Students with disabilities do not threaten effective school discipline, if the interests of the whole are placed above the interests of the individual. The moral conflict established by treating special education students with a different disciplinary construct creates an unnecessary tension in the school system. The difficulty lies in preparing teachers and administrators to handle situations in the classroom. Childre (2014) has identified that “The data would indicate that novice teachers are exiting teacher preparation inadequately prepared to educate children and manage classrooms” (p. 23). Consequently, Georgia has established a program to streamline certification efforts to meet the needs of special education students. A key component is behavior management. Having appropriately qualified educators to deal with the discipline needs of special education students allows the school administrators to focus on the needs of the school as a whole.
One of the biggest problems is a lack of legislative guidelines regarding collaboration between special education and general education (Bineham, Shelby, Pazey, & Yates, 2014, p. 234). The same study showed only one-third of the sample had special training to Response to Intervention (RTI). This lack of training led to confusion about what to do with special education students in a general education environment. Guidelines and training would enhance this field and provide structure across the board. Discipline can be consistent to the whole school if the rules are applied equally across the students with trained professionals integrating the understanding to the special education students.
While each student is an individual, all are special and unique. However, in a public education setting the school discipline must be handled as a whole, and those students who are identified as special education students need the handling of trained professionals to ensure they understand and will comply with the rules.
References
Childre, A. (2014). Preparing special educators highly qualified in content: Alternative route certification for unlicensed teachers in rural Georgia. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 33(1), 23-31.
Bineham, S., Shelby, L., Pazey, B., & Yates, J. (2014). Response to intervention: Perspectives of general and special education professionals. Journal of School Leadership, 24(2), 230-252.