Fort Lee's Special Education Programs Focus of Japanese Educators

The Fort Lee school district was host to 19 leading scholars and educators from Japan Tuesday who came to observe the structure of the district's special education programs to determine how they can best implement similar programs within their educational system.

The focus of the visit underscored the fact that the needs of students with learning disabilities span the cultural divide of diverse teaching philosophies. The Japanese educators took photographs of the variety of learning tools and manipulatives utilized by Fort Lee teachers to synthesize abstract concepts with concrete examples and asked questions specific to their use.

According to Shizuko Kame Barnes, a Japanese school psychologist and interpreter for the group, the Japanese educational system does not differentiate the way that classroom material is presented to students as the Fort Lee programs do. In Japan, teaching is not directed towards the individual needs of a student. This, she said, presents difficulties for children with learning disabilities and special needs who cannot process the information in the way that it is delivered.

"In Japan, the students are grouped together in the general education classes," Barnes said. "There are some pull-out classes, but there is no instructional in-class support or differentiated teaching structure for those with special learning needs as there is here in Fort Lee."

And that is why this group of educators came to the States, specifically to Fort Lee--to observe differentiated learning techniques and take with them ideas to implement in their own classrooms. To observe a district where there is no "one size fits all" standard for educating students. 

Led by Dr. Satoru Konuki, Associate Professor at Meisei University in Tokyo, this elite group of educators arrived in the United States Sunday to visit the special education program offered by the Greenwich, Connecticut school district and the Fort Lee school district.

"This is a great opportunity for Fort Lee to showcase our extraordinary special education programs and share our structures and programs with educators from around the world," Acting Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Sharon Amato, said.   

According to Amato, Fort Lee has an enrollment of approximately 3600 students in the district. 516 of those students are classified within the special education program.

In Fort Lee, special education within the district begins at the preschool level. Housed within The Church of the Good Shepherd, Fort Lee offers a general education preschool, along with a learning disabled class and an autistic program.

"We want to provide as many services to children classified with special learning needs as early as possible so as they age they can be mainstreamed into the general education classes of their peers, which is our goal," said Anne Marie Bruder, Director of Special Services and principal of the preschool.

"Our programs are constantly being evaluated. As our population changes, so do our programs," Bruder added. "We're effective because our programs change to fit the needs of the students we service."

According to Bruder, the Fort Lee school district has developed and implemented programs to address the needs of students with learning disabilities, ADHD, anxiety disorders, autistic spectrum disorders and down syndrome.

"Where we can, we mainstream the students into the general education classes with in-class support," Bruder told the group.

Bruder took the group of educators to visit the special education programs at the preschool, School No. 1 and School No. 2.

School No. 1 principal Rosemary Giacomelli gave the group a tour of all the special education programs offered. With close to 700 students in the school, Giacomelli stressed the importance of the "collaborative" teaching environment in making the inclusion classes successful. According to Giacomelli, inclusion classes include a general education teacher, a special education teacher and two aides.

At School No. 2, the focus was on self-contained classrooms where children with special needs receive small group and individualized instruction. During their observation, the group had a question and answer session with three special education instructors who teach in self contained classrooms. Questions regarding learning strategies and techniques for recall for children with learning disabilities were among the questions that the group was seeking answers to.    

Bruder said that the district's goal is to keep students in general education classes with in-class support. "Inclusion is the least restrictive setting and that's our goal," she emphasized.

However, in addressing the individual needs of students, Bruder said that sometimes a small classroom setting is the best learning environment for them.

The district's special education program is structured to address the needs of the students in a variety of ways:

• General education classroom with in-class support
• Resource Center
• Self-contained classroom
• Specialization for students on the autistic spectrum

Inclusion is offered in Schools 1, 3, 4, the Lewis F. Cole Middle School and the high school. All self-contained elementary classes are located at School No. 2.

The group is ending their tour with a visit to St. John's University in Queens Wednesday where they will have the opportunity to hear leading educators speak on identifying children with special needs in the classroom.

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