Inclusion of Students with Significant Disabilities

Cindy Riedl
Dec 07, 2009

How Can We Assist Students With Significant Disabilities In Regular Classrooms When They Work Many Levels Below Classroom Peers?

If a school's curriculum and approach to learning is ‘one-size-fits-all' and differentiation is minimal or nonexistent, the response to the above question is improbable and in other cases, impossible. Then again, are ‘one-size-fits-all' classes what we want for any of our students?

Maybe we are asking the wrong question. Instead of asking whether a student is able to pursue the same learning outcomes of his or her grade level peers, maybe we should be exploring whether the disabled student's requirements can be appropriately addressed in the regular education setting. Keep in mind that The Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act presumes that the first placement option for any student with a disability is in the regular classroom. The question becomes how can we achieve valid and appropriate curricular inclusion for students who function substantially below grade level?

What do we need to do to make it not only a possible experience but a successful experience for all members of the learning community? As with anything else, it begins with a belief that the principles of teaching and learning are the same regardless of whether a student is identified as disabled. Roles need to be clarified within a team structure of educators and classroom learning communities need to be developed where every student is expected to help each other to learn. Also, curricular expectations must be clear and the student must be encouraged to have an active voice in identifying which supports help and which do not. For the student to become a viable member of the classroom, he or she will have to participate in the academic work, not just be ‘physically present' or ‘socially accepted'. It is important for teachers to not to overestimate expectations or to underestimate t he capabilities of these students. The goal is to adjust the curriculum to an appropriate level of difficulty, where the student is challenged but successful. With many severely disabled students, modifications to the general education program will be necessary. Sometimes individualized or modified content will be necessary and/or individualized supports will be required beyond typical scaffolding practices. Rarely do these students require an individualize education program and supports all the time.

It is important that educators consider their options, such as Multilevel Curriculum and Curriculum Overlapping, which are two popular approaches to adapt the curriculum which will facilitate participation of students with significant disabilities. In both approaches, lessons are planned for a diverse group of same-age learners with different ability levels - not just to accommodate students with disabilities buy all learners including those advanced students who need to be challenged. Students share an activity or experience and each learner has individual learning expectations at an appropriate level of difficulty. This could be essentially be accomplished by creating differentiated assignments such as those that are tiered or occur in a R-A-F-T format and allow students to select an appropriate challenge.

In the Multilevel Curriculum, all expectations are within the same curriculum area and students are either responsible for more or fewer expectations at different levels of complexity. Students experience a menu of opportunities for learning about a topic as well as a choice as to how learning is demonstrated. Although the activity may focus on science content, the special needs student may also be learning necessary communication and social skills. All are incorporated within the framework of the lesson. The Multilevel Curriculum approach should be considered first as to whether the regular classroom instruction will provide enough accommodation before using Curriculum Overlapping.

Curriculum Overlapping should only be considered when there are substantial differences between the learning expectations most of the students are pursuing and those of a student with a disability. To determine which approach would be most appropriate for a student, instructional and support teams need to create a matrix where team members identify the expectations for the special needs students and the typical grade expectations. By comparing these to lists, support team members can identify what the focus should be to ensure meaningful participation. A special needs student's individual learning expectations or outcomes are often embedded within class activities in different content areas, such as integrating communication and social skill objectives.

Both of these approaches are ways to include students with disabilities and also provide challenge for students functioning above grade level. Teachers, who choose the Multilevel Curriculum approach, stretch their curriculum away from the standard ‘middle of the road' approach where all students share the same content, level and amount of work. This approach builds rigor for all learners through differentiated instruction and assignments. Inclusive education practices such as cooperative team planning and learning with a focus on differentiation and acceleration practices benefit all students and contribute to a learner focused classroom culture as it acknowledges differences while promoting acceptance.

Tips to Make It Happen:

1. Work in collaborative instructional teams to compare the special needs student's IEP (Individual Education Plan) expectations (outcomes) with the expected grade level expectations.

2. Determine whether the student can pursue the same learning expectations as classmates or whether a Multilevel Curriculum and instruction will provide enough accommodation before using curriculum overlapping.

3. Determine who from the instructional team is responsible for what. The goal is to ensure meaningful participation.

4. Identify a menu of alternative instructional strategies that can be applied to all students who need additional assistance accessing the curriculum, i.e. acceleration practices of previewing vocabulary and building background knowledge, modifying and scaffolding materials, differentiated instruction and/or assignments.

5. Create powerful relationships within a collaborative team of instructional specialist, parents and allow the student to have an active voice in planning how he/she will learn.