Costa Rica News – The Ministry of Public Education has a responsibility to students with special needs.
They are given adaptations to the curriculum and/or teaching and testing methods to meet their individual needs.
One example is a boy with mild autism who needs time to adapt to new circumstances. He comes in and is able to play for the first half hour before joining the rest of the class in the lesson. Another is that a student with visual impairment will be placed closer to the teacher. Still others are tested at a lower level than their peers.
The State of Education said that there has been an unusual increase in the number of adjustments made in recent years.
In 1999, 59 out of every 1,000 students received an adjustment but by 2011 the number rose to 120 of 1,000.
This could signal that teachers are finally noting the differences in learning styles and abilities better than they used to or it could be that they are unprepared for adjusting curriculums without formal adaptations.
