Inclusion in Special Education



Inclusion in Special Education

Introduction

Nearly every professional in the field of education is familiar with the term inclusion, and most of them have a definite opinion about its merit. For over 2 decades, inclusion has been defined, discussed, dissected, and debated. It has been praised as forward thinking and vilified as irresponsible. Acrey Johnstone and Milligan (2005) mention now in the current era of school reform, attention is focused as never before on this often-mentioned, frequently misunderstood belief. Thus, it is important to clarify the meaning of inclusion; examine the development of inclusion in American public schools; clarify the role of inclusion in contemporary education; and reflect on the risks, opportunities, and issues associated with it (Acrey Johnstone and Milligan, 2005).

Teaching Effectiveness In Special Education

The term inclusion does not appear at all in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004, current federal special education law, nor has it ever appeared there. Instead, inclusion is an interpretation of several components of that legislation. These components include the requirement that students determined to be eligible for special education receive specialized instruction and related services (Acrey Johnstone and Milligan, 2005). At the same time, IDEA mandates that these students be educated in the least restrictive environment (LRE) through the provision of appropriate supplementary aids and services (S AS), that is, supports that help them to be successful. The law further presumes that the LRE for most students is a general education setting and requires that any decision to remove a student from general education be strongly justified. This set of legislative requirements has led to inclusion being conceptualized in two distinct and different ways: (a) as the location of students in general education and (b) as a belief system (Friend, 2008).

Inclusion as a Location

Many educators and many school professionals define it directly or indirectly as the location in which students with disabilities are educated. That is, they note that inclusion is the practice of placing students with disabilities in general education classes (Friend, 2008). Individuals who use this definition also sometimes talk about full inclusion and use this term to refer to keeping students with disabilities in general education settings all day, with no services offered in a separate location such as a resource room or special education classroom. Recently, this definition of inclusion has been expanded to also encompass the practice of placing students with other special needs, including those who are English language learners, in general education classrooms.

The dilemma with this definition of inclusion is that it presumes that the mere act of changing the location in which students with disabilities or other special needs are educated somehow makes them true members of their classroom learning communities. Many situations exist to demonstrate that this is not the case (Friend & Cook, 2007). For example, in an elementary school priding itself on being inclusive the students in Ms. Robinson's third-grade class are participating in language arts instruction. Ms. Jenkins, the special education teacher, is also in the ...