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A winning combination: collaboration in inclusion.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997) mandates that students with disabilities be educated with their non-disabled peers in the least restrictive environment. However, teachers often lack the practical information needed to implement programs of inclusion. This article is designed to provide a map for general and special education teachers who are teaching collaboratively or plan to co-teach. The content of this article is based on responses to the frequently asked questions of pre-service special education teachers in our certification courses.

Background

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the general education classroom must be considered by the Individual Education Plan (IEP) team as the first option for services for a student with exceptional learning needs. If a student cannot be educated in a general education placement, an explanation must be provided explaining why s/he cannot be educated in that setting, even with the addition of supplementary aids and services. Every student with a disability, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability is, therefore, a candidate for inclusion first. While not all students are eligible, many more have the right to be included than actually are. Students with mental retardation, autism, and behavior disorders can and, often, should be included as well as those with milder forms of learning disabilities.

Expectations for Students

If the IEP team decides that a student's individual needs can be met in general education classes, then that student is required to meet the core curriculum content standards for the general education program. This does not mean that s/he has to learn everything that typical students are learning. It does mean that s/he must learn a sufficient amount of the curriculum to be knowledgeable in the subject matter. Modifications to instructional methods or materials or strategies and techniques that allow the student to compensate for his or her deficit areas are often necessary to insure mastery of the material. The student with exceptional needs has an individualized program, an IEP, that identifies modifications and accommodations necessary to enable him or her to meet the demands of the class.

Students who are included primarily for reasons of social integration and social skills improvement are taught an alternate curriculum, work toward their IEP goals, and are tested for proficiency with alternate assessments such as portfolio assessment, which can include video taped performances and observational assessments. When social integration is the goal, proficiency is usually related to functional and communication skills. For example, a student with autism might be expected to greet peers with a scripted phrase or a student with severe mental retardation might be expected to work quietly on hands on activities during times when the others are doing seatwork. Proficiency...

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