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 Multi-Genre Blog 7

Inclusion of Students with Disabilities into General Education Classrooms- A discussion with the Authors

 

Host: Good afternoon, I am talking to the authors of an article on student inclusion in classrooms. It is called “Organizing for Meaningful Inclusion: Exploring the Routines That Shape Student Supports in Secondary Schools”. The authors are Laura Stelitano, Jennifer Lin Russell, and Laura E. Bray.

It looks like you spent lots of time doing research. I mean, dozens of interviews, following the students with disabilities (SWD) inclusion programs at a couple of high schools. Sounds like exhausting work. And the teachers all seemed overworked already. Did they really have time in their day to talk with you guys?

Russell: Well, they were not always available. We had to piece together a lot of the information, and make some assumptions based on an analysis of the feedback. We took snippets from individual conversations to make some determinations. For example, if a veteran teacher showed ignorance about a policy or part of the curriculum, we took it to mean it was not as widespread as the school made it out to be.

Hosts: Sounds like from your article the teachers were spread pretty thin, and really only were able to do so much for the students. This inclusion movement, how effective is it really? Sounds a bit like a way to avoid lawsuits from the parents of SWD. And the school systems buy into it?

Stelitano: A lot of the inclusion activities are regulated by the state. The directive is to include all students as much as possible in the regular curriculum. These children are legally entitled to these services.

Host: But do they really get them? Sounds like many schools, such as the ones you researched, had challenges. Is this really the best way to go about providing inclusive services? Wouldn’t some of the SWD’s be better off in a separate classroom?

Bray: Well, much of the research shows that for the most part, all students are better off in general education classrooms. That is the only environment where the full breadth of material is presented. Now obviously that is challenging for the most disabled students, especially behavior or cognitive. Some of them would need assistance from special education teachers.

Host: And it sounds like there are not enough to go around. The schools in your study have just a handful of special education, and dozens, if not hundreds of SWD students.

Stelitano: Remember that the majority of them have small modifications. For example, the 504 kids may only need the opportunity to have more time on assignments or have the opportunity to take short breaks during class if they have focus issues. They need little from the special educators and can normally be managed by the classroom teachers.

Host: But then you have those who require school resources almost all the time.

Russell: For those students, the school really needs to group them together so a number of students can be managed concurrently. You are right that they cannot dedicate a special education resource to a single student. It is a work in progress, and it takes some time every year for the school to strike a balance.

Host: For students who have severe cognitive deficiencies, does it make sense to have then in regular classes?

Stelitano: If it is clear the student is not getting anything out of being in the class, then they may be moved into the special education classroom. But most students do benefit to some degree, even if they do not spend their full school day in regular classes. Some of the kids have split schedules.

Host: I see how it can be a juggling act. Seems like it really takes some commitment from the special education teachers to not just lump together all the challenging SWD into the same classroom or keep them in the resource room all day.

Bray: The ones we spoke with are committed. But they also feel overloaded. There are only so many hours in the day.

Host: The results of your research is surprising. The schools you studied we chosen because they were highly regarded as making adequate yearly progress in supporting SWD in regular education classes. Yet your results point to little support for in-class learning, which ultimately seems to be the goal of inclusion.

Russell: True that our conclusions pointed to more effort in test taking and moving them towards potentially graduating. Their IAP’s make it difficult for the schools to fail them, so as long as their families are supportive, they can be moved through the system.

Host: sounds a lot like the standardized testing complaint that teachers are forced to teach to the test, in order to satisfy state level requirements. Are you really improving learning, or just checking a box? Sounds like, if these schools play the game, they can also set the rules- for example, what constitutes passing, what constitutes enough effort to satisfy the requirements, and where should the bar be for these students in terms of what a high school diploma actually means?

Stelitano: It is true that the system has some flexibility, and the measured improvements are not fully indicative of what is really going on. Many schools are not really improving support for general level content, but if we can get kids into those classrooms, some learning will occur for most students.

Host: Yes, but at what cost- in potential classroom disruption, teacher attention, and the fast paced, constant flow of information that students must retain?

Bray: All good points. Ultimately, schools need to determine where to allocate their resources. Parents may expect, when they hear about inclusive efforts by schools, that this is a magic bullet for their kid. But at the end of the day, these are public schools with limited resources and budgets, and there is only so much they can do. Again, it is measurable improvement. Adapt certain ideas and see what helps. Disregard the rest. But the effort must be made.

Host: Thanks for the information. I still have some doubts about the efficacy of the program, but you have allowed me to understand why it must be implemented. Every student at least deserves a chance.