Inclusion (education) - Necessary Resources

Necessary Resources

Although once hailed as a way to increase achievement while decreasing costs, full inclusion does not save money, reduce students' needs, or improve academic outcomes; in most cases, it merely moves the special education professionals out of their own classrooms and into a corner of the general classroom. To avoid harm to the academic education of students with disabilities, a full panoply of services and resources is required, including:

• Adequate supports and services for the student
• Well-designed individualized education programs
• Professional development for all teachers involved, general and special educators alike
• Time for teachers to plan, meet, create, and evaluate the students together
• Reduced class size based on the severity of the student needs
• Professional skill development in the areas of cooperative learning, peer tutoring, adaptive curriculum
• Collaboration between parents, teachers and administrators
• Sufficient funding so that schools will be able to develop programs for students based on student need instead of the availability of funding.

In principle, several factors can determine the success of inclusive classrooms:

• Family-school partnerships
• Collaboration between general and special educators
• Well-constructed plans that identify specific accommodations, modifications, and goals for each student
• Coordinated planning and communication between "general" and "special needs" staff
• Integrated service delivery
• Ongoing training and staff development