Running Head: THE INCLUSION CLASSROOM

The Inclusion Classroom

Pamela Saxon King
University of St. Thomas

THE INCLUSION CLASSROOM

1975 saw life-changing events in many aspects of our lives. In United States politics,
Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell & Mardian, were convicted of Watergate crimes and U.S.
citizens began evacuating from Vietnam, ending involvement in the war. And on Nov 20th
Ronald Reagan announces candidacy for Republican nomination for US President. In world
politics, Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of the British Conservative
Party. In the technology world, Microsoft is founded as a partnership between Bill Gates and
Paul Allen. On television,Wheel of Fortune debuted on NBC. On the education front,
Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which guaranteed the employment and
educational rights of people with disabilities. Then with the passage of the Individuals With
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, every school district was mandated to provide a free
education to all students, including students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment
(LRE), which meant the general education classroom. With IDEA, the concept of inclusion was
born.
So what is inclusion? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines inclusion as the act or
practice of including students with disabilities in regular school classes. What this means is
that, if someone were to observe a general education classroom, they would witness students
with physical and/or developmental disabilities being educated alongside their non-disabled
peers. It has really only been since 2004 that inclusion, by this definition, has taken place.
While there is a great deal of research on its effectiveness, there is not enough long term
research to adequately show the outcomes. This paper will discuss the positive outcomes from
inclusion, the negative outcomes from inclusion, and three inclusive classroom models.
When inclusion is done properly and with the correct supports in place, disabled and
non-disabled students benefit. Some of the benefits for students with disabilities are an
increased achievement of IEP goals, higher expectations being placed upon the student, and a
greater access to the general education curriculum. Parents also become more involved in
their childs school and community. By being in a general education setting, students become

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engaged in activities they might not otherwise have an opportunity to be a part of. For
example, performances and field trips are more readily accessible and in turn, parents have
the opportunity to participate as well through volunteering and chaperoning. In this way,
families of students with special needs do not feel so isolated, they also feel included. Perhaps
the biggest benefit, is the peer role modeling of academic, social and behavior skills. When a
student with a disability is able to see non-disabled peers functioning in the lunchroom, at P.E.,
during Science, and working in small groups, they gain a more realistic perspective of how to
behave themselves. Instead of seeing non-preferred behavior all day, they see preferred
behavior.
For the students without disabilities, they are able to better grasp concepts since
teachers will break down information into smaller pieces for their disabled peers. Most
importantly, these students learn tolerance and acceptance. Before, students with disabilities
were locked away in another room or at another school and perceived as odd and retarded.
But through inclusion, students see that they are no different than anyone else. That they
arent stupid, they arent odd, and they can achieve like everyone else.
General Education teachers and Special Education teachers both have concerns about
full inclusion. At this time, general education teachers are nowhere near properly trained to
teach their students with disabilities. They rely on special education teachers to take care of
the majority of the responsibility. As a result, much time is spent simply trying to manage. In this
way, disabled and non-disabled students suffer. Special education teachers worry that services
for their students actually become diluted, because they are no longer receiving instruction
from people trained to teach them, but from someone merely trying to manage. This is
definitely a disadvantage of inclusion. Parents of these students are also concerned about the
exact same thing. After fighting so long and hard to attain the correct and appropriate services
and instruction for their children, inclusion can be seen as a step backward for all the reasons
stated above. The pace and degree of difficulty of material and concepts is much greater than

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when IDEA was passed in 1975. Special education students need greater repetition for
understanding and classroom teachers simply do not have the time to do this. With a push to
include all students all the time, a disservice might actually be being done to these children. In
an effort to provide the LRE, a system has been put in place to prove that it isnt working, and
students can spend years not learning and not getting what they need.
Wesley Sharpe, Ed.D, in his article for Special Education World, Special Education
Inclusion: Making It Work (Part 2) (2016), he provides three classroom models for successful
inclusion practices. The first of these is the consultant model. This model is best suited for
schools with a low incidence of special-needs children and a small overall enrollment. The
special education teacher is available to teach special education students challenging skills
and concepts and provides special-needs children with two teachers to help with grade level
content. The next model is teaming. It promotes cooperative planning and teaching. A special
education teacher is assigned to a grade level team, and general and special education
teachers work together to present the same material to all students in the classroom. The
special education teacher provides student information, possible instructional strategies, and
modification ideas for assignments and tests, as well as behavior strategies. His third model is
collaborative co-teaching. Both teachers, special education and general education, share the
responsibility of teaching in this model. The class might be split into groups or one teacher
might lead an additional activity while the other works with a small group on a specific goal or
objective. In this model, students receive the support and modified instruction they need.
In this paper, the benefits of inclusion, the negatives of inclusion, and three different
models for an inclusive classroom have been discussed. The idea of inclusion is still relatively
new and schools are trying to find the perfect formula for making it work. While more research
needs to be done, educators believe that providing students with the LRE benefits all students
and their families. While there are definitely obstacles to overcome and downsides to the

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practice, there are many benefits. Perhaps in the not so distant future, we will find the perfect
formula.

Works Cited
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2004. Print.
"Special Education Inclusion: (Part 2)." Education World:. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.