Courtney Skemp Methods II Inclusion Article Review Dr.

Willis March 19, 2012

The right to a fair and equal education for all is the basic idea behind inclusion. Proponents of inclusion say that separating students with special educational needs from the general population is actually doing these students more harm than good. Opponents of inclusion argue that including these students actually does not only a disservice to them, but to the students in the general education population because the teacher in the classroom is strained by teaching to so many different ability levels. It is also argued that the students in need of special education are often left in the dust as they are often promoted to the next grade level but are not meeting the educational goals set forth in a standards aligned system. For this article review, this author read two articles, the first examining both the pros and cons of inclusion (Tompkins and Deloney, 1995) and the second article examines a 1998 study involving the full-time inclusion of learning disabled (LD) students in grades 3-6 into the general education classroom (Vaughn et al.,1998). The first article, Inclusion: The Pros and Cons, discusses a definition of inclusion, the historical background of inclusion, the underlying assumptions of greater and lesser inclusion, arguments for inclusion and against inclusion. In the argument for inclusion, the weaknesses of special education are highlighted as well as the issue of labeling effects on students. In the argument against inclusion, the authors noted that teachers who instruct in general education

classrooms with included students are often left with little resources and training and the students who required more special attention are just not getting it. Also noted in the article was that by including LD students in the classroom, much of the instructors attention will be constantly focused on those students and mandates for greater academic achievement and success will be impossible to meet (Tompkins and Deloney, 1995). This article brings to light a lot of important arguments for and against inclusion, as well as ways for educators to handle inclusion in their schools. I found it very interesting that when this article was written 17 years ago, the same exact issues that are debated over today were still the focus of attention back then. Based on the information presented by Thompkins and Deloney and the state of affairs in todays educational system, not much has been resolved and there is still no clear-cut answer as to whether inclusion is a good or a bad thing. In the second article, Social Outcomes for Students With and Without Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Classroom, investigated the social functioning of elementary students who represent three achievement groups: LD, low to average achievers, and high achievers. The study examined students social functioning in two different educational settings: co-teaching and consultation/collaboration teaching. (Vaughn et al., 1998) Success was met in the consultation/collaboration teaching setting more so than the co-teaching for all of the students involved in the study, both socially and academically. In this setting, as noted by observers of the researchers who completed this study, there was a general classroom climate of both high acceptance and high expectations for all of the students. Vaughn et al. suggests that future research should be conducted based on the coupling of high acceptance and high expectations and the extent to which a supportive teacher/student environment promotes student success.

Based on this information, having a caring, involved, and fair teacher in place in a classroom coupled with a cooperative attitude between students seems to make a drastic difference in student success in any classroom. The above information begs to ask the question: Is the real issue here inclusion or does it have more to do with the attitudes of teachers and students? If a positive environment is present, regardless of the composition of the class, success seems inevitable. So perhaps the focus here should be on properly training educators from the beginning on how to create a welcoming and cooperative environment with high expectations where all students can work together and flourish, regardless of ability levels. This idea, also known as the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), is a newer concept in education, where teacher instruction is designed to meet many ability levels simultaneously. Inclusion is an important concern facing educators, students, and parents alike because all students are entitled to a rich and challenging curriculum. Based on recent legislation, inclusion of LD students in the general education classrooms is an inevitable part of the foreseeable future. Because of this legislation, new and current teachers must adapt their classroom environments to accommodate all students while still maintaining a high level of academic expectations so creating a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is the best way to adapt to these current changes in education without sacrificing the individuals needs of each student.

References Cited Tompkins, R. & Deloney, P., (1995). Inclusion: the pros and cons. Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, 4(1), 1-19. Vaughn, S., Elbaum, B., Schumm, J., & Hughes, M. (1998). Social outcomes for students with and without learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms. Journal Of Learning Disabilities, 31(5), 428-436.