RUNNING HEAD: DIVERSITY IN THE CLASSROOM: MAINSTREAMING AND INCLUSION
Diversity in the Classroom:
Mainstreaming and Inclusion
Traci Dunlap
Texas Woman’s University
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Teachers are faced with many challenges in the classroom. One of the more demanding
challenges is meeting the educational needs of all their students in an increasingly diverse
classroom. The concept of diversity spans a variety of student needs from different learning
styles and multiple intelligences, gifted and talented students and English Language Learners,
and students with disabilities or special needs (Colburn, 2003, pp. 50-51). Special education
focuses on teaching those students with special needs. However, many special needs students
are finding their way out of special education classrooms and into the general education
classroom through the processes of mainstreaming and inclusion.
Mainstreaming is a practice where special education students split their time between the
general and special education classrooms. In this scenario, a special needs student would be
allowed to spend a part of their day in the general classroom with other non-disabled students but
would also spend the other part of their day in a designated special education classroom for
remediation and one on one instruction. Inclusion is a practice where special education students
spend the entire day in the general education classroom and may receive assistance from a
special education teacher while remaining in the classroom. In this scenario, a special needs
student would receive the same instruction as their non-disabled peers but should the need arise
for additional remediation or one on one instruction, the special educator would join them in the
regular classroom and work with the lead teacher to ensure their educational objectives were
met. (Colburn, 2003, pp. 50-51).
In order to adequately meet the needs of their special education students, school
administrators, diagnosticians and teachers need to fully understand the federal laws that
stipulate the requirements for the education of children with disabilities or special needs. The
primary law is the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), formerly the Education
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for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. IDEA requires schools to provide all students with
disabilities a free and appropriate education (FAPE), in the least restrictive environment (LRE)
available. It also requires each qualifying student to be provided with an Individualized
Education Plan (IEP) created by a team of education professionals who will evaluate each child
on the basis of their disability and determine their academic needs (Colburn, 2003, pp. 50-51).
However, while IDEA does not require the special needs student be placed in an inclusion
classroom, it stipulates that the least restrictive environment should begin with placement in a
general education classroom. If the team developing the IEP determines the general classroom is
not the best placement for the child, they must state their case for another arrangement in the
child’s IEP (Wisconsin Education Association Council, 2007). In addition to protecting the
education rights of the disabled, the main focus of IDEA legislation is “to educate as many
students with disabilities as possible in the regular education classroom, while still meeting their
unique, individual needs” (Wisconsin Education Association Council, 2007).
When a special needs student is to be placed in a general education classroom, the IEP
team will determine what accommodations should be made for the student and/or if any
modifications need to be made to the curriculum. An accommodation is a change that involves
the way a student learns and how they are assessed in the classroom. A modification is a change
in what the student is required to learn and involves modifying the required curriculum for the
subject and grade level (Florida Department of Education, 2003). Accommodations come in a
variety of forms. Teachers may need to develop multiple approaches to teach a lesson, special
needs students may need additional and/or different materials to help facilitate their
comprehension of the lesson, the physical classroom may need to be adjusted to accommodate
disabled learners and some students may need to receive additional support through a
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paraprofessional or assistive technology (Florida Department of Education, 2003). Fortunately,
most accommodations can be supported in the general education classroom making inclusion a
workable solution for many special needs learners.
Even though an inclusive education is the standard that IDEA strives to uphold,
resistance still exists in schools today. Some common roadblocks to successful implementation
involve established mindsets around special education and its delivery in schools. Many of these
mindsets are actually misconceptions that continue to dissuade general education teachers from
wanting to take on the challenge of teaching a diversified student population. In their article
supporting inclusive education, authors Michael Giangreco and Mary Beth Doyle attribute these
mindsets to “historical myths of special education” (Giangreco & Doyle, 2000, p.53). These
myths include a belief that general education teachers do not have the ability to teach students
with disabilities and that it requires additional training in special education to effectively teach
students with special needs. In the article “Making Science Accessible: Strategies to Meet the
Needs of a Diverse Student Population,” the authors note inclusion remains a “source of
frustration, misunderstanding, and distrust by some teachers, parents, and students” (Fetters,
Pickard & Pyle, 2003, p.26). Science teachers, in particular, struggle with modifying
experiments and tackling lab safety for students with special needs. The instinct of many
teachers is to relegate the special needs student to an observer role which in turn “limits their
opportunities for learning” (Fetters, Pickard & Pyle, 2003, p.26).
In order to remove these roadblocks to full inclusion, authors Giangreco and Doyle note
that new standards are slowly being disseminated through education channels which serve to
break down these myths one by one and create a new framework of reference for educators.
These standards are based on the belief that with the right attitude and effective support
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personnel, general education teachers are more than capable of teaching students with special
needs (Giangreco & Doyle, 2000, p. 53). The fundamentals of teaching that general educators
use the in the classroom are the same for both non-disabled and special needs learners. In
addition, many of the methods that special educators use for their students are equally effective
with non-disabled students. By learning to adapt lessons for special needs learners, teachers can
“often learn skills that improve their teaching for all students” (Giangreco & Doyle, 2000, pp.
53-54). Authors Fetters, Pickard and Pyle also noted that attitude is key to implementing
inclusive practices in the general education classroom. If a teacher has faith their students can
succeed in the classroom, most times the students will succeed (Fetters, Pickard, Pyle, 2003, p.
27). They also advocate an improved science curriculum that can be modified to meet the needs
of all students to both increase accessibility and improve the overall quality of science education
(Fetters, Pickard, Pyle, 2003, p. 29).
Despite any misgivings, a variety of successful inclusion practices can be readily utilized
in the science classroom. Veteran science teacher Kathy Costello shares some of her
observations from her work with special needs students in her article “Special Lessons from
Special Needs Students.” First and foremost, Ms. Costello believes all students have the
capacity to learn science. It just takes some creative thinking to be successful. She advocates
using multiple sensory techniques in lesson planning, rewording lab activities to improve
comprehension, simplifying worksheets and providing additional options for homework. She
stresses that sometimes the simplest change in an activity can increase the chances for success of
special needs students. Other accommodations may include adapting rubrics for assessment and
simplifying experiments to correctly match the student’s ability. Finally she encourages teachers
to offer a variety of options for students to showcase what they have learned in the science
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classroom. By reducing the rigidity around the format for class projects, teachers can allow all
their students to select a medium that works best with their talents and abilities (Costello, 2006).
Marcee Steele, a professor of Special Education at University of North Carolina
Wilmington, addresses teaching strategies to help achieve success in the science classroom in her
article “Science Success for Students with Special Needs.” Ms. Steele makes note of the
common impairments special needs children exhibit that may prevent them from finding success
in the science classroom. These include “deficits in memory, low-level reading and writing
skills, language difficulties, organizational problems and social-emotional issues” (Steele, 2003,
p. 48). Ms. Steele believes student success begins with an effective collaboration between
special education and general education teachers. Without this key step, classroom instruction
may be ineffective for those special needs learners who require accommodation. By working
together, the general educator and the special educator can create a lesson plan that can reach all
the students in the classroom and improve the success rate on formal assessments. (Steele, 2003,
p. 48). In response to deficits in memory, Ms. Steele recommends creating lessons based on
themes to reduce the number of concepts the student is required to learn at one time. By
introducing concepts while building on a theme, students can more readily absorb the
information and even apply concepts across curriculums promoting greater understanding.
(Steele, 2003, pp.48-49). The use of graphic organizers or other visual representations can be
beneficial for those students who experience difficulty with reading and processing complex
information. These can be completed prior to, during, or after a lesson is completed and can be
used to provide instruction and guidance in making sense of the information covered during the
lesson. Modeling behaviors for students to follow is also a helpful tool to promote understanding
and success in the classroom. This could involve demonstrating a laboratory experiment,
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assigning tasks to complete a group project, and designating steps to write a report (Steele, 2003,
p. 49). All of these steps work together to create an environment that promotes success for all
students regardless of disability and are especially effective at meeting the needs of special
education in the science classroom.
A common theme throughout many of these articles is the belief that inclusion makes a
better classroom. By educating all of our children together we are modeling acceptance of others
regardless of disability. We are also giving special needs students an opportunity to learn like
their non-disabled peers, teaching them how to think independently and learn to thrive in a world
without accommodations and/or deficits. With adequate support, all teachers should be able to
adapt to the increasing diversity in the classroom and continue to develop their teaching skills to
help their students find success. The inclusion classroom is the pathway to higher education for
all students and should not impose limits on any child’s ability to learn and achieve.
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References
Colburn, A. (2003). The Lingo of Learning: 88 Education Terms Every Science Teacher Should
Know. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.
Costello, K. (2006). Special lessons from special needs students. Science Scope, 30(4), 52-55.
Fetters, M., Pickard, D. & Pyle E. (2003). Making Science Accessible: Strategies to Meet the
Needs of a Diverse Student Population. Science Scope, 26(5), 26-29.
Florida Department of Education. (2003). Accommodations and Modifications: What Parents
Should Know. Tallahassee, FL: Department of State.
Giangreco, M.F. & Doyle, M.B. (2000). Curricular and Instructional Considerations for
Teaching Students With Disabilities in General Education Classrooms. In S. Wade (Ed.),
Inclusive Education: A Casebook and Readings for Prospective and Practicing Teachers
(pp. 51-69). Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Sobel, D.M., Taylor, S.V., & Anderson, R.E. (2003). Shared Accountability: Encouraging
Diversity-Responsive Teaching in Inclusive Contexts. Teaching Exceptional Children,
35(6), 46-54.
Steele, M. (2003). Science Success for Students With Special Needs. Science and Children,
45(2), 48-51.
Wisconsin Education Assocation Council. (2007, March 15). Special Education Inclusion.
Retrieved from: http://www.weac.org/Issues_Advocacy/Resource_Pages_On_Issues_one
/Special_Education/special_education_inclusion.aspx