The direction which the globe is heading mandates that social boundaries which existed in the past should be blurred progressively and finally, every bit of discrimination and categorization should be eliminated. The first was abolition of the slave trade to make all men equal and free. Next followed the emancipation of women to recognize their ability to contribute to society and build an identity for themselves. What followed next was the condemnation of racial segregation. Men of all types of color have equal access to all types of services, jobs and residential locations. This humanitarian wind has brought dignity to society and has become the instrument for measuring the fairness of every aspect of society. The education system is under review because of its categorization of children based on their ability to learn. There are two categories: Children with learning disorders (special needs) and children without learning disorders. These two categories of learners have always been placed in different classes. However, various groups have advocated that both categories of children in the same classroom for enhanced social and academic benefit. This proposal is known as inclusion and is an ongoing program in many schools in the United States currently despite the mixed reactions from parents and teaches country wide. This paper discusses the effects of inclusion on academic achievement of children with special needs.
It should be appreciated that the two groups of learners do not have the same learning ability. Inclusion is a plan that is tough to implement because of the sensitivity of the parties involved. The first party of interest is students with learning disorders. Their interest is to learn at the same speed and intensity as children who do not have special needs. The second group is students without disabilities. Their interest is to learn without disruption in the event of inclusion. The third group is teachers whose interest is to learn skills which will help to handle all kinds of students without devoting too much time to students with learning disabilities. Lastly, we have parents who wish the best for their children while praying that their time and money is not wasted in the end. Balancing these interests has proved a tough barrier for the development of the program.
Nevertheless, inclusion has been successfully implemented by a large number of schools. The positive results reported attach to the increased social confidence of students with learning disorders in fully inclusive classrooms. For example, reports indicate that the reading skills and math skills of students with special needs improve by more than 10 per cent in classes where the students with learning disabilities are not separated from the students without learning disabilities. Secondly, students with special needs recognize on their own that they are in a situation whereby the odds of competition are bent against their favor. Therefore, they put in more work than they would have in classes where they are segregated from students without special needs. Third, peer teaching has contributed to the success of students with special needs in fully inclusive classes. Peer instructors are more patient with students with learning disabilities than teachers are because of their bonding or friendships. This situation assists mostly in mathematical aptitude.
The positive effects are more pronounced in schools where students take part in activities. For example in elementary schools, students with learning disabilities study English faster where they are asked to read aloud parts of comprehensions or recite poems. Research indicates that different activities assist in improving the fluency of students with learning disorders. For example, storytelling in front of an audience of students without learning disorders helps students with learning disorders in constructing sentences to make their message understood better while choral reading. Similarly, reading a comprehension section together improves the fluency, vocabulary and motivation to read by students with learning disorders.
Therefore, it is deductible that the social benefits of inclusion trickle into the classroom. However the realities of inclusion must be challenged to boost the benefits of inclusion. For example, students with learning disorders and students without learning disorders cannot be imagined to be starting from the same ground. Pulling the student with learning disabilities to the level of the average student requires a high level of dedication and skill. Positive attitude is a bonus for educationists who want to reap from the best of inclusion programs.
However, inclusion has its downsides for students with special needs. Acceptability of students with special needs plays an important role here. Where teachers are not patient with students with special needs, there is negative energy formed between the two parties which negatively impacts on academic achievement of learners with learning disorders. Students with special needs require a large amount of understanding which is a hard value to find in public schools where the services are not tailored as much to the success of students with special needs. Besides the teachers, students without learning disabilities may not be welcome to the idea of special children joining them. A major reason for rejection is students with learning disabilities may not behave “appropriately” around them.
Conditions which bring about learning disabilities also cause anti-social behavior such as high tendency towards violence, neediness and speech insensitivities such as speaking loudly in small groups. In addition, physically undesirable traits such as excessive drool and mucus production as other problems associated with learning disabilities. These harsh realities often catch up with the students who require special needs and deal a huge blow to their academic achievement.
A study conducted in 1995 by Zigmon and a few other researchers indicated that students with special needs in a particular school lost ground in their school work by 39% after joining a fully inclusive classroom. However, a similar study carried out in 1995 by researchers Barneji and Dailey showed that the students simply lost ground in some subjects while they improved in others. However, the consensus among researchers is that for the benefits of inclusion to be noticed among students with special needs, a long time is the required while the student is enrolled at a fully inclusive classroom. The aspect of time send shivers down the spines of many policy makers because if improvement can only be detected after a long time, then it must take a long period of time to build upon that improvement to bring the student with special needs to almost the same level as an average student. Some educations have beaten the time hurdle by designing their programs such that students with special needs attend 80% of ‘normal classes’ and 20% of special classes in addition to other incidental classes such as speech therapy.
Students with special needs who were subjects in an inclusion program during high school are likely to proceed on to a post-secondary institution. This advancement benefit can be attributed to the exposure of students with special needs socially. Students without learning disabilities are more ambitious and more informed about their career paths than students with learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities are vague in their desired career path. For example, they may be aware that they desire to do law but do not recognize that it entails more than simply going to college. A number of factors such as passion, precision of career path and mentorship are required. However, students in fully inclusive programs are able to grasp such concepts with time.
The benefit of inclusive programs to the academic achievement of special needs students are also evident in the manner which they get prepared for college. A normal classroom of average students may require a number of community service hours completed before a student can graduate or a number of hours logged in while doing semester projects. These requirements may seem rigorous for students with disabilities but it enhances their college applications and builds their team spirit skills. In addition, students with learning disabilities who have aninterest in a particular art such as painting or playing an instrument benefit from learning competitively from their peers without learning disabilities who are may grasp knowledge in these specialized areas faster. This assertion is speculative because it is recorded that in some instances, students with learning disabilities can be more gifted than the average student.
In conclusion, the effect of inclusion to the academic advancement of students with special needs may swing towards the negative or the positive side depending on how the program for inclusion is handled. Time is an important aspect when seeking benefits from the inclusion. Students with special needs can cope in a classroom with average students but their needs must be understood.
References
Depuis, B., Barclay, J., Holmes, S., Plate, M., & Shaha, S. (2008). Inclusion: Statistic. Washington D.C: JAASEP-Research based Journal in Special Education.
Eyant, G., Schreur, N., & Engel-Yeger, B. (2010). Inclusion of Children with Disabilities: Teachers' Attitudes and Requirements for Envoronmental Accomodation. Vancouver: International Journal of Special Education.
Harrington, S. (2008). Full Inclusion for Students with Laerning Disabilities: A review of Evidence. New York: America Disability Institute.
Konza, D. (2008). Inclusion of Students in Modern Times. Berlin: Ro-ECU (Reserch Online Edith Cowan University Resource).
Lamport, M., Graves, L., & Ward, A. (2010). Special Needs Students in INclusive Classrooms. London: European Journal of Business and Social Sciences.
Trembay, P. (2012). Comparative outcomes of two instructional models for students with learning disabilities: inclusion with co-teaching and solo-taught special education. New York: Journal of Research and Special Needs.
