Special Education: A Definition

Special education is defined as educational programs and assignments including, special classes and programs or services designed to develop the educational potential of children with disabilities including, but not limited to, educational placements of children by school committees, the departments of public health, mental health, mental retardation, youth services and social services in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the regulations set forth by the board of education.

General education is the door to learning through which all students are expected to enter; it should be the goal of every school district to make the general education environment the appropriate placement for all students.

Special education should not be a separate program, but rather should be one aspect of a continuum of supportive services and programs that are provided to ensure that the general education environment is a responsive environment. This philosophy is commonly referred to as "inclusion." Silver Lake supports this philosophy.

Working together, general and special educators can provide professional support to each other to address student learning. Schools can provide a rich curriculum; instructional practices and varied programs of services geared to individual needs; including opportunities for strong family involvement and awareness of the educational services in the school. In this way special education becomes one of the many supportive programs that is available within the general education environment.

This information was summarized from the Technical Assistance Guide for Special Education, found on the Massachusetts Department of Education Special Education site - click here(PDF, 178 kilobytes) to download it.

Other helpful documents:

• IEP Process Guide (PDF, 406 kilobytes) - This document was developed to lead the reader through the revised Individual Education Program (IEP) process
• SLRSD Special Education Procedures Manual (PDF, 142 kilobytes)

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