The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(December 2018) |
Inclusive Classroom is a term used within American pedagogy to describe a classroom in which all students, irrespective of their abilities or skills, are welcomed holistically. It is built on the notion that being in a non-segregated classroom will better prepare special-needs students for later life. In the United States, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guaranteed civil rights to disabled people, though inclusion of disabled students progressed slowly until the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, after which almost half of US students with disabilities were soon in general classrooms.
This has placed a considerable burden on teachers and school boards, who are often unprepared and suffer from stress and frustration, affecting the success of programs. An advocated solution is co-teaching, doubling teaching staff to support an inclusive classroom.
Prior to the 1970s, most schools in the United States had non-inclusive policies. Students with disabilities were often not permitted to attend public schools as it was believed that they were unable to be educated. [1] Children who were deaf, blind, or had emotional or intellectual disabilities were instead sent to special facilities or institutions. In the late 1960s, almost 200,000 people with significant disabilities lived in state institutions that provided basic needs like food, shelter, and clothing. [2] Those students with mild disabilities were segregated from the rest of the school, where only specially trained teachers could teach them. It was thought that integrating these students into regular classrooms would cause teachers to invest too much time with them due to their unique educational needs, which would then leave other students with little attention. Thus, the presence of students with disabilities was believed to be a burden and a nuisance to the "regular" students. [2]
A few US states began to pass legislation that allowed, but did not require, school districts to begin educating students with certain types of disabilities. However, it was not widespread. In the 1950s, Edward H. Stullken, president and member of the Illinois Council of Exceptional Children, [3] began to question the need to segregate students with disabilities from the public schools. [2] This soon led to the rise of parent activists who challenged the courts. As a result, special education was expanded into public schools. [4] After a successful court case in Pennsylvania, the state law was changed to acknowledge that it had the obligation to provide a free, appropriate education regardless of the disability. [2] This case eventually led the United States to the 1975 creation of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA), which paved the way for all special education programs.[ citation needed ]
Inclusion in the United States began with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which guaranteed civil rights to all disabled people and required accommodations for disabled students in schools. [4] The 1975 EAHCA, and its 1986 and 1992 amendments, guaranteed educational rights from any institution receiving funding, and encouraged states to develop programs for individuals with disabilities. [4] In 1997, the EAHCA was revised as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),[ citation needed ] and made it mandatory for all schools to develop and provide a free and appropriate public education for all children, in the least-restrictive environment possible. This included the use of Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for all special-education students. These requirements marked the beginning of full inclusion. [5] The 1997 reauthorization of IDEA guaranteed more educational access for students with disabilities.
A 2004 reauthorization of IDEA aligned this act with the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which supported standards-based education reform. [1] This reauthorization included appropriate technology and more funding specifically for special education. By the early 2000s, almost half of students with disabilities were included in the general classroom. [2] As of 2013, inclusion is still strongly endorsed by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) and is widely used in most classrooms across the United States. [6] Although there are still controversies and debates on whether inclusion is the best practice for students with disabilities, it has become the norm in most schools in the United States.
Inclusive classrooms have students with disabilities, behavioral issues, social issues, personal issues, intellectual deficits, cognitive impairments, and physical diversities. [7] This means every classroom could be considered inclusive. The goal is for the teacher to teach each student with similar effort, so that the nature of disability does not become disruptive to the operation of the class. Therefore, it remains that there is not complete agreement as to whether it is best to include all students with disabilities in the general education classroom or only those who are themselves able to follow a general education curriculum without modification. Where students in a given class are accessing curriculum at different levels of rigor, Differentiated instruction is crucial to the successful operation of an inclusive classroom.
IDEA defines a child with a disability as having intellectual disabilities, a hearing impairment (including deafness), a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment, a serious emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, another health impairment, a specific learning disability, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities. [8] In many cases, students that are covered under IDEA (2004) have IEPs or 504 plans. [9] These students are typically paired with a paraprofessional in the classroom. This person is called also called an aide, paraeducator, or teaching assistant. [10] Research shows that students performed higher when the paraprofessional was trained in inclusive classroom management. [11]
Behavioural and social problems range from talking out of turn to acts of violence. Response to intervention (RTI) and schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) models are two ways that schools are improving education for students with this type of issue. [12] [13]
Screening tools commonly used include: [12] [14]
Students with personal issues include those with different spiritual identities, sexual identities, gender identities, religions, and cultures. [15] Teachers are encouraged to increase representation of these groups in the curriculum through literature and other materials. [16] However increased representation of students with disabilities is not associated with improved outcomes.
There are many types of cognitive impairments that include attention and memory, language, executive function, problem solving and reasoning, and social function impairments. [17] Many of these students will have IEPs. These students may require extra time for homework and tests, alternative testing sites, repeated instructions, and the reduction of multiple-choice answers on exams.
Physical diversities would entail students of all races, cultures, and ethnicities. As English-language learners work on skills to become fluent in English, they also become an important focus of inclusive classrooms. Diversity should be intertwined into the classroom curriculum to teach all students effectively. Community-referenced instruction, a curriculum approach that allows educators to design lessons with multiple roles, challenges, and opportunities for learning, is a tool used to benefit all students in inclusive classrooms. [18] Work experiences, research terms, and service learning are some examples of instruction within these inclusive classrooms. [18]
According to 20 USC § 7801(27), "gifted and talented" students are those who give evidence of high achievement capability – in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields – and who need services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop those capabilities. [8]
A study found gifted students in suburban schools outperformed gifted students in urban schools. [19] Institutional shortcomings, such as poor curriculums, unrelatable teachers, and general opportunity gaps, are believed to be the reasoning behind urban school students' underperformance. [19]
There are various lesson plans, layouts, and approaches to inclusive teaching that can be applied to the various scenarios and backgrounds of students.
The first step requires that teachers make an effort to understand the students who require inclusive education. As stated by Cathy LeDoux, "The consensus among the literature has been that general education teachers are inadequately prepared to work with special needs students and, therefore, not prepared for inclusion." [20] Therefore, misunderstanding, prejudice, and isolation can result. Teachers should attempt to understand students with special needs by asking a series of questions:
One approach is to implement co-teaching, the process where two teachers work together in order to teach students within the same classroom. [21] In the case of inclusive teaching, a general teacher usually does not have the skill nor the understanding that is needed to relate to students with disabilities. Thus, a special education teacher is used to understand the problems faced by students with special needs. In this approach, general education teachers and special education teachers need to be effective communicators to create lesson plans, homework exercises, and communication methods that revolve around the inclusion of students with special needs. [21]
When a sound co-teaching system is in effect, there are several instructional models that can be used. One model is referred to as "selecting manageable texts" whereby teachers match students to reading materials based upon whether the student needs special assistance due to special needs. [21] Readability, vocabulary complexity, interest level, presence of prior knowledge, and the use of text enhancement are factors that are considered when matching students with texts. [21] Specifically, book length, chapter length, and whether or not the book will maintain a student's attention are considered. [21] Co-teaching can also help match a student's skills and abilities related to inclusive teaching to an IEP, a program developed for every student with special needs.
An individualized education program (IEP) is a document that outlines the educational needs and goals of a student with a disability, and describes the programs and services that a school district will provide to help the student make educational progress. [22] It defines based upon research on education and assessment of student, an approach to teaching a student with special needs and may help integrate that student into a general classroom, in advancement of a student's educational progress. An IEP may determine the proper placement of a student in inclusive education through tests, studies, and interviews with counselors and family members. Based upon the arrangement of homework assignments, team projects, and basic communication with other students and teachers, students can then learn what works best for them. Despite a student's physical, emotional, or psychological condition, a teacher must commit to understand a student's well-being in order to provide necessary and contextually appropriate support. [23] In 2018–19, the number of students ages 3–21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was 7.1 million, or 14 percent of all public school students. Among all students ages 6–21 served under IDEA, the percentage who spent most of the school day (i.e., 80 percent or more of their time) inside general classes in regular schools increased from 47 percent in fall 2000 to 64 percent in fall 2018. In contrast, during the same period, the percentage of students who spent 40 to 79 percent of the school day inside general classes decreased from 30 to 18 percent, and the percentage of students who spent less than 40 percent of their time inside general classes decreased from 20 to 13 percent. [24] Inclusive teaching can be made easier for teachers when systems are put into place that lay the groundwork.
It can be difficult to determine the role of school officials, educators, and counselors when practicing inclusive education, especially when students with special needs are a rarity in school environments. Uncertainty can be detrimental in determining how to begin any aspect of inclusive education, whether that be ideas, lesson plans, or educational and psychological inquiries. One way to overcome this is by coordinating all of these stages into a progressive smooth-running unit. Questions arise as to who students should visit first, what questions should be posed to students and their parents, what subjects should be presented to students in order to determine which they will perform well in. It is not proper to function without preparation when it comes to inclusive education. Therefore, it is best to create "a set of principles to guide support services", [23] even if they are imperfect. These principles should be based on the social, educational, and psychological functions of disabled students in order to best serve their educational and personal goals. Principles will consolidate processes and remove confusion related to school systems. They can also clarify the roles of educators, counselors, and administrators in terms of what each can specifically do for students with special needs.
This section needs expansionwith: some actual objections to the practice for a neutral point-of-view. You can help by adding to it. (May 2019) |
There are conflicting attitudes regarding inclusive classrooms and teaching special needs students within mainstream classrooms as many believe that inclusivity within a classroom environment will be damaging towards the education of the neurotypical children within that educative environment. However, One study argued, "Inclusive practices allow students to become full members of a classroom community, thus allowing them to develop both academically and socially". [25] Critiques of universal inclusion argue the practice ignores the needs of the student, and many students' needs cannot reasonably be met within general education settings. [26] To further, it is argued that the movement for fully inclusive classrooms priorities group values and ideologies over evidence. [27] Additionally, many full-inclusion advocates, including Paula Kluth, are also proponents of pseudoscientific facilitated communication practices. [28]
Positive and negative attitudes amongst teachers can affect the success of inclusive classrooms. Factors that influence teacher attitudes include: teacher differences, classroom learning environments, adequacy of support, stress, and willingness to include. [29] Findings of a paper published in Learning Environments Research suggest that educators who were receptive and assumed direct authority had a better chance of achieving success. [29] However, teacher attitudes alone do not determine the appropriateness of an education placement for meeting educational needs. Students with severe, sensory, or multiple impairments may be less likely to receive appropriate educational services in an inclusive classroom, regardless of teacher attitude. These students require intensive, effective, evidence-based interventions targeted at their unique needs.
Negative attitudes towards inclusion are linked to teachers' frustrations towards their own abilities to teach in an inclusive classroom. While professional development workshops are found to positively impact teachers' abilities to teach student with specific learning disorders, they are not always offered. [25]
In addition to frustration, teachers' feelings of fear are linked to not knowing "how best to incorporate students with disabilities into the regular education environment", [25] which serves as a barrier in preventing "full inclusion". [25]
It was found teachers who were less inclined to include special needs students in their classrooms also expressed greater concern for students' educational success. This paradox leads teachers "to be less proactive in effectively supporting them". [29]
It has also been suggested that positive teacher attitudes are dependent upon the classroom teachers' beliefs about implementing inclusive educational policy and practice into the classroom. [29] Since the mere acceptance of inclusion is likely to affect the teachers' commitment to its implementation, teachers' beliefs and attitudes are critical to ensure success. [25]
Other factors that influence positive teacher attitudes toward inclusion are pre-service training (i.e., educational or general education courses). [30] It has been suggested that "pre-service training may be the optimum time to address educators' concerns and change any negative attitudes about inclusive education". [30] When teachers expand their knowledge on special education and the needs of students with special disabilities, they shape their perspectives and confidence in teaching an inclusive classroom. [30]
Negative attitudes towards inclusive practices are "attributed to a lack of understanding and a fear of what is unknown". [25]
Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a piece of American legislation that ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. IDEA was previously known as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) from 1975 to 1990. In 1990, the United States Congress reauthorized EHA and changed the title to IDEA. Overall, the goal of IDEA is to provide children with disabilities the same opportunity for education as those students who do not have a disability.
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document under United States law that is developed for each public school child in the U.S. who needs special education. It is created through a team of the child's parent(s), the student and district personnel who are knowledgeable about the child's needs. IEPs must be reviewed every year to keep track of the child's educational progress.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning theory, including cognitive neuroscience, that guides the development of flexible learning environments and learning spaces that can accommodate individual learning differences.
Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the practice of placing students with special education needs in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills. This means students who are a part of the special education classroom will join the regular education classroom at certain times which are fitting for the special education student. These students may attend art or physical education in the regular education classrooms. Sometimes these students will attend math and science in a separate classroom, but attend English in a general education classroom. Schools that practice mainstreaming believe that students with special needs who cannot function in a general education classroom to a certain extent belong in the special education environment.
Inclusion in education refers to including all students to equal access to equal opportunities of education and learning, and is distinct from educational equality or educational equity. It arose in the context of special education with an individualized education program or 504 plan, and is built on the notion that it is more effective for students with special needs to have the said mixed experience for them to be more successful in social interactions leading to further success in life. The philosophy behind the implementation of the inclusion model does not prioritize, but still provides for the utilization of special classrooms and special schools for the education of students with disabilities. Inclusive education models are brought into force by educational administrators with the intention of moving away from seclusion models of special education to the fullest extent practical, the idea being that it is to the social benefit of general education students and special education students alike, with the more able students serving as peer models and those less able serving as motivation for general education students to learn empathy.
Special education in the United States enables students with exceptional learning needs to access resources through special education programs. These programs did not always exist. "The idea of excluding students with any disability from public school education can be traced back to 1893, when the Massachusetts Supreme Court expelled a student merely due to poor academic ability". This exclusion would be the basis of education for all individuals with special needs for years to come. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education sparked the belief that the right to a public education applies to all individuals regardless of race, gender, or disability. Finally, special education programs in the United States were made mandatory in 1975 when the United States Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) "(sometimes referred to using the acronyms EAHCA or EHA, or Public Law 94-142) was enacted by the United States Congress in 1975, in response to discriminatory treatment by public educational agencies against students with disabilities." The EAHCA was later modified to strengthen protections to students with disabilities and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). IDEA requires states to provide special education and related services consistent with federal standards as a condition of receiving federal funds.
In the United States, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a special education law that mandates regulation for students with disabilities to protect their rights as students and the rights of their parents. The IDEA requires that all students receive a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), and that these students should be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). To determine what an appropriate setting is for a student, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team will review the student's strengths, weaknesses, and needs, and consider the educational benefits from placement in any particular educational setting. By law the team is required to include the student's parent or guardian, a general education teacher, a special education teacher, a representative of the local education agency, someone to interpret evaluation results and, if appropriate, the student. It is the IEP team's responsibility to determine what environment is the LRE for any given student with disabilities, which varies between every student. The goal of an IEP is to create the LRE for that student to learn in. For some students, mainstream inclusion in a standard classroom may be an appropriate setting whereas other students may need to be in a special education classroom full time, but many students fall somewhere within this spectrum. Students may also require supplementary aids and services to achieve educational goals while being placed in a classroom with students without disabilities, these resources are provided as needed. The LRE for a student is less of a physical location, and more of a concept to ensure that the student is receiving the services that they need to be successful.
Adapted physical education is the art and science of developing, implementing, and monitoring a carefully designed physical education. Instructional program for a learner with a disability, based on a comprehensive assessment, to give the learner the skills necessary for a lifetime of rich leisure, recreation, and sport experiences to enhance physical fitness and wellness. Principles and Methods of Adapted Physical Education and Recreation. Adapted physical education generally refers to school-based programs for students ages 3–21yrs.
In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in both the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International Classification of Diseases 9th edition. Special needs can range from people with autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, blindness, deafness, ADHD, and cystic fibrosis. They can also include cleft lips and missing limbs. The types of special needs vary in severity, and a student with a special need is classified as being a severe case when the student's IQ is between 20 and 35. These students typically need assistance in school, and have different services provided for them to succeed in a different setting.
Education in Tanzania is provided by both the public and private sectors, starting with pre-primary education, followed by primary, secondary ordinary, secondary advanced, and ideally, university level education. Free and accessible education is a human right in Tanzania. The Tanzanian government began to emphasize the importance of education shortly after its independence in 1961. Curriculum is standardized by level, and it is the basis for the national examinations. Achievement levels are important, yet there are various causes of children not receiving the education that they need, including the need to help families with work, poor accessibility, and a variety of learning disabilities. While there is a lack of resources for special needs education, Tanzania has committed to inclusive education and attention on disadvantaged learners, as pointed out in the 2006 Education Sector Review AIDE-MEMORE. The government's National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty in 2005 heavily emphasized on education and literacy.
English-language learner is a term used in some English-speaking countries such as the United States and Canada to describe a person who is learning the English language and has a native language that is not English. Some educational advocates, especially in the United States, classify these students as non-native English speakers or emergent bilinguals. Various other terms are also used to refer to students who are not proficient in English, such as English as a second language (ESL), English as an additional language (EAL), limited English proficient (LEP), culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), non-native English speaker, bilingual students, heritage language, emergent bilingual, and language-minority students. The legal term that is used in federal legislation is 'limited English proficient'.
In the United States education system, School Psychological Examiners assess the needs of students in schools for special education services or other interventions. The post requires a relevant postgraduate qualification and specialist training. This role is distinct within school psychology from that of the psychiatrist, clinical psychologist and psychometrist.
The term twice exceptional, often abbreviated as 2e, entered educators' lexicons in the mid-1990s and refers to gifted students who have some form of learning or developmental disability. These students are considered exceptional both because of their giftedness and because they are disabled or neurodivergent. Ronksley-Pavia (2015) presents a conceptual model of the co-occurrence of disability and giftedness.
A resource room is a type of support for students with disabilities in need of special education that allows them to be leave their general education classroom placement and go to another location for targeted instructional support. It is one of many support options for special education students around the world to help meet their needs and serves as a transition stage between a self-contained classroom and a general education classroom for special education students. In the resource room, students work with a special education teacher or aide in either a small group or individual instruction.
The Vanguard School is an approved private school in Malvern, Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States, approximately twenty-two miles northwest of Philadelphia on the campus of Valley Forge Educational Services.
Approximately 180-220 million young people live with disabilities globally, with 80% living in the developing world, therefore lacking access to education, healthcare and employment [1]. Disability includes physical, mental or mental illness. Many young people live a healthy and stable life, although people with disabilities may have more obstacles than those without because of their possible limitations, created by physical weakness and social incapacity..
Social justice educational leadership emphasizes the belief that all students can and will reach proficiency, without exceptions or excuses, and that schools ought to be organized to advance the equitable learning of all students. Rather than focusing on one group of students who traditionally struggle, or who traditionally succeed, social justice leaders address the learning needs of all students. Social justice educational leadership specifically addresses how differences in race, income, language, ability, gender, and sexual orientation influence the design and effectiveness of learning environments. Social justice leadership draws from inclusive education practices from disability education, but extends the concepts further to support students from diverse groups with a wide range of needs. Through restructuring staff allocation and assessing student progress through disaggregated data, school leaders strive to create schools with equal access and equitable support for all students.
Disability studies in education (DSE) is a field of academic study concerned with education research and practice related to disability. DSE scholars promote an understanding of disability from a social model of disability perspective to "challenge social, medical, and psychological models of disability as they relate to education". A DSE perspective situates disability within social and political context and is concerned with the civil and human rights of students with disabilities, including issues of equity, access, and inclusion in educational settings, curricula, and activities.
Educational management refers to the administration of the education system in which a group combines human and material resources to supervise, plan, strategise, and implement structures to execute an education system. Education is the equipping of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, habits, and attitudes with learning experiences. The education system is an ecosystem of professionals in educational institutions, such as government ministries, unions, statutory boards, agencies, and schools. The education system consists of political heads, principals, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, administrative personnel and other educational professionals working together to enrich and enhance. At all levels of the educational ecosystem, management is required; management involves the planning, organising, implementation, review, evaluation, and integration of an institution. Research in educational management should explore the dynamic interplay among educational leaders, their followers, and the broader community to enhance the quality of teaching and learning outcomes.
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