to fight for what you want. Do you want to be in resource? Take your complaint to the councilor and principal. Otherwise, push yourself every day to do better, even if someone else isn’t pushing you. Good luck.

The school that I work in, resource room is mainly meant for general education students that need special education teacher support services (SETSS). If you are already in a self-contained classroom, then resource room may be redundant. You’re already getting special education services in your self-contained classroom. If you have trouble with language, literacy, and/or vocabulary, then something like speech-language services (like what I provide) might be a good option. Don’t let CSE try to push you into a program that doesn’t meet your needs. CSE’s main concern is saving as much money as possible and will always push for the least restrictive environment possible, even those that might be not restrictive enough. Your biggest allies are your parents. They have the most say as to what class setting and related services you will receive.

As students become older, they should be given the opportunity to express where they prefer to learn. When they are very lyoung, it is important that they be with their peers as much as possible without them disrupting the learning environment and them being able to benefit from the general setting. Inclusion is not a panacea. However, we live in a world where we interact with each other everywhere. All children should have that opportunity in the school setting. As well, general education children should learn how to accept and respect differences. They should also learn to develop a compassion for everyone. I do not agree that all children should be in a general education class all day. It is not practical nor is it always beneficial for all children. However, having competent teachers with a heterogenous class could in the long run benefit society on a whole. We just have to be careful to give students what they need not have one prescription for all children.

every teacher is different. not all resource teachers are “mean.” not all self-contained teachers are “nice.” sometimes you are going to have to deal with people in life that you don’t like… it may be a boss, a coworker, or a teacher. getting switched out of your resource class hurt you because you are not getting the chance to learn to interact positively with a person you may not like. there will always be somebody you don’t like around…

self-contained classes harm all students in the school. they separate the students with IEPs from the “normal” kids. students with disabilities and students without disabilities do not learn to interact on a social level with each other. often self-contained classes are not held to the same standards as the other students in the school. they are no challenged at the same level as other students.

They way it affects the school is they no longer have to make modifications for you. You can work at your pace which is good for you. But you lose the contact with the population of your school. She was MEAN because she was responsible for your state test scores. She is probably as happy as you are.