Week 13: Course wrap up May 8, 2007 A-117: Implementing Inclusive Education Harvard Graduate School of Education Dr. Thomas Hehir

Week 1: Historical Context  Societal response to disability is deeply ingrained in the culture.  Policy reflects culture and has been both abusive and benevolent.  People matter.

“…I give my parents high marks. They did not deny that I was blind, and did not ask me to pretend that everything about my life was fine. They rarely sheltered. They worked to help me behave and look the way others did without giving me the sense to be blind-different- was shameful. They fought for me, and then with me, to ensure that I lived as full and rich a life as I could. For them and consequently for me, my blindness was a fact, not a tragedy. It affected them but did not dominate their lives. Nor did it dominate mine.” (Asch) “My disability, with my different walk and talk and my involuntary movements, having been with me all my life, was part of me, part of my identity. With my disability features, I felt whole. My mother’s attempt to change my walk, strange as it may seem, felt like an assault on myself, an incomplete acceptance of all of me, an attempt to make me over.” (Rousso) Week 2: Parents, the Disability Community and Inclusive Education

Importance of parents and educators being on the same path to maximize educational success. In order for this to occur educators and parents should:  Be knowledgeable about the relationship between disability and parenting and recognize that disabilities play out very differently in different families and cultures.  Seek true collaboration that benefits from both parental insights into their children as well as professional expertise regarding education.  Be informed by both research and the experiences of successful parents, educators, and disabled adults.  Avoid contentious litigious relationships.

Parents and Educators Maximizing Educational Success This is critical because the decisions made about the education of these children have significant impact on their families and their future.

Parental Responses From adult narratives:  Shelter  Fix  Deny  Minimize impact, ensure full life

Children of a Lesser God video:  What is the purpose of this school? Its goals for its students? The concept of ableism: Schools often reflect the attitudes of the broader society in which disability is devalued and persons with disabilities do not enjoy equality of rights and opportunity Should schools:  Serve the role of reinforcing the status quo?  Be a vehicle for promoting equality and societal progress?  Take an active role in eliminating ableism? Week 3: Principles of Inclusive Education

Role of Education 1. Minimize Impact of Disability What does that mean? Would this differ by type of disability? Would this vary by age level? 2. Maximize opportunity to participate Are these roles conflicting?

Implications School level:  Include disability as part of schools’ overall diversity efforts  Special education should be specialized  Move away from obsession over placement to a greater emphasis on results  Promote high standards  Employ concepts of universal design Child level:  Differential diagnosis is important  Consider family capacity and desires  Involve students in educational decisions where appropriate  Encourage disabled students to develop and use skills and modes of expression that are most effective and efficient for them  Integration into general education environments should be a central consideration

Week 4: Principles “…it advances the bolder, more encompassing thesis: that the only place where students with disabilities can learn to lead a productive adult life is the general education classroom and that inclusion benefits the entire school community.” (Shapiro-Barnard in Jorgensen) “Unfortunately, students who are severely intellectually disabled cannot learn to function acceptably in integrated community environments when instruction is confined to regular education environments.” (Sailor in Brown et al.)

“May it please the Court, I think if appellants’ construction of the Fourteenth Amendment should prevail here, there is no doubt in my mind that it would catch the Indian within its grasp just as much as the Negro. Should it prevail, I am unable to see why a state would have any further right to segregate its pupils on the ground of sex or on the ground of age or on the ground of mental capacity.” (John Davis, Counsel for the State of South Carolina) Week 5: The Law

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)§ General LRE requirements. (a) Except as provided in § (b) and (c), a State shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the State has in effect policies and procedures to ensure that it meets the requirements of §§ (b) Each public agency shall ensure— (1) That to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled; and (2) That special classes, separate schooling or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1412(a)(5))

Emerging Principles  LRE is a dynamic concept that changes with improvements in professional practice  Achievement matters (FAPE)  Due Process provides an important mechanism to leverage change

Emerging Principles  An advocate’s or a district’s position in a due process hearing is significantly enhanced if: The child’s program has been shown to be successfully implemented in a general education environment Segregation will have an adverse impact on the child’s education and development Given the provision of supports and aides and the implementation of appropriate behavioral interventions, the child’s placement in the general education classroom does overly disrupt the education of others The program is not excessive in cost The proposed program conforms to best professional practice

Week 6: Research “ The positive nature of this relationship is particularly interesting, given how difficult some regular education courses were. Regular education courses exposed students to significant academic risk, yet the students who took more of them did better in adulthood—if they managed to graduate from high school. At the very least, these analyses suggest that regular education classes did not have lasting negative effects. Across a number of analyses of postschool outcomes, the message was the same: those who spent more time in regular education classes experienced better outcomes after high school. Before we can draw policy or educational implications from this finding, however, we need to understand more about why it occurred” (Hebbler, 1993, p. 6-13).

“Given the diversity of student needs, the variety of course options at the secondary level, and the range of transitional goals possible, P.L ’s vision of individualized planning seems as appropriate today as it was in We’ve learned, however, that being able to meet the needs of students with disabilities requires having real choices. A choice between failing in regular education and succeeding in special education isn’t much of a choice. We have looked at the first generation of students educated completely under P.L and have learned that access to regular education is associated with positive outcomes but that it also comes with a high price tag. Maybe it’s time to lower the price” (Hebbler, 1993, p – 6-14).

Week 7: Accessing the Curriculum “It is a matter of the highest importance to recognise as early as possible the true nature of this defect, when it is met with in a child. It may prevent much waste of valuable time and may save the child from suffering and cruel treatment. When a child manifests great difficulty in learning to read and is unable to keep up in progress with its fellows, the cause is generally assigned to stupidity or laziness, and no systematised method is directed to the training of such a child. A little knowledge and carefully analysis of the child’s case would soon make it clear that the difficulty experienced was due to a defect in the visual memory of words and letters; the child would then be regarded in the proper light as one with a congenital defect in a particular area of the brain, a defect which, however, can often be remedied by persevering and persistent training. The sooner the true nature of the defect is recognised, the better are the chances of the child’s improvement.” - Hinshelwood (in Shaywitz, pp )

Central Considerations  The purpose of the curriculum is to bring about desired outcomes  Time and sequencing are critical  Identifying most important enduring knowledge and skills is central to thoughtful planning  Overemphasis on “readiness” is a common problem

Accommodations & Modifications “A dyslexic needs extra time the say way a diabetic needs insulin” (Shaywitz 2003) Accommodations:  Alternative acquisition modes  Alternative response modes  Content enhancements Modifications:

Week 8: Universal Design  Multiple means of representation  Multiple means of expression  Flexible means of engagement

Week 9: Inclusive Education in Elementary Schools Executive Processes -Regulation of thinking processes, behavior, and performance -How and when to use strategies Stimuli from External Environment Senses Attention/ Recognition Sensory Memory Very limited capacity, Visual.5 seconds, Auditory 3 seconds Working Memory Temporary holdings 7 units, seconds Long Term Memory Encoding and retrieval Storage Retrieval Strategies -Multiple means of presentations -Focus queues - Repetition -Sub-vocalization -Chunking -Distributive Practice -Scaffolding -Multiple means of presentation - Rehearsal - Elaboration - Graphic Organizers - Comprehension Monitoring

The Importance of Beliefs  Unconditional acceptance should be every child’s right  People support one another through community  Participation is an essential part of acceptance  People should not have to pass a test or prove themselves in order to be included in everyday life (Biklen, p. 118)

River Bend School  Naturally occurring population  Balancing needs for intervention with accommodation  Addressing the harmful effects of pull-outs  Universal Design, de-stigmatization  RRT open to all who need support  SBT problem solving mechanism available to all needing support  Efficiency  Curriculum coordination  Increased opportunities for inclusion

1.Beliefs (Jorgensen)  More than transmit information  All have value  Diversity embraced  Students are supported 2. How instruction is delivered (unit approach, Jorgensen, p. 75) A central unit or problem An opening grabber or motivator Lessons that are linked to the central issue or problem Richly detailed source material Culminating projects Varied lesson plans Multiple assessments Varied modes of student expression Week 10: Implementation Issues in Middle and High Schools

Elements of Reform 3. School-wide behavior approaches (Sugai & Ebert) (Martha Wally visiting) 4. Self determination 5. Community Supports 6. Strong emphasis on transition How does Jorgensen’s view differ from that of Brown?

Week 11: Implementing Social Change in Schools

 Higher SES  Less egg crate  More collaborative  Higher teacher to teacher trust  Collective responsibility for student learning O’Day, 2002 Week 11: Implementing Social Change in Schools

Uncertain Work  Specialization and professionalization unite theory and practice in individual professional.  In practice a professional has a finite repertoire of standard programs.  In practice schools are performance organizations though they need to become problem solving organizations. (Think about Peter or Melvin)

 Improving education for students with disabilities is imperative if we are going to significantly enhance the status of disabled people in the world.  Inclusive education is a vehicle toward that end.  Effective practices of inclusive education and universal design can benefit all children.  Changing the way in which school function is difficult and requires sophisticated values-driven implementers.  This work is worth doing.  You can do it. Final Thoughts

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