Full Inclusion

I agree with everything that Harmony said. Inclusion is not easy, it is not for every student and it takes time and enegry to make it work. Communication is key. General Education teachers want to do the right thing for all of their students and often feel at a loss when it comes to students with disabilities. Our most critical role as specialists is that of coach. This includes teaching and supporting the gen ed teachers in understanding the individual student, his/her unique characteristics and needs and especially the goals for inclusion. We must also have a good understanding of the academic, social and emotional demands in each teacher's learning environment in order to assist in determining appropriate accommodations and supports. Ongoing communication among the gen ed teacher, paraprofessionals, other service providers and ourselves will result in a practical and effective plan for inclusion. It takes a whole team with common goals and an expectation of success!

the student(s)are close to 2 grade levels behind? I want to transition smoothly from partial to full inclusion, but how is this possible with behavior issues along with reading and mathematics at such a large discrepency as the class? What is the best inclusion model out there that works so far? Is it more or less having a desk or area in one part of the classroom, or circulating around the room while helping ALL students including the ones that you are suppose to help? And last but not least, how can I scaffold back to teach someone 3X5 (that they have not mastered) when the rest of the class is focusing on 25X35 and keep their attention on me, not what the classroom teacher is expecting them to do? They are getting confused in concepts. Can anybody enlighten me as to how to transition to full inclusion smoothly and work well with the classroom teachers to make this work right? Assume right now that there is no training available.... Can I find workshops on inclusion? Help??

Wow- 78% pass the tests- I would love to know how you are getting that done!I teach 7th grade- resource room for Lang. Arts and Math, and I have gotten kids up from limited to basic and only a couple to proficient. Some of my students are on Alt. Assessment, but the others range in reading levels of low2nd to 4th grade levels. I feel like I work my *** off to encourage and inspire them to put forth enough effort to at least bump up a level, but to get them to actually pass- it's like getting all of my teeth pulled out. In an inner city district such as mine, it seems like alot of issues are brought to school, kids don't see the importance in school, let alone passing a test. Motivation to do well isn't a top priority of the students and even the parents. Excuses are made right and left, and spec. ed. as a subcategory hss not made AYP for 6 yrs now-spec.ed.teachers are being blamed and actually, sadly, being disrespected by administration in our buulding due to this. suggestions?..this would be a good topic to open up to everyone.

The program is working, but at times I feel we are pushing our students through the school day to get everything in! Some of my inclusion students do go out for 3 periods per day for extra help in multisensory reading and math, but the majority of the day is spent with the reg ed students. There is some frustration on their part but I also see them striving for things I would not have thought they would have tried, such as more challenging math work.

Inclusion makes sense- but as all of you have noted it works best if the general ed teacher is provided with training and support to differentiate for these students. Dumping students in all together is not what inclusions means - unfortunately that is sometimes how it happens. And that is unfortunate for everyone. Training teachers to deal with the even wider needs for differentiation in inclusion would go a long way in helping the inclusion model work its best.

Remind the regular eds in advance to be sure to include your students in materials provision.(Hand them an extra pack of paper from the Special Education Department's supply or buy one yourself if you have a chintzy principal. $4 is worth the self esteem of the kids and virtually eliminates that excuse.) If they persist in excluding them after 2 warnings the lack of cooperation is intentional. Take it to the principal and/or call your most formidable coordinator in to light a fire under them. Also, be sure, if there is to be a schoolwide field trip, field day, or assembly, that yours are included. (Address accessibility issues in advance. Yes they do have to provide a lift bus! They cannot exclude the kids with wheelchairs just because it costs more!) Be prepared to have some regulars and even poorly educated generics mad at you. This is ok. They are still on a learning curve even after 30 years of special ed. Your job is that of an advocate if you bear the proud name, Special Ed!

If they persist and the principal is not supportive or is anti-special ed, put everything in the IEPs so that when the principal tries to exclude them, all you have to say is that one magic sentence: IT'S IN HIS IEP!. They can't argue with a legal document, especially one that they signed! This gets through to principals extremely well since they are required to sign IEPS but don't usually read them unless they are special educators or parents of kids with special needs themselves.

Remember that in a lot of schools we are still redheaded stepchildren: We teachers are day care workers and our kids can't learn. Build a family with your special ed. colleagues and welcome openly as brothers and sisters the regulars who are, as is our greatest compliment, "Good enough to be Special Ed!"

Finally, there is strength in numbers. No principal or teacher wants a whole department rolling its eyes and speaking only professionally. We had to do that to a principal and her secretary who hinted that our Behavior Disorders teachers cheated on the standardized testing. Extinction is a difficult but effective behavioral intervention.

You are teaching middle school. Hardly any kids are doing their best because popularity, the opposite sex, their changing bodies,and how they look is their priority. Even the smartest ones fall down in 6-8.

If you are feeling hostility in regular ed. administration, discuss it with your Special Education Director if she is supportive. It is her job to act as a liaison between regular and special education and to protect her teachers. Your first loyalty is to your department, not your school because your unit can be moved, teachers, paras and students and equipment, if necessary, to a better school. Unless the negativity has infiltrated the department, in which case you are in major trouble and may have to get the union in, your Coordinator and Director are your best ally.

To tell the truth, full inclusion for core courses is unrealistic when the students are significantly behind academically. Resource classes have always been more realistic for high functioning students. But there is an issue. Inclusion is political! It was started by parents with money who did not want to recognize that their kids needed ALOT of help that they CANNOT get in a regular class. It is also political in that minority politicians and preachers think that minority boys are overrepresented in special education. Sometimes they were special ed. themselves and resented it because the teacher made them behave. (We had a superintendent in a major city who hated special education and thought special ed. teachers were incompetent because we did not cure the kids. Turned out he had been in Behavior Disorders class. Arrogant windbag of a man. Did not last long!)

The other issue is the money. If they can stick special needs kids with regular teachers and provide only minimal help, such as technology, it costs the system less and that federal money gets used for other things, regular education things. (Yes, it does too happen!) They can also hire fewer special education teachers who are often strong advocates for their students and thus a pain for the principal. There were more of us than regulars at one school where I worked when you counted our paraprofessionals. Come to think of it, when 6th and 7th grade went to middle school there were more just with the teachers! We ruled and some of the principals had difficulty with that.

I have taught for many years, all special ed. For core courses most LD, E/BD and MID and a lot of OI students need a Resource class if they don't need self contained. There are exceptions, but part of the problem is that the law does not specify that special needs students receive the best environment for their needs, only an appropriate one. If you ask the kids, most LDs and BDs would prefer a separate setting. Mild and some high moderate MRs, who really NEED a separate setting because they have intellectual disabilities and learn slowly, don't want to be separated because they are imitators. This gets them in trouble both socially and academically but they work so hard to fit in that they spend all their energy doing it. (It is also why you find a lot of mildly retarded men in prison. They are followers and imitators.)

LDs and BDs accept their disability better but don't want outsiders to know about it and laugh at them. OIs and Sensory Impaired students, and Autistics, it depends on the severity of their disability, but most need some time daily with their actual peer group (others with similar disabilities) so they can deal with issues that apply only to them and so the OIs can take off that courageous mask everyone expects them to have and vent with a teacher and peers who will advocate and help make things better. (They talk about a cute physical therapist and grouse about how they hate having a disability and how they need to find a way to hang out at the mall. One girl was especially anxious to have sex and use drugs but her cerebral palsy hindered her access to both. OIs can get real blunt. ) They also are fearful of being thought to be crazy (with inner city kids that normally means severely retarded or autistic) and so don't want any association with the severe/profound students. Some OIs will even exhaust themselves using public transportation to avoid coming to school on the special education bus and being thought "crazy".

Check out the DVD "Including Samuel" by Dan Habib. It's a powerful documentary that details several students with a variety of disabilities who are fully included in a general education setting. Quality professional development is required for this model to work, that being said and taking into account the individuality of each student, the model is great when it is well supported.

Hi. I am a parent of a teenager with an intellectual disability. I also serve in a state legislature, and on the National Council on Disability.

I am intrigued by your story as I am searching for sucessful examples of quality inclusion and academic support for students with disabilities. It sounds as though your school district may be a great example--- both in practice and in outcomes. Would it be possible for you to share the name of your school district so that I can learn more? You can email me if you would prefer not to publicly respond. My email is sgelser@ncd.gov Thank you!