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Grace Russolillo
Professor Weber
EDU101
November 1, 2009
The Inclusion Classroom
Introduction
For eight years I have worked as a teaching assistant in special education and many
inclusion programs. Inclusion is a classroom where special needs children are integrated
into the regular classroom. I believe in integration because many children and adults are
learning that some children are different. It teaches acceptance of the very special
children that are in our schools today. I find working in the special education field to be
very rewarding and I enjoy the challenge of integrating special needs children into the
typical classroom. I also have a strong personal connection to inclusion because I have a
son who has special needs. His disability was once my weakness but today it is my
strength. Strength I use everyday to help special needs children learn and live in the
typical world.
In the eight years that I have worked in special education I have never seen any clear
definitions or guidelines to what inclusion is. I would like to know if there are any. My
definition comes from my experience and it seems to be different with each special needs
child. I always look at the individual in order to help them succeed in the typical
classroom. It would be helpful if administration gave more direction but I can only
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assume they do not have any direction to give. They seem to focus more on the budget
than they do the individual child. The inclusion classroom model seems to change every
year and there is no clear direction on how to make the program work. I have
commitment and passion for the job that I do. I respect the children I work with and I
will always work above and beyond to help them succeed. Unfortunately I haven’t seen
many teachers that have that same commitment and passion. Is it due to the lack of
direction, is it because of how much more difficult the cases seem to be getting or is it
because of inclusion?
I have many questions regarding inclusion. I would like to know how it is determined
when a child is to be integrated and if there are some children being integrated when they
shouldn’t be. How much should a typical classroom be able to handle? When is the
disability to much that it becomes disruptive to the other children’s learning? For
example, when a child screams and needs to be physically removed from the classroom
many times throughout the day. When a child is so physically impaired that most of the
teachers and aides time is spent dealing with the students needs to the point that the
classroom is not learning and functioning like it should. There is little to no training
given to aide in any of these situations. Would training teachers and aides help with the
integration of these more difficult children?
I would like some answers to the inclusion question and are we ever going to figure it
out? I will look at the special education laws. Are there any guidelines and who is
responsible for ensuring children receive the education they deserve? The laws lead us to
inclusion, so why is there no clear direction? I hope to find some answers so that I can be
a better Teaching Assistant with better knowledge to do my job.
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Inclusion Classroom: The Facts
The federal special education law does not require inclusion. Inclusion is not a term
you will find in “The Individuals with Disabilities Act” (IDEA). IDEA provides for a
free and appropriate public education to students with disabilities. IDEA states that:
“Each state must establish procedures to assure that, to the maximum extent appropriate,
children with disabilities…are educated with children who are not disabled, and that
special education, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from
the regular educational environment occurs only when 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.” 20 U.S.C. 1412 (5) (B).
Under IDEA, school districts are required to place students in the least restrictive
environment (LRE). The least restrictive environment means that, “to the maximum
extent appropriate, school districts must educate students with disabilities in the regular
classroom with appropriate aids and supports, referred to as “supplementary aids and
services,” along with their nondisabled peers in the school they would attend if not
disabled, unless a student’s individualized program requires some other arrangement.”
(Wrightslaw). With the appropriate support students with disabilities are placed in the
regular classroom which is the inclusion model. Some of the supports used are
cooperative learning, teaching styles, physical arrangements of the classroom, curriculum
modifications, peer mediated supports, computer assisted devices, and use of a resource
room. The law ensures that the level of inclusion is determined by the student’s needs
and not by the school district’s convenience or the parent’s wishes. School districts
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cannot deny special education services for reasons due to lack of appropriate personnel or
funds.
IDEA requires that school districts develop and implement an Individual Education
Plan (IEP) for each child with a disability. An IEP defines the unique needs of the
disabled student and results in an individualized and appropriate education. IDEA also
requires that the IEP team considers placing special needs children in the regular
classroom. If that is not the determination there must be an explanation in the IEP as to
why the regular classroom is not appropriate for that student.
When placement is challenged in federal court, there are guidelines provided to school
districts for determining appropriate placement for children with disabilities. Decisions
made do not apply to all areas because each court has separate jurisdiction. Placement is
made individually according to the special education child’s abilities and needs. It is the
individualized program of instruction and related services in each IEP that forms the
basis for placement. Factors that are relevant in determining placement according to
“IDEA” are:

the educational benefit to the student from regular education in comparison to
the benefits of special education;

the benefit to the disabled student from interacting with nondisabled students;
and

the degree of disruption of the education of the other students resulting in the
inability to meet the unique needs of the student with a disability.
School districts may not make placements based on factors such as the following:

category of disability;

the configuration of the delivery system;

the availability of educational or related services;
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
availability of space; or

administrative convenience
According to “IDEA” the federal law does consider the impact placement of a
disabled student will make to the education of students without a disability. If a student
has behavioral problems that impair the learning of other students significantly, the needs
of the disabled student cannot be met in that environment. To make that determination
school districts must ensure they have given full range of supplementary aids and
services that could be provided to accommodate the unique needs of the disabled student.
IDEA does not define the term “supplementary aids and services.” The determination of
what supplementary aids and services that are to be used are made on an individual basis.
Some of those aids and services used by educators include modifications to the regular
class curriculum, assistance of an itinerant teacher with special education training, special
education training for the regular education teacher, use of computer assisted devices,
provision of note takers, and resource room are just a few.
There are a number of different inclusion models being used in school districts. The
following are three examples being used. (Gartner and Lipsky, 1997). In the Consultant
Model approach, the special education teacher works with special needs students to
reteach a difficult skill or practice a new skill. The Teaming Model assigns a special
education teacher to one grade level with one planning period per week for the team. The
special education teacher provides all necessary information about students, instruction,
academic modifications, and behavior strategies. Communication is consistent between
special education teachers and regular education teachers in order to achieve student
success. The Collaborative, Co-teaching Model is when the general education and
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special education teachers work in the same classroom to teach students with and without
disabilities. The teachers are both responsible for planning and delivering instruction,
student achievement, assessment, and discipline. Students receive the necessary
supports. Collaborative teaching can be organized in different ways.
Conclusion and Reflection
There are many laws ensuring inclusion for disabled children. The guidelines and
defining terms are not clear enough to give better direction to school districts. It is up to
the school district to make those guidelines and to individualize each disabled child’s
unique needs. Many of my questions have been answered but not as clear as I had hoped.
Some of my views have changed and I now see inclusion with no limits. No limits so
that a child’s disability it is never too much for a classroom to handle because there are
appropriate supports and training for teachers and aides. The special education laws
leave too much room for decisions that can go either way when considering placement in
the regular classroom, depending on the district or extent of parent involvement. In order
for inclusion to be successful in our schools and for all children we must only look at
“The Individual Child”. In that are answers and clarity to better education, for children
with or without a disability.
“It is so powerful to see what happens when we don’t divide people. Whether you
can talk or not has nothing to do whether you’re my friend or not, was the feeling I
got at a birthday party I went to for 6-year-olds. They accepted their friend as they
were and had incredible friendships. So what can we do? We need to restructure
schools into communities that support children. Once we create good schools and
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good classrooms in that vein, then inclusion will happen.” Chris Kliewer, Associate
Professor of Special Education, UNI