“Don’t We Already
‘Do’ Inclusion?”:
10 Key Practices of Successful
Inclusive Schools Today
Paula Kluth, Ph.D
Paula Kluth
www.paulakluth.com
paula.kluth@gmail.com
Blog: Differentiation Daily
2011
Moving to the Music
Udvari-Solner & Kluth (2007). Joyful learning. Corwin Press.
** Move when you hear the music.
** When the music stops, find a partner and
answer the question.
1. In your opinion, what is the most annoying fashion trend
today?
2. What is the strongest part of your inclusive schooling
model?
3. How have your school’s inclusive practices changed in the
past few years?
4. How should your practices change in the next few years?
What is the purpose of
starting with this activity?
My purpose in beginning the presentation
with that activity was to:
• help us as a group become interested and
engaged in the content and process of
learning
• establish a sense of familiarity & fun
**necessary conditions for effectively educating
all learners.
How would you differentiate for diverse learners?
Why is it such a struggle to keep
inclusion moving forward?
•Standards movement changed our focus (& was
thought to be incompatible w/ inclusion)
•Initial training was provided but no plan to keep new
staff informed & inspired
•Philosophy is in place but structures are not
•Structures are in place but philosophy is not
“Don’t We Already
‘Do’ Inclusion?”:
10 Key Practices of Successful
Inclusive Schools Today
1. Seeing Inclusion as a
PROCESS
(Placement is the most extreme “adaptation”!)
• Over, under,
around or
through
• Find a way– or
make a way!
We tried inclusion &
“it” didn’t work
Spencer’s Story
Percentage of Students With Intellectual
Disabilities Included in Regular Education Classrooms
More Than 79% of the Time
Smith, P. 2007
1. Vermont
60.34
2. New Hampshire
3. Iowa
4. Colorado
5. North Dakota
11. Indiana
24. Delaware
25. West Virginia
28. New York
42.02
34.28
31.20
26.64
15.90
9.56
8.82
8.35
29. Maryland
8.30
30. Washington
31. California
32. Georgia
33. Wisconsin
39. Texas
47. Illinois
48. Rhode Island
49. Virginia
8.23
8.14
7.52
7.26
4.20
3.96
3.29
3.28
50. Utah
2.22
magic maple
syrup?
If LRE is about a
student’s
profile (abilities,
needs, “levels”), how
can the discrepancies
between the states be
explained?
2. Knowing the Benefits
for All
(& Sharing Them)
Two years later…
Math Achievement of River View Students (Theoharis & Theoharis, 2010)
Percent Scoring at or Above Grade Level
Students' Current Grade Level
Before inclusive reform
Two years after reform
All 5th graders
55
66
5th graders with disabilities
18
43
All 6th graders
54
72
6th graders with disabilities
18
53
All 7th graders
56
78
7th graders with disabilities
29
70
All 8th graders
48
62
8th graders with disabilities
8
40
Note. These data follow the same student cohorts over three years. Data listed in the "Before inclusive reform" column reflect each student
cohort's scores two years before its current grade level (for example, data from 3rd grade for students listed as currently in 5th grade). River
View also made gains at each grade level from year to year (for example, comparing one 5th grade class to the next 5th grade class).
…three years into a similar intervention implemented by
a Wisconsin elementary school, the percent of students
eligible for special education who were classified as "at or
above" grade level on the state's performance measure had
shot from 18 to 60.
Black students' performance on the same measure went
from 33 percent to 78 percent "at or above," and 100
percent of English language learners achieved this level of
performance, up from 17 percent.
(Theoharis, 2007)
3. Presuming
Competence
Belief causes the
actual fact.
William James
What do you believe about students?
parents? colleagues?
How do your beliefs impact practice?
She was unaware
of my limitations.
~Helen Keller
What is possible?
•poet
•author
•scholar
•feminist
•political activist
•advocate
•lecturer
•teacher
Jaime Escalante
• I cannot accept "gifted."
You're going to measure
IQ -- and I say no. Any
student, any [person] to
me is gifted. They have
something they can do…
• You have to understand
human relations. You
have to look at the kid as
a person, and you respect
the kid.
In 1982, 18 of his students
passed the AP calculus exam.
The ETS found the scores
suspect and asked the students
to test again; all did well
enough to have their scores
reinstated.
By 1990, the math enrichment
program involved over 400
students in classes ranging
from beginning algebra to
advanced calculus.
4. Burning the Chair!:
Encouraging Independence &
Avoiding Toxic Support
• Natural supports
• Support the
classroom & student
success
• Remember “only as
special as necessary”
How do you disable a student?
- Lou Brown
Why You Need to “Burn the Chair”:
Problems Related to Instructional
Assistant Proximity
Giangreco, M., Edelman, S. Luiselli, & MacFarland,
(1997)
• Interference with Ownership and Responsibility
by General Educators
• Separation from Classmates
• Dependence on Adults
• Impact on Peer Interactions
• Limitations on Receiving Competent Instruction
• Loss of Personal Control
• Loss of Gender Identity
• Interference with Instruction of Other Students
5. Practicing Radical &
Relentless Role Sharing
•How do all staff members
contribute to the teaching &
learning of all?
•Staff without borders
Co-Teaching Structures:
How Do They Help Us
Differentiate Instruction?
•
•
•
•
Duet teaching
One teach, one make multi-sensory
Parallel teaching
Centers/station teaching
What do I do when….?
(adapted from Murawski & Dieker, 2004)
If one of you is….
Another can be….
lecturing
modeling note taking on the board (e.g., using a specific
structure from advisory); graphically mapping the class
discussion using mindmapping, or demonstrating some
element of the lecture (showing parts of a lab that is being
described)
giving directions verbally
writing directions on the board; checking on individual
students who seem confused
facilitating and supervising
small groups
running one small group and giving more direct and intensive
support or moving from group to group to observe social skills
(e.g., collaboration)
facilitating SSR
reading aloud with a small group of learners or pulling
students aside one at a time to do a reading or communication
assessment
seeking enrichment resources
for a unit
planning modifications and adaptations for a uni
administering a test to the
group
giving a test orally to a few students or allowing some learners
to engage in another type of assessment (e.g., interview)
monitoring students as they
engage in independent work
re-teaching or pre-teaching with a small group
“In my school, you can’t tell
which students have disabilities
and which ones don’t!”
Is this a goal we should target?
Is there a better one?
• Do special education teachers assess students without
disabilities? Develop lessons?
• Do general education teachers ever develop
adaptations for learners with disabilities? Support
students with significant disabilities one-on-one?
Observe while colleagues teach?
• Do speech therapists ever teach whole-class lessons?
Help to plan the literacy block?
• Do “special ed.” paraprofessionals ever provide
enrichment support?
• Do occupational therapists advise all teachers on
making the classrooms safe & comfortable for all?
6. Encouraging Active
Learning & Use of a Wide
Range of Lesson Formats
• Hit more of the “multiple
intelligences”/learning styles
• Give students a variety of
ways to learn & understand
material
• Give the teacher different
ways to see student
needs/abilities
Popcorn
Udvari-Solner & Kluth (2007). Joyful learning. Corwin Press.
• Get “knee to knee, face to face” with one person.
• One person is STATIONARY (or the “dud” seed). The other person is
ACTIVE (or the popcorn).
• When the teacher gives the first prompt (e.g., Tell everything you know
about Egypt), the DUD students will answer and keep talking until the
teacher says “switch”. When the teacher says “switch” the POPCORN
students begin talking, answering the same question until the teacher says
“POPCORN”.
• When the teachers says “POPCORN” the POPCORN students get up and
scramble to find an empty chair across from another DUD.
• The process begins again. When the teacher gives the next prompt, the
DUD students answer first (again). The DUD students will always answer
first.
• It is very important to reinforce that students who are listening should
NOT TALK- they should be silent while their partner shares.
• Keep switching partners every time you ask a new question.
Are you seeing these formats?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
simulations
case studies
project-based instruction
drama/skits
whole-class discussion
small-group discussion
cooperative learning
drawing/painting
community-based
instruction
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
service learning
research teams
problem-based learning
station teaching
debates
labs/experiments
games
outdoor/experiential
education
• pair sharing
Why active learning?
• Two groups of university students:
In the experimental group, an instructor paused for 2
min/3x during lectures. A control group received the same
lectures and was similarly tested.
Students who experienced more interaction and were more
involved in the learning process did significantly better on
2 different assessments. Difference in mean scores --- large
enough to make a difference of two letter grades.
----------------------• Ruhl, K. L., Hughes, C. A., & Schloss, P. J. (1987, Winter).
Using the pause procedure to enhance lecture recall.
Teacher Education and Special Education, 10, 14-18.
“You can tell students what
they need to know very fast.
But they will forget what you
tell them even faster.”
Mel Silberman (1996). 101 strategies to teach any
subject.
7. Providing Academic
Challenge to All
•What do we expect any of
our students to get from an
academic education (e.g.,
form interests, get career
ideas, have fun, make
friends)?
•What do we expect students
with disabilities to get?
How have teachers adapted the standards?
How would KNOWING the targeted outcomes help your teachers?
STANDARD
Recognize and use
measures of weight
and temperature.
EFFECTIVE ADAPTED
STANDARD 
Use the thermometer to measure
temperature (& indicate if it is
higher or lower than yesterday).
INEFFECTIVE
ADAPTED
STANDARD 
Color a
thermometer sheet
Compare music from various cultures
as to some of the functions music
serves and the roles of musicians.
Identify music from three
different cultures (Indian,
African, ______)
Participate in singing
Check answers both by estimation
and by appropriate independent
calculations, using calculators or
computers judiciously.
Estimate small amounts (1-20)
Sesame St. matching
game
Write a thesis statement for an
expository essay.
Choose a topic & write complete
sentences independently.
Copy name or words
in a packet
Distinguish among common forms of
literature (e.g., poetry, drama, fiction,
non-fiction)
Identify dictionaries,
encyclopedias, and other
resources.
Look at a book
Use a calculator without support
Station Teaching in
Reese’s Classroom
Station #1: Internet: Geology Websites
Station #2: Fossils
Station #3: Textbook Questions
Station #4: Discussion with Teacher
Station #5: Sandwich Demonstration
(bread, chunky peanut butter, jelly, and raisins). The various sandwich layers
represent sedimentary rock, aggregate, magma, and sandstone.
If you MUST teach color I.D.
Pluto by Ashley
Did you know that Pluto has one moon? Pluto is the last
planet of the solar system. Pluto is 3.7 billion miles away
from the sun, and Pluto is so far away from the sun that light
almost takes 17 years to reach it! Plus Pluto is the smallest
planet in the solar system. During 20 years, Pluto is closer
to the sun than Neptune is. Then Neptune will be closer.
Pluto is the last planet, which would be the ninth planet. I
like Pluto. Do you like Pluto? Pluto is blue.
If you MUST teach sequencing
Rosa Parks sits
in the front of the bus, 1955
Bus Boycott, 1955
March on
Washington,
1963
• “They learned to calculate algebraic
expressions, step by step, following
the same path as their typical
classmates, but at a slower rate, with
some more steps and with individual
teaching.”
• “The girl was able to do some mental
arithmetic. Often she was more
consistent and careful than her
typical classmates.”
- Martinez, E. (2004). Teenagers with Down syndrome study algebra in
high school. Down Syndrome Information Network
8. Questioning
EVERYTHING!
• Question language,
structures, routines,
activities, norms,
environment, materials
• Even things that are going
well!
9.Inspiring a Culture of
Support & Learning
http://www.inclusiveschools.
org/week2010
10. Teaching & Learning
About “What’s New”
No pessimist ever discovered the
secret of the stars or sailed an
unchartered land,
or opened a new doorway for the
human spirit.
Helen Keller
US blind & deaf educator (1880 - 1968)
When you are finished
changing…you are finished.
-Ben Franklin