Theories of Learning

Bruce P. Smallacombe

University of New England

For several years now, schools across the country have been preparing for
2012. This is the year, according to “no child left behind”, that schools must have a
100% pass rate to meet annual yearly progress. As an educator, this is a task worth
reaching, yet will be extremely difficult to do. One way in which our school is
attempting to meet our yearly goals is to focus on heterogeneous instruction,
otherwise known as integrated classrooms, or simply, inclusion.

How is blending students of different ability levels of benefit to the students

themselves? Some researchers and educators say it is a bad idea. Prior to 1987,
most school systems believed that students should be educated based on grouping
students according to their ability levels. This allows the teachers to only need to
instruct using one style that will fit all students in a particular class. It makes
preparation much easier, whether its lesson planning, homework assignment ideas,
or test design.

However, in 1987, Robert Slavin coordinated the findings of fourteen studies

on this issue and found that “the achievement effects of ability grouped class
assignments are essentially zero” (Peerless). There is some evidence that the top
students academically do well when grouped together, students that are in the
middle to lower levels tend to do worse when placed in homogeneous groups.
Homogeneous groups do not allow for peer modeling, and in the lowest levels
where there are more disruptions, there can be an increased amount of discipline
problems due to the lack of academically gifted role models.

What does the law say about inclusion? Well, according to Public Law 94-
142, schools must provide students with disabilities a chance at placement in a
“normal” classroom environment before putting them into a special needs
classroom (Lain, 2006). It really is ultimately the decision of the parents if their
child is placed into the “normal” classroom.

The most important issue of inclusion is the needs of and the benefits to the
student. Usually, there is the element of co-teaching involved with inclusion
classrooms. The regular education teacher works alongside of a special education
teacher to design and implement lessons that will work for the regular ed. and
special ed. student. Students in the classroom have differentiated instruction. This
means that students will learn at their level. Some students will have more
academic responsibilities than others depending on unique needs. This helps with
socialization and ensuring higher standards (King, 2008).

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 (Education World, 2004).

Some who support inclusion, do not always support full inclusion. 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” (Shanker, 1996).

All students are full members of the school district and they deserve every
right to be educated equally regardless of their ability or disability. It is up to us as
teachers to be ready for this challenge. We have to work together as regular
education teachers and as special education teachers to help reach the goals set
forth by “no child left behind”.

References

Peerless, S. (no date). Abstract on addressing heterogeneous student populations.

Jewish Educational

Leadership, Retrieved from

http://www.lookstein.org/heterogeneous/hetero_intro.htm

Lain, (2006, October 4). Inclusion in the classroom: the teaching methods. Associated
Content Society, Retrieved

from
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/66531/inclusion_in_the_classroom_the_teac
hing. html?cat=4

King, E.N. (2008, November 8). The benefits of an inclusion classroom. School
Psychologist Blog Files,

Retrieved from http://schoolpsychologistfiles.blogspot.com/2008/11/benefits-

of-inclusion- classroom.html

Education World (2004, February 12). Inclusion: has it gone too far? Education World,
Retrieved from

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr034.shtml
Shanker, A (1996, August 25). Where we stand. New York Times, Retrieved from

http://source.nysut.org/weblink7/DocView.aspx?id=939