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Three Approaches to Institutional Reform
According to Rueda (1989) there are three possible approaches to school reform: system maintenance, system improvement, and system restructure. Each of these are defined below.System Maintenance:
" This approach to meeting the educational needs of minority students in special education operates from the implicit or explicit assumption that the current system should remain intact. Adherents of this position tend to support the present uses of eligibility criteria and a categorically based delivery system, with autonomous special education, regular education, and bilingual education structures.System Improvement:
Although localized variance is acceptable under such an approach, the primary focus is on monitoring compliance with existing law and providing sanctions for violation of specific provisions. Many legal remedies imposed as a result of suits by language-minority students and their advocates fall into this category." (pp 123-124)"This approach is much more common than system maintenance. The system-improvement approach attempts to augment and improve current practices without basic structural changes in the referral-assessment-placement system as a whole. A major goal is to improve existing practices by striving for more accurate referrals, more appropriate assessment, and less restrictive placements." (p. 124)System Restructure:"Proponents of this perspective [system restructure] suggest that the special education system, as currently configured, requires basic structural changes of its fundamental operating assumptions. How would more effective instructional services be delivered to low-achieving students in this approach? A common element appears to be a merger of special, regular, and by extension, bilingual education.From: Rueda, R. (1989). Defining mild disabilities with language minority students. Exceptional Children, 56(2), 121-128.
Such a restructuring would alter the whole special education process: "Eligibility" for mild handicaps and the current classification systems would be eliminated, more functional approaches would be used to deal with educational problems, and funding for programs would be based on alternative criteria..." (p. 125).
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