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• Referral for evaluation and special educations services begins by identifying students who have additional needs and who may be at risk for developmental disablities.
• A team of professionals, known as a pre-referral team, is comprised of special education teachers, counselors, administrators, and psychologists who collaborate to determine reasons for the observed challenges.
• Taylor (2009) provided an assessment model that begins with a pre-referral process.
• Child development and social workers use developmental screening tools such as the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Checklist that covers items expected for a child's typical development.
• Essential in a pre-referral intervention is the use of pre-referral strategies that are designed to provide immediate instructional and/or behavior management support to a child.
• Initial identification includes: Recognition of potential problems, Parent or teacher observation, and Review of school records, classroom observations.
• Determination of teaching areas and strategies include: Small-group instruction and Direct instruction.
• Implementation of teaching programs: Additional in-class or after-school support, Modification of classroom environment and behavior, and Modification of instruction to address potential needs.
• Evaluation of teaching program: Determine effectiveness of programs on learning and behavior.
• Variety of assessment methods that regular and special education teachers can use: (1) interviews, (2) observations, (3) checklists or rating scales, and (4) tests.
• Norm-referenced tests are standardized assessments that compare a child's performance with a representative sample of students of the same chronological age.
• Criterion-references tests compare a child's performance based on established standards and competencies and can be used to describe student performance.
• Informal or non-standardized assessments are considered more authentic and thus can be used primarily to describe performance and inform instruction.
• Authentic assessments provide students the opportunity to apply knowledge and skills in meaningful, real-world settings.
• Assessment practices should be anchored on principles as provided by the Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Students (DEC).
• A general education classroom is the least restrictive environment for a child with additional needs.
• A general education classroom is considered as the "most normalized or typical setting".
• Another option for placement is to be in a general education class but the child receives supplementary instructions and services such as speech, physical, and occupational therapy or counseling services during the school day.
• Students who may be part of a general education class are pulled-out of their class to receive instructions from a specialist teacher in a resource room. In such placement, it is assumed that the child will benefit from either a small-group or individual instruction with a specialist teacher.
• In a self-contained special education class in a general education school, all students receive individualized and group instruction with peers with disabilities and additional needs from a special education teacher.
• Team of professionals, along with the special education teacher, work with students with disabilities and additional needs in a special education class in a special education school.
• On the other end of the continuum is the most restrictive or isolated setting, such as a residential facility where students live and receive their educational support twenty-four hours a day.
• Children with disabilities, often of the severe kind, are provided with home- or hospital-based programs to manage their medical condition and learn as much as they could.
• Inclusive education espouses that all students, to the maximum extent possible, is provided to general education classroom with the provision of support to remove barriers to enable success.
• Accommodations are supports provided to students to help gain full access to class content and instruction, without altering the curriculum standards and competencies expected and to demonstrate accurately what they know.
• Presentation Accommodations - children with disabilities may need specialized presentation formats especially those with sensory impairments.
• Learning Needs in presentation accommodations

  1. visual support
  2. auditory and comprehension support
  3. listening and focusing
• Response accommodations allow students with disabilities and additional needs a variety of ways to complete assignments, written tests, performance tasks, and other activities.
• Learning needs in response accommodations

  1. writing difficulty
  2. written expression
  3. math difficulty
• Setting Accommodations - changes in the location or conditions of the educational setting or environment may be necessary for students who need support in terms of behavior, attention, and organization of space and materials.
• Scheduling accommodations - changing time allotment, schedule of tasks and assessments, and management of time are some types of this.
• Some examples of accommodation that can modify scheduling are : (1) extending time for assignments and assessments; (2) providing breaks in between tasks; (3) providing a visual schedule or a checklist of individual responsibilities; (4) providing predictable routines and procedures; and (5) providing an electronic device with alarms and cues.
• Curriculum modifications are provided for students with significant or severe disabilities where content expectations are altered, and the performance outcomes are changed in relation to what are expected of typically developing students of the same age.
• Curricular modifications include changes in instructional level, content and performance criteria, as well as the breadth and depth of content being learned by students.
• Educational teams responsible for instructional planning may indicate curricular modifications in the student's Individual Educational Plan (IEP).
• Home-School Communication - it is essential that there is a close home and school collaboration and communication.
• Parent-Teacher conferences are face-to-face meetings held between parents and teachers.
• Another component of an inclusive and special education is parent involvement.
• Written communication uses a home-school communication notebook, where teachers and parents write homework assignments, the student's behavior in the classroom , as well as progress on program goals.
• Many parents and families are more able to communicate through electronic and digital means such as email, text messages, and social network messaging systems.

  Digital communication is instant and real-time, parents and teachers are immediately able to receive messages and updates about the student.