Repercussions of Losing Part-Time Resource Classes for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
It is interesting that so many titles and posts I write involving school reform have to do with loss. The resource class for students with learning disabilities and sometimes behavioral problems is one more loss when it comes to students and their public schools.
Resource classes were designed to help students in elementary, middle and high school by providing more individualized assistance in areas like reading, English, language arts and math. They also provided classes in other subjects, sometimes, especially, at the high school level. Such classes offered an important bridge for students with mild/moderate disabilities to help them get on the right track.
Resource class teachers focused on the latest research ideas, learning strategies, accommodations, strengthening weak areas and helping students to adapt to lessons they found difficult. Teachers with special education backgrounds and certification in learning disabilities were uniquely qualified to address areas like dyslexia, reading and math disabilities, gross and fine motor skills, writing, spelling, and hyperactivity. Students with serious reading disabilities often found the resource class a place of refuge.
The resource class also helped students pick up the skills they needed to successfully spend the rest of their school day in their mainstreamed regular classes. When done right, special education resource teachers collaborated with regular education teachers to make sure students did their best in the regular classes. Indeed, part of the objective of the resource class was to arm students with the necessary tools to succeed in regular classes.
Sadly, the resource class for students with learning disabilities is on its way out, if it isn’t already gone. I am always saddened when I hear parents complain that their child Repercussions of Losing Part-Time Resource Classes for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities: