I am writing a paper on Inclusion in the school system. Where can I get specifics about this topic?

Question

Our district is ready to implement this in August. We are including 6 special Ed. students into a regular preschool to give them a headstart on what is needed for Kinder. In this paper I need to state what it is? Why is it important? Methodology and anticipated obstacles. How it looks in the classroom? How it is incorporated? What is the application and the benefits? How can I get the parents involved?

Answer 1

I can't believe your district is just about to implement this... in Calif. where I work in a preschool designed to meet the needs of each individual child, we have a ratio of about 60% to 40%: special needs to "typically developing" children. I believe that having typically developing peers included in a classroom with children with special needs is critical. Both of my daughters attended the same preschool that I teach at, and at first, I had some concerns about them being with children of differing abilities. After watching my children and the children with special needs interacting, my perspective changed completely. The children don't base their relationships on the differences they notice... they base it on the similarities. One of my oldest daughter's best friends was a child with Down Syndrome, and now my youngest daughter has a buddy in her class with special needs. From my perspective, the children learn so much from one another. The "typical" child learns empathy, compassion, and an appreciation of differences that would be difficult to teach without the interaction of children with special needs. The special needs child can learn many skills from a typically developing child, such as communication and interaction skills. My daughter's friend learned to say her first word because of their friendship. Having a "typically developing child" to model after is a critical part of developing a child with special needs' skills.
For your paper... research IDEA (Public Law 94:142- 1975) just do a search on the internet for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This gives all the federal laws for including children with special needs. Some good books are: Exceptional Children and Youth by Nancy Hunt (a text book), The Inclusive Early Childhood Classroom by Patti Gould (teaching stratgies and ways to adapt your classroom), and Strategies for Including Children with Special Needs in Early Childhood Settings by M. Diane Klein (textbook).
As for parent involment, it is sometimes difficult. At our center, we offer classes for our parents to attend on issues related to their child with disabilities. We specifically ask the parents what topics they want covered in trainings. We also have a home program component where our teachers visit the child in the home in order to get the families involved in day-to-day activities with their child. I believe the benefits of including children with special needs in the classroom FAR outweigh the difficulties. You just have to be willing to put your heart into it and give it your best. Learn as much as you can about specific disabilities, their characteristics and know what to expect from your children. As you get more proficient in dealing with children with special needs, you will relax and intuitively know what they need from you as the teacher. If you need help, your district should be setting up a network of professionals to aid you in the class. A speech therapist, occupational therapist, behaviorist, and physical therapist should be on hand to give you tips, advice and instruction in proper techniques. If not, do research yourself on the internet. Don't leave it up to someone else to "deal with". These children deserve your best! Good luck and congrats on embarking on a very important new job!!

Answer 2

You may contact the state board of education and they will info. You may also call the Dept. of Specialized Services at the Chicago Public Schools 773-553-1000. They will be able to give you data of success stories how to implement and why it is important. Go on line and read about the Corey H case.

Answer 3

You can probably ask a few teachers to get the true story. Inclusion is an alright theory but it all dependents on the degree of Sp. Ed. Child. I worked with Sp. Ed. Children (preschoolers) for 14 years. I was in the school system when there was sp. Ed. Classes for autistic children, children with developmental delays, and sever and profound children. When the govt. ruled for complete inclusion for K-12 they really cut the throats of the teachers (regular ed. and Sp. Ed.). The Sp. Ed. Teachers had to find jobs or move to a reg. ed. setting and the regular ed. Teachers didn’t have a clue on how to handle or teach these kinds of children. The children in the reg. ed. setting have been suffering too, because the teachers have to redirect the behaviors of the sp. Ed. child or they are spending more time with the sp. Ed. child to learn that they don’t cover as much curriculum. The sp. Ed. child is also losing out. A lot of the sp. Ed. children need your basic self help skills and reg ed settings are teaching ABCs and writing and math. If a child can only function round peg – round hole, square peg-square hole it is wrong for everybody to place them in a reg ed setting.
And this “No Child Left Behind Act” what a bunch of crap! How can you expect a sp ed child not to be left behind? It is just amazing if you get them near grade level.
Head Start has implemented inclusion in NC for years. I think it is 1/4 % of the children in head start are Sp. Ed. They are usually the children that are labeled “ADHD”. All of the head start teachers in our school always go running to the Sp. Ed. teacher for help and try to get them bumped out of their class and into a special ed. class. They also have difficulty writing an I.E.P. without help. In my opinion they should have left the separate settings….Sp. Ed. and Reg. Ed. and pull the sp. Ed. child to the reg. ed. room for circle time or music or P.E. or if the child shows an interest in math or reading. Like they use to do… the T.A. would walk the child to the reg. ed. room he/she would stay there for math, 30-45 min. and the T.A. would pick that child up and go back to their room. It was a very good system for all. A lot more learning going on for all concerned.

You can even talk to the principals of the local schools. Get all three levels (Elem., Jr High, H.S.).

I would love to read your finished paper.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

It IS true. I was educated in English state schools to the age of 18 and my parents never paid a penny for it. It's all paid for out of taxes. Notice I say state school - that's the name for it. England also has private schools, and the most famous and prestigious (and expensive) are public schools - not because they are free to the public, but because they are open to the public, IF you can afford them! It's hard to generalise what with the availability of bursaries, scholarships and so on, and the whole private/public school sector is very diverse, but normally you're looking at several thousand pounds a year in fees.

Answer 5

Try Google Scholar. They have academic info on almost everything, and all of the articles you'll find there are peer reviewed. Try search topics like "inclusion", "inclusion special education", "inclusion methodology", "inclusion application".

Answer 6

If you are looking into the UK system then you can try the Guardian Education website and do some keyword searching which should give you some background.

Answer 7

Try www.education-world.com This is a very helpful website about education topics with many ideas. I use it all the time for my classes.

Answer 8

office for child care servives (OCCS)

or look under headstart..or dept. of education for preschool years..(early education and care)