Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 8A
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Wednesday, February 11,2004
Forsyth among state’s top special ed programs
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
The Georgia Department
of Education recently honored
Forsyth County Schools as
one of the top 10 special edu
cation programs in the state.
The local program has
increased the graduation rate
of exceptional students to
more than 65 percent,
improved state test scores,
enabled students to spend
more time in the general class-
room and
helped
them tran
sition to
post-gradu
ation goals.
The fed
eral Indivi
duals with
Disabilities
Education
Act (IDEA)
ensures
public edu
cation for
learning
disabled
66
Having special
needs doesn't
mean you have no
ability to learn,
nor are you dis
abled in every
thing.
- Ellen Cohan,
Forsyth County Schools
99
children ages 3 through 21.
Forsyth County Schools
serves roughly 3,000 students
with special needs. The school
system budgets approximately
$3.5 million for special educa
tion services, said Sharon
Purdie. director of the Forsyth
County Schools Special
Education Department. That
total includes salaries for a
department staff of 11, con
tractual rehabilitative thera
pists, transportation and an
array of special programs. The
county has 310 teachers desig
nated as special education
instructors.
Special education students
are truly an exceptional group.
There are students with mild
or moderate learning prob
lems, and those with severe
functional problems. Many
only receive speech therapy.
Some are even enrolled in the
gifted education program
simultaneously.
“Children have different
strengths. Having special
needs doesn’t mean you have
no ability to learn, nor are you
disabled in everything,”
Associate Superintendent
Ellen Cohan said.
Inclusive classrooms group
together all levels of learners,
from academically gifted to
learning disabled. In Forsyth’s
inclusive classrooms, a special
education specialist co-teaches
with the general education
teacher, paying particular
attention to the needs of slow
er learners.
“It is better for teachers
and other children in that the
special education teacher can
focus on assisting slow learn
ers to come to standard, while
the teacher focuses on deliver
ing the content,” Cohan said.
Forsyth County Schools
implemented inclusive class-
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rooms before the federal No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001
mandated that special educa
tion students have access to
the general curriculum.
The IDEA’S Least
Restrictive Environment
(LRE) rule dictates that 90
percent of students should
receive 80 percent of instruc
tion in the general education
setting. According to the
Education Resources
Information Center (ERIC)
Council for Exceptional
Children,
the follow
ing two
questions
determine
the LRE for
each child
in Georgia:
(1) Can an
appropriate
education
in the gen
eral educa
tion class
room with
the use of
supplementary aids and serv
ices be achieved satisfactori
ly? (2) If a student is placed in
a more restrictive setting, is
the student "integrated" to the
"maximum extent appropri
ate"?
Studies by the U.S.
Department of Education
Office of Special Education
Programs (OSEP) show that
special needs students
increase academic achieve
ment and social skills by join
ing their peers in the general
education setting.
“You never know what
these students are going to
accomplish unless you chal
lenge them,” Purdie said.
“If you segregate them too
much, they really don’t have
those peers to learn from,” she
said.
Because of inclusion, there
are two teachers in the class
room for part of the day.
Therefore learning disabled
students are not the only ones
who benefit from co-teaching,
Purdie said. Slow learners,
those who perform below
average but do not qualify as
disabled, show the most
improvement. Studies also
show that inclusion has no
impact on gifted students.
“Kids in a co-taught class
who are above average do as
well in a co-taught class as in
a class with a single teacher,”
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Photo/David McGregor
Coal Mountain Elementary School special education
teacher Kim Hendon listens as second-grade student
Kayla Evans comments on a recent class reading
lesson.
Purdie said.
Teaching strategies designed
for students with disabilities
are shown to benefit the gen
eral classroom, according to
the OSEP.
One Forsyth classroom is
sampling an audio amplifica
tion system. The system was
intended to help children with
attention deficit disorder focus
on the teacher’s voice and
assist hearing impaired stu
dents. The teacher reported
that all students were able to
pay attention better due to the
system, Purdie said.
Students with disabilities
still benefit from individual
ized services at least one peri
od each day. Also, prekinder
garten and developmental
delay kindergarten classes are
available to give students with
unique needs a head start
before entering the general
classroom. When a child
begins in special education, an
Individual Education Plan is
created and updated annually
to address the educational set
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progress.
Forsyth County Schools
formed a task force on spe
cial education in the fall of
2003. Parents, community
members, school administra
tors, special education and
general education teachers
meet quarterly to measure
progress on the continuous
improvement plan for special
education. The goals for
2003-2004 are to decrease
the drop out rate, increase
performance success on
statewide achievement tests
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By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
There is something differ
ent about 9-year-old Kayla
Evans, a student in Cathy
Hogan’s second grade class
room at Coal Mountain
Elementary.
Her permanent smile sin
gles Kayla out from the rest
of the children. She seems to
be the happiest child in the
class. Kayla’s grin is espe
cially wide when the class is
“echo reading,” repeating
after the teacher as they fol
low along in a book.
Kayla has Down syn
drome, a genetic condition
characterized by delays in
physical and intellectual
development. Though Kayla
cannot read on her own,
books get her excited. Her
entire attention is focused on
the page at hand. She prac
tices letter recognition or
sounds and follows the story
as the class reads.
“We take the same activi
ty and she can meet her
needs and they can meet
their needs,” special educa-
and increase the amount of
time spend in the general
education setting.
In an effort to decrease the
dropout rate, the special edu
cation department hopes to
start a program by next fall
that would train learning dis
abled students for future
careers. The Zero Period pro
gram would meet before or
after school. High school stu
dents could focus on horticul
ture, automobile mechanics or
cosmetology and work toward
certification.
tion teacher Kim Hendon
said.
Kayla is in the general
classroom setting for most of
the day, leaving for an hour
and 15 minutes for speech
therapy. Hendon spends one
and a half hours each day in
Hogan’s classroom to pro
vide services for Kayla and
other students with disabili
ties. She team teaches the
entire class with Hogan.
Because Hendon provides
extra attention to any stu
dent, most of the class is
unaware that Hendon is there
mainly for Kayla’s benefit.
Hogan’s second-graders are
fully aware that Kayla is spe
cial, however.
• During a class lesson on
“The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate
the Wash” by Trinka Hakes
Noble, students were
instructed to illustrate a
scene from the book.
Madison Noda, who sits next
to Kayla, gave her little
nudges of encouragement
during the assignment.
“That’s the best snake
See KAYLA, Page 9A
“There are many kids who
may never read above a sec
ond or third grade level but
can make good, reliable
employees,” Purdie said.
The special education
department brought Parent
Mentor Kathy Evans on
board this year to help fami
lies navigate special educa
tion programs. Her position
is funded by a state grant.
She is a source of informa
tion and a mediator for par
ents of children with special
needs.