Name: Vickie Johnson
TE 800, Introduction to Education Research
Date: July 1, 2011
Inclusion: The Effects on the Nondisabled Student
Abstract
In 1975, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, later called the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act, was passed to ensure that children with disabilities were given the opportunity to receive a public
education. Some research has shown that inclusion may improve learning and academic performance for all students
(Inclusion in the Classroom - Tips and Resources). What is meant by all students? “Full inclusion means that all
students, regardless of handicapping condition or severity, will be in a regular classroom/program full time. All
services must be taken to the child in that setting.” (Special Education Inclusion). Inclusion simply means that the
student has the right to be in the regular classroom. With approximately 15% of the Nebraska students receiving
services from the Special Education program; it is very likely that every grade will have disabled students included
in their classroom.
There has been significant research done on the effects of inclusion on the disabled student. However, the
effects of inclusion on the nondisabled student in the classroom were studied to see if there were
positive or negative effects. Surveys were prepared and handed out to teachers, parents,
administrators, paraeducators and students in ten schools throughout Central Nebraska.
It is hypothesized that there will be a positive effect on both the disabled students and the
nondisabled student in the classroom; teachers and administrators will also feel the positive effect.
The study will be a descriptive (non-experimental) study; there will be no treatments performed
on any students. Instead, there will be random interviews and surveys conducted with teachers,
parents, administrators, paraeducators, and students. The surveys/interviews will be done at various times
throughout the school year; the beginning of the year, between semesters and at the end of school. Surveys will be
sent to the administrators, who will be asked to distribute them to various teachers, paraeducators,
parents, and students that fit the qualifications. For the personal interviews, participants will be chosen at
random or through volunteering.
Method
Participants~~ The participants will be teachers, administrators, parents, paraeducators and students in
classrooms that have at least one disabled student in the classroom from ten different schools in Central
Nebraska.
Instrumentation ~~ Survey the teachers, administrators, paraeducators, parents and students in the classroom.
Survey will be on a Likert scale of 1 – 5, Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree.
Procedures ~~ Surveys will be sent to administrators who will be asked to distribute them to various
teachers, paraeducators, parents and students that fit the qualifications. Participants for the personal interviews will
be chosen at random or through volunteering.
Data Analysis ~~ All survey and interview data will be received and recorded; as a mixture of qualitative
and quantitative data.
Results
The results will generally show a positive effect on nondisabled students. Overall, the nondisabled student
will learn compassion, a tolerance of differences in people, their self-esteem will rise due to the ability to help
someone else, and they will feel camaraderie with the disabled student that goes beyond just being helpful. When
students are given the opportunity to interact with others, they learn to appreciate abilities, interests, and differences
(Valentine & Robertson, 1998).
It was discovered that when you create a caring and accepting community of
learners you improve student learning for the nondisabled student as well. Farlow (1996) discussed a case study in
which the peer assistant of a Down syndrome student was failing social studies but after tutoring the Down
syndrome student the nondisabled, peer assistant’s grades increased as well. Five outcomes of inclusion for
nondisabled students were identified by Staub and Peck (1995): 1) reduced fear of human differences accompanied
by increased awareness, 2) growth in social cognition, 3) improvements in self-concept, 4) development of personal
principles, and 5) warm and caring friendships. Inclusive settings do not guarantee that all nondisabled children
become close friends with children with disabilities (Staub, 2005). Parents, teachers, administrators and
paraeducators reported that they too felt more comfortable being around people with disabilities because of the
students’ experiences.
Other noted results include: the classmates who nonchalantly pass a tissue to Keith (who has Cerebral
Palsy) so that he can wipe off the drool that sometimes emerges while he is talking; the custodian who asks Charlene
(who is deaf) to teach him how to sign, “have a good day”; the classmates who cheer for Ernesto (who has a
mobility impairment) to run his fastest and make it to first base; the math teacher who convinces Conner (who has
autism) and his mother that he should participate in the AP math class in high school; the classmates who figure out
ways for Frankie (who has autism) to participate in the group’s skit depicting a scene from the American
Revolutionary War; the basketball coach who designates and arranges tasks for Carmen( who has Down Syndrome)
so that she can serve as the assistant manager for the team on which many of her friends play; and William (who has
Asperger’s Syndrome) who shows his class a more efficient way to solve a math problem (Henderson, 2006).
A student stated, “Yeah, it’s kind of rewarding if she [a students with disabilities] makes progress – you
feel good about yourself because you’ve helped her to do it. I like that.” (Staub & Peck, 1994/1995).
One could claim that no evidence shows harm to nondisabled students as a result of inclusion.
Discussion
The results of this study will help educators of inclusive classrooms. Teachers who are uncomfortable
with disabled students in their classroom can negatively impact all students. Only when educators are
aware of and believe the fact that having disabled students in their classrooms will benefit everyone, will there be a
positive impact for all students. We also agree with the majority of teachers and administrators we have interviewed
that realizing the benefits of inclusion for all students will require active mediation of the experience by teachers, as
well as the transfer of resources from traditional special education programs to support children placed in regular
classes (Peck, Mabry, Curley, & Conn-Powers, 1993). If we, as educators, do not embrace the need for inclusion
and the benefits it has for all students, we are sorely lacking in our endeavor to reach all students at their level.
Potential threats or biases could be attributed to the fact that the surveys were randomly distributed by the
administrators to teachers, parents, paraeducators, students and other administrators within their school. One can
only assume that the administrator randomly chose the participants and did not hand pick the participants from what
would have been the top classes. In addition, the fact that interview participants volunteered could lead to
possible bias as they generally give positive feedback; most teachers, parents, students and paraeducators do
not willing come forward with negative responses.
References
Farlow, L. (1996). A quartet of success stories: How to make inclusion work. Educational Leadership , 53 (5), 5155.
Henderson, B. (2006). Champions of inclusion. International Journal of Whole Schooling , 3 (1), 7-12.
Inclusion in the Classroom - Tips and Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved June 27, 2011, from Vanderbilt Kennedy Center:
www.kc.vanderbilt.edu
Peck, C. A., Mabry, L., Curley, J., & Conn -Powers, M. (1993). Implementing inclusion at the
early childhood level: a follow -along study of 54 programs. Proceedings of the Washington
state infant and early childhood conference Seattle:
Special Education Inclusion. (n.d.). Retrieved June 27, 2011, from Wisconsin Education Association Council:
http://www.weac.org/Issues_Advocacy/Resource_Pages_On_Issues_one/Special_Education/special_education_incl
usion.aspx
Staub, D. (2005). Inclusion and the other kids. Retrieved June 10, 2011, from urbanschools.com:
http://www.urbanschools.org/pdf/op_kids.pdf
Staub, D., & Peck, C. A. (1994/1995). What are the outcomes for non-disabled students? Educational Leaderhsip;
The Inclusive School , 52 (4), 36-40.
Valentine, J. W., & Robertson, T. S. (1998). What is the impact of inclusion on students and staff in the middle
school setting? Retrieved June 26, 2011, from National Middle School Association:
http://www.nmsa.org/Research/ResearchSummaries/Summary14/tabid/268/Default.aspx