Creative Education, 2019, 10, 1973-1981
//www.scirp.org/journal/ce
ISSN Online: 2151-4771
ISSN Print: 2151-4755
10.4236/ce.2019.109143 Sep. 11, 2019 1973 Creative Education
Perspectives of Special Education: Literature
Review and Interview
Elizabeth Block, Mary Breaud, Caroline McNulty, Tiffany Papa, Mistie Perry
College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, USA
This article provides historical and present-day perspectives on special educa-
tion including a review of current literature as well as data collected from a
face-to-face interview with a special education leader at an elementary school
in south Louisiana. The interviewee offered rich insight and first-hand know-
ledge regarding placement of students with disabilities in inclusive school set-
tings. Based on the interview responses, two themes emerged in response to
the overarching question of how do SPED teachers and leaders create success
for students with l
earning differences? These themes include: 1] the SPED
environment and 2] approaches of successful SPED teachers. The data within
these themes suggest that the interviewee perceives inclusion to be the great-
est advancement in the field of special education
as his experiences describe
the beneficial aspects of the inclusion classroom setting for students with
disabilities. These experiences have contributed to his belief that one day all
classrooms in every school will be inclusive in nature.
Keywords
Special Education, Leadership, Disabilities, Inclusion
1. Introduction
Special education is a form of education that focuses on the needs of students
with disabilities and learning differences. Groundbreaking laws and policies that
were implemented in the last 50 years have transformed special education into
what it is today with inclusion at the forefront. In order to provide a framework
for continuous improvement in the area of special education, a review of the li-
terature regarding its history over the last 50 years is offered. Special educator
perspectives are relevant as these individuals have first-hand knowledge of what
practices work best for students with disabilities. Through an interview with a
Block, E.,
., McNulty, C., Papa, T., & Perry, M.
9].
Perspectives of Special Education:
Literature Review and Interview
.
,
10
, 1973-1981.
//doi.org/10.4236/ce.2019.109143
August 14, 2019
September 8, 2019
September 11, 2019
9 by author[s] and
Research Publishing Inc.
licensed under the Creative
Commons Attribution International
4.0].
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
E. Block et al.
10.4236/ce.2019.109143 1974 Creative Education
SPED teacher and leader, the authors explore the overarching question of how
SPED teachers and leaders create success for students with disabilities.
2. A Historical Approach to Special Education
Historically, students with disabilities were isolated from the general population
of students and placed in self-contained special education classrooms which only
housed special education students. Present-day special education practices are
vastly different from the practices of the past. A series of significant historical
events profoundly transformed the practice of special education. In 1975, the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act [National Education Association of
the United States, 1978] was signed by President Gerald Ford. It required public
schools to provide free education to children with mental and physical handi-
caps. This law ensured that availability of special education services to children
in need and guaranteed that decisions about services for students with disabili-
ties were fair and appropriate. It also established specific management and au-
diting requirements for special education while providing federal funds to help
states educate students with disabilities [Block & Carter, 2016].
In 1997, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] were signed
by President Bill Clinton providing positive changes to the Education for All
Handicapped Children’s Act. IDEA ensured that both regular and special needs
students have access to the same high-quality curriculum [US Department of
Education, 2007] and guaranteed that students with Individualized Education
Programs [IEPs], participation in the Least Restrictive Environments [LREs],
and requires qualified teachers for students with disabilities. Building on this
legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act was signed in 2001 by President George
W. Bush to ensure the best education for low income and disabled students. He
stated that the Department of Education was committed to ensuring that all child-
ren—including children with disabilities—receive a high-quality education [US
Department of Education, 2004]. Before IDEA, if students with special needs were
not spending their days in an institution, they were segregated from their peers at
district schools in separate classrooms run by teachers who were not properly
trained in special education [US Department of Education, 2007].
Great strides have been made in the field of special education in the last 50
years to evolve to the current special education practices of less segregation and
more integration. IDEA requires that a continuum of placement options be
available to meet the needs of students with disabilities [Anderson, 2018]. The
law ensures that to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities
should be educated with children who are typically developing. Special classes,
separate schooling or removal of children with disabilities from typically devel-
oping peers occurs only when education cannot be attained satisfactorily with
the use of supplementary aids and services [Classroom Leadership, 2001]. Stu-
dents with disabilities are spending less time isolated from their peers and more
time interacting and socializing in general education classrooms known as inclu-
sion classrooms. From 1989-2010, there was a 90 percent increase in the time
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10.4236/ce.2019.109143 1975 Creative Education
special education students spent in inclusion classrooms [Anderson, 2018].
These inclusive classrooms afford both special education students and tradition-
al students more instructional time, fewer absences, better post-secondary out-
comes, and increased social benefits for both populations as students learn to
better relate to diverse populations [Anderson, 2018].
The perspectives of special educators and their leaders are vital to positive
change in advancing the practice of inclusion. These perceptions and expe-
riences provide a crucial lens through which educators and researchers may view
inclusion theory and literature. Educators must be multifaceted to properly run
an effective inclusive classroom and meet the needs of a diverse student popula-
tion. Teachers have created inclusive classrooms conducive to learning by con-
sulting Individualized Education Programs [IEPs], relaying content in diverse
ways, using various approaches for processing information, incorporating life
skills training into lessons, collaborating with other teachers, and following a
flexible behavior plan [Special Education Guide, 2019]. These positive changes
have taken place in both inclusion classrooms and special education leadership
positions. A special education leader has clear responsibilities for understanding
the ever changing laws and regulations and working closely with state depart-
ments of education on compliance and monitoring. They are responsible for
ensuring that students with disabilities are provided a high-quality education.
Additionally, they evaluate the special education staff to ensure that special edu-
cation students are making progress [Bateman & Cline, 2019].
Significant legislation over the past 50 years has transformed special education
and brought awareness to the best practices of inclusive classrooms. Perspectives
and experiences of special educators are essential in creating a foundation for
continuous improvement in the field. To obtain this first-hand knowledge, an
interview with a special education leader was conducted in order to gain insight
into the field of special education. The interview questions were aligned with the
literature with regard to best practices in inclusive settings, federal regulations
and challenges inherent to the field.
3. Methodology
3.1. Setting and Participant
A face-to-face interview with a leader in special education was conducted in
April of 2019 at an elementary school located in south Louisiana. The special
education leader has 29 years of experience as an educator, 20 of which were as a
special education teacher within a local school district and the last nine years as a
special education leader within the same school district. He was selected due to
accessibility and his extensive years of experience in special education. In addi-
tion, the interviewee has received regional and state recognition for his contri-
butions to the field of special education.
3.2. Questionnaire
The interview questions were developed by the authors in order to obtain the
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10.4236/ce.2019.109143 1976 Creative Education
interviewee’s insights regarding his experiences in special education. Twelve
questions were developed as extensions from special education literature with
the overarching goal of discerning how do SPED teachers and leaders perceive
special education as well as how special education teachers create success for all
students with learning differences? Based on the literature, the authors including
the following: 1] What are your job responsibilities? 2] What are your past work
experiences? 3] What is your philosophy regarding special education? 4] How
have you implemented this philosophy? 5] What major changes have you seen
throughout your career in special education? 6] What are your thoughts on re-
cent SPED initiatives? 7] What is your approach to collaborative teaming in
SPED? 8] What were the rewards of being a special educator? 9] What are the
challenges of being a special education leader? 10] What is the state of special
education with regard to inclusive settings? 11] What do you see in the future of
early childhood special education? 12] What advice would you give to a new
teacher in special education? These questions were designed as a cursory probe
into the perspectives of a SPED leader. Interview questions and responses may
be found in Appendix A.
3.3. Procedure
In April of 2019, the selected interviewee was contacted and asked if he would
meet for a face-to-face interview in order to gather his insights regarding the
field of special education. The interviewer met in the interviewee’s office in the
school district for approximately one hour. The interviewer posed 12 questions
and recorded the responses on a voice memo app on her mobile device while
taking hand-written notes.
4. Results
Interview responses were transcribed from the interviewer’s notes and mobile
recording [see Appendix A]. From the 12 posed questions, two main themes
emerged [see Table 1] as support for the overarching question: how do SPED
teachers and leaders create success for students with disabilities? The first theme
Table 1. Overarching question: how do SPED teachers and leaders create success for stu-
dents with disabilities?
Theme: SPED Environment Theme: Approaches to Successful SPED Teachers
Most natural environment Multi-faceted approach to education
Least restrictive environment Collaborative teaming
Environments that expose students to
new learning and new experiences Team approach in delegating tasks
Growth found in moving from
self-contained to inclusive classrooms
Flexibility and growth: change is inevitable, response
to change is significant
Student growth in inclusion classrooms Continued advocacy of inclusion classrooms
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10.4236/ce.2019.109143 1977 Creative Education
that emerged was the SPED Environment with the following responses catego-
rized within: 1] most natural environment; 2] least restrictive environment; 3]
environments that expose students to new learning and new experiences; 4]
growth found in moving from self-contained to inclusive classrooms; and 5]
student growth in inclusion classrooms. The second theme that emerged from
the interview is approaches for successful SPED teachers including: a] mul-
ti-faceted approach to education; b] collaborative teaming; c] team approach in
delegating tasks; d] flexibility and growth with response to change as significant;
and e] continued advocacy of inclusion classrooms.
5. Discussion
The responses were then analyzed in conjunction with the literature to obtain a
more thorough understanding of the field of special education from the vantage
point of a special education leader. The interview offered insight into how spe-
cial education has evolved and how inclusive settings will continue to evolve in
the years to come. Responses that supported theme one [SPED environment] in-
cluded the interviewee’s greatest reward in becoming a SPED teacher; that of
student growth. He stated that special education is extremely gratifying to him
because of the growth that he observes in his students as they overcome various
obstacles. Based on his experiences, the interviewee believes that inclusive set-
tings are the most beneficial settings in which to see growth among students
with disabilities. He stated that he is extremely satisfied that today’s model of
special education is the inclusion classroom and in most cases, placing special
education students in inclusion classrooms is the most effective way to meet
their needs. Just as Anderson [2018] found a reciprocity in social growth for
special needs and regular education children within inclusive classrooms, the
interviewee also shared his experiences with these multi-directional benefits for
all students.
The second emerging theme found in the interview centered on the approaches
of successful SPED teachers. The interviewee stated the biggest challenge of a
special educator and/or special education leader is the continuously changing
federal regulations. Keeping current with the changing laws and policies with
regard to special education and the implementation of these laws and policies is
a challenge that necessitates flexibility. He also shared that learning to be flexible
is the advice he gives to new teachers; “Regulations are always changing; rules
are always changing; and IEPs continuously change. Never get too complacent.
If you learn to evolve with the job, you will be successful.” In addition to flexibil-
ity, the interviewee shared that SPED teachers and leaders must engage in colla-
borative teaming in order to provide students with all available resources. The
interviewee explained that by providing special education students with every-
thing they need to be successful, whether it be specialty educators, therapists,
school psychologists and/or nurses, they are given an equal opportunity to learn
and grow in their most natural environment. Furthermore, the interviewee
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10.4236/ce.2019.109143 1978 Creative Education
agrees with the multi-faceted approach of assisting the students with disabilities
in a variety of ways in order to help them reach their full potential.
6. Limitations
This study contained several limitations. One special education teacher/leader
whose experiences have been specific to one district was interviewed. In the fu-
ture, input from multiple SPED teachers/leaders across school districts should be
sought in a focus group format allowing for greater depth of data collection
leading to greater generalizability of results. In addition, the interview questions
were not based on existing survey tools and questions were designed as a cursory
dive into perceptions of a SPED teacher/leader. Future survey questions should
be piloted prior to implementation and consist of a narrower focus on the two
themes that emerged from this study.
7. Future Implications
The history of special education has been wrought with the seclusion and labe-
ling of children with disabilities. To address this challenge, advocates in the field
of education have championed policies for children with special needs over the
last 50 years, transforming the landscape of special education. This study
prompts future investigation of SPED teachers’/leaders’ perceptions of inclusion
classrooms as well as the skills identified as crucial in creating success for stu-
dents with disabilities. Future exploration of the two themes identified in this
study will expand the strategies and tools that are perceived as useful and subse-
quently help to support other teachers and professionals provide effective guid-
ance and instruction to students with disabilities. The interviewee in this study
stated that the schools in his district typically only have two inclusion classrooms
out of every five non-inclusion classrooms in any given grade level. Future ex-
amination of SPED teachers’ strategies and real-world experiences may prompt
policy makers to expand the resources available to special education so that
every classroom in every grade level will be considered an inclusion classroom.
8. Conclusion
The field of special education has made incredible progress since it was founded
fifty years ago. “In the early 1970s, multiple landmark court decisions provided
states with the responsibility to provide special education resources and school-
ing to students with special needs. These decisions altered the entire landscape of
special education history in our country” [All Education Schools, 2018].
Through the literature review and interview process, the authors found that in-
credible progress has been made in the field of education. Students with special
needs are fully integrated into regular education inclusion classrooms. In order
to manage an effective inclusive classroom, the authors believe that educators
must be multifaceted and develop their abilities to meet the needs of a diverse
student population. Thus far, special educators have created classrooms condu-
E. Block et al.
10.4236/ce.2019.109143 1979 Creative Education
cive to inclusive learning by consulting Individualized Education Programs
[IEPs], relaying content in diverse ways, using various approaches for processing
information, incorporating life skills training into lessons, collaborating with
other teachers, and following a flexible behavior plan [Special Education Guide,
2019]. Special Education is ever-changing and as it continues to improve, the
need for leaders educated in special needs is imperative.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this pa-
per.
References
All Education Schools [2018].
A Brief History of Special Education in the United States
.
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Anderson, A. [2018].
Inclusive Classrooms: Looking at Special Education Today
.
//inservice.ascd.org/inclusive-classrooms-looking-at-special-education-today
Bateman, D., & Cline, J. [2019].
Special Education Leadership
:
Building Effective Pro-
gramming in Schools
.
New York: Routledge. //doi.org/10.4324/9781351201353
Block, M., & Carter, E. [2016]. A Meta-Analysis of Educator Training to Improve Imple-
mentation of Interventions for Students with Disabilities.
Remedial and Special Educa-
tion, 38,
131-144. //doi.org/10.1177/0741932516653477
Classroom Leadership [2001]. Including Students with Disabilities in General Education
Classrooms.
Schools and the Law, 5
.
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ith-Disabilities-in-General-Education-Classrooms.aspx
National Education Association of the United States [1978].
P.L. 94-142: Related Federal
Legislation for Handicapped Children and Implications for Coordination
. Washington
DC: The Association.
Special Education Guide [2019].
The General Ed Teacher’s Guide to the Inclusive Class-
room
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//www.specialeducationguide.com/pre-k-12/inclusion/the-general-ed-teachers-gu
ide-to-the-inclusive-classroom
US Department of Education [2004].
A Guide to Education and No Child Left Behind
.
//www2.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/guide/guide_pg20.html#disab
US Department of Education [2007].
Twenty-Five Years of Progress in Educating Child-
ren with Disabilities through IDEA
.
//www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea/history.pdf
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Appendix A. SPED Leader Questions and Answers
Prompt Response
What are your job responsibilities?
“I am an elementary special education coordinator
in charge of elementary special educators within
the local school district.”
What are your past work experiences?
“I have been in the education system for 29 years. I
was a Special education teacher for 20 years and has
been a SPED leader for the last 9 years.”
What is your philosophy regarding
special education?
“My philosophy has always been that all children
learn and grow best in their most natural
environments.” As a special education teacher, and
now a leader in his own elementary school, the
interviewee stated that he believes “all children learn
and grow best in their most appropriate setting and
that is the environment with the least restrictions.”
His philosophy stems from the belief that students
with special needs must be given experiences with
regular education children, as these experiences
benefit all children in inclusion classrooms. The
interviewee has implemented this belief by striving
to make sure the special education students in his
care were exposed to “new learning and new
experiences” in inclusion settings.
How have you implemented this
philosophy?
“As a SPED educator and now a SPED leader, I have
always pushed to make sure my students with special
needs were in environments that exposed them to
new learning and new experiences and that the
teachers that are responsible for them, do the same.
With some of the more severely disabled students,
extra staff and classroom resources may
not be enough and them and they may need to be
placed into a resource room for certain portions of
the school day in order to afford the special
education staff the opportunity to work with
the students more directly.”
What major changes have you seen
throughout your career in special
education?
When asked about the changes the interviewee has
seen throughout his career in Special Education, he
explained that “in the past, special needs classrooms
were not included in regular education schools.” In
the beginning of his career, these classrooms were
secluded from everyone. “There was not a lot of
education going on. Then, special education
classrooms were opened in regular schools, but these
students weren’t interacting well with others. Finally,
these students were integrated into regular education
classrooms, otherwise termed inclusive classrooms
which seemed to make a significant difference in the
growth of students with exceptionalities and their
typically developing peers.” He has seen incredible
strides made on behalf of these students, from
seclusion to complete inclusion.
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10.4236/ce.2019.109143 1981 Creative Education
Continued
What are your thoughts on recent
SPED initiatives?
“Giving special needs students everything they need
to be successful, whether it be occupational therapy,
physical therapy, adapted physical therapy, or
inclusion, are the current trends and I am in full
agreement with this multi-faceted approach.”
What is your approach to collaborative
teaming in SPED?
“Great leaders usually have a team of people
supporting them.” When asked about his team for
special education students, the interviewee explained
that a team should be “well-balanced and represent
all areas of [Special Education]. Representatives in
nursing, psychology, pupil appraisal, occupational
therapy, adapted physical therapy, physical therapy,
and legal representation creates an ideal team of
professionals.”
What were the rewards of being a
special educator?
The interviewee stated that professions full of
challenges often produce great rewards and one of
his greatest rewards is witnessing student growth.
“Kids are like sponges. They grow so much every
day. The job is instantly gratifying because you get to
see so much growth.” Through his past experience,
he stated that he has seen such growth in students
that are part of inclusion classrooms. The current
development in Special Education is more inclusion,
with resource rooms used as “a way to remediate
what is taught in regular [education] classrooms.”
What are the challenges of being a
special education leader?
“Federal regulations. The small class size ratios of
adults to children, the strict daily schedules, and the
endless paperwork are all challenges.” However,
he stated that after he learned how to “delegate
responsibilities and multitask” he was able to better
manage the challenges and overcome them.
“Delegating responsibilities, multitasking, and
prioritizing duties are principles all educators
strive to perfect.”
What is the state of special education
with regard to inclusive settings?
“Inclusion is the way of the future. The leaders at the
top want every student in an inclusion setting with
regular ed children. Currently we typically only
have 2 inclusion classrooms out of 5 in any given
grade level. I believe this will increase to all as we
progress.”
What do you see in the future of early
childhood special education?
“A lot more inclusion classrooms… possibly every
classroom will be inclusive. A lot more children
will participate in inclusion in regular classrooms.
SPED will service these children in those
classrooms.”
What advice would you give to a new
teacher in special education?
“I would say to be flexible! Regulations are always
changing, rules are always changing, and IEPs
constantly change. Never get too used to the way
things are going. Learn to evolve with the job and
you’ll be successful.”