Developing Inclusive Education

Carol Quirkcquirk@mcie.org

VisionA society where neighborhood schools welcome all students, engage them in learning, and form the foundation for inclusive communities.

Neighborhood schools where students with disabilities benefit from meaningful instruction, have friends, and be full members of their school communities.

Keep your feet on the ground while dreaming with your

head in the clouds

“Inclusion” is not “Placement”

Physical Access to ENVIRONMENTS

Meaningful ACADEMIC participation

Positive SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

INCLUSION

Academic Instruction

• General Curriculum• Accommodations• Modifications• Embedded Skills

Universal DesignDifferentiated Instruction

Interventions

Specialized Instruction

Membership7

Social Relationships

People with strong social interaction skills typically experience …• More meaningful relationships• Greater happiness • Greater self-esteem• Greater social acceptance• Greater desire to socialize• Less anxiety, stress, depression

Inclusive Education means…

• Natural Proportions• No “Inclusion” classes• Participation

ActiveMeaningfulWITH PEERS

• Also outside of school activities

NOT “Inclusion”

Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education

The extent of a school’s success will be directly related

to the extent that the school has moved toward

a collaborative model across school teams.

CHANGE: a grown-up problemWho • is responsible?

• decides what to teach?

• makes modifications?

What if one of the collaborating teachers does not:

Use differentiated lesson planning based on UDL

Use positive and preventive approach to problem behavior

Want to collaborate?

Collaboration

BARRIERS

• Staff Resistance: shared ownership/responsibility issues, different philosophy, lack of knowledge about current & effective practices. Especially re:students with significant needs and behavior issues

• Parental understanding of the benefits of receiving special education services in general education classes/accessing curriculum

• Knowledge/skill: Lack of understanding how to implement co-teaching and collaboration and differentiated lesson planning

• Limited collaborative planning time

BARRIERS

• Role of paraeducators and issues related to supervision and duties

• Case management caseload

• Quality general education instruction: lack of differentiation and quality strategies

• Need for grading policies & procedures for students with disabilities particularly when not performing at grade level

• Administrator resistance to change

• Scheduling practices: Need to change how staff and students are assigned & time is found

What makes the difference inDistrict planning?

• General Ed Leadership: Superintendent

• Steering Committee

• General Education & Special Education Supervisors

• Action Planning Process

• System-wide professional development

• Stakeholder Engagement

• Clarify and Communicate the VISION

What makes the difference in School planning?

• Administrative support• Needs Assessments (survey and group process)• School based teams to plan inclusive practices• Action Plans and focused planning team• Technical Assistance/Job-embedded staff development• Reinforcing the need for regular collaborative planning for

students who are challenging academically or behaviorally• Articulation planning at the end of the school year• 15% guideline to maintain natural proportions of students

with IEPs in general education classes

School Structures

• Collaborative planning (TIME)

• Collaborative planning (PRACTICES)

• Differentiated Instruction (DI) with a curriculum based on principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

• Multi-tierred Systems of Support (MTSS) for academic and behavioral strategies and interventions

• Interventions that are based on evidence of effectiveness

• Shared roles and responsibilities

Maryland Coalition for Inclusive Education

Teacher Preparation Needs

Universal Design for LearningDifferentiationInterventions

AccommodationsCollaboration

Positive Behavior SupportsClassroom Management

GENERAL EDUCATORSInstructional TechnologyCooperative LearningContent skills

SPECIAL EDUCATORSAssistive Technology

AutismIEP development

11

Research: what does it say?

How does inclusive education affect children with disabilities AND children without disabilities??

Students with Disabilities

• Spend more time “on task” in class

• Learn more academic skills

• Have more friends

• Learn more “functional” skills

• More likely to be employed after school

• Supports are more individualized

Comparing Classrooms

Special Education Classes• Less instructional time

• More isolation

• Less able to get a job after school

• 58% of the time = “non-instructional”

General Education Classes• MORE general curriculum

content

• More individualized instruction time

• More interactions with non-disabled peers

• 35% of the time = “non-instructional”

79%

21%

Special Education

Students Who Grad-uatedStudents who Dropped Out

94%

6%

General Education

Students Who GraduatedStudents who Dropped Out

Graduation and Drop out

Planning for an Inclusive Future

Work

School

Services

Normalization

a normal rhythm to the day and year

a normal routine to life

the normal developmental experiences of the life cycle

having one’s choices, wishes and desires taken into consideration and respected

normal economic standards

standards of facilities similar to those experienced by others

Community Participation

• By being educated with nondisabled peers, people with disabilities will be more likely to become involved in and valued by their communities.

Self-Determination

• Strategies that enable students to regulate their own behavior, set their own goals, monitor their own performance, and identify solutions to current problems.

Natural Peer Supports

• Teachers and peers can provide accommodations to reduce reliance on additional adult support.

Community Awareness and Public Relations

• Informing and involving the community of service providers, businesses, and employers leads to positive attitudes toward integrating people with disabilities into the community and workplace in the future

Inclusion in General Education Instruction

• More time spent in school and class with nondisabled peers leads to better outcomes for learning during school years and employment after school.

Community Collaboration and Shared Responsibility

• When students and their families take active roles in determining educational goals, the school and other service providers can plan instruction and functional life skills activities.

Presuming Competence

• Schools and families make the LEAST DANGEROUS ASSUMPTION when they have high expectations and assume that the student is learning (even when they are not sure!)

Current Practices

• What are the traditional practices?

–WHERE children with disabilities go to school

–What they are taught (same or different)

Beliefs about Inclusion

Should Students with Disabilities be placed in regular classes with nondisabled children?

NO/none some/sometimes YES/All

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Your Preparation

How prepared were you to teach and include children with disabilities as a professional?

NOT at all some preparation YES/very

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Your Experience

How much experience do you have at teaching children with disabilities in regular classes?

NONE a few students Many students

NONE a few years Many years0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

What do we need to do next?

Put one idea on each paper

THANK YOU!

Inclusive Education

for ALL Children!