Educational Services

Special Education

Special education is provided to students who have needs beyond those of the typical or average student in a school or district. Examples of students who may be placed in special education include those with an identified physical or mental disability (e.g., blindness or mental retardation), and those with emotional disturbances or behavior problems that make them unable to function in a traditional classroom. Although theoretically special education is meant to provide a student with the most appropriate educational services for their particular needs and capabilities, critics charge that special education programs are sometimes used as a “dumping ground” for children from low-income or racial and ethnic minority homes, and that children from racial majority, middle-or upper-income homes exhibiting similar behavior would not have been placed in special education. In addition, some see special education as operating as a “holding tank” for children deemed troublesome or low achieving, and this label becomes self-fulfilling because students in special education do not receive challenging academic instruction, are not held to high standards of achievement and behavior, and fall further and further behind their peers.

Although some types of special education (e.g., for the deaf) date back to the 18th century, special education within school systems became much more common after compulsory education became the norm (every U.S. state had some sort of compulsory education law by 1918). However, some children with disabilities remained excluded from ordinary school classrooms until the 1980s, when mainstreaming (placing children in the least restrictive educational environment) became popular. ToDay, students with disabilities are entitled to appropriate free public education that is provided by their school district, must be provided appropriate services and an individualized education program (IEP), and must be mainstreamed as much as possible (e.g., included in ordinary classrooms as feasible, possibly with some additional instruction specific to their needs outside the mainstream classrooms).

Gifted Students

Interest in identifying gifted and talented students dates back at least to the early 20th century, although sustained interest in providing specific educational programs appropriate for gifted and talented students is a more recent phenomenon. Gifted and talented students can be seen as the reverse of students in special education: Whereas for the latter, the standard educational program may be too challenging, for gifted and talented students, it may be too easy.

Interest in developing the abilities of gifted and talented students, particularly in mathematics and [Page 439]the sciences, was given a large boost by increased educational funding following the launch of the Sputnik satellite by the Soviet Union in 1957—nurturing gifted students became seen as one aspect of enabling America to stay competitive with the Soviet Union. Another boost was provided by the 1983 report A Nation at Risk, produced by the National Commission on Excellence in Education, which noted that American students were falling behind the students in Many nations that were considered economic competitors of the United States.

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