Special Education: Examining the Pros and Cons of Inclusion in Education

If one looks at the word “Inclusion”, its definition states that the word means being a part of something or the feeling of being part of a whole. By looking at this term, one gets a sense about what inclusion education is all about (Karten p. 2). Inclusion education is the mainstreaming of Special Education students into a regular classroom (Harchik). A school that involves inclusive education makes a commitment to educate each and every student to their highest potential by whatever means necessary (Stout). Their goal is for all children, disabled or not, to be able to attend a typical classroom.

Legally, Inclusion is defined by Public Law 94-142 from 1975. This law, known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA, does not contain the term “inclusion”, however, it describes the term “Least Restrictive Environment” which means that a handicapped child must be placed in a classroom that can meet their needs but is as close to a regular classroom as possible (Villa p. 4). IDEA states that:

“to the maximum extent appropriate, handicapped children, including those children in public and private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are not handicapped, and that special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of handicapped children from regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of the handicap is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. (P.L 94-142, Section 1412) (Villa p. 5).

This part of the law does explain that even though it is the goal of the school to try and include handicapped children in regular classrooms, it is not always possible if the nature of a ...

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Harchik, Alan. (2005). Inclusion children with special needs in regular classrooms: Pros

& cons. Retrieved Feb 6 2010 from http://www.newsforparents.org/experts_

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Villa, Richard A., Thousand, Jacqueline S. (1995). Creating an inclusive school. (p. 1-11) Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Karten, Toby. (2005) Inclusion strategies that work! Research-based methods for the

Classroom. (p. 2) Thousand Oaks, Ca: Corwin Press.

Dukes, Charles., Dukes, Pamela. (2009). Inclusion by design: Engineering

inclusive practices in secondary schools. Exceptional Children,

41(3), 16-23.

Teacher Vision (2000). Frequently Asked Questions on Inclusion.

Retrieved February 7, 2010 from , Web site:

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/special-education/resource/2942.html