Quince Orchard High School Celebrates Diversity
People Around the World
Volume 3, Issue 1
Bimonthly Faculty Newsletter
October 2008
What Makes Us Special
Special: adjective 1. of a distinct In its third year of publication, one major purpose of this newsor particular kind or character. 2. be- letter is to highlight and celebrate the many ways our students
and staff are special. So here are some facts and comments
ing a particular one; particular, individfrom
students about Special Education in our school and the
ual, or certain. 3. pertaining or peculiar
to a particular person, thing, instance,
world.
etc.; distinctive; unique: the special features of a plan. 4. having a specific or
Comments from QO Students
particular function, purpose. 5. distin What does being a Special Education student mean to
guished or different from what is ordiyou?
nary or usual. 6. extraordinary; ex“It
means
that
I
need
more
help
than other students to complete my
ceptional, as in amount or degree; espework.”
cial: special importance. 7.
being
“I feel like everyone else but I need more help.”
such in an exceptional degree; particu Do you feel like you are treated fairly?
larly valued: a special friend. (MerriamSome responded, “It depends on the teacher.”
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary)
 Do you plan on going to college?
9 of 10 students, “Yes.”
(This information was collected by CelesteTerry in May 2008.)
Services Around the World, As Reported by Our International Students
Guinea:
Iran:
“Students with physical or emotional disabilities have
their own schools, but some of them don’t go to
school. Some parents ask teachers to teach their children at home after school. There are no laws to protect them.”
“We have special education programs in both public and private schools.
Teachers work with students on special things like
students: Photo by Alamy
during lunch. I don’t know Iranianwww.guardian.co.uk
if we have laws about this.
I think it’s better for these students to stay with
normal students but the ones that don’t want to
should be separated.”
Tunisia:
“Everyone receives the same education. There is no
special needs teacher, however there are private tutors. Parents do not ask for services. If they are
blind, they stay home. Mentally challenged students
usually go to school.”
Vietnam:
China:
“Special Education is almost the same as it is
here. Teachers are specially trained to work
with special needs students. Usually these
are teachers who have a lot of experience. I
think that special needs students are included in mainstream classes because the
need to understand all things. They have to
study very well to prepare for examinaTeachers in Vietnam
www.teachersforvietnam.org
tions because in our country all students
have to pass a big exam about literaBurma/ Myanmar:
ture,
English
and math to graduate from junior
“We have special education programs in our country.
Some teachers are trained to work with special needs high school and private schools.”
students but some are not. We have to pay for it.”
Note: This information has not been verified.
“We have special education programs
in public and private schools. Teachers are specially trained and they do
everything to keep their students
grades up. The teacher will have a
meeting with all the parents every few
months. We have laws like the
USA.”
PAW links are LIVE when you view this online at http://esol.qohs.org/PAW/PAW.htm.
FACTS
Since there is great diversity among the education systems of the world, the focus
here is on two countries that are well-represented in our school.
El Salvador
“Most developing countries devote their efforts to serving students with severe or sensory disabilities. In fact,
the bulk of the special education literature in developing countries focuses almost exclusively on individuals
with moderate and/or severe disabilities. Thus, little is
known about special education for students with mild
disabilities in de-veloping countries.”
Special Education in Latin America: Experiences and
Issues, Alfredo J. Artiles, Daniel P. Hallahan, 1995.
In 1993 the Salvadorian government established the National Council for the Integral Support of
Persons with disabilities. According to the government, identification takes place in special schools or
by professionals hired by the family. If the child is
able to attend regular schools then a special education teacher is provided to that student. There are
special schools for physically disabled, blind, hearing
impaired, mildly and severely retarded. All those of
“school age” are allowed services. There is no budget
for special education; it is mostly funded by international organizations.(Studies conducted by the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
1 9 9 6
h t t p : / / e r i c . e d . g o v /
E R I C D o c s d a t a e r i c d o c s 2 s q l c o ntent_storage_01/0000019b/80/16/95/2f.pdf)
According to studies, there are significant differences in the quality and services of the education
system depending on one’s economic means. For
example, 70% of the wealthy attend preschool versus
only 27% of the poor. However there has been much
reform since 1993 and these numbers have increased
significantly. “Because teachers have neither the
preparation nor the conditions to provide differentiated
and effective attention to repeaters, many of these
children repeat several times (one of every two children has repeated two or more times). Eventually,
many repeaters abandon school before completing
the sixth grade. As a result, only one of every four students completes the nine grades of basic education.”
One important element of learning, the use of
textbooks to develop reading skills, is lacking especially in rural areas. Most schools have some textbooks but they are “seldom used and teachers often
have students copy information from the chalkboard.”
FACTS
El Salvador spends less on public schools
than most Latin American countries, 3.3% of its gross
domestic product. Only Ecuador, Guatemala, and Uruguay and Peru spend less. Other Latin American
countries spend at least 4% of their respective GDPs
for
education.
http://eric.ed.gov/
ER I C Do c sd a t a e r i cd o cs2 s q l co tent_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/c7/15.pdf
USAID Basic Education in El Salvador: Consolidating
the Foundations for Quality and Equal Opportunities,
2005
Taiwan
Since the 1980’s, Taiwan has created laws
similar to ours such as the Physically and Mentally
Disabled Citizens Protection Act, the Special Education Act, as well as the Children and Adolescents Welfare Act. Furthermore, from 1995 the Taiwanese government has placed more attention on “early intervention” in public schools.
The system works much like ours in Maryland.
There is a referral system, a team evaluation and then
case management. From 1997, the Department of
Health, through hospitals, has set up “Centers of
Team Evaluation for Child Development” which include the following: pediatricians, clinical psychologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists,
speech therapists, and social workers. “Thus, it is
evident that the team evaluation for children’s development is highly valued in Taiwan.”
Despite these gains in the system, the report
“Taiwanese Model of Early Intervention Needs Assessment System” by Hua-Kuo Ho (2008) claims:
“The current early intervention needs assessment
system generally seems to have such functional problems as shortage of funding and professional manpower, poor coordination among social welfare, health
and education agencies and organizations, low rate of
notification for screening (especially for the ages 0-3),
weak parental willingness to receive services, lack of
assessment and intervention resources, as well as the
reliability and validity problems in assessment instruments.”http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/
content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3d/48/0f.pdf
MORE ABOUT OUR WORLD...
To read more interesting statistics of Special
Education services in the 52 countries that
are members of the United Nations, go to
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/
content_storage_01/0000019b/80/16/95/2f.pdf
For contributions, ideas and feedback, please contact Elizabeth Fuhrman (ESOL).
PAW issues are now available online at http://esol.qohs.org/PAW/PAW.htm.
A Quince Orchard High School ESOL Department Publication