While the special education system and its inner workings are of great importance to those directly involved with it, what goes on behind the closed doors of the resource classroom tends to be largely overlooked by the average passer-by. Our youth in the most need of assistance are often pushed to the back corner of our school system as many have adapted an “out of sight, out of mind” approach to the care and teaching of in need students. In many ways the system has become like the absentee parental figure, caught up so much in “more important” affairs that instead of devoting the appropriate care and attention to the upbringing of his or her children opts for throwing money at the problem until it goes away. However research continues to show that the best funded special education systems are not always producing the best results, proof that money is no substitute for care and attention.

With that in mind the question now becomes “what is necessary for a successful special needs classroom?” While funding is important to provide services students need why are so many districts out scoring their demographically similar yet higher spending counterparts? The research compiled here points to two crucial contributors that result in the success of special needs programs. The first being inclusion and integration of resource students into standardized classroom environments. While it is crucial that students get an experience catered to their unique needs, it is also necessary for them to learn to interact outside the bubble of safety that is their resource room. Though some argue that integration is difficult on teachers and students alike, the research contained here points to the mutual benefits that stem from immersing special needs students in general education classrooms. Immersion helps special education students learn to function among their peers in a structured setting, while teaching average students compassion and understanding.

The second key to success lies in individualized learning plans overseen by resource teachers, general education teachers, and parents. It takes a community to raise a child, with combined support of loving parents as well as caring and eager professionals in resource classrooms we can foster the support of a community of responsible adults to provide for the needs of students.

Levenson, Nathan, and Institute Thomas B. Fordham. "Boosting The Quality And Efficiency Of Special Education." Thomas B. Fordham Institute (2012): ERIC. Web. 5 July 2013.

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“Perhaps no challenge in American schooling is as perplexing and under-examined as special education, particularly its costs, its benefits, and the relationship between them”(1). In this study Levenson discusses the costs, effectiveness, success, and failures of the current state of the special education system nationwide. It is unfortunate that despite the amount of money going toward special education test scores continue to be discouragingly low. Levenson compares scores of some of the best funded special education programs in the USA with the highest NAEP (National Association of Academic Progress) programs and asks, “What can we learn from school districts that spend less on special education, yet achieve the same or better outcomes than demographically similar but higher-spending counterparts?” By addressing this question Levenson outlines plans for becoming more fiscally responsible, while still providing the best special education programs possible for our students. Levenson’s article is forms a foundation for my paper by tying all the my other articles together to form my thesis. The information in this text demonstrates how money is just one of the many problems to discuss when arguing for special education reform, allowing me to bring up my three prong thesis.

Mcloughlin, Caven, and Amity Noltemeyer. Disproportionality In Education And Special Education : A Guide To Creating More Equitable Learning Environment. Springfield: Charles C Thomas, 2012. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 5 July 2013.

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The authors of this text focus most of their attention on the disparity of NAEP test scores between high and low income schools while also examining a similar disparity, what they call the “achievement gap”, between black and white special education students in American schools. Upon examination Notltmeyer comes to the conclusion that no single factor directly results in the formation of the achievement gap, but instead suggests it is the result of “a cluster of contributing factors that are complex and multidimensional” (214). Some of which include discrimination, socioeconomic differences, differences in family or peer supports, teacher expectations, culturally inappropriate assessments, quality of teaching, lost instructional time due to overrepresentation in suspensions and expulsions from school, and the reduced rigor of the curriculum. Notlemeyer and her colleagues address this issue and offer ideas for a reform of the special education system. This particular article helps to form the argument for greater immersion and acceptance of special education students in standard classrooms, and tackles other topics like race and poverty levels that also contribute to segregation.

Feng, Li, Tim R. Sass, and National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) Urban Institute. "What Makes Special Education Teachers Special? Teacher Training And Achievement Of Students With Disabilities. Working Paper 49." National Center For Analysis Of Longitudinal Data In Education Research (2010): ERIC. Web. 5 July 2013.

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Feng and Sass discuss what factors contribute to the ultimate success of special education instructors. Topics focused on include the relationship between teacher training and student achievement, effective program structure, and effective classroom practices. Feng and Sass suggest that “Research on the performance of the general student population has produced a general consensus that the most important school‐based determinant of student achievement is teacher quality” (1). That being the case, to understand what makes a special education classroom successful we need to examine the qualities that make for the most successful teachers. To do that Feng and Sass examine the “formal pre‐service university education, in‐service professional development, and informal training acquired. Feng and Sass provide the basis for the third section of my thesis, stressing the importance of placing competent teachers in the classroom.

Tabatha V. Arton-Titus, et al. "Parent Empowerment: Connecting With Preservice Special Education Teachers." School Community Journal 23.1 (2013): 145-168. ERIC. Web. 21 July 2013.

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“Parent empowerment includes the ability to meet the needs of one's family while feeling in control” (Titus 32). This phenomenological study seeks to understand the experience of 71 parents of children with disabilities who participated with pre-service teachers in a 16-week special education course between 2006 and 2010. Analysis of pre-course and post-course parent focus group transcripts resulted in four shifts in perceptions of parent-professional partnerships: (1) from judgmental and impersonal to caring professionals; (2) from intimidation to confidence; (3) from defensiveness to trusting professionals; and, (4) from despair to hope. Results demonstrated parents' perceived increase in self-efficacy in decision-making, access to resources, group affiliation, positive perception change, feelings of mutual respect, experience as a change agent, and hope. This article stresses the importance of parent and teacher involvement in a students learning.

Costley, Kevin C. "Ongoing Professional Development: The Prerequisite For And Continuation Of Successful Inclusion Meeting The Academic Needs Of Special Students In Public Schools." Online Submission (2013): ERIC. Web. 26 July 2013.

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Educational reform is constantly changing the ways teachers teach their students according to mandated reforms. Some teachers are in favor of reform and embrace it fully; some do not. Some reforms in education improve teaching and learning; some do not. Presently, there is a desperate need for reform in the area of special education concerning professional development implementing inclusion in public school classrooms. The common procedure is to form teams to write individual education programs (IEPs) with modifications and accommodations for those students identified with one or more designated disabilities. These same students are included most, if not all of the day, in the regular education classrooms. In many schools, there is a lack of communication after the writing of the IEP and little if no communication or support from the special education teacher for the regular education teacher. This article speaks to this re-occurring practice (or lack thereof) and the need for carefully planned professional development for inclusionary practices. It is believed that many teachers want this type of improved communication/training; the literature reveals that teachers are more than willing to work with special education students in their regular classrooms with proper training, a collaborative effort, and sound, practical advice.

Omede, Andrew A.1. "Reforms In Special Education For Optimum Educational Attainment By Persons With Special Needs For National Sustainability." Journal Of Emerging Trends In Educational Research & Policy Studies 2.4 (2011): 296-300. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 26 July 2013.

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This paper attempts a discourse on reforms in special education for optimum educational attainment by persons with special needs for national sustainability. The paper is of the view that there is need for reformation of special education to enable persons with special needs have access to optimum education. The paper makes it clear that several attempts were made to reform special education in the past, yet the impact remains obscure. This is due to the inadequacy of personnel in the field of special education, insufficient assistive technology to support the special educational set up in the teaching-learning process and research as well as lack of special budgetary allocation in favor of special education amongst others. The paper reiterates the need to reform special education by addressing the challenges of manpower, assistive technology and funding as pre requisites to the realization of the goals of special needs education and conclusion was drawn.

Washington, DC. Academy for Educational Development, et al. "Special Education In An Era Of School Reform: Special Education Finance." (1997): ERIC. Web. 26 July 2013.

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This report summarizes and discusses some of the major fiscal policy questions surrounding the funding of special education in the current era of school reform. Part 1, "Current Special Education Financing: Issues and Provisions," addresses how special education is currently funded and the different formulas used for special education funding. Issues that are driving the reform of special education funding are outlined, including the need for greater flexibility in placement and use, rising special education costs and enrollments, concerns over the efficiency of special education services, the strict categorical nature of special education services, and fiscal policies that work at cross purposes with inclusion policies. Part 2 of the report, "State and Federal Reform Initiatives" discusses different ways that governments are addressing the issues of special education funding, including census-based funding, adjusting special education funding based on student poverty, removing fiscal incentives for restrictive placements, changing the federal "incidental benefit" rule, and blended funding and service provisions. Criteria that states should consider when developing funding systems to foster effective special education programming, how states' fiscal policies can encourage integrated services, and ways states have been able to overcome difficulties in implementing fiscal reform policies are also reviewed.

Greene, Jay P., Marcus A. Winters, and Policy Empire Center for New York State. "Helping Kids, Saving Money: How To Reform New York's Special Education System. Special Report. SR2-05." Empire Center For New York State Policy (2005): ERIC. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

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This report shows that New York can reduce special ed costs and enrollment--and improve parental satisfaction with the program as part of the bargain--by adopting two simple reforms: changing the formula funding special education from a "bounty" system to a "lump-sum" system; and implementing a voucher program for children in special education. The authors note that the problem of increased number of children in special-ed is largely a self-inflicted one. “There is little evidence to support contentions that increased disability rates are to blame. Indeed, the special education category which has grown the most in the 1990s, Special Learning Disability (SLD), is the one with the fewest objective standards governing its diagnosis, and hence the one most open to unintentional manipulation” (Greene 48). The authors also examined the results of Florida's McKay Scholarship Program, which, gives parents of every special education child the choice to take a voucher for 100 percent of the amount the state spends on that child and use it at a private school. The authors cite research showing that parents who use a McKay voucher are overwhelmingly satisfied with their child's private school experiences. The authors conclude that adopting these two reforms--changing the special education funding formula to a lump-sum system and creating a universal special-ed voucher program--will improve New York's educational outcomes and save taxpayers money.