ERIC ED397571: Inclusion: What Does It Mean for Students with Learning Disabilities?

6 Pages·1995·0.16 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
EC 304 899
ED 397 571
Inclusion: What Does It Mean for Students with
TITLE
Learning Disabilities?
Council for Exceptional Children, Reston, VA. Div.
INSTITUTION
for Learning Disabilities.
PUB DATE
[95]
NOTE
6p.
Council for Exceptional Children/Division for
AVAILABLE FROM
Learning Disabilities, 1920 Association Drive,
Reston, VA 20191.
Viewpoints
Information Analyses (070)
PUB TYPE
(Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120)
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PItICE
Decision Making; Educational Philosophy; Educational
DESCRIPTORS
Policy; Educational Practices; Elementary Secondary
Education; Federal Legislation; *Inclusive Schools;
IndiviAual Differences; *Individualized Education
Programs; *Learning Disabilities; Mainstreaming;
*Student Placement
ABSTRACT
This brochure summarizes law, policy, and practice
concerning inclusion policies for students with specific learning
It summarizes requirements of the Individuals with
disabilities (LD).
Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
concerning the availability of a continuum of placement options and
placement in the least restrictive environment. It notes that
mainstreaming and inclusion are not specifically mentioned in federal
statutes or regulations. Model policies are suggested which emphasize
the Individualized Education Program and provision of serv:.,:es to
.
meet individual student needs. Implications for practice are
mentioned, including the necessity of providing appropriate
consultation, support, and/or direct services to LD children placed
in genexil education classrooms. The philosophy of "full inclusion"
is brialy explained. Research findings are summarized, noting that
more than 80 percent of students with LD are in general education
classrooms though there is no validated body of research to support
large scale adoption of full inclusion as the only service delivery
model for all students with LD. Finally, the brochure stresses the
commitment of the Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council
for Exceptional Children to categorical assessment, a continuum of
placements option, and use of the IEP to plan and monitor services.
(DB)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
from the original. document.
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INCLUSION:
What Does
It Mean
for
Students
with
Learning
Disabilities?
PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND
DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL
HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
es,
TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
DLD
Division for
Learning Disabilities
of
The Council for
Exceptional Children
r
For example:
WHAT IS
Without using a word processor in his
THE LAW?
fourth-grade class, Leon's ability to
express his good ideas would be
restricted by his inefficient and poorly
Free, appropriate public education is required by
formed handwriting; the LRE for Leon
law for students with specific learning
may be the general education class with
disabilities:
accommodations.
IDEA, The Individuals with Disabilities
Without intensive daily help, Maria's
Education Act
severe reading and writing disabilities
will restrict her academic success; the
504, Section 504 of the Vocational
LRE for Maria may be the general
Rehabilitation Act
education classroom with curricular
modifications and with one or more
Availability of a continuum of placement options
hours daily in the special education
is required by law:
classroom.
e
Special classes provide intensive, highly
individualized instruction.
Resource help provides specific skill
MODEL
instruction daily or several times each
week focused on individual needs
POLICIES
Consultation and/or in-class support
provides assistance to general education
An Individualized Education Program (IEP)
teachers who have students with learning
should ensure parent and/or student
disabilities (LD)
participation in establishing placement, related
Accommgdations and modifications in
services, and student goals.
the general classroom provide the minor
support needed for individuals to meet
A student's needs, not a district, school, or
group expectations.
personal philosophy, should determine that
student's placement.
Options across thc continuum should he
esinstreaming and inclusion
available to meet the needs of individuals with
disabilities. For example:
are not in federal statutes or
Mark's inability to remember math facts
regulations
requires that his sixth grade teacher
select appropriate times for Mark's use
Placement in a least restrictive environment
of a calculator.
(LRE) is required by law.
Anna's specific needs and IEP require
that an LI) specialist guide her in an
The LRE for a particular student with LI) is the
intensive, small group setting for 3 lmurs
) interactions
combination of settings in which (
per week.
with students without disabilities and the
curriculum and instruction they receive is
Related or supportive services should be
maximized, and 1,2) opportunities are made
available based on individual student need.
available for specific, intensive educational
service to meet the unique needs of that child.
3
r 1 Determination of the appropriate placement
A option must be made in conjunction with
f a continuum of
.1 development of the IEP.
placement options is not
General education teachers can assist students
.
available to
with LD by using appropriate instructional
practices, accommodations, and auxiliary aids in
individual students
the classroom.
with specific
learning disabilities,
Personnel who possess specialized skills in
learning disabilities must be available to assess
the intent of IDEA
learning and guide general education teachers in
is not
determining appropriate accommodations,
adaptations, and aids.
being met.
Special education and general education
State and local budget allocations and
professionals must work actively with each
reimbursements should be categorical, based on
family and student to maximize integration with
the recognition that students with LD often
peers and independence at home, in school, and
requiv specialized programs, personnel, and
in the workplace.
resources.
Teacher competencies, certification standards,
and licensure criteria should identify specific
Arange of programs,
professional skills that apt critical to effective
personnel, and
teaching of students with learning disabilities.
e
placement options
must be available
IMPLICATIONS FOR
to permit selection
PRACTICE
based on
individual student needs.
The teacher in a general education classroom
3etting cannot provide the specific and/or
The different professional competencies
intensive instructional services appropriate for
possessed by LD specialists and general
some students with LD.
education personnel are both needed to achieve
positive educational outcomes for all students
Students with LD who are placed in general
with LD.
education classrooms will need consultation,
support services, and/or direct services from an
The Annual IEP Review must ensure a free,
ialist at varying points in their school
LD sp
appropriate public education for each individual
careen to be successful.
student with LD.
SOME CURRENT
PHILOSOPHIES
There is no validated
body of research
Mainstreaming and the Regular Education
to support
Initiative (REI) encourage the pardcipation of
large scale adoption
students with learning disabilities in general
of full inclusion
education classes to the extent it is appropriate
to meet their needs.
as the only
service delivery model
Inclusion and inclusive schools refer to the
placement of students with disabilities in general
for ALL students
education classrooms or buildings.
with learning disabilities.
Full-inclusion is used by some to refer to the full-
time placement in general education classrooms
Past reports of studies focused
on how well
of all students with disabilities.
students with LD adapted in general education
settings were often based on preliminary findings
or partial reports.
A"full-inclusion"
Studies comparing the academic
progress of
students with LD across various settings
or
program, as defined
program delivery models have tended to produce
by its advocates,
inconclusive results.
provides placement ONLY
Recent studies of the progress of students with
in general education classes
LD in mainstream settings have shown that
for students with
some students with LD can manage the
mainstream curriculum if general education
learning disabilities.
teachers implement accommodations and
redesign the instructional environment.
In practice, the terms mainstreaming, inclusion,
and full inclusion are often used interchangeably
e
Recent studies have also shown that
many
students with LD still need imensive,
individualized instruction to achieve significant
RESEARCH
academic growth.
IL, FINDINGS
Recent stuf lies of the social benefits ot including
,
students with LD in the mainstream have
produced mixed results.
Although statistics indicate that more than 80%
of students with LD are in general education
Several large-scale federally funded studies
classrooms, the data refer to all students with LD
targeting the issue of inclusion are still in
who spend any time in general education
progress.
classrooms.
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LD
D
ACTION
11
DLD continues to monitor research
on model
programs and to disseminate information on
best practices.
DLD continues to lobby for the preservation of
the services necessary to provide
access to
learning for students with LD. Our position
includes a commitment to categorical
assessment,
a continuum of placement options, and the use
of the IEP to plan and monitor services.
{ RESOURCES
Garnett, K. (1995). Thinking about inclusion and
learning disabilities: A teacher's guide. Available from
CEC/DLD (Stock No. D5140).
Joint Committee on Teacher Planning for Students
with Disabilities. (1995). Planning for academic
diversity in America's classrooms. Available from the
University of Kansas Center for Research
on
Learning, Lawrence, KS.
Kauffman. r. M., Ctr.. Hallahan, D. P. (Eds.). (1995).
The illusion offull inclusion: A comprehensive critique of
a current special education bandwagon. Austin, TX:
PRP Ed.
Special issue on inclusion. (1995, Summer). Journal
of
Special Education, 29(2).
Ken
the
INDIVIDUALIZED in IEP
Contact DLD at
703/620-3660
1920 Association Drive
Reston, VA 22091-1589
Fax: [phone]
TTY: 703/264-9446
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