I taught a vocational electronics course for 16+ years. When No Child Left Behind started every student could take any class they wanted. Sounds good so far right?
I had two students with cerebal palsy enroll in a class. They each could not communicate, could not control their muscle spasms and had to have a special ed attendant with them 100% of the time. The spec ed attendant did their classwork, took their tests and did the and soldering/assembly. The student got the grade??? Also that took 4 seats away from from someone else.
What good did that do anybody? The spec ed students had no chance of getting hired, the kids that missed the chance who knows??? One of the Spec Ed assistants eventually got a job as an electrical assembler/inspector but she was trained in the military before she became a spec ed assistant. Her student had a 4.0.
Very wrong. Let me present you just a bit of information.Thirty years of study shows us that when ALL students are learning together they ALL do better. This means even students with the most needs do better in their grade-level, when they are given the right support. What is inclusive education? Inclusive education means everyone is included in their grade-level in their neighborhood school. Inclusion means students are given the help they need to be full members of their class. Inclusive education involves districts supporting schools as they include ALL the students who live in their communities. How do teachers meet the needs of all students in an inclusive school?
• Teachers plan their lessons to meet each student’s learning needs.
• Teachers teach in small groups that can change as the students’ needs change.
• Teachers teach the same content in different ways.
• Teachers work with other adults in the school to help meet each student’s needs.Why inclusive education?
Studies show that students with and without disabilities in inclusive schools:
• do better in reading and math
• benefit from the friendships they form
• learn to value differences.
In situations like the you one described, I really can’t think of any benefit to the students in being mainstreamed. Unable to communicate and their special ed assistants were the ones who did the work and took the tests? That falls into the ridiculous column.
I would think that most people understand that not all special needs students have that level of disability and certainly those who can be mainstreamed, should be. But the ones who insist on all special needs students being mainstreamed are not being realistic.
In a recent discussion about this, after I had stated my position that: children who were in the country illegally and who couldn’t speak English, students who were chronic discipline problems, and special needs students who couldn’t be mainstreamed without detriment to the non-disabled students should not be in public school classrooms with regular students, the person pointedly asked if I was talking about segregation. I responded that if she was defining as segregation what I just described, then yes. If she was using the word pejoratively to compare it to what was addressed in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954, then no, she was wrong and it was most definitely not the same thing.
Peach
The Special Ed attendants got paychecks.
Her student had a 4.0.
Did her student emerge from the class with any capability to wield electronics tools?