Making it Work in Your Classroom Inclusion Making it Work in Your Classroom

What is Inclusion? Special Education today seeks to place students with disabilities in the general education classrooms as much as possible. Having students with disabilities in the general education classroom, instead of a separate class, is referred to as inclusion. Most general education (GE) teachers will have students with disabilities in their classroom. This presentation will show you, the GE teacher, why we do this, what your responsibilities may be, and what resources you will have. Inclusion is used throughout our country, and when inclusion is utilized by highly qualified teachers, it can be successful for both the student with disabilities, and those without. Here is how and why.

The “Why” of Inclusion Legally and ethically, we need to educate all students. Special Education is the answer to that need. “At one level, special education is an important part of society’s response to the needs of exceptional children and the rights of individuals with disabilities.” (Heward, 2009, p. 41) Law (IDEA 1975 ) also requires that we educate in the least restrictive environment (LRE), one that is most like the norm as is reasonable for that students disabilities. Quality instruction makes a greater impact in student achievement, with or without the presence OR absence of students with disabilities. Inclusion allows students to take advantage of the benefits of general education classroom as much as possible. The (GE) classroom is the starting point for determining LRE Research indicates that 54% of students with disabilities in the 2006-2007 school year were educated in a general classroom (Heward, 2009, p. 37)

Benefits of Inclusion Students with disabilities learn and interact with their peers in an environment that is much more like the real world, giving them a better chance of a successful life after education Students without disabilities gain experience with a more diverse group of individuals and often develop character traits such as compassion and understanding by dealing with these peers. Research shows that students without disabilities still benefit from instruction geared toward those with disabilities.

The “Who” of Inclusion – Who will you be working with? Students – with and without disabilities. Special education teachers – these teachers will work with you, possibly team teaching in your classroom, or as acting as a resource to help meet individual student’s needs. Each of you can learn from each other and benefit from the other’s expertise. Specialists and Therapists - These essential professionals will offer the services that the special education student needs to fully gain from the education that is offered. They provide things like physical, occupational, or speech therapy, assistance with necessary technology, medical assistance, etc. Parents - Educators are both legally and ethically bound to include parents in the process, but keep in mind that the parent has the greatest motivation to see their child succeed. They can be an incredibly beneficial resource, as they know their child best and often understand him or her where you may not.

Steps to Special Education and Inclusion Determining if a student has a disability and is entitled to special education, and what individualized program would be most beneficial to that student is a process with many steps. You can learn many of these steps in detail by researching the IDEA law, or log on to their training site at http://web.archive.org/web/20041010065958/http:// www.nichcy.org/Trainpkg/toctext.htm This site offers step by step instructions on IDEA law. Here are the basics…

Referral Process How is a student determined to have a disability? Screening tests for hearing or vision may discover a problem, a GE educator may notice the student struggles in certain areas, has behaviors outside of the norm or emotional outbursts that do not seem to be warranted or perhaps a parent brings his or her concerns to the teacher’s attention. In these cases, the GE teacher and the school's administration will follow this process: Pre-Referral Intervention - A Teacher Assistance Team will help the GE teacher with ideas and strategies to help this student achieve . Parents will be notified. If these stategies help the student achieve, they likely do not have a disability. If these efforts are ineffective, the process will proceed to the next step. Multifactored Evaluation (MFE) - This process is required by the IDEA law for any student suspected to have a disability, and can be requested by the school, or by the student's parents. The MFE team will give the student a variety of tests, as required by law. The student's parents must give consent for these tests and evaluations, and the school will have 60 days to complete the required testing. Instruction is also evaluated, through the responsiveness to intervention process. The results will then be evaluated to determine the students needs. RTI process – evaluates the instruction and presents different methods of instruction, to see if the student can/will respond to a different form of instruction. If this process occurs in your classroom, it will often teach you new strategies and effective means of altering your instruction to help the student, so make the most of it.

The Next Steps Program Planning - If these efforts are still ineffective, the student is then evaluated once more by a team, including the parents, to decide if the student does indeed have a disability. If so, that student needs special education and this team will develop an Individual Education Program (IEP) *Placement - The team determines what educational enviornment the student needs to be in. They will keep in mind what needs of the student must be met, while seeking to find the least restrictive enviornment (LRE) for student learning.   *Monitoring, Review, Reevaluation - The student's progress will be monitored regularly, and the IEP will be reviewed each year to see if it has been effective for the student in question and updated based on student progress. Each step continues with the LRE theme, striving to find exactly what the student needs to be successful, while keeping them in the general population as much as possible. With each next step, special education tends to be more restrictive, so educators strive to arrive the appropriate level of assistance without becoming to restrictive

The “How” of Inclusion IEPs

IEPs IEPs are created by a team including at least one GE teacher, one special education teacher, a member of the administration, the parent and/or child, and others. This useful tool should detail the students disability and it’s effects, measurable goals for the student, how to measure the students progress and what services and aids will be provided. You can use this to help you get a better sense of how best to teach your student. The IEP will also describe the extent to which the student will be included in your class, when they may be removed and for what purpose.

The “How” of Inclusion IEPs Collaboration

Collaboration – Working with other professionals Working together with various educational and service professionals is one of the most essential components of special education. The (GE) teacher is an important part of the process, so special education can not happen without your efforts. There are three types of Collaboration. Coordination - This is communicating with other educators on the IEP team on the services provided for the student. It is an important part of the process but does not require shared ideas or information on what each teacher is doing. It is the most basic form of collaboration. Consultation - In this type of collaboration, information and expertise is passed from one team member to another, with one teacher acting as the expert and one as the novice. These roles can change, depending on what is being discussed. Teaming - This is the highest form of collaboration in special education, and it can be the most useful. "Teaming is the most difficult level of collaboration to achieve; it also pays the most dividends." (Heward, 2009, p.60) This type of collaboration results in clearly defined responsibilities for the members of the team who work together to learn from each other and interact. All of these types of collaboration can be used to help you effectively educate all of the students in your classroom

The “How” of Inclusion IEPs Collaboration Co-Teaching

Co-Teaching In an inclusive classroom, there are often more than one teacher making learning happen. This is referred to as co-teaching. One GE teacher will work with one special education teacher to teach one class of students. You can use this as a tool to make learning effective in several ways. One teaching/one helping - In this case, one teacher will instruct the class while the other teacher acts as support in the lesson. Parallel teaching - Teachers break the class in to smaller groups, with each educator taking a group and teaching the similar material   Station teaching- Each teacher instructs a group of students on different material, then the groups are switched and the lessons are repeated. Alternative teaching - One teacher will work with a small group of students who need more individualized instruction, while the other teacher will work with the remainder of the students. Team teaching - Both teachers plan and teach a lesson together. Co-Teaching can be one of the most successful aspects of inclusive classrooms, because the specific skills of each teacher can be utilized for the entire class. Utilize the co-teacher in your classroom – you can learn a lot from each other.

Resources for additional information These groups and their websites can give you more information educating students with disabilities National Center for Special Education Research http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ies/ncser/index.html Center for Evidence-Based Practice: Young Children With Challenging Behavior http://challengingbehavior.fmhi.usf.edu/resources.htm The Promising Practices Network http://www.promisingpractices.net/ What Works Clearninghouse http://www.whatworks.ed.gov/ Resources retrieved from Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education, Heward, William, 2009, Pearson

You, the GE teacher, are an essential part of the special education process. Inclusion presents challenges but you can make it work to your advantage by utilizing the tools you have, such as the IEP and other educators and your classroom and school. Keep learning about the process, and working with your team and you WILL be successful! References Heward, W. L (2009). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education, Ninth Edition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education, Inc.