Post by Alexandria Geisler
I spent some time poking around on the Wisconsin Educational Association Council website this morning and found some great research on special education inclusion, allowing real life examination of the benefits and drawbacks of this educational style in practice.
Johns Hopkins University measured student achievement in a school-wide restructuring program called "Success for All". This program implementation included several changes in the traditional educational system in these schools, including increased early childhood intervention, parent involvement, classroom inclusion, and teacher continuing education, among many other things. A control group was used for comparison of grades one through three, both groups being assessed on language proficiency, reading abilities, and student retention/attendance.
Results showed, first and foremost, that school funding may be the most crucial aspect to child success, as schools with more funding with more supplementary aids had overall better outcomes. More importantly, there were many other individual developmental aspects that appeared greatly beneficial in integrated classrooms, including but not limited to
- Increased comfort & acceptance of all students, regardless of differences -
- Increased social cognition -
- Self-concept improvement of students without disabilities -
- Assumed advocacy roles of students with friends with disabilities -
- Caring friendships -
In addition to all of these benefits observed in the Johns Hopkins research, the article also noted the increased cost-effectiveness in an integrated classroom rather than a segregated special needs classroom. Lastly, students with disabilities in segregated classrooms had a job placement rate around 50%, where students with disabilities in integrated classrooms had job placement rate around 70%. This could point towards improved sociability & overall societal integration for students with disabilities educated in an integrated classroom. The benefits of this programming is obvious!
There are a few legitimate issues opponents have against integrated learning. Some worry that children with disabilities won't be able to keep up in an integrated setting. Others worry students will be distracted by integrated classrooms. Although there are potential challenges and definite roadblocks, it seems as though it is worth it for schools to work through inclusion complications with overall positive outcomes for students, according to research.
I was especially excited about this topic because my sixth grade friend Max (in photo with me below :) has had experiences in integrated settings. Max has Downs Syndrome & I had the privilege of spending last summer with him full time. Him & I spent one of our weeks together at a wilderness camp at the Dane County Humane Society, which was not a camp for individuals with disabilities. Max's parents prefer Max does all of the same things a child without disabilities does, so they called the camp & asked if he could join the camp as long as I tagged along as his aid. The camp was excited to have their first camper with disabilities.
I am sharing this experience because Max's and my week at the camp was a BLAST and Max was surely one of the most popular kids at camp. All of the other campers loved talking to Max & getting to know him, sitting with him at lunch, & hearing his silly jokes. He was able to keep up with the camp content with a bit of my help, & I would also say he was on his best behavior in a classroom where all of the other students were equally attentive. The camp enjoyed Max's presence so much that they were going to try and get the word out more in special needs settings to draw in a more diverse set of campers! Max was able to thrive in a group where he had the same expectations as his peers, perhaps even more so than at his MSCR camps specifically for individuals with disabilities. I was able to experience the benefits of an integrated classroom, first hand!
I spent some time poking around on the Wisconsin Educational Association Council website this morning and found some great research on special education inclusion, allowing real life examination of the benefits and drawbacks of this educational style in practice.
Johns Hopkins University measured student achievement in a school-wide restructuring program called "Success for All". This program implementation included several changes in the traditional educational system in these schools, including increased early childhood intervention, parent involvement, classroom inclusion, and teacher continuing education, among many other things. A control group was used for comparison of grades one through three, both groups being assessed on language proficiency, reading abilities, and student retention/attendance.
Results showed, first and foremost, that school funding may be the most crucial aspect to child success, as schools with more funding with more supplementary aids had overall better outcomes. More importantly, there were many other individual developmental aspects that appeared greatly beneficial in integrated classrooms, including but not limited to
- Increased comfort & acceptance of all students, regardless of differences -
- Increased social cognition -
- Self-concept improvement of students without disabilities -
- Assumed advocacy roles of students with friends with disabilities -
- Caring friendships -
In addition to all of these benefits observed in the Johns Hopkins research, the article also noted the increased cost-effectiveness in an integrated classroom rather than a segregated special needs classroom. Lastly, students with disabilities in segregated classrooms had a job placement rate around 50%, where students with disabilities in integrated classrooms had job placement rate around 70%. This could point towards improved sociability & overall societal integration for students with disabilities educated in an integrated classroom. The benefits of this programming is obvious!
There are a few legitimate issues opponents have against integrated learning. Some worry that children with disabilities won't be able to keep up in an integrated setting. Others worry students will be distracted by integrated classrooms. Although there are potential challenges and definite roadblocks, it seems as though it is worth it for schools to work through inclusion complications with overall positive outcomes for students, according to research.
I was especially excited about this topic because my sixth grade friend Max (in photo with me below :) has had experiences in integrated settings. Max has Downs Syndrome & I had the privilege of spending last summer with him full time. Him & I spent one of our weeks together at a wilderness camp at the Dane County Humane Society, which was not a camp for individuals with disabilities. Max's parents prefer Max does all of the same things a child without disabilities does, so they called the camp & asked if he could join the camp as long as I tagged along as his aid. The camp was excited to have their first camper with disabilities.
I am sharing this experience because Max's and my week at the camp was a BLAST and Max was surely one of the most popular kids at camp. All of the other campers loved talking to Max & getting to know him, sitting with him at lunch, & hearing his silly jokes. He was able to keep up with the camp content with a bit of my help, & I would also say he was on his best behavior in a classroom where all of the other students were equally attentive. The camp enjoyed Max's presence so much that they were going to try and get the word out more in special needs settings to draw in a more diverse set of campers! Max was able to thrive in a group where he had the same expectations as his peers, perhaps even more so than at his MSCR camps specifically for individuals with disabilities. I was able to experience the benefits of an integrated classroom, first hand!