Korean Special Education Referral Process:
(Interview)
Q: Name / Title / How many years working as a special education administrator/counselor?
A: Heo Yeong-Gang / Instructor of Special Education Center / 7 Years
Q: What are the most common disabilities at the school?
A: Mental Retardation
Q: How is a student referred to special education?
A:
1. The homeroom teacher must observe the student for at least 3 months before the referral process can begin.
2. Ask for parents' permission to start the process.
3. The homeroom teacher will report to the principle/supervisor that they will be starting this process.
4. Call the special education support center and then set a time for them to come to the school to observe the child.
5. The student will then take a basic test. This is to get a rough analysis of what disabilities the child might be dealing with.
6. Inform the parents of the conclusion.
7. If the parents agree, they will take the child to a specialist, and get them tested one more time to get a more concrete answer on what disability(ies) the child has.
Q: Who takes responsibility for the referral process of the child?
A: No one person's responsibility – It will be a collaborative effort with the Homeroom Teacher / Principle / and Sp. Education Instructor. This is called the ‘Special Education Management Council’.
Q: How much do parents help in the referral process and in special education?
A: This is the most important factor. The parents MUST agree to put their child in special education and proceed with the process.
(so without their continual involvement throughout, their child cannot continue with the referral process)
Q: What if the parents disagree with the evaluation results? (disagree that their child has special needs)
A: If the parents disagree then it is stopped right there.
Q: Do students get Individual Education Program? (Do they get special one on one teaching made only for them?)
^If yes, how do they get special treatment?
A:
· Yes – They receive IEP’s.
· First define the disability category and level (mental/physical – high needs low needs)
· Sp. Ed teacher makes an IEP – then the special education teacher will follow the program
o Counseling
o Family support
o Treatment support
o Sub helper support
o Transportation support
o Financial support (hearing aid, prosthetic limbs)
o Special learning equipment better suited for the child’s needs (Assistive Technology - AT)
Q: Do these children get to have classes with other kids without ‘special needs’?
A: Yes, and the parents choose whether they want their child with the other students or not.
Q: What is ‘success’ in special education?
A: ‘Success’ is when the children are able to become self-relent.
American Special Education Referral Process:
(Interview)
Q: Name / Title / How many years working as a special education administrator/counselor?
A: Missy Bedford / Speech Pathologist (speech teacher) SLP / 5 years
Q: What are the most common disabilities at the school?
A:
· Speech Language Impairment
· Autism Spectrum Disorder
· Developmental Delay
· Attention Deficit Disorder
· Apraxia
· Down Syndrome
· Cerebral Palsy
Q: How is a student referred to special education?
A: Some have development services when they are 0-3 years old and are referred to our school when the child is two years old for our team to evaluate.
Some children come through community screening for academic, motor, speech, or cognitive skills. If they don’t pass the screens, they are referred for evaluation. Sometimes they are referred for another screening in 3-6 months.
A teacher or staff member may tell her co-workers/team members that there is a concern for the child. Typically the child begins additional interventions and if the student isn’t making sufficient progress, he/she may be referred for an evaluation.
Parents may request an evaluation.
Q: Who takes responsibility for the referral process of the child?
A:
· It depends on what the referral is for.
· Speech therapist take responsibility for speech/language/stuttering skills
· Occupational therapist takes responsibility for fine motor and sensory concerns.
· Physical therapist takes responsibility for gross motor concerns.
· Psychologist or teacher takes responsibility for academic or cognitive skills.
Q: How much do parents help in the referral process and in special education?
A: We rely a lot on parent input and parent concerns. We make it a big part of our evaluation process.
Q: What if the parents disagree with the evaluation results? (disagree that their child is special needs)?
A: Parents are allowed to deny services although it doesn’t happen frequently. We focus on how the supports will help their child and how they have helped other children in the past. We also don’t focus a lot on disorder label or specific diagnoses. Instead, we tell the parents it doesn’t matter the diagnosis, we will put in all the supports the child needs in order to be successful in the academic setting.
Q: Do students get Individual Education Program? (Do they get special one on one teaching made only for them?)
^If yes, how do they get special treatment?
A: Yes they get IEPs. They will usually get support through large groups, small groups and one on one intervention.
Interventions are based on the needs of each individual child; Intensity, duration, frequency, group size, etc. These are all based on each child’s needs.
Q: How is the student’s IEP created?
A: The team members will evaluate and create an education plan based off the results of formal testing/Formal and informal observations/and parent or teacher input.
Q: Who is responsible if the IEP is not followed?
A: The case manager (typically the teacher or speech therapist) is responsible. However each team member is also responsible for his/her portion of the IEP plan.
Q: Do these children get to have classes with other kids without ‘special needs’?
A: Yes. At my school we have blended classrooms of 15 students. 5 students have moderate to severe delays, 5 may have mild delays and 5 will have no delays.
The students in the self-contained classes are encouraged to play in blended classrooms when they are ready and able to handle the new setting. They typically start at 10 minutes and increase the time as the student learns the classroom routine and expectations.
Q: What is ‘success’ in special education?
A: Progress of any kind is a success at my school. Progress is individually based. Some kids may progress faster than others so we focus on reasonable expectations for each individual child.
Q: If you could change anything in special education, what would it be?
A:
· More team teaching and less pull-out into small groups teaching for my students with language delays.
· More parent input and teaching/modeling techniques for parents.
Comparison between the two counties & my outlook:
I was very surprised by these responses actually. I did not realize that Korean procedure was such in line with American procedure. From an outside perspective, I assumed that Korea was behind on their special education. I have taught here for 3 ½ years, and I have taught many students that I felt might have fallen under one of the special education categories, but they get bypassed and overlooked.
I continued with the belief that Korea just wasn’t up to American Standards, however they are eerily similar. They even have the same acronym ‘IEP’.
After I was done with this interview, I talked with my co-teacher, Mr. Park, about his time as a homeroom teacher. He informed me that many Korean families do NOT want to admit that their child has special needs. So by them not admitting and seeking out help, their child is pushed through school. Mr. Park told me that the students will continually struggle and there is nothing the school can say or do without the parents’ approval. Park has seen a few children, in his 15 years of teaching, that he believes without a doubt needed special attention and the parents denied him. When I asked him why the parents would deny them he just responded by saying, “Parents think that if a child receives special help then they will not become successful in life.” We continued to talk about some cultural differences that also come into play.
One of the largest cultural differences that effects special education and education in general is that; Korea is immensely populated which leads to competition for jobs and then trickles on down from there. In order to get a ‘good job,’ you must be the best (excel) in University, which then, to get into the best University, you must be the best in High School. To then get in that High School, you must be the best in your Middle School. This carries all the way down into Kindergarten believe it or not!!!
Since education is SO competitive the students end up studying 12+ hours every day (that includes their normal school hours). An average child with this much pressure is difficult, but multiply this with a child with any disability that is not being nurtured properly is absurd!
So although on paper Korea and America do have very similar standards in special education, their culture dictates a very different outcome.
parents fully support their children's special needs.
Special Education in the future:
As I mentioned in my M2U4A1, Special Education has grown tremendously in the last 20 years. One of the biggest advancements in this field would be with technology. As technology grew so did our ability to communicate more effectively. With that growth also came a clearer understanding of how to help identify and support students with these needs. Technology will continue to grow and so will our opportunity to support those children.
Also, I believe there will still be a limit to that growth until we as a society are able to be more open minded with those that have special needs. Once they start getting more opportunities and we can learn how to TRULY integrate people with special needs into the everyday society, then we will be able to see more advancement in the field of special education.
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