Inclusion of the Special Needs Student

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Inclusion of the Special Needs Student Abstract The purpose of this essay was to discuss inclusion of special needs students in the general education classroom, and to delve into whether or not it is an effective practice. The first paragraph discusses the history leading up to inclusion, including IDEA, the legislation that special needs students shall not be removed from the general education classroom unless absolutely necessary. The second section looks into what seems to be encouraging this push for inclusion in the classroom. IDEA is again touched on, as well as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the famous court case, Pennsylvania vs. Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Citizens. The third section focuses on what inclusion looks like today. It discusses the different placement options for special needs students, such as inclusion, resource, self-contained and alternative. The essay then focuses on the case of Raul, and his experiences when he was removed from the general education classroom. The last section focuses upon the challenges faced when trying to implement inclusion in the general education classroom. Many times, it is the teachers who are most hesitant about implementing inclusion in the general education classroom. General education teachers feel unprepared to teach students with special needs, while the special needs teachers push for inclusion. The essay concludes by focusing on how the attitude of the general education teacher can greatly affect the success of inclusion. The Introduction of Inclusion Forty years ago, special needs students were often separated into different sections of the school, never seen by general education students and hardly ever spoken of. The idea of these special needs students being filtered into general education classes would have been viewed as bizarre from a students perspective, and completely

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