Inclusive Education Practices

CARE provides consultation services to school districts to identify and implement best practices for inclusive education.

CARE will train personnel to recognize, understand, access, and implement the full range of services available to individuals with disabilities. Our consultants will also focus on a broad range of common issues ranging from academic and social exclusion to challenges students experience interacting with peers with disabilities, and the impact of inclusive practice on schools, families and communities.

In order for this to be successfully accomplished general education and special education staff as well as campus administrators will benefit from site-based training in the following areas to increase their capacity to serve all students. Follow along support in the form of technical assistance can also be provided to campus personnel once they have participated in the site-base training.

CARE’s team includes leaders in the field of inclusive education in helping with systems change to providing technical assistance and support throughout the US (and the world). Inclusive Education is a philosophy and approach, where:

All students are educated in the general education classroom to the greatest extent appropriate
Where expectations are high
Instruction is standards-based
The curriculum is the general education curriculum
Individualized supports are available when needed
Decisions are made on the basis of student needs and not labels and places

Why Inclusive Education?

National Longitudinal Transition Study (2006) showed that more time in General Education classes was positively correlated with:

higher scores on standardized tests of math and reading
fewer referrals for disruptive behavior
fewer absences

No studies since the 1970s have shown an academic advantage for students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities educated in separate settings (Falvey, 2004)

Inclusive Practices Model Training – Ongoing Technical Support

State and federal laws increasingly require schools to implement inclusive environments to create a system of shared ownership and accountability for all students. This 2.5-day training seminar will carefully examine the four major components stakeholders need to create operable, successful inclusive environments. Twentieth Century schools reflect the diversity of the society they serve. Increasingly, schools are finding it necessary to restructure their efforts to provide effective services for ALL students in an inclusive setting. In this seminar, trainers will discuss the following topics: effective staffing, changing systems and the law, aligning instruction, and the means for increasing collaboration. The last half day of the seminar will be dedicated to 1) developing a concise yet comprehensive assessment of individual school practices as they relate to Inclusive Education and 2) creating a ‘needs assessment’ and ‘action plan’ for future growth.

We recommend targeted technical support for all school teams that have attended this training and implemented the Inclusive model. Year-1 support will consist of 3 on-site technical support days. Year-2 will consist of 2 targeted, on-site days of technical support. Schools can request additional technical assistance, as needed or desired.

Co-Teaching in the Inclusive Setting

Inclusion is a belief system that values diversity and fosters a shared responsibility to help all students reach their maximum potential. As schools increasingly implement inclusive educational settings, instructional teams and staff members are adjusting their professional practices to accommodate various types of learners in the same general education classrooms. The co-teach model is a highly effective system that allows general and special educators to differentiate and deliver instruction with a reasonable assurance that all students will receive full access to grade-level expectations in the general education setting. We propose conducting a 2-day, comprehensive training seminar that will establish a common understanding of the co-teach model, discuss the various co-teaching configurations, and explain the tools necessary to implement and evaluate an effective co-teaching program.