Mainstreaming Special-Ed Students: a Question of Time

Dear Extra Credit:

The special education debate is of interest to me because relatives and friends have had children in county schools, and I know that the present program has benefited them. I am a former educator -- principal (with special education classes), professor of education and teacher. I know teachers in Montgomery County public schools at the elementary and high school levels who mainstream students. The issue of teachers coping with one or more mainstreamed students is complicated as students grow older and subjects become more specialized.

In primary grades, teachers are accustomed to teaching individual students or small groups who need special help, and this continues with less emphasis as students advance. In high school, however, teachers who have a special-needs student are sometimes required to prepare an entire mini-curriculum for that individual. I realize that at all levels, teachers need to deal with the individual needs of their students. I also know that some teachers prefer to minimize that and teach to the entire class -- to fully present and explain the course material. The result for most teachers who have special students is to compromise, since there is only so much time.

I have overseen and done research in education and also in management analysis for a federal agency focusing on time management. I suggest the school system do an analysis of the effects on classroom instruction in high school (and also middle school) classes where teachers are required to (a) teach a complete curriculum to their regular classes while (b) teaching one or more handicapped and/or mainstreamed students.

It should not take a rocket scientist to devise a time-study that determines how much total extra time an individual teacher spends -- per day, per week, per year -- both in class and out of class, devoted to the special student. Once that is determined, additional resources for such teachers could be provided, probably from special program funding in some cases, to help students who are short-changed because the teacher must spend an excessive amount of time away from regular classroom instruction.

Obviously, a base line is needed, and it isn't as simple as I have suggested. In addition, teachers vary in abilities and approaches, and standardization might be difficult.

Nevertheless, if significant time is taken from regular instruction, it can and should be measurable and its reasonableness determined in an era of No Child Left Behind, testing to the limits of endurance, and teacher and school accountability.

The conflicting performance data from individual schools, school districts, state offices of education and the federal education establishment make it impossible to know what works and what doesn't, given the present state of American education. However, MCPS actually is one of the best school systems in the nation. It does provide a quality education to the majority of its students. My children received a good education, and they say it could have been better if they had been more diligent. But it could be better.

John H. Langer

Bethesda

This strikes me as a good idea. If the county has already done such a study, I would love to see the results.