| Under the current National Administration Guideline 1, boards
of trustees must meet the following requirements:
| iii |
on the basis of good quality assessment information, identify
students and groups of students:
a) who are not achieving;
b) who are at risk of not achieving;
c) who have special needs;
and identify:
d) aspects of the curriculum which require particular attention;
|
| iv |
develop and implement teaching and learning strategies to
address the needs of students and aspects of the curriculum
identified in iii above; |
The National Administration Guidelines
(NAGs), Guideline 1 |
|
New Zealand teachers have long been concerned about achieving more
equitable outcomes for all students, including those who have special
needs. Before the November 1999 revision, the NAGs required schools
to analyse barriers to learning and achievement for all students
and to develop and implement strategies to meet identified learning
needs in order to overcome these barriers to achievement.
Many schools have expressed their frustration about the external, socio-economic barriers that directly affect their attempts to meet students' learning needs but are beyond their ability to control. Many schools have made efforts to overcome these external barriers. They have developed protocols with appropriate social agencies. They have used key workers to build a partnership between the agency, the school, and the family and to improve each partner's accountability to the others.
Guidelines 1 iii and iv in the current NAGs recognise that schools
need to focus on what they can do to:
- identify learning and curriculum needs;
- refine and modify curriculum delivery to meet these needs;
- show how their programme of teaching and learning is improving student achievement.
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What are special needs?
Students with special needs include:
learners with a disability, learning difficulty, or behaviour difficulty
who require any or all of the following:
- extra assistance, adapted programmes or learning environments
- specialised equipment or materials to support them in special
or regular education settings.
The IEP Guidelines: Planning for Students
With Special Needs. Wellington: Ministry of Education, 1998,
page 2.
Students with special needs can achieve successfully when their
access to the curriculum is supported, for example, through the
use of sign language for the deaf, special equipment for the blind
or physically disabled, and modified programmes for slow learners.
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How do we identify the special needs of students?
Special needs do not occur in isolation: they are part of a continuum
of achievement that is measured by a student's rate of progress
through the essential learning areas and essential skills of the
curriculum. The important questions are "What has this student
achieved?", "What does this student know?", and "What
can this student do?"
Boards rely on the teaching staff to assess students. It is the
teachers' responsibility to use a range of culturally valid and
reliable measures to evaluate teaching programmes and learning outcomes
for their students. An assessment of an individual student's special
needs usually brings together assessment data, information from
classroom teachers, and reports from appropriate specialists, such
as a teacher of the deaf or a physiotherapist.
Each national curriculum statement includes a diagram that provides
a broad guide to the expected achievement levels by years of schooling.
The curriculum statements also draw attention to differences in
the progress of individual learners. Working in partnership with
parents, each school needs to consider national expectations and
then set realistic goals for all students, including those with
special needs.
It is important that students with special needs "work at
their own pace towards goals and face challenges that encourage
them to develop to their full potential" (Health and Physical
Education in the New Zealand Curriculum, page 51). It is important
for them to have opportunities to progress and achieve in each curriculum
area.
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How can schools plan to meet
special needs?
Schools can address special needs through regular management processes. Ongoing strategic planning and self-review can assist them in:
- setting long-term goals and devising action plans to raise overall student achievement;
- adopting the Special Education Policy Guidelines and taking actions to support them;
- managing the school's physical and emotional environment to provide a safe place for learning;
- resourcing staff training and promoting professionalism;
- financing programmes and teaching resources that are likely to meet specified goals for improved teaching and learning;
- identifying individual and group needs through cycles of teaching, assessment, and evaluation;
- delivering the curriculum through high-quality instructional programmes;
- addressing all aspects of student development from within the school and, when appropriate, with other agencies;
- maintaining good working relationships with external agencies.
|
What happens when boards support
special needs initiatives?
Boards can actively support the introduction of innovative teaching
programmes and systems management and encourage teacher professional
development in such areas as assessment and meeting special needs.
All students benefit when teachers apply the new
skills that they have learned for meeting special needs in their
general classroom programmes. For example, in implementing the Individual
Education Plan (IEP) cycle, a teacher will make detailed observations
and analyse student learning, apply specific teaching strategies,
and evaluate learning environments and outcomes. These process skills,
used within a school afid parent partnership, often provide creative
solutions to difficult problems in areas other than special needs.
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What are the implications of special
needs for school management systems?
Early identification of special needs is important. Schools
need to quickly find out what an individual student's needs are, what types of learning environments produce change, and what resources will be required.
Special needs committees, which are managed by experienced sen
ior staff, use special needs, registers to identify needs, allocate
resources, monitor progress, support staff, and manage the targeted
use of para-professional time. Innovative schools constantly seek
to find the "best-fit" models to meet student needs.
Long-term planning of school budgets will take
account of programmes and resourcing requirements for students with special needs. But while stimulating and modern teaching resources are important for students with special needs, research indicates that it is sound teaching strategies that make the difference and that there is a need to focus equally on the learning process and on the learning outcomes.
As well as encouraging and supporting teachers to nurture their pedagogical
skills and expertise through professional development, schools can
provide time for teachers to share new knowledge within the school.
Good processes of self- and peer-review can sharpen approaches to
teaching and add to teachers' repertoire of classroom strategies.
Teachers also need to share information about specific needs in
the school. When students with special needs interact with more
than one teacher, the need for effective communication between staff
increase. Making time for this continuing professional dialogue
is vital for programme co-ordination and making sure that every
student gains as much as possible from the school's programmes of
teaching and learning.
When asked, most children and young people say that they want to
be like their peers, they want to belong, they want to feel important,
and they want to be successful in what they do.
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Where can I go for further help?
If you want more information on special education:
- go to the Ministry of Education's website at www.minedu.govt.nz and select Special Education for a substantial menu of help material;
- go to the Ministry's online learning centre, Te Kete Ipurangi
(TKI), at www.tki.org.nz/e/search
and search using the list of keywords for Special Education.
The special education information line is
0800 622 222
If you want more information on the NAGs:
- go to the Ministry of Education's website at www.minedu.govt.nz and select School Management or School Administration;
- go to TKI for a variety of materials on the National Education Guidelines.
An update on recent legislation
The Education Amendment Bill (Number 2), which was introduced
to Parliament late last year, contains new provisions relating
to school planning and reporting. These changes build on
the 1999 revisions to the National Administration Guidelines
that have been the subject of the Sharpening the Focus
series. they aim to simplify and consolidate existing planning
and reporting processes and to focus them on improving educational
outcomes. If enacted, the new provisions will take effect
in 2003. more information on the Education Amendment Bill
(Number 2) can be found on the Ministry's website at www.minedu.govt.nz
Schools will also be aware that the Government has announced
that provision of special education services will be managed
in future by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry will
keep schools updated on developments in this area.
|
Published 2002 for the Ministry of Education by Learning Media
Limited, Box 3293, Wellington, New Zealand. Website:www.learningmedia.co.nz
Copyright © Crown 2002. All rights reserved.
Enquiries should be made to the publisher. Item number 10138.
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Issue 10
This issue of Sharpening the Focus outlines the support available to schools and teachers as they address the need for students to develop high levels of competence (knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values) in physical education and physical activity. It also includes the amended sections relating to physical activity in the National Education Goals (NEGs) and National Administration Guidelines (NAGs).
Issue 9
This issue of Sharpening the Focus outlines support that is available for schools in addressing the needs of their gifted and talented students.
Issue 8
This issue of Sharpening the Focus,
is a newsletter for boards of trustees, principals, and teachers on
school management and administration.
Issue
7
This issue
of Sharpening the Focus looks at the intent and effect of the Education
Standards Act 2001, which has introduced the requirement that every school's
charter include planning for improvement of student outcomes.
Issue
6
This issue of Sharpening the Focus discusses the National
Education Guidelines' requirement for boards of trustees to identify
and provide for students who have special needs related to disabilities,
learning difficulties, and behavioural problems. It also answers
some frequently asked questions.
Issue
5
This
issue of Sharpening the Focus looks more closely at the relationship between
the revised National Administration Guideline 2 and professional development
and answers some frequently asked questions.
Issue
4
This issue of
Sharpening the Focus looks more closely at the requirements that the revised
National Administration Guideline 2 places on schools as they undertake
strategic planning.
Issue
3
This
issue of Sharpening the Focus looks more closely at what schools will
need to consider as they align their curriculum and assessment policies
and practices to the revised National Administration Guidelines 1 and
2.
Issue
2
This
issue includes information on Kia mahitahi - working together, Frequently
Asked Questions, and Better Relationships for Better Learning.
Issue
1
This newsletter
backgrounds the recent revision of the National Education Guidelines,
outlines the help to be offered to schools as they adjust to the new
requirements, and answers some frequently asked questions.
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