1.

Discuss how the advocacy efforts employed during the civil rights movement was mirrored by those
advocating for persons with special needs (and students with special needs).
Because the discussion around education was centered around the improvement of educational
opportunities as a result of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Case, parents and supporters of
children with disabilities banded together behind advocacy groups to push legislation to prevent schools
from discriminating against students with reasons that are not justified.

2. How did P.L. 94142, and later IDEA, expand during the 35-year history?
In 1975, when the Pl. 94-142 was first passed, the law made it mandatory for schools to offer free
education for a limited number of people with disabilities from ages 5-21. In 1986, the law expanded the
age range to 3-21 and students were guaranteed services without regard to the severity of the disability.
Then in 1990, P.L. 94-142 became known as IDEA and changed drastically in 4 ways: children with
handicap was changed to individuals with disability, children was changed to individuals, transitional
plans were put in place to help individuals with disabilities into the workforce, autism and brain injury
was added to the list of disabilities. Then in 1997 and 2006, the law changed to prevent individuals with
disabilities from and begin repeatedly suspended, and it began to allow parents to decided when to stop
giving services to the individual with the disability.

3. What are the six principles of IDEA and how does each apply in the music classroom?
ZERO REJECT applies to the music classroom because a music educator is not allowed to
exclude a student with a disability from participating with the rest of class. NONDISCRIMINATORY
EVALUATION can apply to the music classroom because it is the role of the special education
professionals to come up with the most appropriate educational setting for the students with disabilities and
the job of the music educator to help that team of professionals with the evaluation and observation
procedures. FREE AND APPROPRIATE EDUCATION applies because it becomes the music educators
job to come up with modifications to our lesson plans and course goals for the benefit of the students with
disabilities. With LRE, it is the job of the music educator to find the best way to include the students with
disabilities into the classroom as much as possible. PROCEDURAL DUE PROCESS applies because if the
parents of the student with special needs thinks that the students placement is not appropriate, they can file
a request to review the students placements. PARENT INVOLVEMENT applies because it allows for the
parental involvement in the students music making process.

4. Describe least restrictive environment and state how this may be achieved in the music classroom (at
least three examples).
The Least Restrictive Environment is an academic environment that includes the students with
disabilities with the students without disabilities and it is also the environment where the students learns the
best. In the music classroom, the student can either be included into a classroom with a lot of students
without disabilities such as band, orchestra, or a choir class. If the student with a disability does not learn
the best with a lot of other students, we can lower the number of interactions that student has to deal with
by placing them in a smaller music class such as a music technology class. And finally, if none of the
 mentioned options works for the student with a disability, the music educator can even work privately with
that student.

5. How would you respond to a teacher who wants to keep a student from attending your class to take part in
remediation to meet AYP under NCLB? What data demonstrating the effectiveness and applicability of
your instruction would you be able to cite?
Personally, I would respond by noting that NCLB has been replaced by ESSA which heavily
reduces the pressure on schools to assess their students through standardized testing and allows schools to
refocus on the developing the whole child. There would be many research-based articles and journals that
I would be able to cite that would show just how important a musical education can be, especially for
students with disabilities.

6. What are some ways you, as the music teacher, could participate as part of the RTI system at your school?
As a member of the schools RTI team, the music educators ability to present, describe, and
confirm our research-based and best practice teaching in the music classroom is important as part of the
school-wide effort to apply RTI for the benefit of all students in the public school system.

7. What are the advantages or disadvantages of fieldwork in a special needs setting?

The advantages of fieldwork in a special needs setting are that pre-service educators have the
opportunity to experience teaching individuals with a disability. Since music educators learn to teach
students with special needs in unique ways, it is best that we allow teachers the freedom to experience
students with special needs through observations, assistantships, discussion, and planning.

8. Discuss the steps mentioned in this chapter and how you plan to implement each step in your future
fieldwork.
In this chapter, Hammel discusses observation, assistances, discussions, and planning as the 4
steps in the process to become more acquainted with teaching students with disabilities. I believe that
observing is a really important step because the more familiar we can be with how experienced teachers are
currently managing inclusive classrooms, the more likely it is that we will be able to notice what works and
doesn't work. Being able to serve as an assistant will give pre-service teachers the unique ability to
experience and build a deep relationship to the students. This will give a teacher insight into how a student
with special needs may communicate, perceive the world around them, and learn current techniques from
paraprofessionals that could be applied into the classroom. Then, discussions are also an important step to
the process because it allows pre-service educators and experienced teachers to share experiences and ideas
in a positive environment. Lastly, I believe that planning and reflection is the most important of the 4 steps
because it is at this stage where pre-service teachers and even experienced veteran teachers can question
what they already know and what have learned to continue to grow as educators.

9. Discuss your experiences (if you have had them) in each type of special education environment.
This year, Ive been given the opportunity to observe and student with a disability in an inclusive
music classroom. In this classroom, the student participates just as much as the other students. While the
 student may not be able to move around as much as the other students, it was really interesting to see how
the student was still engaged with the music and the content the teacher was presenting to the class.

10. Pose 3 questions informed by your reading that you could ask Dr. Hammel and/or the class to encourage
discussion.
Are there any changes you would like to see the new ESSA law to help music educators and students with
disabilities?
How do educators know when a student needs to be in an inclusive class or a self-contained class?
How can we as busy Music Ed find alternative ways to go out and observe/assist in classrooms with
individuals with disabilities?
Works Cited
Hammel, A. M., & Hourigan, R. M. (2011). Chapter 2: The current structure of special education in our schools:
A brief history of legislation and litigation in the united states. In Teaching music to students with special needs:
A label-free approach (pp. 23-39). New York: Oxford University Press.

Hammel, A. M., & Hourigan, R. M. (2011). Chapter 3: Preparing to teach fieldwork and engagement
opportunities in special education for pre-service and in-service music educators. In Teaching music to students
with special needs: A label-free approach (pp. 45-57). New York: Oxford University Press.