Rodriguez 1

Gabriela M. Rodriguez
ENC 1102-0W96
12 November 2020
Final Draft Rhetorical Analysis

“Educational Barriers Heightened for Exceptional Students During Covid-19 Pandemic”: A

Rhetorical Analysis
The argument used for my research project is that Covid-19 has limited K-12 students

from technological tools, where students have found remote instruction to be an obstacle that has

affected their access to education, primarily students with disabilities. The focus of the research

paper is to capture the struggles and respond towards remote instruction that both groups of

students have encountered. To expand my argument, I will be using Madison Martin’s news

article “Educational barriers heightened for exceptional students during Covid-19 Pandemic”

which discusses how changing to remote learning has affected special need students ability to

learn, as well as the frustration parents face towards schools and the Department of Education.

Due to the pandemic parents have gain multiple roles such as becoming teachers, speech

therapists, occupational therapists, and so much more. It is overwhelming for parents because

they are not professionals in the field, they are learning how to accommodate their home to a

learning space and at the same time attend all the needs their children require. This article is

fundamental for my research paper, because it gives a closer look towards the educational crisis

special need students affront. Now to understand the educational barrier special need students are

going through, I am going to explain what the IDEA is and what students follow under what is

called “special need students” also called “exceptional students”; both can be used

interchangeably.
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The IDEA was established in 1975 and was originally named “Education of Handicapped

Children Act” but in 1990 it was changed to what is now called “Individuals with Disability

Education Act”. The importance behind this act is to provide a free public education to children

who have disabilities to receive special learning education which accommodates their needs.

Students with disabilities are now called “special need students” or “exceptional students” which

include those diagnosed with Autism, Deaf blindness, Deafness, Emotional Disturbance, etc.

Exceptional students or special need students are those that fall under the program of ESE

(Exceptional Student Education). Before being diagnosed they follow numerous testing like

interviews, observations and test that will challenge their learning strengths, problems, and

needs. Specialists such as psychologist, teachers, and therapist help each student with their

disability progress to succeed in and after school.

Based on the interview of Martin in “Educational barriers heightened for exceptional

students during Covid-19 Pandemic”, the author presents a narrative with the example of a real

family to appeal to the reader. Martin does so by stating in her article that parents like Katie

Sacra whose son has deaf blindness is frustrated with how schools and the IDEA have been

managing Covid-19, because this year was supposed to be when her son transitioned out of

public school. And that the frustration comes from their children not learning and that all the

progress that students have done at school starts to fade away if it is not constantly practiced.

Drastically changing the routine of a special need children impacts their ability to function. In

other words, the routines students had in school helped them transition to the next day, without

any surprises.

Sacra’s concern about how schools are going to accommodate the children’s needs amid

to the pandemic is alarming where she explains, “We’ve created this entire communication
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system for him this entire communication approach. But all of it is tactile for him” (Martin). This

is a strategical move made by Martin, that provides evidence of the struggle’s parents are dealing

with and it adds to the credibility of her interview. As the interview continues Martin shifts to

talking about statistics where she mentions “…the school district serves over 45,000 students.

Within that number, 6,489 students in the district have a disability”. Highlighting this type

information not only emphasizes the crisis in the Department of Education but states the

problem.

Carl Rogers article “A Psychologist’s View: Rogerian Argument” explains what Martin’s

interview is trying to accomplish. Based on Rogers article, to achieve the Rogerian Argument

one should present both sides of the story and persuade the reader without the obligation of

determining what is right or wrong. The base of Rogerian Argument is to establish a balance

between rhetor and reader, where there is space for both opinions, without being confrontational.

Martin then introduces Lisa Bourcier, who is the spokesperson of Horry County Schools, where

in the interview Bourcier mentions that they have received a ton of concerning emails in regards

of a reopening plan for the schools. She then adds that the emails are going to be addressed and

that she and the school county are working into making remote instruction successful. The

importance of Martin mentioning both sides is to inform that even though parents are unhappy

with the Department of Education, the school’s county are on their side, trying to come up with a

plan so that their children do not follow behind.

The reading “Intertextuality and the Discourse Community” by James Porter, mentions

how a group of people that share a common interest have their own discourse community, which

has a certain language, and genre. This supports Martin’s article, because it explains why she

paid attention in adding and defining what IDEA (Individuals with Disability Education Act) and
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IPEA (Individualized Education Program). This decision of her was a wise strategy, because

since the article was going to be accessible to a general audience, it meant that not every reader

is going to understand the terminology used as well as the purpose both act and program imply.

Another defining feature about Porter’s reading was the word “intertextuality” which defines as

an interconnection between texts that influences the audience understanding about the source

being used. This intertextuality is seen when Martin incorporates sources like Family Connection

of South Carolina, which is a nonprofit organization that provides information and training to

parents of students with disabilities. The organization’s idea is to open a space of discourse

where parents can share their stories, get support and guidance.

When analyzing Martin’s approach towards opening schools as an option to make special

need students learning successful, she missed an important part of information which was how

the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) viewed this possible solution. The CDC

has established social distancing, which means no touching, students should remain in their

assigned area, masks and/or face shields must be worn, etc. Their posture towards special need

students going to school is that they are at higher risk of getting Covid-19. This is because there

are special need students who have a compromised immune system, which have no choice to just

adapt to remote learning. During Martin’s interview a valid point was mentioned by Chrissy

Holman, a mother of a special needs student, who said that even though schools could have a

plan for back to school, they needed to consider each students situation because what works for

ten students not necessarily works for the rest. Meanwhile, other parents have tried to mimic

their children school routines the damage has been done, making special need students regress

educationally.
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The mission behind the argument of my research paper is to explain to the readers the

crisis we are having in the Department of Education and the challenges students and special need

students affront due to Covid-19. Madison Martin’s article conveys this message and urge

towards remote instruction being an impediment for students learning. Her rhetorical analysis

about the transition to online classes mainly for special need students will help me locate the

where exactly does the root of the problem starts. Research and interviews still need to be

conducted because schools have never operated under a pandemic. I believe choosing this source

provides credibility and evidence to my research paper because it informs the audience and

persuades them into being sympathetic towards the struggles remote instruction is causing to K-

12 students.

Work Cited
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Martin, Madison. “Educational Barriers Heightened for Special Needs Students during COVID

19 Pandemic.” Https://Www.wmbfnews.com, 14 Aug.

2020, https://www.wmbfnews.com/2020/08/13/educational-barriers-heightened-special-

needs-students-during-covid-pandemic/