Inclusion In The Classroom: Has It Gone Too Far?

Inclusion of all children with disabilities in regular classrooms seems to be the law of the land. But is it the right thing for all kids? And how are teachers handling it?

Inclusion -- the idea that all children, including those with disabilities, should and can learn in a regular classroom -- has taken firm root in many school systems, although it is not specifically required by law.^*

To oppose inclusion would seem to advocate exclusion. Yet, some observers maintain that full inclusion isn't always the best way to meet student needs. Critics of full inclusion ask whether even students with the most severe disabilities benefit from placement in regular classrooms.

Further, some outgrowths of inclusion involve rethinking the structure of the regular classroom. Inclusive classes may require more than one teacher. And teachers and students may need specific technology to help students with disabilities perform better.

While few educators oppose inclusion completely, some express reservations about how full inclusion works in the classroom. Albert Shanker, writing for the American Federation of Teachers in 1996 in "Where We Stand," asserted, "What full inclusionists don't see is that children with disabilities are individuals with differing needs; some benefit from inclusion and others do not. Full inclusionists don't see that medically fragile children and children with severe behavioral disorders are more likely to be harmed than helped when they are placed in regular classrooms where teachers do not have the highly specialized training to deal with their needs."

NOT QUITE UP-TO-DATE 

What appears to be a major in hurdle in the path to finding the proper method for inclusion is the fact that very few major policy making groups have addressed the issue in decades. The National Education Association (NEA) the largest and most powerful teachers' union displays its official stance on the topic which the group approved in 1994.

Groups with a more narrow purpose are only slightly more current with their information. Both Kids Together and the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities offer resources from February 2010.

While the debate is still in the forefront of the industry and the arguments made in the remainder of this article are valid, it is clear that the discussion has become stale.

ENDORSING 'FULL INCLUSION'

In contrast, the National Association for State Boards of Education (NASBE) strongly endorses the "full inclusion" of students with disabilities in regular classrooms. In 1992, NASBE released a report titled "Winners All: A Call for Inclusive Schools." The report called on states to revise teacher-licensure and certification rules so that new teachers would be prepared to teach children with disabilities as well as those without disabilities. It also recommended training programs to help special educators and regular educators adapt to collaborating in the classroom. Another organization that has approved a resolution supporting inclusion is the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Educators are not the only ones battling over inclusion. Not all parents of students with disabilities support the approach. Some parents fear losing special-education services they have fought for and believe their children will be "dumped" into regular classrooms without appropriate support.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Controversy over full inclusion spotlights another, larger, issue in education.

Some organizations endorse goals that assume inclusion is a given. One such group, the Consortium on Inclusive Schooling Practices, states that it focuses on "systemic reform rather than changes in special education systems only."

The Consortium's three broad goals are:

• "To establish a change process in multiple states focused on systemic reform;
• To translate research and policy information into implementable educational practices;
• To develop the capacity of state and local agencies to provide inclusive educational services."

"Examine all sides of the debate, and it becomes clear that inclusion is a microcosm of education reform," maintains an essay, "To the Best Of Their Abilities" (Teacher magazine, February 22, 1995). "The issues extend far beyond special education. 'All children can learn at high levels' has become a rallying cry for improving schools. How can policymakers, practitioners, and parents work together to ensure that students in every classroom in every school are achieving that ideal?"

MAKING INCLUSION WORK

Even the staunchest backers of inclusion recognize that it requires support services and changes in the traditional classroom. Here, from the Utah Education Association, is a listing of provisions that must be met for inclusion to work best:

• "adequate supports and services for the student,
• well-designed individualized education programs,
• professional development for all teachers involved, general and special educators alike;
• time for teachers to plan, meet, create, and evaluate the students together;
• reduced class size based on the severity of the student needs,
• professional skill development in the areas of cooperative learning, peer tutoring, adaptive curriculum, varied learning styles, etc.,
• collaboration between parents, teachers and administrators,
• sufficient funding so that schools will be able to develop programs for students based on student need instead of the availability of funding, or lack thereof."

If these conditions are met, the fear of dumping students in regular classrooms becomes moot.

Despite the debate over inclusion, how far it should go, and how much it should cost, the latest developments in special education, to some observers, offer more cause to celebrate than to despair. A November 4, 1996, Time magazine article titled "The Struggle to Pay for Special Education" summarizes the current state of special education this way: "The good news is that huge strides have been made to improve the plight of special-needs students. 'The question now being asked,' says Judith Heumann, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, 'is how can we do it, as opposed to should we do it.'"

^*Federal law still requires that a full continuum of placement options be available to each special education student and that placement decisions be made by the Individual Education Program (IEP) team, based on the student's needs. Congress and the courts, however, have affirmed the legal right of children with disabilities to be educated in the least restrictive environment possible. To many, that means "full inclusion," with all students belonging in regular classrooms. To others, it means full inclusion for some children with disabilities and for other children with disabilities a different approach.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Language, Literacy and Children With Special Needs by Sally M. Rogow, Pippin Publishing: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada (1997). The belief that inclusion benefits everyone informs this book, in which the author draws on stories of children with special needs learning to read and write in regular classrooms. Specific strategies are demonstrated for developing language awareness in a variety of situations. See this week's Education World BOOKS IN EDUCATION page for more information about this new book.
• "The Struggle to Pay for Special Education," by Sam Allis/Boston with reporting by Julie Grace/Union County and Ann M. Simmons/Washington, Time magazine, November 4, 1996.
• Deaf Persons and Experts Speak Out Against Inclusion, computer software by Oscar Cohen, Netscape (1996). This source speaks out against full inclusion, citing the potential dangers it would pose to deaf students. It questions the assumption that an interpreter can make a regular classroom fully accessible to a deaf student. Among the questions asked are "...does the student feel self-conscious with an interpreter sitting next to him or her?"

Related Sites

• American Federation of Teachers Check out this site for position statements that the teachers' organization has published on key educational issues.
• The Special Education Network Inclusion Web Page A page of links to valuable resources.
• Flexibility Is the Key to Success This is one of seven Education Week commentaries on the topic of inclusion. The author of this essay, Beth Handman, works for the Fund for New York City Public Education as a staff-development consultant for inclusive classrooms.
• Inclusion Challenges the Status Quo This is one of seven Education Week commentaries on the topic of inclusion. The author is associated with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. He is president of TASH, the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps.

Article by Sharon Cromwell
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