Inclusion of Special Education Students

Inclusion in the Classroom

One of the largest controversies faced by schools today is the mandated implementation of inclusion of students with special needs into general education classrooms. Many administrators, teachers, and parents question the possible academic effects of students with special needs being placed into general education classrooms and being held accountable for the material taught. _______ Rather than segregating students based on their differences, inclusion recognizes that all students are learners who benefit from a meaningful, challenging, and appropriate curriculum delivered within the general education classroom, as well as from differentiated instruction techniques that address each students’ unique strengths and challenges. Inclusion seeks to provide all students with fairness rather than sameness by establishing supportive, and nurturing communities that are based on giving all students the services and accommodations they need to succeed, as well as respecting and learning from each other’s individual differences (CITE TEXT). While inclusion has focused on individuals with disabilities, it is designed to the educational system so that it is more able to accommodate and respond to the diverse strengths, challenges, and experiences of all students.

Inclusion programs also provide all students with access to a challenging, engaging, and flexible curriculum that helps them be successful in society. To achieve this, educators establish individualized expectations for all students that are based on the general education curriculum, and offer differentiated teaching practices to accommodate students’ individual differences and to help all students succeed.

Inclusion of special education students into general classrooms is absolutely essential in today’s society as it is beneficial for both students with and without disabilities.

III. Two federal laws govern the education