Comparing Special Education In The United States And China

 

COMPARING SPECIAL EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA

Special education in China is quite similar to that of the United States act. In 1982, government of  China stated the country’s responsibility for educating educating people with disabilities. Then, National People’s People’s Congress adopted the Compulsory Education Law of the People’s Republic of China mandating that all   children are entitled to nine years of free public education. For United States, since 1975, education for All Handicapped Children Act has guaranteed a free and appropriate  education for all students with disabilities. A few strategies their used for this program are Student Study Team and Individualized Educational Program. In order to find out the differences between special education services in China and the United States, a survey was administered to teachers at Chinese and American primary schools. Results show that teachers in the United States had remarkably smaller class sizes than did their counterparts in China. Another difference is the primary goal of China is to give most children with disabilities the opportunity to go to school but the primary goal of United States is to give children the right to be equally educated. Besides, The United States’ policy is based on the philosophy philosoph y of equality of opportunity, whereas China had a long tradition of a hierarchal pyramid of social relationships. Conclusion, China could make some specific changes to their special education process that would give benefit to their students and United States can serve as a model for other countries attempting to do the same. ( 243 words )