Overall Instructor Rating: Satisfactory

Ratings explanation:

• Exemplary - A model answer in almost every way (this is given out very rarely).
• Satisfactory - Very well done; you've met the expectations of the assignment. There are some minor problems, so read my feedback well.
• Marginal Pass - You pass, but there are lots of issues to consider. Read my feedback very carefully and be sure you understand the points/issues I raise.
• Not satisfactory, redo and resubmit - The assignment was not completed appropriately. I am concerned that you do not understand the process well enough yet. To get credit for the assignment, you need to redo it, most probably on another topic. Read and consider my feedback very carefully before redoing.

Instructor's Overall Feedback:

I think you did very well, given the hypothetical nature of the assignment. But, please read my comments below very well. One of the problems is that you were covering too much ground here -- you were at times suggesting that the problem was that students with disabilities needed more work skill training, then you were suggesting that society needs to develop different attitudes about students with disabilities, then you suggested these students needed their self-esteem boosted, then you said we need better teachers and more technology. These are all very different kinds of problems and only some of these can be solved with improved instruction. (Finally, I notice that you are rather weak in spelling. That's no big deal, but I recommend that you first use a word processor to type your answers for the remainder of these assignments so you can use the spellcheck feature -- then just copy and paste into the text fields.)

1. Preliminary: Describe the context within which this potential instructional problem takes place. This will pinpoint where the problem is located. If instruction is deemed necessary, this will be the place where it will be designed and implemented.

a. List the context, also known as the "system of interest".

Your final response:

special education in the public school system

b. Describe or show how the context relates to the bigger environment. Show how this context relates to other levels of the system within which it works.

Your final response:

United States public school system individual state public school systems georgia public school systems needs assessments that are implimented needs assessments that are overlooked scores taht are misinterpeted by those who have the disabilities the graduation rate from high school of those students who have any disability that will put them into a special education field. (ebd, add, adhd, orthopedic, mild, moderate, severe, profound, cp, authism, etc) national and state level federally funded programs teachers/parents who are not knowledgeable of the needs that the students will have to help make them the most successful student possible.

The instructor's feedback to step 1:

This is very good! My only recommendation is to narrow your context (system of interest) -- as it is now, you are wanting changes in special education across the country. That would be great, but unless you are the US Secretary of Education, changes aren't going to happen! So, let's narrow this to the special education curriculum of a school district (such as Athens-Clarke County).

2. Symptoms of a problem. Write a brief description of some symptoms that make you stop and wonder if something is wrong.

Your final response:

not many people with disabilities are in the working force of america. people who have a disability are not given a fair chance to show that they are able to do the work in high ranking positions, instead, they are only given jobs like custodial or baging jobs in grocery stores. i worked in the public school system and i saw how they were treated and not given the same opportunities as evey one else. they are looked down upon and become really emarassed when they are scorned at by others. only the basics are taught to them and some students are able to overcome parts of their disability to allow them to excell in various areas. the reports that are submitted by the education department to the national government.

Using the evidence cited above, describe why you believe that these symptoms signal a problem. Keeping these questions in mind, describe the reasons for identifying these symptoms as problematic.

Your final response:

when a student is held back due to a disability, it is not allowing them to achieve their full potential. when a student is held back due their specific disability, they feel like they don't really matter, that they are not going to be anything in life, they will not be really successful. (specifically those with mild disabilities, orthopedic disabilities, and ad/adhd). we are not allowing are students to achieve their full potential.

The instructor's feedback to step 2:

This is very good. But, I'm wondering if this is an instructional problem. You refer a great deal to the attitudes of other people, which is not something that the special education curriculum at Athens-Clarke County is equipped to change. That is a societal issue and not one that can be solved just by developing instruction.

3. Preliminary Problem Statement. Based on 1 and 2, write a preliminary draft problem statement. Your context should be the subject of the statement. This is just the initial pass -- the statement will be revised in subsequent steps.

Your final response:

the public school system in america does not give students with disabilities the right types of traing to allow them to be successful working members in our society.

The instructor's feedback to step 3:

This is pretty good! Let's tweak it a little as per my suggestions above, such as something like this: "The Athens-Clarke County special education curriculum does not adequately train students with disabilities to become successful working members of our society."

4. Verify the problem and determine specific needs. Two things will now happen concurrently. First, you need a systematic procedure to identify and collect data in order to verify that a problem exists. Second, you must identify information that the data sources may help uncover.

*Note: You are not required to gather data; you can draw on your experience or imagination to list the data you might gather.

The instructor's feedback to step 4:

Very good! However, the idea was to 'make up' some data and report in the second column. In the third column, you were to make up some needs, such as "Students with disabilities in the Athens-Clark County Special Education programs do not perform as well on average as other students with disabilities in the state of Georgia."

5. Prioritize your list of needs.Which are most important? Why are they most important?

The instructor's feedback to step 5:

OK, I see that you actually tried writing the needs statements here. That's fine. These are good. What kinds of needs are these? Normative, comparative, etc.? However, I see that you are now mixing the needs of improving the training of students with disabilities with helping students without disabilities to be more accepting of them. You need to focus your attention on one or the other.

6. Rewrite your problem statement. Take a moment to look carefully at the initial problem statement that you wrote. Revisit your prioritized needs and check if your problem statement is still accurate and appropriate.

Rewrite the problem statement here:

Your final response:

there is definately a problem that must be resolved in the public school system in the special education department. we need better qualified teachers, more personnel, better technologies, and much needed mateials to help these students succeed in life. student's need to gain enoough self-esteem to better allow them to fulfill their dreams and expectations that they have in their minds.

The instructor's feedback to step 6:

Most of these are more needs and should have been included back at steps 4 & 5. At this step, consider whether this problem statement needs to be revise: "The Athens-Clarke County special education curriculum does not adequately train students with disabilities to become successful working members of our society." If you are now saying you need better teachers, keep in mind that that is NOT an instructional problem -- it is a financial problem. You are also shifting from giving these students wit disabilities more training in work skills to helping them build self-esteem. Which will it be? You can't do it all (that's why you were asked to prioritize your needs in step 5).

7. Identify the instructional goals. The last step in Needs Assessment is to list a few goals of instruction. Remember, not all goals can be solved through instruction. The instructional goals you identify will be the starting information for the next steps in the instructional design process. List the instructional goals in order of priority.

The instructor's feedback to step 7:

You are definitely saying here that giving students with disabilities instruction in work skills is not needed and you are really saying that what is needed is more money for teachers and equipment (not instructional problems) and a focus on building students self-esteem. When you do a needs assessment, you need to make sure your needs always come from your data.