Inclusion Questionnaire for Graduate Research

Question 1. My definition of inclusion is when another adult enters the room, nobody knows who is the regular education teacher and who is the special education teacher.
Question 2 The advantages of inclusion is that special ed. students get feel more like their classmates and not like they are different. The disadvantages is the class may be too hard for the special ed. students.
Question 3 No I believe the special education teacher in class can help the students who are struggling but not in special ed.
Question 4 yes, my students feel part of their class and are being introduced to a more in-depth class.
Question 5 yes to both
Question 6 she loves it, gets to see her friends.
Question 7 no need more training, planning time together.

1. What is your definition of inclusion? A special education student receiving instruction in a general education classroom whether it is co-taught or not.

2. What are the advantages/disadvantages of inclusion?
Inclusion tremendously ups the quality of instruction and material presented. Special education classes easily become too remedial and students are not exposed to the curriculum plus the interaction that regular education students provide. The disadvantage comes when there is little support for the ld students. LD students need some modifications and sometimes a “study skills” class where they can get help with assignments.

3. Do you believe that inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms take away from students without disabilities and lessen the quality of education? No, it does not take away. Many LD students provide benefits of teachers using more modalities in teaching and providing other ways to respond to material.

4. Do you feel that inclusion is working well in your class (yes or no) and why? I worked at a middle school where I co-taught English with two teachers. The students were part of multidisciplinary teams and my administration gave me a study skills class exclusive to each team, so that I could help students prepare assignments for their team.

5. Do you feel that your child has been helped academically and socially in an inclusive environment?
Once one of Resource (RSP)students asked me if there were “RSP”jobs out there. No, there are not. LD students will need to learn how to fit into the general population. Also, the 8th grade experience of an included environment gave students an opportunity to see if they could be successful in general education before going to high school. Some kids in special ed for years lack confidence and think they cannot do general ed work, when in fact they can.

6. How does your child feel about being in an inclusive classroom? My 8th grade students wanted to be in general ed with their friends. They really disliked being treated differently.

7. Do you feel that educators have the support, resources, training, and time to implement inclusion effectively? If not, what support, resources, and training would be helpful to you? I worked hard to make it work for probably 6 years. My administration supported me with scheduling that enabled me to co -teach and offer study skills classes to support my students. On the down side, because I co-taught the administration often felt that I did not need my own classroom because I was out for two periods. I ended up moving every year and sharing classrooms. Not easy!