Building Inclusive Classrooms for Special Education Students
Inclusive practices increase academic achievement for special education students
Inclusive practices benefit not just special education students, but also the broader school community by increasing academic achievement and fostering a supportive classroom environment. Teachers, both in general and special education, improve through collaborating and exchanging information about instructional activities and teaching strategies. General education students develop an appreciation for the unique abilities of all their peers, irrespective of formal disability labels. In other words, inclusive practices create an environment where all students can feel a part of the classroom community, regardless of disability.
This research addresses the implementation of inclusive practices in general education classrooms. The report outlines how assistive technology and co-teaching models at contact districts increase inclusion and academic achievement for special education students. In addition, this research provides strategies for gaining faculty support for inclusive practices.
The Individual Education Program (IEP) process
Traditionally, special education operated independently due to complex legal requirements, processes, and paperwork that confused general education teachers. However, research highlights the importance of encouraging collaboration across general and special education through inclusionary practices. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) legally requires special education students receive instruction with general education students unless the nature or severity of their disability requires individual instruction outside a traditional classroom setting.
The IEP process determines the appropriate support services to maximize inclusion for students. As part of this process, general education teachers must know how to advocate for the support they require to serve students of all abilities in their classrooms. However, contacts at District B, District C, and District E note that general education teachers do not feel empowered to participate actively in the IEP process due to the unfamiliar legal complexities of the IEP framework.
Implementing inclusive support services
Assistive technology provides a low-cost and minimally disruptive opportunity for districts to increase inclusion in the classroom for special education students. Administrators at District A and District E leverage their districts’ one-to-one technology programs to equip special education students with technological tools, such as text-to-speech readers, that provide in-classroom adaptations for their unique learning needs.
Administrators at District D note that there is an expectation in the district that all students with an IEP in general education classrooms receive a one-to-one instructional aide. This district has 47 one-to-one aides to serve approximately 520 students with IEPs. Contacts report that students receive all of their instruction from their aides, rather than learning from the general education teacher. Contacts are implementing an online training program for instructional aides to certify them as Registered Behavioral Technicians (RBTs), with the goal of replacing one-to-one aides with RBTs to serve multiple students in the general classroom.
Gaining faculty support for inclusive practices
Administrators at all profiled districts emphasize including general education teachers when developing service models for special education students. This ensures that inclusionary support services exist within the parameters of the general education classroom. District B, District C, and District E all provide various degrees of training for general education teachers on the IEP process.
District B currently offers online module trainings via Canvas for their general education teachers, however, contacts believe that this training needs to be more robust. Administrators clarify that, ideally, this professional development would take place on-site, with a facilitator leading formal content training on the role of the IEP, data collection, and characteristics of different disability groups.
Sample IEP planning guide for general education teachers from District A
30 days out
- Send home Notice of Meeting and Parent Rights
- Request feedback from general education teachers
- Secure required attendance at IEP meeting from district administrators and the general education teacher
21 days out
- Read last two IEPs or evaluations
- Gather progress data through assessments, teacher comments, and student interviews
14 days out
- Draft and write the IEP, send home for parental review
3 days out
- Get parental feedback on the draft and incorporate if possible
- Alert administrators to any potential problems
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