Mutchler 1 Cynthia Mutchler Professor Nathan Cole English 2010 12th August 2013 Revision C

Inclusion for All Students

Students in todays society have a wide range of abilities, talents, and strengths. They also deserve an environment that gives them the best possible atmosphere in which to learn, grow, and succeed. As we move forward in establishing an inclusive educational system in our schools, we will be providing a beneficial educational experience for all students regardless of their abilities or disabilities. The dilemma of how and why to have inclusion in our schools today is an ongoing issue for many parents, especially those of children with special needs and concerns educators and administers of our schools as well. The current attitude for addressing this issue is one of positivity for both sets of students who will be involved in the inclusive classroom. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 2004 requires all special education students to be placed in the least restrictive environment. According to the American Institute for Research, Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) refers to the concept that children with disabilities should be educated to the maximum extent possible with children who are not disabled while meeting all their learning needs and physical requirements. The type of setting is stipulated in a childs Individual Education Plan or IEP 2006. The benefit of an inclusive classroom setting for all students relates not only to their current educational and social needs, but also extends into their future lives as contributing adults in an

Mutchler 2 inclusive community. This begins with the typical students developing a greater understanding about the challenges their classmates with disabilities are presented with each and every day, their attitudes about acceptance of others differences both seen and unseen, and creating friendships that influence the tone of the classroom and extend beyond the school into their social community. In essence, it gives students of both groups an opportunity in an inclusive classroom to learn and accept others individual differences and recognize similarities. The classroom provides various learning opportunities to experience diversity of our society on a smaller scale within the school community. Students observe and appreciate that everyone has their own unique characteristics, likes, dislikes, abilities, talents, goals, and dreams. This leads to developing trust and respect between the students as they share similar characteristics while recognizing other diverse characteristics of each other. Sensitivity becomes an added benefit towards one another as they realize each others limitations. Inclusion implements many teaching strategies that are proven to be effective in education, through academic and social aspects such as cooperative learning, constructivist activities, and problem solving Holahan and Costenbader, 2000. There is recognizable improvement of educational goals for both typical students and those students with individual education plans (IEPs). Inclusion has shown that it provides a diverse and stimulating environment in which all students learn, grow, achieve their educational goals, and progress on towards the next educational levels. There are generally at least two teachers in every classroom practicing inclusion; one general education teacher and one special education teacher along with various para educators to give assistance where needed. This added exposure to a variety of instructional personnel, different teaching styles, and various educational techniques are all advantageous to the students in the inclusive classroom. With the inclusion of various added teaching educators present in an inclusive classroom, students will have additional assistance, more personalized attention, and can increase their aptitude

Mutchler 3 potential. This gives students additional access to the curriculum with any necessary modifications that are needed to accommodate for participation with peers in the inclusive classroom. Modifications can range from simplistic measures of desk and chair height adjustment to utilizing mechanical writing, speaking, and hearing devices to promote better communication between typical students and those with special needs. The academic improvements recognized through inclusion for all students are represented in the following graphs.

Mutchler 4 The students with disabilities represented in the above graph demonstrate how inclusion in a classroom setting with typical students has greatly improved their grades in Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies. Those students with disabilities who are pulled out of their special education classroom to participate in typical classes of Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies have significantly lower grades in comparison. The disruption, lack of continuity, loss of peer modeling, and consistent interaction of the educators all contribute to the lower grades when pulling the students with disabilities out of the inclusion classroom.

The benefits for educators who teach in an inclusive classroom are varied and of importance within the school community. Teachers learn new ways of instructing from one another in helping both the

Mutchler 5 typical students and students with special needs best learn the material presented. Both the general teacher and the special education teacher start to recognize the inclusive classroom as a whole inclusive group of students and not two separate smaller groups that need to be joined together. They also recognize and learn about the various needs, talents, and abilities of all their students within the inclusive classroom. The teachers individual teaching skills are developed and refined further according to their strengths and talents. Educators and administrators of schools with inclusive classrooms have forged strong partnerships between both sets of families of students, para educators, and other vital personnel within the inclusion setting. This has led to a greater commitment between educators and parents for the success of the students in an inclusion classroom, encouragement of more intensive professional development, the enhancement of staffing, additional technical assistance on integrated services, and the use of individual student achievement and behavioral data to identify students educational and social needs. Parents of both sets of students have seen a positive impact of an inclusive education for their children. The parents of the typical students have a greater awareness of the students with disabilities. They both realize that all parents are part of the school community and the neighborhood in which they live. Parents of children with special needs have a consistent knowledge of what exactly typical development is for students and what to expect for their children. The additional benefit for both sets of parents is the availability of each other for support, information, guidance, and social interaction within the school and community. For all students in the inclusion classroom, friendships are a vital component of their development and success in their social and educational goals. Having peer role models enables the students with special needs to develop social skills, model appropriate behavior, language, and attitudes, and provides them with educational opportunities to be educated with their same-age group peer students. This

Mutchler 6 gives the students with special needs an increase in their self-esteem as they are able to keep up with their grade level standards while also showing positive results gives them continued interest in learning new concepts. The evidence for the cost effectiveness of transitioning all special education classes to full inclusion classroom settings has been given by the National Education Association (NEA) in 2007. The funding of the following was given in percentages: 38% for Special Education Instructors, 27% for Tuition, 21% for Support Staff, 12% for Special Education Transportation, and 2% for Administration according to the National Education Association 2007. In conclusion, the benefits of inclusion for all students are too numerous to ignore any longer. They provide a compassionate, accepting, learning environment with various disciplines of educational instruction offered to meet the individual needs of all the students in the classroom. The benefits extend to parents, teachers, administrators, and outside members of the neighborhood and community as these students continue to grow, learn, and develop in an inclusive environment of acceptance that will follow them into adulthood influencing society as a whole for the benefit of all. In the end, we all want to be accepted for who we are while we continue to strive to be the best we can become.

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Works Cited American Institute for Research, "Special Education and Access Terminology, N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jul 2013. http://www.k8accesscenter.org/documents/SPEDandAccessTerminology.doc. Holahan, A., & Costenbader, V. (2000). A Comparison of Developmental Gains for Preschool Children with Disabilities in Inclusive and Self-Contained Classrooms. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 20(4), 224 National Education Association, Background of special education and the individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA)... N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jul 2013. "http://www.nea.org/hom/19029.htm."

Rea, P.J., McLaughlin, V.L. and Walter-Thomas, C., Outcomes for students with learning disabilities in Inclusive and pullout programs. Exceptional Children, 68(2). 203-22..N.p., n.d. Web 11 Jul 2013

Turnbull, Ann. "Beach Center on Disability", National Dissemination center for Children with Disabilities. University of Kansas, n.d. Web. 10 Aug 2013. <http://nichcy.org>.

Waldron, N. & Cole, C. , "The Indiana Inclusion Study Year One Final Report.." Indiana Institute on Disability & Community. Bloomington, Indiana, n.d. Web. 11 Jul 2013.