Kai Smith

MUED 271

Due: Oct 24, 2016

Hammel Blog Post

A. Chapter 1

1. How should public education function within a democracy?

Within a democracy, it is the role of the public school education to provide every

student, no matter their background, with an equal opportunity to learn and equal access

to similar experiences in education.

2. Discuss the inequities within our current public school education system.

Within our current public school education system, there are inequalities between

students that belong to different ethnic and race groups, and even within students with

disabilities. The students with disabilities that live in below the poverty line would not be

able to access the same quality of support groups and educators that students with

disabilities who don't live below the poverty line could afford.

3. What is special education?

Special education is defined as “speically designed instruction, which meets the

unique needs of an exceptional child” (Hammel, pg.5)

4. What are the continued challenges with inclusion in the 21st century?

Teachers that work in full-inclusion classrooms often struggle with larger class

sizes, a perceived lack of support, and hectic schedules. They also have troubles when
 they are constantly driven to teach to standardized tests that don't accommodate for

teachers who need to teach students with disabilities.

5. Describe how public school programs are funded.

Currently, public school programs are being funded solely on a real estate tax-

based system.

6. How does question five affect students in urban and rural settings?

This system of funding of public schools often falls short in being able to afford

all that is required to support students with disabilities and their families through their

public school education. Urban schools are often underfunded and understaffed and are

constantly under pressure to meet requirements for federal funding from NCLB.

Students with disabilities in rural areas often have no choice but to travel long distances

to receive the treatment and support that they need and which often comes at the expense

of the families.

7. How can raising a child with a disability affect a family?

Raising a child with a disability can be a very big financial burden on a family. A

family with a child with a disability will often need to provide for some therapy,

equipment and transportation, legal and administrative expenses, and other services so

that their child can receive the same opportunities as the other students in the public

school system.

8. Describe the five categories of disabilities and the label-free approach.

In the label-free approach to Music Education, it is the educator’s job to eliminate

any disparities in educational opportunities for all students which can be accomplished
 by refocusing the teacher to focus on on whole student body instead of what

predicaments that a student may have as to allow the teacher to focus on the music

education of students with and without special needs.

B. Chapter 2

1. Discuss how the advocacy efforts employed during the civil rights movement was

mirrored by those advocating for persons with special needs (and students with special

needs).

Because the discussion around education was centered around the improvement of

educational opportunities as a result of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court

Case, parents and supporters of children with disabilities banded together behind

advocacy groups to push legislation to prevent schools from discriminating against

students with reasons that are not justified.

2. How did P.L. 94-142, and later IDEA expand during the 35-year history?

After P.L. 94-142 was passed, P.L. 99-457 was passed which expanded the range

of age of services provided for students with disabilities to every child aged 3 to 21.

Then, P.L. 94-142 was amended and renamed Individuals with Disabilities Education

Act (IDEA) of 1990. IDEA made it so children were re-termed individuals, the term

handicapped was changed to persons with disabilities, transition plans were enforced for

students with disabilities who were going on into the workforce or into secondary

education, and autism and traumatic brain injury was added to the list of disabilities. And

lastly, an IDEA amendment in 1997 (P.L. 105-17) changed how schools could react to
 disciplinary issues of students with disabilities which prevented schools from repeatedly

sending students with disabilities back home with suspensions or expulsions.

3. What are the six principles of IDEA and how does each apply in the music classroom?

ZERO REJECT applies to the music classroom because a music educator is not

allowed to exclude a student with a disability from participating with the rest of class.

NONDISCRIMINATORY EVALUATION can apply to the music classroom because it

is the role of the special education professionals to come up with the most appropriate

educational setting for the students with disabilities and the job of the music educator to

help that team of professionals with the evaluation and observation procedures. FREE

AND APPROPRIATE EDUCATION applies because it becomes the music educators job

to come up with modifications to our lesson plans and course goals for the benefit of the

students with disabilities. With LRE, it is the job of the music educator to find the best

way to include the students with disabilities into the classroom as much as possible.

PROCEDURAL DUE PROCESS applies because if the parents of the student with

special needs thinks that the student’s placement is not appropriate, they can file a

request to review the student’s placements. PARENT INVOLVEMENT applies because

it allows for the parental involvement in the student’s music making process.

4. Describe “least restrictive environment” and state how this may be achieved in the music

classroom (at least 3 examples).

The Least Restrictive Environment is an academic environment that includes the

students with disabilities with the students without disabilities and it is also the

environment where the students learns the best. In the music classroom, the student can
 either be included into a classroom with a lot of students without disabilities such as

band, orchestra, or a choir class. If the student with a disability does not learn the best

with a lot of other students, we can lower the number of interactions that student has to

deal with by placing them in a smaller music class such as a music technology class. And

finally, if none of the mentioned options works for the student with a disability, the

music educator can even work privately with that student.

5. How would you respond to a teacher who wants to keep a student from attending your

class to take part in remediation to meet AYP under NCLB? What data demonstrating the

effectiveness and applicability of your instruction would you be able to cite?

Personally, I would respond by noting that NCLB has been replaced by ESSA

which heavily reduces the pressure on schools to assess their students through

standardized testing and allows schools to refocus on the developing the “whole child”.

There would be many research-based articles and journals that I would be able to cite

that would show just how important a musical education can be, especially for students

with disabilities.

6. What are some ways you, and the music teacher, could participate as part of the RTI

system at you school?

As a member of the school’s RTI team, the music educator’s ability to present,

describe, and confirm our research-based and best practice teaching in the music

classroom is important as part of the school-wide effort to apply RTI for the benefit of all

students in the public school system.