EFFECTIVE INCLUSION IN THE MAINSTREAM SETTING

Collaborative Efforts between Special and Regular Education Teachers to Enhance Effective Inclusion in the Mainstream Setting



Abstract

Inclusion is a movement that seeks to create schools and other social institutions based on meeting the needs of all learners as well as respecting and learning from each other's differences. Inclusionary schools seek to establish communities of learners by educating all students together in age-appropriate, general education classrooms in their neighborhood schools. Although the inclusion movement has focused on individuals with disabilities, it is designed to alter the philosophy for educating all students (Ferguson, 1996). Although the concept of educating students with disabilities in general education classrooms is not new, its impact on students and educators continues to be examined and debated. This article examines these issues by reviewing the literature with respect to inclusion programs and their impact on students with and without disabilities and on general education (GE) and special education (SE) teachers. Although inclusion also significantly affects families of students with and without disabilities, which would make an interesting parallel to the other issues discussed, we decided not to address inclusion's impact on families because it was beyond the scope of this article.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Chapter One: Introduction4

Introduction4

Statement of the Problem6

Background and Context for the Problem6

Research Questions/Hypotheses7

Importance or Significance of the Study8

Limitations9

Nature of Study10

Organization Of The Study11

Chapter Two: Literature Review11

Strategies for Advocacy and Compliance14

NCLB and Accountability19

School Improvement, Corrective Action, and Restructuring20

Chapter Three: Methodology39

Data Collection40

Data Analysis40

Participants41

Instruments44

Data Collection Procedures46

Data Analysis Procedures47

Chapter Four: Results, Findings and Discussion50

Results50

Survey: Part II50

The Semi-structured Interview: Perceptions of Co-Teaching54

Discussion56

Implications63

Chapter Five: Conclusion67

References78

Chapter One: Introduction

Introduction

The popularity of the inclusion pattern has been growing since the early 1990s. Inclusion, as it is really defined, mentions to the instruction of all scholars, with and without disabilities, in the general education school room, except substantial evidence is provided to brandish that such a position would not be in the student's best interests (Learning Disabilities Association [LDA], U.S. Department of Education, 2000). In conjunction with this inclination, there has been an increase in the use of collaborative teaching as a pattern of instruction.

Although examiners (Burrello, Lashley, & Beatty, 2001)) have examined the attitudes of general and special educators with esteem to adaptations and interventions used in teaching scholars in heterogeneous school rooms, very twosome of have investigated these teachers' perceptions of collaboration and the concurrent penalties of collaboration on scholar learning. Because effective teaching is a vital constituent of the educational procedure for both scholars without and particularly, with disabilities, it is incumbent upon collaborative teachers to provide quality instruction for all scholars in their classrooms. To double-check that this objective is achieved, these assemblies of teachers should be optimally organised for collaboration. The essential constituents needed to equip collaborative teachers to accomplish this imposing task may be best determined by asking the teachers themselves. This study, an examination of the perceptions of collaborative teachers, provided large information in this endeavor.

Current study points to three types of inclusive teaching: (a) the advisor pattern, in which the special educator assists ...