Special Education Inclusion(USE AS GUIDE ONLY)

Special Education Inclusion(USE AS GUIDE ONLY)

Special Education Inclusion(USE AS GUIDE ONLY)

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SPECIAL EDUCATION INCLUSION
Special Education Inclusion
SPECIAL EDUCATION INCLUSION
Special Education Inclusion
Katie Schultz Stout in “Special Education Inclusion” examines inclusion, looks at
recent legal trends affecting it, and offers a general recommendation regarding its
implementation. Her article is written in a fluid, concise, and informative manner.
Immediately, she introduces what is at stake. Any discussion about inclusion should
address several important questions, she states. First, do we value all children equally?
Second, is anyone more or less valuable? Lastly, to include a child with educational
challenges is not easy, but does that mean we should not try?
The above questions have created extremes, Stout says. James Kauffman,
professor of education at the University of Virginia, views inclusion as a policy driven
by an unrealistic expectation that money will be saved. He argues that trying to force
all students in the inclusion mold can be just as coercive as trying to force all students
into the mold of a special education class or institution. The other side of the
pendulum wants inclusion to be implemented on a full-time basis, with no segregation
programs at all. Between the two extremes exist large groups of educators and parents.
Stout comments that confusion is a common sentiment in this group. So too are
concerns about what is legally required. Those in between often discuss what is best
for children and what school can do to meet their needs.
Stout takes special care to note the differences between mainstreaming and
inclusion before moving on to whether federal law requires that special education
students be in one or more “regular” education class. The concept of mainstreaming
differs from that of full inclusion because proponents of the former hold essentially