Inclusion
Abstract
Since the mid 1980s, there has been a strong national movement to include all children in general education classrooms within their neighborhood schools. This movement has met with much support; however, there are many challenges professionals encounter when implementing inclusionary programs. Although, for years, we have acknowledged the challenges and concerns teachers have, these issues continue to plague our educators. To rectify the problems, we need to specifically identify the teachers' concerns and then begin to establish methods to directly address the issues. This study investigated the attitudes of elementary school teachers towards inclusion within three rural school districts in a southwestern area of United States. Summary information was obtained, analyzed and used to make recommendations to address the teachers' concerns for implementing effective and successful inclusionary programs.
Since the mid 1980s, there has been a strong national movement to include all children in general education classrooms within their neighborhood schools. Throughout these years, there have been professionals with both opposing and supportive opinions regarding inclusion. Inclusion challenges general and special education professionals to have shared responsibility in providing an appropriate educational program for students with disabilities. Inclusion is not merely a placement in a general education classroom as mainstreaming often was. It implies students with disabilities of both high and low incidence will receive a quality education among peers without disabilities and who are of similar age. Salend (2001) describes inclusion as an attempt to "establish collaborative, supportive, and nurturing communities of learners that are based on giving all students the services and accommodations they need to learn, as well as respecting and learning from each other's individual differences" (p. 5).
Supporters of inclusion have identified many benefits. Jobe,...
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