Do Special Education Children Benefit From Inclusion?
Many children have had learning disabilities for many years. Each year more and more of these children are being helped. Schools are working to improve their special education programs and to have all kinds of students work together in the same classroom. The practice of inclusion was started because educators felt that special needs students would achieve more in traditional classrooms with non-learning disabled students than they would in special education classes. However, research findings suggest that there really is no difference in academic achievement levels for special needs students when they are placed in regular classrooms.
Inclusion can be defined as a term, which expresses commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent appropriate, in the school classroom he or she would otherwise attend. Inclusion involves bringing the support services to the child as opposed to bringing the student to the services. Inclusion requires only that the special needs or learning-disabled child will benefit from being in the regular classroom. The term “full inclusion” means that all students, regardless of their handicapping condition or the severity of it will attend a regular classroom all the time. All the services, such as instructional aides or assistive technology, will be provided for the child in that classroom setting.
The terms inclusion and mainstreaming are often used interchangeably; however, they are different methods for educating learning disabled students. Mainstreaming is the selective placement of special education students in one or more regular education classes (Special Education, 2001). When the decision to place a child in a mains...
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...ith special education students. It provides definitions of inclusion and mainstreaming. It also gives information about IDEA and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Wildrot, K, & Claybrook, S. (n/d) Effects of Inclusion on Academic Outcomes. Retrieved April 12,2003 from http://ebsochost.com
This article is about a study that compared math and reading achievement between regular and inclusion classrooms. They used the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills to find the results.
Zigmond, N & Jenkins, J. (1995) When Students Fail to Achieve Satisfactorily. Phi Delta Kappan, 77, (4) Retrieved April 11,2003 from http://ebsochost.com
This article looks at how students fail to achieve satisfactorily because of their learning disabilities. They did some research on students with learning disabilities and came up with a design for inclusive school.
According to Stout (2001) the concept of inclusion can be differentiated into mainstreaming, inclusion and full inclusion each describing the amount of time special education students become part of a normal education classes. “Inclusion is a term which expresses the commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent possible, in the school and classroom he or she would otherwise attend” (definitions section, para. 2). This commitment is based on the belief that special needs students would profit from the regular classroom environment (Noll, 2014, p. 225). According to Stout (2001) research based evidence supports this belief as “Recent meta-analyses confirm a small to moderate beneficial effect of inclusion education on the academic and social outcome of special needs students” (Research section, para. 3). There are many who also believe that inclusion is good for the overall class as it can teach empathy, and “teaches us to think about we rather than I” (Sapon-Shevin, 2008, p227). There are others however, who feel that “Contrary to some egalitarians, a good society honors those who through intelligent good will, artistic talent, athletic prowess, or plain honest hard work make our lives better” (Carpenter, 2008, p.235) and therefore believe that it is ok to think of “I” and not we.
Full inclusion or mainstreaming is one of the most talked about and also debated topics. For parents and educators main streaming students is a difficult choice, there are many factors that go into main streaming a child with any disability. There are many types of disability’s that students can have in a school, such as a learning disability or a physical disability that could impare them learning to their full potential. Mainstreaming or inclusion is educating students with disabilities along side students with out disabilities in a regular classroom. In this essay I will be talking about five different exceptional learners and the factors it will take to mainstream them. Each one of these students will have an IEP with is an individualized education plan which will help the teacher learn more about the student and the resources that student will need to succeed in school.
The research has repeatedly shown that inclusion models are most beneficial to students with disabilities, including students with severe disabilities. The districts in which the students in the teacher education students have been placed in have a problem with incorporating inclusive education for their students. Students are isolated within self-contained classrooms, and consequently, they are missing out on vital academic, social, and functional skills.
Inclusion has adapted to refer to the inclusion of handicapped students in general education classes, but there are many other ways to refer to inclusion. In the early stages inclusion was referred to as integration, it is now defined as ?mixing or combining of programs for children with disabilities and children who do not have disabilities.? (Cavallaro & Haney 1999) It also was referred to as mainstreaming, or the ?reentry of children with mild disabilities to regular education settings. Children may be mainstreamed for part or all of a day, and they may or may not receive any special education support or services in the mainstreamed environment.? (Cavallaro & Haney 1999) After awhile these two concepts of integration and mainstreaming were merged together to what is now known as inclusion; which is putting disabled children in general education classes as much as possible and only being pulled out with reason to believe that it is necessary.
What is inclusion? Inclusion learning is the idea that regardless of a child’s disability they are considered access to a regular education setting that will provide the learning aides needed for that child to learn successfully. The debate of inclusion learning has been on the table for many years. According to the U.S. Department of Education's report to congress in the 2006 school year there were 701,949 children between the ages of three and five years old being served for special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA)(17). The IDEA was introduced in 1997 as an amendment to the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This amendment was to “to ensure free and appropriate education for children of all learning and physical disabilities in the least restricted environment” (Individuals with DisabilitiesEducation Act Amendments of 1997). One of the purposes of the IDEA law was “...
?Discusses what and how inclusion works. Who is involved and how it effects both teachers and the students who partake?
In order for inclusion to be implemented properly it is important that teachers, parents, and administrators to know the definition of inclusion. An inclusion program means that the student spends all or most of their school time in the general education classroom rather than a self-contained classroom. However, the students will still receive the support and interventions they would have received in a self-contained classroom. There are different types of inclusive classrooms where different types of teaching occur. There is co-teaching where there is both a general education teacher and a special education teacher that co teach. Both will work with students that have an individualized education plan (IEP) and the student will receive more support. In addition, an inclusive classroom can have a general education teacher but has the special education teacher as a resource or aid, which qualifies as a collaborative model of inclusion.
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.
The true purpose of school is to prepare children for their future in becoming lifelong learners and global citizens. For children with special needs, special education services prepare and provide support for them in dealing with the challenges they face daily. Laws such as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act has enforced schools to provide education to all children and reinforces the purpose of the school, which is to provide children the Least Restrictive Environment to help them develop to their optimal potential. There are myriad of concerns regarding inclusion’s effect on typical developing students, yet a research done by Bui, Quirk, Almazan, and Valenti shows that “[p]resence of students with disabilities results in greater number of typical students making reading and math progress compared to non-inclusive general education classes” (p. 3). Therefore, inclusion not only benefits children with disabilities, but it also benefits typical developing student’s academic skills and allows them to learn acceptance and respect for students with disabilities.
Inclusion of all students in classrooms has been an ongoing issue for the past twenty-five years (Noll, 2013). The controversy is should special education students be placed in an inclusion setting or should they be placed in a special education classroom? If the answer is yes to all special education students being placed in inclusion, then how should the inclusion model look? Every students is to receive a free an appropriate education. According to the Individual Education Act (IDEA), all students should be placed in the Least Restrictive Learning Environment (Noll, 2013).
The idea of inclusion within a classroom tends to breed controversy from many people. Currently there is no clear consensus on a definition of inclusion (Heward, 2006). There are many different views on how students with disabilities should be handled. Those views ranged from students being fully included, partially included, or not included at all in mainstream schooling. Different descriptions of inclusion tend to reflect the person's own opinions towards it. People who feel students should not be included in the classroom focus on the negative characteristics of inclusion, such as the challenges of developing plans for students as well as the hard work it requires to incorporate those plans. However, studies show that full inclusion has many benefits to the students, for both students with disabilities as well as students without them. Inclusion has shown to improve the student's social skills, encourage communication, inspire laws and regulations, and improve the overall schooling experience (Gargiulo, 2012). Although it will take longer then some would like or have the patience for, full inclusion can be done in the classroom, with its benefits outweighing the hard work that it requires.
There are millions of children that are passing through the United States school system every day, not all children possess the same traits, and not all children can learn at the same rate, and do not perform at the same ability. The fact that all children learn differently and some have difficulties learning in general classrooms, special education was put into place to try and take care of these issues. Special education programs were put into place to help all students with disabilities. These children range from general disabilities to more complex and severe disabilities. There has been a revolution occurring in the past several years with education systems, and special education. There have now been several laws that have been passed that mandate changes in special education and the treatment that children, and parents receive, it also changes how the children are being taught, and how the teachers are to also change and conform to this idea called inclusion. Inclusion in the school system simply is stating that children who have learning disabilities, and more severe disabilities are to be included in the general education environment for as long as possible daily. There has been several different names other than inclusion that have been used, but in present times and since the 1990’s inclusion has been the most common term used. “The change in terminology was pushed in part by the philosophy that inclusion would mean more than only physical placement of children with disabilities in the same classroom, but rather it conveyed that children with disabilities would become a part of larger social, community, and societal systems” (Odom, Buysse, & Soukakou, 2011, para. 3). There has not been just one major law that was passed...
Inclusion in classrooms is defined as combining students with disabilities and students without disabilities together in an educational environment. It provides all students with a better sense of belonging. They will enable friendships and evolve feelings of being a member of a diverse community (Bronson, 1999). Inclusion benefits students without disabilities by developing a sense of helping others and respecting other diverse people. By this, the students will build up an appreciation that everyone has unique yet wonderful abilities and personalities (Bronson, 1999). This will enhance their communication skills later in life. Inclusive classrooms provide students with disabilities a better education on the same level as their peers. Since all students would be in the same educational environment, they would follow the same curriculum and not separate ones based on their disability. The main element to a successful inclusive classroom, is the teachers effort to plan the curriculum to fit all students needs. Teachers must make sure that they are making the material challenging enough for students without special needs and understandable to students with special needs. Inclusive classrooms are beneficial to students with and without special needs.
Inclusion has become increasingly important in education in recent years, with the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act being passed in 2004 to ensure equality in our system. In summary, inclusion is the idea of there being no child...
Inclusion 'mainstreams' physically, mentally, and multiply disabled children into regular classrooms. In the fifties and sixties, disabled children were not allowed in regular classrooms. In 1975 Congress passed the Education of all Handicapped Students Act, now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA mandates that all children, regardless of disability, had the right to free, appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. Different states have different variations of the law. Some allow special needs students to be in a regular education classroom all day and for every subject, and others allow special education students to be in a regular education classroom for some subjects and in a separate classroom for the rest. There are many different views on inclusive education. In this paper I will address some of the positive and negative views on inclusion and ways to prepare educators for inclusive education.