Inclusion in an Education Setting Essays

Inclusion in an Education Setting Essays Inclusion in an Education Setting Essay Inclusion in an Education Setting Essay Effective Inclusion Practices David Cooper, University of Phoenix Online January 21, 2008 Inclusion describes the development of services to those with disabilities, while attending classes in a general educational setting. The IDEA mandates that all children regardless of their disability have the right to a free and appropriate education, in the least restrictive environment. Although the IDEA does not require inclusion, the law requires that children with disabilities be educated to the maximum extent appropriate for them.The following interviews reveal the thoughts and ideas of school staff members about inclusion, and how inclusion works in their school districts. A list of professional roles has also been developed (Appendix). Regular Education As a regular education teacher, asking the inclusion specialist about the accommodations, as documented on the IEP, for each student is crucial. Without the proper accommodations for students in inclusion, you are setting them up for failure. Once asking what the specific accommodations are, you need to inquire or research how to best carry out each accommodation.What works for one student will not necessarily work for another student. Especially, if one student is an auditory learner, while another is a visual learner. Each student needs a fair chance at passing inclusion classes. Not only does the regular education teacher need to communicate with the inclusion specialist about accommodations, but also must keep the specialist up to date regarding the student’s progress. By law, the inclusion specialist is to document when the students are progressing or regressing in their academic studies.This process should be done twice per marking period. If the current accommodations are working, then the student may continue at pace. However, if the accommodations are not working or if there is a drop in the student’s grade, then the regular education teacher and inclusion specialist need to go back to the drawing board. This will help get the student back on track, unless there were certain life events that altered the situation. At those moments, other intervention is necessary. Helping a student of inclusion become successful may require some extra work on the teacher’s part.The students in the classroom should not be separated by ability; they should be seated together. The students who are on the inclusion program should not stand out from the rest of the class. This will encourage the students to participate more and feel accepted by their peers. When teaching new concepts or giving the students independent activities, the teacher and inclusion specialist should be walking around to monitor progress. Regardless of student ability, both the teacher and specialist should be helping any student that needs some guidance with the work.The teacher and specialist should not be helping just their’ students. When ownership is seen in the classroom, this makes the class feel divided. For students who may need extra assistance, the teacher or inclusion specialist should provide tutoring once a week or the day before an assessment. Tutoring should be geared toward the students in the inclusion program; however, it should be open for all students to get extra help. Another form of tutoring that is less visible consists of carbon copy paper and a kind regular education student.For students of inclusion who have a difficult time writing notes and listening at the same time, the teacher should give carbon copy paper to one of the oral skilled students to write the class notes. At the end of each class, the regular education student gives the carbon copy to the student who needs the notes. This allows the student to listen more to what the teacher is saying and then read the notes later for clearer understanding. If the carbon copy paper is too awkward or unavailable, then the regular education teacher should provide a copy of pre-printed notes for the student to follow along with during the lesson.For all students, inclusion or not, having an inclusion specialist in the classroom helps when the regular education teacher runs out of ideas on how to explain different concepts. As a teacher, you must provide every opportunity for the students in your classroom to succeed. This may require the concept to be explained three or four different ways until everyone understands. The regular education teacher sometimes has to be humble enough to ask someone else, either another student or the inclusion specialist, to expla in the concept or idea.After each of these accommodations and practices has been met, then the students in the inclusion program have no excuse not to succeed in the classroom. The regular education teacher should not grade the students any differently, when the accommodations have been provided. The accommodations help to put the students of inclusion on the same academic level as the other students. Therefore, they should be graded on the same rubric or value system. Grading them differently is only hurting the student, not pushing them to work harder to succeed.An interview was conducted with Mrs. R. Smith who is a second grade general education teacher at the Dawes Ave Elementary School. Mrs. Smith currently has two inclusion students in her classroom. She finds that it takes a lot of time and patience to design lesson plans and activities to meet the needs of all of her students while keeping to the included student’s individual IEP’s. Mrs. Smith sometimes finds i t a difficult task because of the structured curriculum that she has to stick to. Mrs. Smith states that there are advantages and disadvantages of inclusion.One advantage is that the special needs student is able to socialize and learn with their non-disabled peers. A disadvantage is that an included student usually cannot keep up with the rest of the students. It is her job to ensure that she is helping all of her students to succeed by evaluating her lesson plans, changing teaching strategies, and collaborating with other teachers. Administration Terry S. , an assistant principal in the Plymouth – Canton community school district, supports inclusion and values the role this form of education plays in the educational environment.Terry believes that inclusion not only promotes independence in students with special needs, it promotes a sense of acceptance from peers. This collaborative effort creates a well-balanced classroom that parallels a real-life experience. Terry often finds himself as part of the support group that helps to mainstream special education and general education. He is available for mediation as well as IEP assistance. He is also an integral part of collaborative efforts with the home and school environment (Terry Sawchuk, interview, 2008). Special Education As the Special Education teacher for over 30 years, Mrs. Susan Gregg as seen huge changes in legislation, educational practice, and social acceptance of students with disabilities. When she began teaching, the idea of mainstreaming had not yet come into fashion; and students in special education were all educated in self-contained classrooms where they ate, played, learned, and spent the entire day. Mrs. Gregg is by no means stuck in her ways as teachers with a long working history often are. She is on the cutting edge of RTI (Response to Intervention), follows legislative changes to IDEA closely, researches best practices regularly, and oversees student teachers in her classroom, on a regular basis.Her strong belief is that within the model of inclusion, it is the special education teacher’s sacred duty to make the life of the general education teacher easier any way she can. Mrs. Gregg believes that teachers will have more and more interaction with one another and is of the opinion that the more teachers engage one another in a professional way in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration, the better off everyone will be, be it the teacher, administrator, parent, or student (Susan Gregg, interview, 2008). Paraprofessional Sarah C. s a paraprofessional who has worked in Special Education for nearly seventeen years in both South Carolina and Michigan. She likes what inclusion offers for all students involved. Special education students are included in the general education classroom, and therefore have an opportunity to gain social acceptance with their general education peers. For the general education student, they have an opportunity to socialize with students within special education. They can see first hand that those with disabilities are not social outcasts and can become active, productive members of society, and are not much different from everyone else.The down side of inclusion is that the pace of the learning process is sometimes slowed when there are several special education students. Sarah C. states, This has been a concern for several teachers I have worked with. Although the classroom staff tries to keep on task, occasionally the pace is slowed. Overall, she thinks inclusion has many more positives for all students, because they are learning lessons that are not being taught by the staff members (Sarah Cribbs, interview, January 17, 2008). Inclusion is only successful when everyone involved works together in providing the best education for students with special needs.It is a shared responsibility among administrators, general education teachers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals. For inclusio n to be successful, a plan of action needs to be in place that includes planning, communication, and support. The plan of action should include the lesson plan, the strategies necessary for the lesson, and the responsibilities everyone involved will carry out. One way the plan of action can be completed is through collaboration among the administrators, general and special education teachers, and the paraprofessional.It is through this collaboration that special needs students will be successful learners in the general education classroom. References Cribbs. , Sarah. (2008). Interview on Inclusion. Gregg, Susan. (2008). Interview on Inclusion. Sawchuk, Terry. (2008). Interview on Inclusion. Smith, R. (2008). Interview on Inclusion. Appendix Professional Roles Regular Education Teacher ? provide appropriate accommodations as required on the IEP ? communicate with the inclusion specialist about the childs progress ? sk the inclusion specialist or administrator for clarification of acc ommodations needed for the student ? provide the student with after school tutoring once a week or shortly before classroom assessments ? continually check with student to ensure comprehension of material/lesson ? encourage the student to participate as much as the other students in the classroom ? provide alternate explanations of material that is not easily understandable ? make sure the students with IEPs are seated in and amongst the regular education students ? prevent seclusion and to encourage equality provide pre-printed notes when necessary ? provide a note-taker when necessary ? grade the childs assessments equally as the other students in the class because accommodations have been provided Administration ? collaborate with regular and special education, as well as parents and support staff ? support regular and special education teachers, especially when a parent is concerned ? offer mediation ? attend IEP meetings Special Education ? support regular education teacher ? r esearch best practices ? understand laws, regulations, and current legislation collaborate with regular education, paraprofessionals, administration, support staff, students, and parents by holding seminars before or after school ? provide IEP’s for all regular education teachers who teach inclusion classes ? develop lesson plans Paraprofessional ? promote social acceptance ? assist with instructing student(s) ? help manage behaviors ? support regular education teacher and special education students ? assist with creating diverse lesson plans ? provide materials and activities that promote differentiated instruction ? help grade papers when necessary ? help give assessments when asked