Abstract

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Chapter 2 - Literature Review

Chapter 3 - Methodology

Chapter 4 - Results

Chapter 5 - Discussion and Analysis

Chapter 6 - Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

Bibliography

Appendix 1 - Special Education Law, Israel

Appendix 2 - Examples

Appendix 3 - The Questionnaire

Appendix 4

4A - Lessons 1 and 2 Organization of Dots

4B - Lesson 3 Comparisons

4C - Lessons 4 and 5 Comparisons

4D - Lessons 6 and 7 Temporal Relations

4E - Lesson 8 Comparisons

Research Questions and Data Collection:
The research has gone through the following steps:

1. Investigating what the MLE method proposes.
   • What does the program consist of?
2. Gaining insight into the teacher's perceptions of the program:
   • Do the teachers believe in the program?
   • What adaptations are necessary for its successful implementation?
3. Investigating the means by which the program is implemented:
   • What are the specific activities required for the program?
   • How are they scheduled?
   • Does the program require special scheduling?
4. Gain insight into the pupil's own reactions to the method:
   • Do pupils presently using this method feel that they are accomplishing more than they did with other methods, previously?
   • Do past pupils feel that the program has helped them?
5. Attempt to investigate the reality versus the ideal:
   • What actually appears to be accomplished and what is not?
   • What changes might be introduced to improve the program for learners with DS?

Goals and Objectives:
To gain insight into this phenomenon the researcher investigates whether or not the program effects the learning capabilities of children with DS following cognitive development using the MLE and IE methods. The major objective is to attempt to establish if learners with DS can be educated in a more efficient and satisfactory manner. Education is the basis of adult life. A more successful education leads usually to a better job, a fuller social life and a more rounded individual. A more effective teaching program can therefore lead to a more capable adult.

Methodology:
This is a case study using a qualitative approach. This method is chosen because education per se, and cognitive modifiability in particular, are difficult to quantify. It occurs in a natural setting, in the classroom. The variables are largely uncontrolled and uncontrollable. It is one of the better means of evaluating educational objectives. Motivation, progress, the ability to deal with frustration, overcoming innate difficulties, such as the pertinacity often found in combination with DS and social skills are abstract concepts. They are analyzable only as relatives not as absolutes with numerical values.
The design includes teacher questionnaires, direct participant-observer activities and interviews with pupils past and present, teachers and parents.
The full course of the IE program normally covers a period of three years. This investigation researched a period of approximately four weeks only. This aspect will be taken into consideration when analyzing the results.

Recommendations:
The recommendations are based on the literature and insight gained in the current investigation to encourage change in the educational methods used today for children with DS in the Ministry of Education in Israel.

Chapter 1 - Introduction
Personal Involvement
Society is changing. Today individuals with 'differences', physical and cognitive, are more accepted by the society in which we live. They are sometimes found in typical classrooms; older individuals may live in group housing in a regular neighborhood; we see handicapped people traveling on public transportation and working in stores. No longer being segregated from the wider population demands a different level of adjustment from people with cognitive dysfunctions. The theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM) using the Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) method and its practical application, the Instrumental Enrichment (IE) program, are historically devoted to just this aspect of life.

I have chosen this subject for very personal reasons. I have worked in the field of special education for 20 years, which includes a variety of special education schools, a typical school and for the Hadassah-WIZO-Canada Research Institute (HWCRI). During these 20 years I have worked with children and young adults who were mentally retarded (MR), neurologically and/or chromosomally disabled, learning disabled, environmentally and/or socially deprived, physically handicapped and with multiply handicapped children with severe MR.

From this personal experience I can see the different results in the pupils at the usual Ministry of Education schools and those of HWCRI. This may be seen in the children and young adults that we teach at HWCRI in improved cognitive functioning, in flexibility and in the ability to adapt to changing social situations. I cannot present actual statistics not having kept them over the years. I can, however, attest to the fact that over time I have seen a larger number of successful graduates—including children and young adults expelled from the regular education system, and even from special education schools.

This paper will inquire into the cognitive modifiability of children with Down's Syndrome (DS). Is it possible to use the MLE method to raise the level of cognitive development of children with DS to an extent that has previously not been linked to children with this chromosomal impairment? Can these children classified as retarded by the educational system and assigned to a special educational needs school, be modified to the extent that they will be able to cope in a typical school?

Chapter 2 - Literature Review
In looking at the history of education we can go back to Socrates and ask questions that require inductive thinking processes, or we can look at somewhat more modern thought. Durkheim (1956) considered education social in its origins. A few years later Brim (1960) agreed stating that: "the function of the socialization process...as one aimed at producing individuals equipped to meet the variety of demands placed upon them by life in a society" (p. 161). Yet jumping forward to 1992, Schwarzwald & Amir found that "No significant effects were associated with programs designed to facilitate social relations in the integrated schools" (p. 359).

At the beginning of the twentieth century others were working on the goals of education from different viewpoints: Thorndike (1911), the Gestalten (Wertheimer, 1912) and Piaget (1924), emphasized innate developmental factors. Darwinism and Functionalism of the 1920s looked at thought processes and use of the 'scientific method'. (Pavlov, 1928; Skinner, 1938). Intelligence as cognitive development based on genetic factors, intellectual abilities and the learning process itself followed soon after (Tolman, 1932; Bandura, 1960; Bruner et al., 1966). Others followed a different line basing the idea of cognitive development on education (Feuerstein, 1953).

Then came the dependence on intelligence tests and the so-called 'IQ' scores. Children were separated into different categories based on definitions of their 'Intelligence Quotient' (Binet, 1903 & 1911). Educational framework placement often depended upon physical and/or learning disabilities, emotional difficulties or environmental handicaps (Shakespeare, 1975).

Deaf children had separate schools, physically handicapped children were segregated, children with behavior problems were relegated to special schools and retarded children sometimes did not even receive a formal education. (Kirk & Johnson, 1951)

Sociology tells us that the human has very often been intolerant of the deviant, or alternatively, celebrated such a person as 'touched by God'. (Broom et al., 1988) People with disabilities, whether physical or mental disabilities were treated in different ways according to where and when they lived. The Bible describes how people with any disability were forbidden to become priests or enter the sanctuary:

"And the Lord said to Moses, none of your descendents throughout their generations who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, or an injured foot, or an injured hand or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man with itching disease" (Leviticus, 21:18-20).

Mental retardation has often been regarded not simply as one aspect of a person's life, but as engulfing the person's whole life and becoming that person's identity. Christensen (1996), views definitions of learning disabilities as a means of social oppression which then becomes the 'defining feature' thereby negating and ignoring the multifaceted, complex, whole individual. Wang (1990), makes a point of noting the adverse effects of labeling and goes on to emphasize the "...need for a data base to describe learner characteristics in terms of the cognitive and social competencies required to achieve intended learning outcomes." (p. 2)

These statements are a far cry from the previously held beliefs that IQ number is a specific and a determinate of a person's ability to learn.

On a worldwide basis changes are occurring in education generally and in special education in some specific instances. In the UK during the 1950's and '60's it was recognized that environment plays an important part in the development of social and mental ability. The 1970 Education (Handicapped Children) Act recognized and tried to rectify the problem. The 70,000 children who had been considered uneducable under the terms of the 1913 Act got the right to education under a new category of "educationally sub normal-severe" and 400 new special schools were formed out of the old junior training centers. The Disability Discrimination Act and legislation on inclusion recognize that people with learning disabilities have equal rights and their opportunities for education and employment are much better than 50 years ago.

In the 1960s in the United States a maxim developed during the Civil Rights demonstrations - "Separate is not equal". To me it appears that the same maxim is applicable to education. Special education in Israel is of high quality. It is however separate and therefore not equal. In Universities and Teacher's Colleges the emphasis for students destined to work in typical schools and for those studying special education is different. The former learn basically to emphasize the subject matter while the latter are guided to consider their future pupil's difficulties and disabilities. The problem is that sometimes such dysfunctions can blind special education teachers to their pupils' very real abilities. Feuerstein has shown that many pupils in special education are capable of far more than they are allowed to learn.

Some of the changes we see occurring throughout the world include the field of special education itself. New laws, new ideas and experiments in reducing the separation of people with physical and complex learning difficulties are appearing. In the recent past, the teacher in the school for children with special educational needs had no guidance at all, other than her or his own professional background and training. He or she was required to design, prepare and carry out an appropriate curriculum, with due regard not only to the class, but to each individual child according to their own needs, with almost no help. In my own working lifetime in Israel I remember when there were no Educational Advisors for teachers in Special Educational Needs schools, few para-medical therapists specialized in children with learning difficulties and educational psychologists were not usually assigned to these schools. Then came that period in some countries when government decided to prepare a set curriculum, not always sufficiently respective of the individual child's needs (Visser, 1993), and which required adaptation by the teacher. Most currently, in Israel, the UK, the US and other countries we are using, or at least discussing the potential use of, collaborative assessments and team teaching.

Improved educational opportunities and the advent of collaborative teaching, or teamwork, appear to be occurring concurrently in a number of places. In Britain, the passage of the Education Act 1993, and in the United States, Public Law 94-142 (1975), both require that full educational rights be extended to include all children regardless of any learning disabilities (DfE-Code of Practice, 1994). These laws expressly designate the child's right to learn in the "least restrictive" or mainstream framework. In Israel the Special Education Law (1988), is somewhat different. More emphasis is placed on extending the ages of children with disabilities to free compulsory education (now from age 3-21), and on "providing for special services and therapists as needed", than on placement in mainstream schools.

This has not produced widespread Mainstreaming in Israel, but rather a greater emphasis on providing therapeutic services within those schools designated to provide individualized education for children with learning difficulties. Appendix 1 is a free translation of the Law. Particularly relevant to this paper are Part A, 1(a), Part C, 7-9 and Part D, 14-15 and 19-20, the last being the first introduction of Individual Education Plans (IEP) and their required "Accompanying Services" which includes professional therapists. Today (2002) IEPs have developed or reverted depending on your point of view. The format is now as Visser described it eight years ago, with the government requiring a set format, not always sufficiently cognizant of individual pupil's needs.

The emphasis on the "least restrictive environment" as used in the U.S.A., requires co-teaching in inclusive classrooms, generally with a regular grade teacher at the primary school level, or a subject teacher in secondary schools and a special education teacher. (IDEA, 1975) In Britain, Special Education Coordinators appear to be responsible for "special education provision" in the mainstream schools (Code of Practice 1994) with the introduction of special needs assistants as a primary method of implementing these special provisions (Nolan and Gersch, 1991). In Israel, on the other hand, schools for children with special educational needs are meant to be provided with para-medical professionals, such as speech, occupational and physical therapists, art, music and movement therapists, educational advisors and so on. The list is long. Additionally, funds were to have been supplied for more teaching aides, educational psychologists and school-based social workers. Due to national budgetary considerations, many of these recommended financial subsidies have not been forthcoming. Even if the the funds were provided, this is still segregation.

Presseisen and Kozulin (1992), show how both Vygotsky and Feuerstein correlate with the classic Piagetian ideas of intellectual operations. Their own empirical research used as subjects recent immigrants to Israel, from different countries, some in special educational frameworks. The research subjects ranged in age from 10 years old to adults and included immigrant teachers. Both their research and that of Jitendra & Kameenui (1993) agree with Feuerstein & Rand (1997) that traditional static assessment techniques are insufficient; that dynamic assessments provide a more complete picture of specific learning processes and cognitive dysfunctions. Reynolds (1992) presents some alternative forms of assessment including 'Curriculum-Based Measurement' to counter-act the "presumed predispositions" of children's ability to learn. As he says: "...school psychological studies sometimes put more emphasis on intelligence and other dispositional traits than on school learning itself...and...that data [gathered in the classroom] is more useful to teachers when compared with present measurement and classification practices." (p.73)

Lebeer and Garbo (1997), in a qualitative research project emphasize that the development of the women they examined differed widely despite similar IQs. They attribute this to the different ecological mediation in the environment. They then go on to note the importance of the mediator: "Different therapists yield different results even while using the same methods. This is very important in comparative evaluation studies. The differences in successes of a certain method could be due, not to the method itself, but to the way these methods are applied." (p. 252)

Lebeer and Garbo's (1997), research is of special importance to this paper. Their research was on the use of MLE with children with Down's syndrome. They emphasize many times that it is the mediation, or the ecological environment, that made the difference in the level of competence in the child, once she reached adulthood. Their abstract states:

"Development and learning which are seriously hampered by chromosomal or brain impairment can be greatly modified if interventions are ecologically based. This study confirms that Mediated Learning and the organization of an Active Modifying Environment can be potent factors in the development of low-functioning children, provided the concept of MLE is understood as a multi-dimensional and is not turned into an ideology." (p. 239)

Many specific programs have been developed in recent years for improved education for youngsters with DS. Some deal with communication skills (Kumin, 1994; Miller et al., 1999), others with reading skills (Oelwein, 1995). Yet others are specific to mathematics skills (Klein, 1997; Martinez, 1997). Some general programs for cognitive development (Gardner, 1996; Cognitive Research Program, 1996) are now being applied to learners with DS. Wishart (1998) states that:

"... Trisomy 21 shows only a weak correlation between the degree of learning disability experienced and parental IQ level, inheritance factors which normally strongly influence children's achievement levels. This suggests that other non-biological factors, including psychological factors, may play an important role in determining the progress made." (p. 197)

"Psychological as well as biological factors clearly play a role in influencing what happens - or does not happen - in cognitive development in children with DS. The wide differences seen in ability levels are not likely to stem simply from 'brighter' children having had more opportunities to learn than others - early intervention, professional input, and full-time schooling are now the norm. We are still a very long way from understanding why it is that some children with DS succeed in mastering so much more than others but looking much more closely at the contexts in which the children learn and at the ways in which we support their learning might lead to at least part of the answer." (p. 201)

Among individuals with MR, there is a wide range of abilities, disabilities, strengths and needs for support, as is true of all human beings (Dyson, 1994; Spitalnik, 1994; Norwich, 1996; Wishart, 1998). There are however differences as well (Schalock, et al., 1994). It is common to find language delay and motor development significantly below norms of peers who do not have mental retardation. More seriously affected children will experience delays in such areas of motor-skill development as mobility, body image, and control of body actions. Compared to their non-disabled peers, children with MR may be below norms in height and weight, may experience more speech problems, and may have a higher incidence of vision and hearing impairment (Kumin, 1994; Oelwein, 1995; Dever & Knapczyk, 1997; Miller et al., 1999; and others).

In contrast to their classmates, students with MR often have problems with attention, perception, memory, problem solving, and logical thought. They are slower in learning how to learn and find it harder to apply what they have learned to new situations or problems. Some professionals explain these patterns by asserting that children with mental retardation have qualitatively different deficits in cognition or memory (Laws, 1996; Katims 2000). Others believe that persons with mental retardation move through the same stages of development as those without retardation, although at a slower rate, reaching lower levels of functioning overall (Gable et al., 1993; Switzky, 1997).

Many persons with retardation are affected only minimally, and will function only somewhat slower than average in learning new skills and information (Feuerstein & Rand, 1997). Educational and research programs today often do not accept this basic fact. This can be seen in programs written for the education of children with DS or children with MR. It is possible to split them into two major groupings:

1. Those that emphasize social and/or behavioral development and often rely on behavioral techniques. Simple functional reading skills are considered sufficient (Gable et al., 1993; Laws, 1996; Dever & Knapczyk, 1997; Katims, 2000; Nevin, 2000 and others); and
2. Those that emphasize literacy and instruction in academic skills (Molina, 1993; Klein & Arieli, 1997; Spiker & Hopman, 1997; Crombie & Gunn 1998; Buckley, 2000; Jarrold, et al., 2000 and others).

The second group on the other hand, while accepting the need for social skills emphasizes the need for the development of literacy and other academic skills such as arithmetic skills as crucial to survival in the modern world. This group tends to prefer separated schools or classes within typical schools. When pupils are integrated this group tends to prefer the use of 'resource rooms' and 'pull outs' in order to teach basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Early Intervention as a specific program is popular with the adherents of the school skills and literacy skills group. IEPs are considered a basic necessity for every learner. An example of those in his group is Oelwein (1995) who says:

"Today, my experience is that the person with Down syndrome who does not read (at least to some degree) is the exception." (p. iii) (Emphasis is in the original).

A third group exists. This is the one that I find most fascinating and wish to investigate. To gain insight into this group may provide both others and myself in the field of education with more effective tools to gain our objective...to provide the best possible education for children with DS.

This group incorporates the goals of both of the above groups by emphasizing neither of those basic approaches but rather the idea of cognitive development as a goal in itself. The person that has learned to identify a problem, to analyze it and to use inductive thinking processes to develop a strategy for its solution, is more likely to find a greater level of success in adult life (Molina & Perez, 1993; Ben-Hur, 1994; Sharron & Coulter, 1996; Feuerstein & Rand, 1997; Kozulin, 1997).

Research on cognitive development has been driven by a pragmatic approach, through which we observe the child's interactions with the physical world to determine the child's cognitive skills as demonstrated in home and school environments. There are many and varied definitions of cognitive development. One may think of cognitive development as the development of the thinking and organizing systems of the brain. It involves language, mental imagery, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and memory development.

Among the many and varied definitions is the one provided by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (USA) (2000):

"...physical and behavioral development are most adequately and accurately described as variable processes in which individual differences in cognitive, social, affective, language, and neurobiological maturation, environment and life experiences, and genetics interact in complex ways to influence child development." (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000).

Essentially it may be said that cognitive development is the growth in children's ways of thinking about and interacting with their environment. Young children initially learn about the world through active, physical exploration and then gradually develop the ability to think symbolically and logically about their experiences.

Children's cognitive development progresses as they develop in the areas of:

• Problem solving and reasoning
• Concept formation
• Imitation/memory
• Association/classification

When typical development is stymied, for whatever reason, it becomes crucial to help children to pass through the necessary stages of cognitive development (Scheid, 1990; Newcombe, 1999). This is where education for, or in, cognitive development comes to the fore. Education in specific skills while important does not address the problem of development and generalization of abilities learned within those specific areas, and therefore aggravates the retardation of the individual learner. The instruction of specific skills however, when taught concomitantly with guided cognitive development has been shown to help pupils with special needs to generalize their learning over time and space, e.g. from the abstract cognitive development exercises to the specific school material to be learned (Scheid, 1990; Feuerstein & Rand 1997; Klein & Arieli, 1997; Gersten & Baker, 1998; Wishart, 1998).

A number of theories for cognitive development are now extant. Not all of them fulfill the requirement intimated by Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason: "Thoughts without content are empty. Intuitions without concepts are blind." (p. 61). Much less do many of them take into consideration the modifiability of children with special needs. Theories of cognitive development require a practical pragmatic form of application for the child in the classroom. How does it help him or her to learn arithmetic, reading and writing? What about the social sciences? Is the theory applicable to the child expected to learn history and geography?

One of the more popular theories available today is Howard Gardener's idea of multiple intelligences, (Gardner, 1983 & 1993) which is based to a large extent on Piaget (1972), and on Feuerstein's (1979), development of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. According to Gardner, everyone possesses numerous 'intelligences' and each person's blend of competencies produces a unique cognitive profile. His theory provides a framework for a metamorphosis of education at all levels of learning and may be critical to learners with various disabilities. The strengths of children with various learning disabilities (e.g. dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other dysfunctions) are rarely obvious in the classroom. The application of Gardner's theory can be highly beneficial for these children. If we believe that every child can learn, it behooves us as educators to learn how to teach every child.

Yet for children with DS the problem is generally more one of over-all general delay in development. Can Gardner's theory of various intelligences be applied to those children who are delayed in almost all, if not actually all, of their abilities as judged by chronological age? The theory emphasizes problem-solving skills, which is certainly important for all learners, including those with DS, but does not provide a practical means of teaching them. There are many examples of people with DS that have developed an expertise in specific areas such as in music or art (Appendix 2). Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences would appear to be especially appropriate in such cases.

Chapter 3 - Methodology
The research project is a case study using Qualitative Research that takes place in HWCRI. It occurs in a natural setting, in the classroom. The variables are largely uncontrolled and uncontrollable. All will be considered when analyzing any changes found in the child's ability to learn.

Tzabar Ben-Yehshua in her book Qualitative Research in Education and Instruction, (1997), defines the goals and objectives of Qualitative Research as the development of knowledge and the understanding of concepts. It includes the description of different aspects of events; theory anchored in reality and built continuously based on comparisons of similarities and differences with the area of the research subject.

In Qualitative Research the investigator uses various exploratory tools such as: "Review of literature and factors available, the researcher him or herself, notebooks and writing materials, photocopies and tape recordings, open observation and open interviews." (Tzabar Ben-Yehshua, 2001) (The quote is a free translation from the Hebrew.)

Barenboim (1993), determines that the Qualitative Approach attributes meaning of items in the eyes of the research subjects themselves. By exposing their own comprehension of themselves and their ideas the Qualitative investigator succeeds in understanding internal processes, as they exist in real life.

According to Guba & Lincoln (1994), the Qualitative Approach is a dialectical compromise. The social framework of both accepted and variable types of interaction between the investigator and the subject of the research are oriented to stabilize the framework as a mutually accepted state. This permits an interrelation that is reciprocally acceptable despite potential tensions.

The Impediments of the Qualitative Research Method
This research program did not analyze the factors according to the standards of Quantitative Research. The analysis presented does not examine the results of the population investigated according to number and amount (age, sex, new concepts achieved). (Amir, 1996) The objective of Quantitative Research is to explain the findings according to certain set rules and principles. The Research question determines in advance the focus of the investigation. It does not include the ideas and thoughts of the subjects themselves, in that the variables investigated are not those of ongoing and changing processes, as they are experienced, nor of behavior and its explanations, as in the case in a Qualitative Research program. (Marom, 1996) I preferred a Qualitative Approach to this project because the characteristics of the research answered the needs of the question under investigation; to gain insight into the process of learning itself for this population.

Reasons for Choice of a Qualitative Approach

1. Qualitative Research uses a natural setting in the field as the direct source of data with the investigator herself as a major participant.
2. Qualitative researchers feel that it is possible to understand the ongoing activity when it is observed and as it occurs. As noted above it is the process, the changes that take place as they happen, that interest the investigator, together with a theoretical analysis of the reasons for their occurrence.
3. Understanding is consolidated with the accretion of variables. Theory is formed on the basis of observation and evidence.
4. The investigator is aware of, and understands, the different processes connected with the system that she is researching due to the fact that she herself is a member of the given system. She serves in a specific position within the system and has received training to fulfill that position.
5. Principles and attributes induced are both objective and subjective.
6. Qualitative research was chosen because the major area of interest is the process of learning of the objective population. It was not for the sake of product. The objective of the research was not to find variables for proof of validity, but rather to analyze the variables in an inductive manner. (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992)
7. Qualitative research is descriptive. It requires observation and experiment to understand human behavior. This ethnographic form of research is explanatory. The descriptions serve as a support for the explanation. (Alport, 1992)
8. Education per se, and cognitive modifiability in particular, are difficult if not impossible to quantify. Qualitative research is one of the better means of evaluating educational problems. (Roberts, 1991; Altrichter, et al., 1993; Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995; Brown, 1999)
9. Motivation, progress, the ability to deal with frustration, overcoming innate difficulties e.g. the pertinacity often found in combination with DS, and social skills are abstract concepts. They are analyzable only as relatives not as absolutes with numerical values. (Lebeer & Garbo 1997)
10. It is specific research geared to the problems of education per se and not deduced from subject matter in the other social sciences, such as sociology or psychology. Therefore it is more pertinent to the problem at hand — the best methods for teaching a given child, in a given situation. (Elliot, 1991)

• Participant Observation
  Observation is the tool of choice to gather data in a qualitative research approach. Observation may be said to aid in the identification of processes - of special importance to this project. Alport (1992), defines the goal of observation as attention to events or behaviors and the clear, detailed and exact recording of the information observed. According to Nahmias & Nahmias (1998) notes need not be taken at the time of the occurrence, but can be written down immediately afterwards. This is the method I chose since I was also the teacher. The aide in the classroom noted down specific quotes and actions of the pupils' at the time they occurred at my request. This allows the observer the ability to learn about the process in question as it occurs.
  I have chosen for this research six children with DS that learn in two separate classes. Each class includes a number of other children without DS. There are five boys and one girl in the research population. The age range is from eight years old to seventeen. The classes are heterogenic and are organized by current level of operational competency and not by chronological age groupings. The population is representative of other pupils in the same category, in that this paper is investigating whether pupils with this chromosomal learning impairment can benefit cognitively from the applied forms of SCM, the MLE method and the IE program.
  The observation covered a period of four weeks, for two one hour sessions with each group, each week. An aide was in the classroom in all sessions. Occasionally one pupil or another would be absent, but none from the research group. The pupils in question were not made aware of the fact that they were the subjects of a research program on their learning abilities and their propensity for change.
  Based on direct observation this is an Action Research into the learning propensity of learners with DS, with no attempt to generalize or to predict. I will not attempt to manipulate the normative variables of daily life but rather describe them as they occur. It will entail a great deal of reflection on my part and a need to recognize my own limits. The parents have given permission for me to see the pupil's files at HWCRI (Roberts, 1991; Altrichter, et al., 1993; Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995; Brown, 1999).
• Reflection:
  The teacher working in the area of special education is required to evaluate in written reports thrice annually. It is therefore incumbent on him or her to reflect on his or her goals. The IEP written at the beginning of the year must be analyzed and changed as needed. This requires self-reflection and the collection of all pertinent data via discussion with other members of the educational team including parents, aides and the para-medical professionals. It requires careful observation of the pupil's behavior and changes, if any, in his or her learning ability. Which educational methods have proven successful, which have not? All of these activities are in themselves valuable aspects of research. Action research is therefore an integral part of any special education teacher's normal activities.
  If the teacher's primary job is to teach, then a good teacher wants to be a better teacher. (Altrichter, et al., 1993; Bassey, 1998) Action research by the teacher in the classroom is the means for that goal to be accomplished (Altrichter, et al., 1993) The teacher in a special education setting is always collecting data; daily notebooks, team meetings and IEPs make this an automatic component of the job. Analyzing the material, oneself and the object of the report is a natural extension for the teacher that considers himself or herself a professional, or has aspirations in that direction.
• Questionnaire
  A questionnaire in Hebrew was submitted to the pupils' other teachers. (Appendix 3) This was submitted to the homeroom teachers and to subject teachers of the pupils in the research population one week after the completion of the project. This was essential to assess over-all change and the application of the principles taught in the IE lessons. Carter (2000) opines that IE has a similar history to Aptitude Training Instruction, in that the students make academic gains but not necessarily as a result of the instruction. According to her, this seems to be a function of the necessity to continue academic instruction concomitantly. The two factors, she says, could not in past studies be separated, thus there existed a correlation but not a causation relationship. According to the results of the teacher's questionnaires however it was clear that the pupils in the research project were applying principles learned in IE to other subject material.
• Review of Literature
  A great deal has been written on the learning abilities and disabilities of people with DS. Little or none refers to the use of the MLE and IE with these learners. (Kumin, 1994; Oelwein, 1995; Laws, 1996; Dever & Knapczyk, 1997; Wishart, 1998; Miller, et al., 1999; Katims, 2000; and others) Much has also been written about the use of MLE and IE in the education of people with various learning disabilities. Again little or none refers to its application for people with DS. (Ben-Hur, 1994; Sewell & Price, 1994; Tzuriel, 1994; Sharron & Coulter, 1996 and others). Only recently has literature appeared specifically on learners with DS and the use of MLE and IE. (Lebeer & Garbo, 1997; Feuerstein & Rand, 1997) Much more is needed in this area. It is my hope that this case study will be an effective example of the problem and the need for further investigation.
• Observation Analysis
  The direct observations are the basis for evaluating the learner's propensity for change. Changes were seen from the fourth session onwards. It would appear that the methods used are accomplishing the objective. These changes are detailed below in the Observation Analysis and categorization of behaviors. As will be shown below, attempting to attribute any given action to a single cause proved to be impossible. In the Observation Analysis I applied the principles of MLE and the Deficient Cognitive Functions. No single action could be attributed to any one cause. This appears to be a simple fact of human motivation. Pavlov and Skinner, Freud and Piaget, Festinger and Bandura, not to mention the Gestalten and other researchers into human behavior all disagree with each other. (Schwarzwald, 1978; Hergenhahn & Olson, 1993) None of them would attribute any given behavior to the same source. Feuerstein prefers to emphasize the modifiability of the human organism rather than the many possible causes of current behavior. (Feuerstein et al., 1997; Feuerstein & Rand, 1997)
• Interviews
  An additional tool for the gathering of data is the interview. There are three major forms of interview: The Ethnographic or open interview, the Standard format that is limited by time, guided and focussed on the subject matter of interest to the interviewer, and the open ended format, not limited by time. (Tzabar Ben-Yehoshua, 1997)
  This project used both the Ethnographic form, with the pupils themselves, which were tape recorded (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992), and the Standard format, following completion of the Questionnaire with the teachers.
  An informal addition included short conversations with the parents of some of the pupils in order to gain insight into their over-all impression of any changes that may have taken place in their children. Some parents reported on changes in some of the pupils' abilities to organize themselves and their tasks at home. Others saw no change. One parent reported what he considered regression, but that may have actually been a search for independence on the part of the child.

Academic theories notwithstanding, it is the teacher in the classroom that sees the whole child, over-time and in all moods. No researcher that comes in for a session or two can possibly evaluate the entire human being as can the teacher who sees the child daily, under many different circumstances. Action research by the teacher in the classroom is therefore appropriate in these circumstances.

In this project the gathering of the data was sufficiently long and substantial to describe the processes of thought required for the target population to develop new concepts. During the period in question (four weeks) both the teacher-researcher and the educational aide found themselves deeply involved in the process. This helped them to guide the pupils in a direct and helpful manner. It also gave the teacher-researcher more insight into the processes that the pupils were undergoing themselves.

Data Evaluation: The evaluation of the project had two main phases:

1. While the project was running.
   During the active stage of teaching and researching results as they occurred the investigator used reflection, analysis and elaboration techniques after each lesson (observation). This helped to adapt the proposed program to the needs of the pupils and to take into account goals all ready accomplished.
2. At the end of the project following completion of all lessons and interviews.
   The interviews followed at the end of the active teaching-observing period and the completion of the teacher's questionnaire. All of the data gathered was then evaluated in light of the objective: Is it possible to adapt the theory of Structural Cognitive Modifiability (Feuerstein & Rand, 1997) for children with DS? Is it possible to raise the level of their cognitive development to an extent that has previously been undeveloped? Is it possible for a child classified as retarded by the educational system and assigned to a special educational school, to be modified cognitively? Perhaps even to the extent that he or she will be able to operate on a cognitively independent level?

• The size of the target population was very small. Originally it had been planned to include a third class but time limitations prohibited the proposal.
• The time available also limited the number of lesson-observations that could be held with the target population, thereby perhaps limiting their accomplishments in the time allotted.
• During the interviews of the target population there was a definite feeling that they were trying to give the answers expected by the researcher. This was counter-acted by the interviewer verbally and with body language.
• During the interviews of the teachers it was found that their own need to be proud of their pupils might have influenced their answers. This was true for the answers given on the questionnaire as well. This was counter-acted by appealing to their professional pride.
• The lack of ethnographic interviews with the parents of the target population is a lack that I feel is important. Parents often know their children best. The minimal input gained was not always necessarily accurate. The researcher may have been able to accomplish more in this area with better planning.

Howe and Moses (in Tzabar Ben-Yehoshua, 2001) are clear in their opinion. They say that the qualitative researcher working in the social and educational fields must base his or her ethical code on mutual respect, mutual confidence and cooperation between himself or herself and his or her subject population. The ethics of the research must be an integral part of the research plan and its goals.

In this project I found it ethical to inform the parents of the subjects, in advance, that I was going to research their children's learning behaviors and processes. I also had to be ethical in my observation analysis since I could not claim to be an objective observer, being rather involved with the pupils and wanting them to succeed. Here again ethical means honest. I did not find it necessary to inform the pupils themselves at any point that they were the subjects of a research program, for them it was just another lesson period in school.

According to Tzabar Ben-Yehoshua (2001), ethics applies to publication of one's finding and the anonymity of the subjects as well. In this paper they are neither identified nor identifiable. Within HWCRI the story was different. All of the teachers involved were made fully aware from the beginning of the research. This may have influenced their own behavior with those pupils, but was unavoidable when considered within the parameters of ethical qualitative research. The principal was informed to gain his permission to carry out the research, but was not informed of which specific pupils would be subjects of the project.

Chapter 4 - Results
The pupils involved should show an increased ability to recognize that a problem exists, to define the problem and to search for a solution. These processes include:

• Analyzing a given situation/problem
• Analyzing the parts/portions of the problem
• Gathering the essential factors towards the solution
• Synthesizing the solution
• Analyzing the solution and recognizing if it is a sufficient answer to the problem.

Establishing confidence in the ability of children with DS to acquire greater academic skills if provided with the necessary tools to do so, will hopefully have an effect on special education in general.

Level:
Non- and beginning readers, the age level is wide, from eight to seventeen years, some with motivational difficulties, but all with the basic ability to understand concepts.

Objectives:

1. The objective to stabilize the world for learners with a poor perception of time, cause and effect and with therefore an episodic grasp of reality was reached. A learner can understand the reason for an occurrence and be aware that he or she can then foretell a future occurrence to some extent, if that learner searches for causes. This gives the individual the ability to analyze, understand causation and overcome an episodic grasp of reality.
2. To understand the concept of cyclic occurrences.
3. To learn to read a monthly calendar, identify the days of the week, be able to tell what the date is for the current day and foretell the standard occurrences of his or her week. The learner recognizes those months that have holidays in them and to understand the reoccurrence of such holidays in the same month each year.

Two classes were investigated. Both classes consist of six pupils each. In the first class, two are boys with DS ("A" and "B") and one a girl with DS ("C"). In the second class are four boys and two girls. Three of the boys have DS ("D", "E" and "F"). The remainder of the pupils in each class have other learning disabilities. The biological ages range from eight years to seventeen. The level of operation for these pupils ranges from non-readers to beginning readers. One pupil, "C", can read on the third grade level and write on a second grade level. "A", "B" and "D" are reading on a first grade level, can write their own names and copy the letters of the alphabet.

Functional reading skills are somewhat higher. "E" and "F" are non-readers but recognize their names, some words and the numerals 1-5; the others can read numerals up to 10. The pupils in the first class have addition and subtraction skills from 1-5. They have not yet learned to carry. All can count by rote up to 10 or higher.

During the first lesson I distributed a personal calendar to each pupil. Discussion of the use of a calendar and explanations and examples were provided e.g. "Today is Tuesday, where is next Tuesday?" "What day is tomorrow?" "Where is it on your calendar?" The pupils discussed this and then marked with colors Tuesday and Wednesday. These are the days of the week in which the pupils have IE lessons.

The use of clues, such as the date that is written on the blackboard and discussion of the day's specific programs were tools used in the lesson.

Only "C" was able to fulfill the task successfully without full support. The others all required extensive help, including actually pointing out to them the frames to color ("D", "E" and "F").

The Instruments chosen for the project are those that are accessible even to the more or less totally or functionally illiterate individual. When reading skills were required the mediators read the material to the pupils (Appendix 4, A-D).

The Accomplished Goals:

• Projection of virtual relationships that produce a need to link episodically perceived events into a system by projecting into them relationships that are not necessarily obvious, and therefore compelling (the Gestalt is damaged or lacking).
• Discrimination and constancy of form and size across changes in orientation - an object can remain the same, continuing its constant existence above and beyond certain changes in its characteristics.
• Use of relevant information - analysis of the modal and definition of the structure using summative behavior, e.g. appropriate summation of the existing stimuli in the perceived universe.
• Planning and restraint of impulsivity:
  1. The need to define a strategy for search,
  2. To develop and use appropriate strategies for a systematic search,
  3. To avoid difficulties due to sweeping perception,
  4. To explore alternatives, to consider sequences necessary for completion of the task and to use the modal for comparison.
• Use of the appropriate modality to solve the problem.
• To aid perception to facilitate the establishment of relationships in terms of precise differences and commonalties (fine discrimination).
• To establish spontaneous comparison in order to enhance and clarify the perceived environment.
• To develop a clear and stable perception.
• To strengthen systematic and thorough search habits in order to ensure gathering of all data for the purpose of comparison.
• To develop good scanning behaviors.
• To develop judgmental skills and to establish relationships based on similarities and differences.
• To identify and understand the relationship between a whole and its parts (analysis).
• To develop divergent means of thinking about a problem.
• To use comparison in the analysis of the structure to be analyzed.
• The use of structural analysis and operational analysis
• To reorient the pupil's perception of time and his or her capacity to perceive and organize temporal relationships.
• To understand the sequential nature of time and temporal relationships.
• To understand the relationship between personal experience and objective time.
• To apply the learned skills of comparison, systematic search, the gathering of all pertinent data, projection of virtual relationships and inference.
• To apply the learned ability to restrain impulsivity and perceive environmental clues.
• Development of strategies.
• Restraint of impulsiveness.
• To establish relationships.
• Use of comparison as a tool.
• Fine discrimination.
• Projection of virtual relationships.
• Use of appropriate modality.
• Use of inductive and deductive thinking.
• To use judgmental skills.
• Use of criteria.

There has been in this brief period change and progress that could not have been expected of any child with DS if one relies solely on general prognoses for learners with this syndrome. Till now I have attributed such change and progress to SCM and the MLE method. The Lebeer and Garbo (1997), report however has cast a new light on the subject.

It is difficult to write generally about pupils who vary so greatly in their abilities and personalities, but I will add that some of the pupils coped with the full workload more easily than others; C is a case in point.
One must accept that categorization is essential for some aspects of organized life. On the other hand, educators should seriously question its use. Whether discussing labels referring to a pupil's origins, cultural derivation or learning ability, the stigma of stereotyping must always be kept in mind. A human being is a holistic entity, a total individual and as such, more than the summation of parts. Therefore, it is our duty and pleasure to enable each individual pupil to reach self-realization and to have his or her full potential released.

As noted above the other teachers when interviewed tended to be influenced by their own need to be proud of their pupils. Hargreaves (1994) tells us that to best serve our pupils we must be able to distance ourselves from them, to better provide them with the needed service. Teachers that work in the field of special education have a special difficulty with this. Yet when their professional pride was appealed to they did respond accordingly. From this we may perhaps deduce that those who choose to work in this field pride themselves on their professional abilities. McDaniel et al., (1989) note that a special education teacher's sense of personal teaching efficacy influences the teacher's motivation and effort, teacher-student interactions, and student achievement. This agrees with Lebeer & Garbo (1997) in their statement that the mediator may be as important as the method being used. To be aware of the danger of stereotyping should then be in the forefront of our minds at all times.

Chapter 6 - Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations
This research has attempted to research the question of whether the MLE method can be made more successful than it is for pupils with Down's Syndrome. It has been shown that in a very short time period a number of pupils that were operating on a variety of academic skill levels, but all well below their age norm, have made progress despite a diagnosis of special educational needs.

As may be seen from the above, most of the pupils' behavior began to change during the fourth meeting. They were able by then to accept that making errors is acceptable. The level of some of the pupils' perfectionism began to become reduced. They therefore were willing to attempt more, and to successfully complete, tasks that they previously believed beyond their ability. Added to that the newfound spontaneity and the flexibility that began to develop permitted them to understand new and more difficult tasks. Some of them then found it possible to work independently.

This evidence would appear to show that the use of MLE can improve the learning ability of a child with Down's Syndrome. The question remains, according to Lebeer and Garbo (1997), whether it was the IE program or the intense and formal MLE method that was instrumental in that change. The evidence of Tzuriel (1992), and Sharron & Coulter (1996), would point to the IE program—as would my own experience to date. I know of no other method that works so well, despite having worked in the formal educational system for 20 years in the field of special education. Providing an Active Modifying Environment is not always possible, most especially not for young children living at home.

Some of the target population has the advantage of highly educated, intelligent parents, some of warm and loving homes that are very involved with their education. Some of the parents have received guidance in MLE since their children were very young.

That environment alone however was insufficient to change these pupils' learning abilities until they began the IE program. Again referring to Lebeer and Garbo (1997), as quoted above: "Different therapists yield different results even while using the same methods." (p. 252), it may, in this case be that the mediator made the difference. In my own experience however, I have seen changes of this sort often enough, with different mediators, that at this time I must still attribute it to both the IE program and the MLE methods applied according to the Criteria of Interaction as propounded by SCM.

This is true especially since not all of the pupils in the project have the advantage of a warm and accepting home life.

As to the research question itself, only time will tell. It is my own personal belief that most of these pupils are capable of reaching a higher academic level than was previously expected of them. I will continue to work with them hoping and believing that they will gain more from the IE program in combination with specific knowledge (reading, writing, arithmetic) than they would from specific skill instruction exclusively.

For myself, I am very excited by the idea that other educational methods, together with MLE, may provide children with the same chance to change and progress.

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Tzuriel, D. (1994), "Cognitive Modifiability, Mediated Learning Experience and Affective-Motivational Processes: A Transactional Approach"' in R. Feuerstein, P. Klein & A.J. Tannenbaum (eds) Mediated Learning Experience (MLE): Theoretical, Psychosocial and Learning Implications, London: Freund, pp. 95-120.

Vulliamy, G. & Webb, R. (1992), Teacher Research and Special Educational Needs, London: David Fulton.

Wang, M.C., (1990), "Learning Characteristics of Students with Special Needs and the Provision of Effective Schooling." in M.C. Wang, M.C. Reynolds & H.Y. Walberg, Special Education - Research and Practice, Oxford: Pergamon.

Wishart, J.G. (1993), "Learning The Hard Way: Avoidance strategies in young children with Down syndrome", Down Syndrome Research and Practice, Vol. 1 (2) 47-55.

Wishart, J.G. (1998), "Cognitive Development in Young Children with Down Syndrome: Developmental Strengths, Developmental Weaknesses", Down Syndrome in the 21^st Century: Biennial Scientific Conference on Down Syndrome. From the Internet: http://www.riverbendds.org/wishart.html.

Appendix 1 - Special Education Law, Israel
[Please note:

1. This is a free translation. Some portions have been deleted.
2. The Hebrew language is not rich in synonyms. Some of the terms used, while an accurate translation, may not be considered proper usage in English.]

1. Commentary
   1. Definitions
      1. In this Law -
         "Special Education" - Instruction, teaching and systematic treatment given according to this Law to an exceptional child, including Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and therapeutic treatments in additional professional areas as determined including Accompanying Services, all to be dependent upon the needs of the specific exceptional child;
         "Exceptional Child" - A person from age three to twenty-one that by reason of a deficiency in physical, mental, emotional or behavioral worthiness is limited in his ability for adaptive behavior and is in need of special education;
         "Recognized Educational Institution" - As defined in the Compulsory Education Law, 5739-1949.
         "Special Education Institution" - A Recognized Educational Institution that provides Special Education, including a class in a Recognized Educational Institution which provides special education;
         "Accompanying Services" - Travel and Food Services, Supporting Aides, Medical Services, Paramedical Personnel, Psychologists and Social Services and any other Service that the Minister should issue an Order for, in consultation with the Minister of Health or the Minister of Welfare Services, according to the subject matter;
         "Public Organization" - A National Organization of Volunteers that engages in the treatment of a specific type of exceptional children or with matters dealing with their particular situation, that the Minister has recognized by Order.
         "The Minister" - The Minister of Education and Culture.
         
      2. Other terms will have the same meaning that they are assigned in the Compulsory Education Law 5739-1949, and the Government Education Law 5713-1953, unless they are given a different meaning in this Law.
   
   
2. Free Special Education
   2. The Objective of Special Education
      • The objective of Special Education is to develop and to advance the skills and the abilities of the exceptional child, to correct and to improve his ability to function physically, mentally, emotionally and behaviorally, to provide him with knowledge, skills and habits which will allow him to acquire behavior patterns acceptable to society, in order to ease his integration into the larger society and the world of work.
   3. Free Special Education
      • The exceptional child is entitled to free special education at an Institution for Special Education in the area in which he lives; if no such institution exists in the area in which he lives the Local Education Authority [LEA] is responsible for providing the child with Special Education at an appropriate Institution, as close as possible to the area in which he lives, even if the appropriate institution is located in an area under the jurisdiction of another LEA.
   4. Responsibility
      • Deleted - relates levels of responsibility and financial arrangements between the State and the LEAs.
   
   
3. Assessment and Assignment
   5. Appointment of the Committee of Reassignment
      • The Minister will appoint the Committee of Reassignment for Exceptional Children and decide the area in which it will operate;
   6. The Composition of the Committee of Reassignment [CoR]
      1. CoRs will be composed of seven members as detailed below:
         1. A representative of the LEA who will serve as the Chairman of the CoR;
         2. Two Inspectors from the Ministry of Education and Culture, one of them being an Inspector of Special Education, or their representatives;
         3. An Educational Psychologist according to the Law of Psychologists 5737-1977, [herinafter called the Educational Psychologist], appointed by the Local Government Authority;
         4. A pediatrician from the list decided upon by the Minister of Health;
         5. A Licensed Social Worker, as defined in the Law of Welfare Services 5718-1958, with at least 5 years experience working with exceptional children [hereinafter known as the Social Worker], from the list decided upon by the Minister of Welfare;
         6. A representative of the National Parents' Committee for Special Education, from the list decided upon by the Parents' Committee.
      2. The Chairman of the CoR will invite the CoR.
   7. Entitlement Decisions
      1. The CoR will decide an exceptional child's right to entitlement for Special Education and will assign him to an Institution for Special Education.
      2. The CoR will give priority to assignment in a Recognized Educational Institution that is not [emphasis is this writer's] an Institution for Special Education.
      3. When the CoR has decided to reassign an exceptional child to a Recognized Educational Institution as stated in small section [b], the CoR will recommend treatment or special lessons that will be provided by the assigned institution.
      4. When the case of an exceptional child is brought before the CoR that the Assessment Committee, according to the Welfare Law [Care of the Retarded] 5729-1969, has previously defined as retarded, the CoR will take into consideration in its deliberations, the decision made for the child by the Assessment Committee.
   8. Referral to the CoR The CoR will discuss any child referred to it by parents, a Recognized Educational Institution, a LEA, Public Organization or a person that the Minister, the Minister of Welfare Services or the Minister of Health have designated to do so.
   9. The Authority of the CoR and it's deliberations
      1. The CoR has the Authority to Order from any person pertinent documentation and Medical and/or Psychological opinions pertaining to the exceptional child, to refer the child for further assessments and/or examinations as needed, all as may be required for the CoR to reach a decision.
      2. The CoR will invite the parents of the exceptional child and allow them, or their chosen representative, to argue their case; the CoR has the right to hear from the exceptional child himself.
      3. An official protocol will be kept. The protocol, medical documentation and all other documentation brought before the CoR is confidential, however, it is permitted to allow a person consulted by the CoR to read the relevant documents. Such a person must also respect the confidentiality of any documentation that he sees.
      4. The CoR will notify in writing the parents of the exceptional child, or their representative, of its decision and the reasons for that decision. If, in exceptional circumstances the CoR decides that the parents are not to receive the explanation for it's decision, then an Educational Psychologist, Physician or Social Worker, as chosen by the parents is entitled to read the final protocol in its entirety.
   10. Reviews
       1. The Head of a Special Education Institution will present the case of each exceptional child in his Institution to the CoR once every three years for a review [hereinafter called the Review].
       2. Reviews may be held after shorter periods than that specified in small section [a], whether initiated by the Head as stated or whether initiated by a Public Organization.
       3. A parent is entitled to request a review of the case of his exceptional child at any time but only if one year has passed since the previous decision was made.
       4. During Review discussions as specified in small sections [b] and [c] the CoR is entitled to reach it's decision on the basis of documentation only.
   11. Decisions of the CoR
       • Final decisions of the CoR will be made on the basis of a majority vote but only if at least three members are in attendance.
   12. Appointments to the CoR
       • Deleted - Here follows a long list of which agencies and government departments are to appoint which members of the CoR.
   13. Appeals
       1. Decisions of the CoR may be appealed by the exceptional child, a parent or a representative of a Public Organization by application to the Appeals Committee within twenty-one days from the date of that decision.
       2. The Appeals Committee is authorized -
          1. To accept the appeal and to change the decision of the CoR;
          2. To return the case to the CoR for further deliberations, with or without instructions;
          3. To reject the appeal.
       3. The Appeals Committee will give it's decision within twenty-one days from the date that the appeal is made unless a special extension is required, in which case the reasons for the extension will be given in writing.
       4. The decisions of the Appeals Committee will be made by a majority vote of its members but only if at least three members are in attendance.
       5. Decisions of the Appeals Committee are final.
   
   
4. Learning at Special Education Schools
   14. The Academic Year
       • The Minister, with the agreement of the Minister of the Treasury, is authorized to decide which, if any, Institutions of Special Education will have an extended academic year, including remaining open during vacation periods of other Recognized Education Institutions.
   15. Extended Learning Days
       1. The Minister, with the agreement of the Minister of the Treasury, is Authorized to decide on extended learning days for Institutions of Special Education, for any or all of them, and the number of hours in which the specified Institution or Institutions will remain open.
       2. The Minister will decide which Accompanying Services are required due to an extended Learning Day.
       3. Decisions as stated in small sections [a] and [b] for Special Education Care Centers that serve as residential Centers according to the Monitoring Law will behave as advised by the Minister of Welfare Services.
   16. Teachers
       • Deleted - Details of how special education teachers are to be licensed.
   17. Classes
       • Deleted - Details of numbers of students per class, according to types of disabilities and types of special education schools.
   18. Caretakers and Therapists that are not Teachers [As corrected 5749-1987]
       1. The Minister is Authorized to decide on professional standards and validation requirements for Psychologists, Para-Medical Professionals, and Others who are not Teachers, and are employed in Special Education; the above stated decision will be in Agreement with the Minister of Health or with the advice of the Minister of Welfare Services according to the case. Decisions regarding the employment standards will be made in Agreement with the Minister of the Treasury.
       2. Professionals as specified above in small section [a] will be Licensed or Registered as required by their professions and as suits the case.
   19. Individual Education Plans
       1. At the beginning of each school year, and no later than as decided by the Minister the staff of an Institute for Special Education will decide on an Individual Education Plan [IEP] for each exceptional child that learns in that Institution.
       2. The parents or other representative as decided by the Minister, of each child will be invited to take part in the planning of the IEP.
       3. The IEP will describe the exceptional child's level of competence at the time of the IEPs preparation, the goals and objectives of the child's studies, the amount time each study program will require, the accessories and technologies required for their accomplishment and by what standards accomplishment of the goal will be measured.
   20. Summarizing Evaluation
       • At the end of each school year the parents of each exceptional child will receive a written summary on the amount of progress the child has made in each of the areas specified in the IEP.
   
   
5. Differences
   • Deleted - numbers 21-24 specify how this law changes previous Laws.

Appendix 2 - Examples
This section presents some people with Down's syndrome that excel in specific areas.
The first article in this section is deleted from the publicly published dissertation because permission was not received to disseminate it. For the others, the URL is provided.
In alphabetical order:

Sujeet Desai:

http://members.tripod.com/~suj_2/

Karen Gaffney:

http://www.karengaffneyfoundation.com/

Jason Kingsley:

http://brugold.com/jason.html

http://brugold.com/count.html

Mitchell Levitz:

http://brugold.com/mitch.html

Tia Nelis:

http://brugold.com/tia.html

Mia Peterson:

http://brugold.com/mia.html

Aya Iwamoto: (in Japanese)

http://www.mct.ne.jp/users/ayaiwamo7/

שאלון למחנכים

תלמיד\ה\ים מכיתתך למד\ה\ו העשרה אינסטרומטלית (ה"א) בקבוצות שונות השנה ולא בכיתת האם.

בשאלון זו את\ה מבוקש\ת לענות על כמה שאלות בקשר ללימודים הנ"ל.
אנא למלא שאלון אחד עבור כל תלמיד\ה שהשתתף\פה בשיעור ה"א.

אנא להקיף את הערתך לפי הסולם הבא:
מספר 1 = בכלל לא
מספר 2 = כמעת ולא
מספר 3 = במדה בינוני
מספר 4 = כן, מעט
מספר 5 = כן, מאוד

אני מוקירה מאוד את שיתוף הפעולה שלך במילוי השאלון זה.

שם התלמיד: ___________

תחום הלימודי:						הערות
1. התלמיד\ה התקדם באופן כללי הסמסטר.	1	2	3	4	5
2. התלמיד\ה לא התקדם כללי הסמסטר.	1	2	3	4	5
3. התלמיד\ה נסוג\ה הסמסטר.	1	2	3	4	5
4. התלמיד התקדם בתחום\ים מסוימים בלבד (אנא לציין איזה).	1	2	3	4	5
5. התלמיד נסוגה בתחומים מסוימים (אנא לציין איזה).	1	2	3	4	5
6. לא היה שינוי כלל בתחומי הלימודים.	1	2	3	4	5
7. התלמיד\ה מתייחס לתחומי לימודים ברצינות יותר.	1	2	3	4	5
8. התלמיד\ה מתעניין בנושאים שונים וחדשים.	1	2	3	4	5
9. התלמיד\ה מתעניין בנושא מסוים יותר.	1	2	3	4	5
10. התלמיד\ה מאורגן\ת יותר באופן כללי.	1	2	3	4	5
11. התלמיד\ה מאורגן\ת יותר בתחום מסוים בלבד (אנא לציין איזה).	1	2	3	4	5
12. התלמיד\ה מחפש סדר בלימודים.	1	2	3	4	5
13. התלמיד\ה שואל יותר שאלות\מבאי דוגמאות בשיעורים באופן כללי.	1	2	3	4	5
14. נא לציין עוד תחומי לימודים החשובים לתלמיד\ה זה\זאת.

תחם ההתנהגותי:
1. התלמיד\ה הולך לקבוצת ה-ה"א ברצון.	1	2	3	4	5
2. היה שינוי ברצון התלמיד ללכת לשיעור.	1	2	3	4	5
3. השינוי מתבטא ביותר רצון ללכת לשיעור.	1	2	3	4	5
4. השינוי מתבטא בפחות רצון ללכת לשיעור.	1	2	3	4	5
5. התלמיד\ה מתבטא את רצונו\ה באופן מילולי.	1	2	3	4	5
6. התלמיד\ה מתבטא את רצונו\ה באופן בלתי-מילולי.	1	2	3	4	5
7. יכולת הביטוי של התלמיד השתנה במשך הסמסטר.	1	2	3	4	5
8. התנהגות התלמיד\ה השתנה במשך הסמסטר.	1	2	3	4	5
9. התלמיד\ה יותר רגוע\ה באופן כללי.	1	2	3	4	5
10. התלמיד\ה יותר "פתוח" באופן כללי (אף אם זה כולל התנהגות לא רצויה).	1	2	3	4	5
11. נא לציין עוד תחומי לימודים החשובים לתלמיד\ה זה\זאת.

יתכן והשאלות אינן מקיפות את כל הנושאים החשובים עבור כל תלמיד\ה באופן אינדיבדואלי\ת. אנא להרגיש חופש\י להוסיף למטה נקודות חשובות לפי דעתך. אפשר להתייחס לכל תחום: לימודי, התנהגותי, חברתי וכו'.

האם	אפשר	לייחס	שינויים	בתלמיד\ה	לה"א?
	1	2	3	4	5
האם	אפשר	לייחס	שינויים	בתלמיד\ה	ללימודים	באופן כללי?
	1	2	3	4	5
האם	אפשר	לייחס	שינוים	בתלמיד\ה	לסיבה\ות	אחרת\ות?
	1	2	3	4	5

אנא לציין כאן את הערתיך:

None of the pupils had any idea about mail. It was necessary to give them exact examples, such as a letter versus a package. Still it was obvious that they had no life experience in this area.

Despite all of these difficulties, the pupils clearly understood the principle involved in the comparisons on the page. They provided examples involving responsibilities between themselves and their siblings. In the same vein many examples were regarding the differences in privileges accorded themselves and their siblings.

(Sample page follows.)
(Sample page is copyrighted material. It may not be published in a public format.)