The question is….

1. The question is…. Does your child feel included?

2. Inclusion...... What is it? • Inclusion is a term which expresses commitment to educate each child, to the maximum extent appropriate, in the school and classroom he or she would otherwise attend. It involves bringing the support services to the child (rather than moving the child to the services) and requires only that the child will benefit from being in the class (rather than having to keep up with the other students). Proponents of inclusion generally favor newer forms of education service delivery. • (http://www.weac.org/resource/june96/speced.htm)

3. So what is IDEA anyway? • IDEA gives states federal funds to help make special education services available for students with disabilities. • Today, more than 6 million school-aged children in the US receive special education services. http://www.taalliance.org/ideanclb/index.asp • The purposes of IDEA is to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment and independent living. • IDEA requires that every state to establish guidelines for accommodations. Accommodations level the playing field so that the test measures what the student knows and can do and not the effect of the children’s disability. Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004

4. What all states must do… • Establish a goal of providing full educational opportunity to all children with disabilities. • Identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are in need of special education and related services. • Ensure that all special education teachers are highly qualified. • Evaluate every child suspect of a disability. • Annually develop an IEP for each child with a disability. • Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) • Provide all procedural safeguards • Establish goals for the performance of children with disabilities that are the same as the state’s AYP. • Include all children with disabilities in all general state and district-wide assessments. • http://cehd.umn.edu/nceo/onlinepubs/parents.pdf

5. NCLB….what do all those letters mean? • No child left behind, or NCLB, provisions apply to all students, including those whose disabilities require special education. So it’s important that parents understand the requirements of NCLB. • NCLB seeks to: • Raise the academic achievement of all students • Close the achievement gap between groups of students that historically perform poorly and their higher performing peers. • The purpose of this title is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments

6. What all states must do according to NCLB…. • Develop challenging academic standards that are the same for every student. • Develop annual academic assessments for all students. • Ensure that there is a highly qualified teacher in every classroom. • Define the amount of academic progress that school districts and schools must achieve each year in order to reach the proficiency goal by 2014. • Ensure that schools and school districts test at least 95% of all students. • Ensure the availability of reasonable adaptations and accommodations for students with disabilities. • Produce an annual statewide report card of performance and make the report available to the public. • http://cehd.umn.edu/nceo/onlinepubs/parents.pdf

7. Benefits to inclusion… • Benefits for disabled students: • Friendships • Increased social initiations, relationships and networks • Peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills • Increased achievement of  IEP goals • Greater access to general curriculum • Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization • Increased inclusion in future environments • Greater opportunities for interactions • Higher expectations • Increased school staff collaboration • Increased parent participation • Families are more integrated into community

8. And the benefits don’t stop there….. • Benefits for non-disabled students: • Meaningful friendships • Increased appreciation and acceptance of individual differences • Increased understanding and acceptance of diversity • Respect for all people • Prepares all students for adult life in an inclusive society • Opportunities to master activities by practicing and teaching others • Greater academic outcomes • All students needs are better met, greater resources for everyone • http://www.uni.edu/coe/inclusion/philosophy/benefits.html