Making Regular School Special.

Making Regular School Special. Making Regular School Special. J. Henderson. New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : SchockenBooks, 1986. 224 pp., 17.95. Making Regular Schools Special chroniclesthe efforts of a director of special education and his staff to provideappropriate programs for handicapped students in a Massachusetts schooldistrict. The author's stated purpose is to provide parents,special educators, politicians, and human service providers with "acomprehensive picture of the component parts of the special-educationdelivery system, its programs, its staffing patterns, the dynamics ofits team structure, as well as a knowledge of those departments andagencies with whom the public, special educators, and teams becomeinvolved" (p. xxiii). The book draws heavily on the experience theauthor and his staff have gained since the passage of state legislationin 1972 (Chapter 766) which mandated free, public education forhandicapped students in the state of Massachusetts. Because Chapter 766was a precursor precursor/pre��cur��sor/ (pre��kur-ser) something that precedes. In biological processes, a substance from which another, usually more active or mature, substance is formed. In clinical medicine, a sign or symptom that heralds another. to P.L. 94-142, the information presented is broadlyapplicable to other states. The book's ten chapters can best be described in terms of thesix major topics that are addressed. Chapter I describes theauthor's training and experience as a teacher, principal, andschool psychologist psy��chol��o��gistn.A person trained and educated to perform psychological research, testing, and therapy.psychologist. While studying child psychology in England in theearly 1970s, the author became disenchanted dis��en��chant?tr.v. dis��en��chant��ed, dis��en��chant��ing, dis��en��chantsTo free from illusion or false belief; undeceive.[Obsolete French desenchanter, from Old French, with educating handicappedstudents in separate schools. As he studied the Scandanavian model ofproviding services to handicapped students, he came to viewmainstreaming as a more desirable model. Upon his return to the states,the author became a director of special education shortly afterMassachusetts had passed legislation mandating free, public educationfor all handicapped students. Building planning and placement teams are discussed in Chapters 2and 3. Among the topics presented are establishing teams; working withadvocacy groups and parents; working with children who present severehandicapping conditions; and working with human service agencies tocoordinate treatment programs for handicapped students and theirfamilies. The general functions of building planning and placement teamsare described, and information on the types of program options offeredby the district are discussed. An overview of human service agencies in Massachusetts is providedin Chapter 4. The author discusses some of the tensions between schoolsand various agencies regarding the provision of services to handicappedstudents and describes his efforts in support of legislation tofacilitate interagency collaboration. When legislation failed tomaterialize ma��te��ri��al��ize?v. ma��te��ri��al��ized, ma��te��ri��al��iz��ing, ma��te��ri��al��iz��esv.tr.1. To cause to become real or actual: By building the house, we materialized a dream. , a pilot project known as Project Link was initiated to findan efficient way for human service providers and public schoolprofessionals to deliver support services support servicesPsychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services to handicapped students andtheir families. The project's general aims are described in somedetail. Chapter 5 focuses on the role of the consulting psychiatrist psychiatrist/psy��chi��a��trist/ (si-ki��ah-trist) a physician who specializes in psychiatry. psy��chi��a��tristn.A physician who specializes in psychiatry. andwas written by an individual who served in this capacity for severalyears. This chapter discusses the psychiatrist's involvement withteachers, handicapped students and their families, school counselors,building planning and placement teams, as well as his experience withdue process hearings. Special education law is treated in Chapters 6-9. Chapters 6 and 7were written by an attorney. An overview of the special educationappeals process is provided in Chapter 6, and issues in specialeducation law are discussed in Chapter 7. A due process hearing, whichplaced the building planning and placement team at odds with thedistrict superintendent District Superintendent may be: District Superintendent (United Methodist Church) A rank in the London Metropolitan Police in use from 1869 to 1886, when it was renamed Chief Constable , is presented in Chapter 8. The inclusion of thetranscript enables the reader to follow the entire process and gain someinsight into how disagreements concerning the placement of handicappedstudents are resolved. The final chapter contains suggestions for future directions forthe next ten years. Recommendations include developing master plans forin-service programs for all teachers regarding the education ofhandicapped students; establishing joint special and regular educationteaching teams; developing master special education assessment teams whowould conduct evaluations for severely handicapped students, act asliaisons with agencies for students placed outside the district, andconsult with teaching teams. in addition, the role of special educationadministrators is outlined; suggestions for revising the appeals processare provided; and the development of locally based interagencycollaborative teams to coordinate the delivery of services tohandicapped students and their families is urged. Although the book is billed as a broadly applicable manual, itfalls short of providing specific guidelines guidelines,n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. for developing anddelivering educational programs. Rather, it portrays some of thedifficulties encountered in trying to translate legislation intopractice and offers general suggestions for establishing teams,developing parent groups, and facilitating cooperative arrangementsbetween various agencies and schools to coordinate services forhandicapped students and their families. The book would most likely beof interest to individuals in school administrative positions.