The evolution of Special Education is America has created education models of many shapes and sizes – most immeasurable, but all driven by compassion for special education students and their families. The days of nearly complete segregation of these students from the general student population are virtually over.
The latest model adopted by the county’s educational experts is called “inclusion.” It is a more aggressive form of “mainstreaming.” Many parents of special education students strongly advocate for inclusion of their child into the general classroom. Some claim including special ed students improves their academic performance and their behavior (through modeling of the general student population). There are no conclusive studies to prove this.
A most comprehensive and readable article about inclusion (pros and cons) from the Wisconsin Education Association Council can be found by clicking here.
It begins:
“Inclusion remains a controversial concept in education because it relates to educational and social values, as well as to our sense of individual worth.
Any discussion about inclusion should address several important questions:
· Do we value all children equally?
· What do we mean by "inclusion"?
· Are there some children for whom "inclusion" is inappropriate?
There are advocates on both sides of the issue. James Kauffman of the University of Virginia views inclusion as a policy driven by an unrealistic expectation that money will be saved. Furthermore, he argues that trying to force all students into the inclusion mold is just as coercive and discriminatory as trying to force all students into the mold of a special education class or residential institution.
On the other side are those who believe that all students belong in the regular education classroom, and that "good" teachers are those who can meet the needs of all the students, regardless of what those needs may be.
Between the two extremes are large groups of educators and parents who are confused by the concept itself.”
DCSS has embraced inclusion whole-heartedly and is slowly whittling down its self-contained special education classrooms. Is this motivated by a perceived monetary savings or compassion and parental requests? Are special education teachers pressured to create IEPs for their students that include inclusion – whether the student is truly ready or not? Are special ed students with severe behavioral issues being included in general education classrooms at the expense of the other children? Are general education teachers properly prepared and trained to handle the unique needs of special education students? What have your experiences been?
13 comments:
I could write all day on this topic but I have a major paper due.
Inclusion is wonderful as long as the student is appropriate for the inclusion setting. This includes both academic, social, emotional and behavioral needs. Some students do need to be in inclusion setting due to their social need though.
Students with severe behavioral problems do not have the right to disturb the rights of other students in an inclusion setting.
Students in an inclusion setting are suppose to be getting accommodations. Besides from this unless there are getting grading on a different level of instruction (like a level 8 verses a level 7 class) should only be provided accommodations in the inclusion classroom. (IMO)
I am multiple disable and I advocate strongly for my people but in some cases it is benificial for students to be in self-contained classrooms and received more one-on-one instruction. Decisions should be made based on the needs of the individual student. But the needs of the students in the inclusion setting also must be consider. These students also have certain rights. The individual with disability's rights are not more important or less important any student in the inclusion class.
I could write all day on this topic but I have a major paper due.
Inclusion is wonderful as long as the student is appropriate for the inclusion setting. This includes both academic, social, emotional and behavioral needs. Some students do need to be in inclusion setting due to their social need though.
Students with severe behavioral problems do not have the right to disturb the rights of other students in an inclusion setting.
Students in an inclusion setting are suppose to be getting accommodations. Besides from this unless there are getting grading on a different level of instruction (like a level 8 verses a level 7 class) should only be provided accommodations in the inclusion classroom. (IMO)
I am multiple disable and I advocate strongly for my people but in some cases it is benificial for students to be in self-contained classrooms and received more one-on-one instruction. Decisions should be made based on the needs of the individual student. But the needs of the students in the inclusion setting also must be consider. These students also have certain rights. The individual with disability's rights are not more important or less important any student in the inclusion class.
I want everyone to know that one of our absoulute favorite aspects of our boys' experience at Briarlake Elementary was the hearing impaired program and the fact that each grade, while we were there, had one classroom with the HI kids with an interpreter for the class. Each of my boys had at least one year with the HI program and they learned to value this diversity and learned some sign language as we went along. I have priceless photos of my younger sons learnning the sign for "I love you" from my older son, waving out the window to us as they tried to get their hands in the right position and for, our family, it will always remain a huge component of their childhood even as they were participants in discovery. They learned to help the HI kids not quite as strong as they were. I cried every time I saw the signing choir perform and looked around the cafeteria at the diversity in the room. The kids all learned to value and respect each other. Much of this, I believe in retrospect, came from consistency in leadership and a lack of constant inflow and outflow in the population so relationships could be cultivated.
"Students with severe behavioral problems do not have the right to disturb the rights of other students in an inclusion setting."
"The individual with disability's rights are not more important or less important any student in the inclusion class."
Thank you Ella. That was worth reading twice!
Al
I also thank you, Ella. There are lots and lots of people looking in from the outside who have firm opinions on this. The opinions I value are those of the ones on the inside - the students, their parents and their teachers.
As Shayna pointed out, handled right, in the right school, with the right population, inclusion is terrific - uncountable lifetime befefits for everyone involved.
It can also be a living hell if handled badly - used as a PC way to save the bucks it costs to have a self-contained classroom.
There is NO one answer to this question, and there never will be.
I have been told that to cut costs, DeKalb County is replacing the Special Ed Paras who were Special Ed bus monitors with new employees.
The reason is that when the parapro worked as a bus monitor, they were working more than their regular hours, and had to be paid overtime. The new hires will be part-time employees, so the county saves money.
Can anybody confirm this? What I am concerned about is that the paras are experienced in working with special needs kids, but these new hires will probably have no experience. Will they be trained, or will they just get on the bus and we hope for the best.
As an individual who is multiple disable this is dear to my heart. I will fight for any individual to have equal opportunities and have equal rights under the law as long as these opportunites do not step all over someone elses rights.
Your rights stop where someone else's rights begin.
I agree that general education students benifit from inclusion situation just as much as students with disabilities.
As a interrelated special education highly qualified science teacher in high school I teach from self-contained Biology Class to Team Taught Chemistry and the range the abilities of my student vary also to that degree. Some of the brightest students in the classes I teach are students are my class rolls. Sometimes this is such a misunderstanding about Special Education. Most of our students are average to above average intelligence in our classes. They just need accommodations.
Ella is right on here. As a former teacher, and she as a current teacher, we know that every child deserves what is best for that child. It's part of the law: Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). When a child is in a regular classroom and is disruptive based on their behavior...they need a more restrictive environment.
Shayna's story about her boys' experience with the HI students is great, but lets not lose sight of a basic fact: disabilities often hide gifts.
I taught a student in the high achievers Magnet program, she was slightly above even her peers in the program. She was legally blind, and the condition was progressive - she was getting more blind. But that classroom was the LRE for her, and I, and all her teachers, made any accommodation possible for her.
Another student, Magnet again, had juvenile diabetes, and had to leave class 5 minutes early to get her reading and take her insulin shot. I even had two EBD Magnet students.
So yes, even amongst the gifted, there are IEPs and 504's (IEP - Individualized Education Plan - forms and procedures for Special Ed, 504 - educational plan for medical reasons.)
As Shayna's story points out, inclusion of students with physical disabilities and even intellectual disabilities does indeed help general ed students build empathy and understanding. It's win-win for the whole classroom and the special ed student.
Some advocates for inclusion think that even children with behavior IEPs/disabilities can be integrated in the general classroom and actually learn proper behavior from the general ed students. Is that really true?
What recourse do parents have when their children are in classrooms with disruptive, violent, un-focused, insubordinate LRE-priviledged students who monopolize the teacher's time? Not all teachers are specialists in special education. How can we expect them to properly handle outbursts, etc.? How can parents protect instructional time in their child's classroom without upsetting the balance of "political correctness"?
Have any of you had to deal with this and advocate for your general education student? (We know what happened to Ella, has this type of thing ever happened to another student?) What did you do? Did you receive satisfaction?
Not to shout, but has anyone discovered anything about the special education bus monitors? If they are hiring people with no experience, it could have an effect on the students. Riding the bus is a different thing if a child has a physical or cognitive disability.
I can comment on what I think has happened with the bus monitors. I was stuck behind a special ed. bus Friday morning on Shallowford Rd. for 10 minutes. I was right behind the bus when the flashers came on. Thinking ok no big deal... until I realized there isn't a student on the driveway waiting to get on the bus. The driver put the bus in park, got out and lowered the handicap ramp. Then what appeared to be a home health care worker wheeled the disabled student down her driveway. The bus driver loaded the child on the ramp and up into the bus. By now we were easily going on 5 minutes and as you can imagine on Shallowford Rd. at 7:20am, traffic was backing up quickly. I observed as an adult on the bus removed the child from the ramp and wheeled her into a spot as the driver secured the ramp and reentered the bus. I'm thinking we will moving now....no, no, my friends the driver then approached the student and rearranged the wheelchair into a different position and secured it in place. I can only guess that the assistant on the bus had no clue how to secure the wheelchair safely. Which would lead me to believe they have no experience. Ten minutes passed before we were on our way again.
If you want to see inclusion at its best, go to Coralwood. Unfortunately, they do still maintain self-contained classes, but it seems the best fit for some kids. One teacher in self0contained has a lot of students w/ integration issues and keeps a very placid classroom setting, no overhead lights, etc.
Many of us learn differently. It becomes problematic when that differently can potentially slow others down. Unfortunately, by segregating those kids, we reinforce the very strong societal avoidance of people who are different. I know that as kids get older and more aware it's harder to integrate so many different learners, but segregating them increases failure and dropout rate for many.
across the country, disability advocates fight for full inclusion while parents fight for more individual services for their kids. School systems want to let the parents have their way. Segregating is very expensive - financially and socially.
I'm really not sure what's best in every situation, but I do think maky of the special ed kids at my dd's school could be included better - they might have MR or autism or Down syndrome, but they also suffer from separation, and our kids who are typically learning quickly learn the difference. I don't like that.
too tired to make good sense, sorry.
Coralwood is indeed a wonderful resource for DCSS. Thanks for reminding us Anon.
You also said: "but segregating them increases failure and dropout rate for many."
There are no studies that emphatically prove this. Do you know of any definitive studies to prove that segregating special ed students leads to their failure and droping out?
I think social integration of disabled children at all ages is necessary, appropriate and should be mandatory across the country. There are many times in the day (especially in elementary school) when social interaction can occur.
In an academic classroom many disabled students do well. Some students with autism, Down Syndrome, integration issues, fetal alcohol symtoms etc. would and should do wonderfully in "regular" classrooms.
But, let's face it. DCSS (and the nation) are migrating toward total inclusion for all disabled/special ed students. And I truly mean no disrespect, but some students are more severely affected with autism/Down Syndrome/intergration issues, fetal alcohol symtoms, etc. than others
Integrating children who can not control their behavior -- outbursts, hyperactivity, violence, etc. should NOT be in regular classrooms -- and the parents of the other children should not be put in the position where they need to complain.
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