What facilitates "access to the general education curriculum" under IDEA '97?

During the 1997 re-authorization of IDEA, Congress indicated that 20 years of research and practice had resulted in a body of information that impacted the development of a series of amendments to the law. Congress found, among other things that the education of children with disabilities can be made more effective by….having high expectations and ensuring access in the general curriculum ….ensuring that children benefit and special education becomes a service rather than a place …. providing aids and supports in the regular education classroom. These statements provide the foundation for what is meant by access to the general curriculum. The law has always emphasized the importance of the role of the IEP team in decision making for each individual child. Nevertheless it is clear that there is responsibility on the part of each public agency to ensure that….A child with a disability is not removed from education in age-appropriate regular classrooms solely because of needed modifications in the general curriculum. 34 CFR #300.352(e)Most research on effective practices for students has been either focused on general education students or on special education students. It is helpful to understand that the findings from these two groups does not differ significantly in terms of what works for all students. For example, the research of Goodlad and Lovitt (1993) and Oakes and Lipton (1990) and others has clearly demonstrated that all students learn best when instruction:

• involves active participation of students,
• is exciting and motivating,
• requires students to think and problem solve,
• accommodates for individual learning styles,
• provides opportunities to learn from, and teach one another,
• balances content and process,
• assists students in making "connections" between content areas and previously learned knowledge and skills,
• considers students' interests, and
• allows for different methods of student "output" and evaluation i.e. authentic assessment.

On the other hand, passive styles of instruction - such as lecture and the use of worksheets - allow for the least amount of student input, output, application, and generalization. Effective instructional strategies apply developmentally appropriate practices in preschool and general education classrooms through such practices as cooperative learning, community-based instruction, teaching to multiple intelligences, class projects, learning centers, integrated literacy, brain compatible classrooms , integrated curriculum, hands-on activities, effective use of computer technology, peer coaching and the use of portfolio and other forms of authentic assessment. The use of these strategies facilitates the differentiation of instruction for all learners. Experience tells us that when students with disabilities are educated in classrooms where these strategies are implemented, there is less of a need to adapt and modify the curriculum.

With the general education classroom, then, as the beginning point for all students, teachers ask, "How do I make decisions on what and when to modify and adapt for each student?" A process known as the ecological (or environmental) inventory strategy is used to determine when supports and adaptations are needed. This relatively simple process is performed in three steps:

1. The first step is to outline the steps a person without a disability would do in order to perform the task/activity (e.g. language arts class, lining up after recess, transitioning between classes, math test).
2. The discrepancy (or performance) analysis is conducted next. This depicts what the specific child who has a disability would do in the same situation listed in step one.
3. The last step is the adaptation hypothesis or the determination of what supports and/or modifications will be provided to the child with a disability in order to increase his/her participation and independence in the activity.

Supports can be provided by classmates, peers, special educators, paraeducators, general educators, related services personnel, job coaches, co-workers, and others. Inclusion does not mean that each child must have an individual aide at all times. Some children may need an aide for all or part of the school day while other children will be able to get sufficient supports to participate in the general education classroom by other people. The ecological inventory strategy is utilized to determine when these supports are needed and who can provide them. Many times, the teacher, paraeducator, and/or related service personnel can facilitate classmates to provide the necessary supports.

General education curriculum must be adapted or modified, if that is what is needed for a particular student. (Keep in mind that supports and adaptations are determined individually.) Following are some examples of strategies for adaptations and modification from successful inclusive schools in Illinois:

• Providing the student with an adapted or different set of materials (social studies readings are recorded on audio tape and content from lessons is supplemented with additional pictures, maps, etc.)
• Providing the child with an adapted or different piece of equipment (student uses a computer or some sort of typing device if handwriting is not an option).
• Changing the procedures utilized in the activity (in math activities, the student uses a calculator to complete computations or to check accuracy of work)
• Changing the instructional strategy utilized (using cooperative learning groups to construct mock intermediate directions (NE, SE, NW, SW) with actual maps instead of with worksheets).
• Adjusting pizzas as a way of learning fractions or to learn directions (N, S, E, W) and the performance standards (student selects which 5 of the 10 problems s/he will do as time constraints prohibit completion of all - the student copies several key words to fill in the blanks of the daily journal entry rather than writing the entire entry - or the student is tested on 2 to 4 key concepts of a unit rather than the entire material contained in the unit).
• Adjusting the complexity of the content. (In a literature-based language arts class, students are reading a novel and discussing the "values" which the main character is dealing with. The student with a disability may be identifying the character, what s/he did, where s/he went, etc.)
• Adapting the evaluation system (student is tested orally or through demonstration rather than written tests - or student uses formats such as true/false, matching, or short answer rather than essay).

A concern that is starting to emerge at the middle and high school levels is the complexity of the class content to be adapted by special education teachers who are not familiar with the curricular area. Addressing this, some school districts are assigning individual special education teachers to specific subject areas such as math, history, humanities, science and so on. These districts caution, however, that students with disabilities most likely need someone that is familiar with their total program. Therefore, they also assign individual special education teachers to individual students.

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How will team members have time for planning and collaboration?

Nationwide, successful educators are telling us that time for team planning and collaboration is critical to the success of educating students with disabilities in general education classes. Administrative support at the building and district level is important in the establishment of a system which allows for team planning and collaboration. Following are some ways that different districts have allowed for team planning time:

• Rotating permanent substitute: The substitute rotates among teachers throughout the day to allow for each team of general and special educators to plan. Even when this strategy is utilized, general education teachers in Illinois have expressed concern with the amount of time it takes to prepare for a substitute. One district in Illinois developed a creative solution to this dilemma. They trained all the permanent rotating substitutes to teach study skills to the students. The teachers, then, on those days when the rotating substitute(s) was in the building, could attend the planning meeting and not have to worry about lesson plans for the class they were leaving. This strategy could work with any course of study being taught by substitutes on a weekly basis.
• Coordination of the "master planning schedule." In this instance, the special education teacher's planning time is coordinated with the master schedule for grade level teacher planning times. This is particularly useful in instances where special education teachers are assigned to work with specific grade levels, rather than spread across all grade levels. Planning for students with disabilities can be done during a portion of the regularly scheduled grade level planning.
• Before/after school planning: In these instances, teachers may receive compensation for planning before/after school. Compensation might include a stipend, the ability to leave early/arrive late on another day, etc.
• Early dismissal one or two times per month: In this instance, five minutes per class is subtracted from each class period for one day and all students are dismissed early so that teachers have time for instructional planning. In the initial efforts to educate children with disabilities in general education, a portion of this time may be identified to specifically plan for these students, however, as team members become more familiar with and skilled at determining support and adaptation needs, schools have found that planning for students with disabilities becomes a more "natural" part of the overall instructional planning process for all students.

Various teams have indicated that educating all students together, like any innovation, requires more time to be spent in the initial stages of implementation. As professionals gain experience and confidence in their roles, knowledge about students, and become more proficient in using strategies for making adaptations and providing supports, less planning time is required. Particularly when planning time is limited, it is often helpful for special education teachers to have copies of the lesson plans in advance.

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How can the general education teacher deal with the needs of the student with challenging behavior and still deal with the other students?

Successful educators are telling us that the same effective instructional methods and strategies for adaptation and supports that are used with students who have labels of cognitive disabilities and learning disabilities are also used when students with labels of behavior disabilities are educated in general education classrooms. In addition, the general education teacher should have the opportunity to consult with the special education teacher (and counselor, psychologist, social worker, etc., if the student receives these services) on a regular basis. The purpose of the consultation should be to discuss effective instructional strategies, specific adaptations and/or modifications as determined by the ecological inventory strategy, behavior management strategies, social interaction strategies, and so on.

There may be a need for direct support from the aforementioned service personnel regarding any of the above strategies. The direct support should be delivered in the classroom setting. In some instances, instruction in the community may be a component of the students' educational program, and that instruction could be provided by one or more of the aforementioned service personnel.

Brendtro, Brokenleg, and Van Bockern (1990) write that:

Adults who work with youth have been aware of the awesome power of relationships. This was a dominant theme of the early writings in education, counseling and youth work. However, as professional literature became more scientifically oriented, relationships were increasingly ignored. Now there are signs of a renewal of interest in the synergistic power of human relationships.

Research shows that the quality of human relationships in schools and youth service programs may be more influential than the specific techniques or interventions employed. Teachers with widely divergent instructional styles can be successful if they develop a positive classroom climate. Counselors trained in different methodologies succeed or fail to a large extent based on the quality of rapport they build with clients. Behavior modification systems that work well for some adults can be sabotaged by others who cannot build a tone of positive relationships.

Most adults who work with youth have a desire to build positive relationships. They know that if they are liked and respected by their pupils, their days will be less frenzied and more productive. More than one student teacher or novice youth worker have heaved great sighs of relief when they've realized that they can "get along" with youth. (p.58)

Brendtro, et al., cite the following 10 concepts that are essential to building relationships with children and youth who are difficult:

1. Relationship is an Action, not a Feeling.
2. Crisis is Opportunity.
3. Loving the Unlovable.
4. Disengaging from the Conflict Cycle.
5. Earning the Trust of Youth.
6. Relationship Building is an Endurance Event.
7. Conducting Therapy on the Hoof.
8. Respect Begets Respect
9. Teaching Joy.
10. The Invitation to Belong. (pp. 62-68)

The authors make a case that brain-friendly learning is: pattern-making, non-threatening, experiential, and social.

Finally, Brendtro, et al., identify characteristics of environments that support behaviorally difficult youngsters:

1. Experiencing belonging in a supportive community, rather than being lost in a depersonalized bureaucracy.
2. Meeting one's needs for mastery, rather than enduring inflexible systems designed for the convenience of adults.
3. Involving youth in determining their own future, while recognizing society's need to control harmful behavior.
4. Expecting youth to be care givers, not just helpless recipients overly dependent on the care of adults. (pp. 2-3)

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How will related services be provided when education is inclusive?
How do you insure students receive the same services with education which is inclusive?
How do you accommodate physical adaptations in a general education setting?

Even before the advent of education which is inclusive, many districts were moving toward a transdisciplinary model of related services delivery. This model is often practiced in inclusive settings as well. Traditional therapy services have typically been provided in a manner isolated from other therapy services and from the classroom. The focus is was generally on the students' deficit skills. On the other hand, transdisciplinary services are delivered with regard to the "whole" student and to the educational activities in which s/he participates. This allows for a focus on the student's strengths that can be used as "building blocks" for addressing areas of need.

Successful practice tells us that in a transdisciplinary model, all therapists, teachers, paraeducators, and others who work with the student collaborate on mutual goals that are determined for that individual student and embedded within the student's educational goals. All team members train each other in their specific areas of expertise and receive training from others. In such a model, it is possible for a child's speech and language goals to be carried out all day long by each person who works with the child instead of three times a week for twenty minutes as was done in traditional therapy designs. When fully instituted, the transdisciplinary model allows for the implementation of all therapy goals throughout the school day rather than isolated sessions. Additionally, the student does not miss out on the educational activities taking place in the classroom when the transdisciplinary model is utilized.

Team members should plan to work with the child in the classroom during times that correspond to their particular areas of expertise. Speech and language therapists can be the facilitator of one of the centers in a classroom using learning centers, as this activity offers many opportunities for communication/language. Occupational therapists can schedule to be with the student during handwriting activities or computer activities, if these are areas requiring services. Physical therapists can work with the student during natural transitions from the wheelchair to the prone stander. If transitions between activities are particularly challenging for a child with a behavior disability, the psychologist would want to be present at these times. The social worker/counselor might want to see the student when there are opportunities to interact with other children and assist in facilitating these interactions, if needed. Obviously, there are times when individual counseling may be needed - the transdisciplinary model would not preclude this from occurring. These are just a few examples of strategies for providing service in an integrated fashion.

Occasionally, concerns have arisen regarding the storage of equipment for students who need physical adaptations. While it is true that some equipment can be bulky and take up space, not all students require such equipment. When such equipment is needed by an individual child, there are considerations to be made regarding the storage of the equipment.

Since positioning should not be an activity in and of itself, students should not be positioned for just the sake of being in a different position. Students should be positioned to facilitate their participation in the educational activity at hand. Therefore, if a student needs to be in a standing position for physical education, the prone stander could be stored in the equipment room of the gym. Likewise, if the kindergarten class sits on the floor for circle time, the child's corner chair could be located in that section of the room as s/he could use his/her wheelchair when the children are seated at table. If the side-lyer is the best position for the student when looking at books (and in reaching out to turn pages), then the side-lyer could be kept in the library.

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What transportation needs are created by education which is inclusive?

Actually, successful districts report that many of their transportation needs are solved by education which is inclusive. In the traditional structure of special education programs, many (perhaps most) students are bused away from their home schools to schools in other neighborhoods and in other districts. When students are included in their home schools, there is much less money and time spent in transportation. Students with disabilities can ride the same buses as their peers who don't have disabilities. Most districts committed to transporting students together have found ways to schedule various bus routes to accommodate those students who need accessible transportation. It is not necessary that every bus be accessible, but it is necessary that the children who need accessible buses be able to ride the same buses as other students in the neighborhood who attend the same school. Additionally, as students with disabilities are educated inclusively in their home schools, they are choosing, and their parents are supporting their choice, to "walk" or "wheel" to school with their brothers and sisters, classmates, and friends who don't have disabilities.

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Will education which is inclusive affect services in park districts?

Inclusion in park district programs is increasingly becoming an issue for Illinois parents of children with disabilities. After becoming inclusive members of their schools, it is common for children with disabilities and their families to want to be inclusive members of their communities as well. Parents of children with disabilities, and the children themselves, often want the child to participate in the same park district activities as classmates and friends rather than those activities conducted exclusively for people with disabilities. Some communities and park districts have made a commitment to provide support services for people with disabilities in the activities available to the general population.

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Will education which is inclusive lead to changes in or the elimination of the Individualized Education Program (IEP)?
How can the IEP goals and objectives be met?

Our experience with many successful schools in Illinois which are inclusive teaches us that the elimination of the IEP is absolutely not the case. IEPs are required by federal law - they will not be eliminated by inclusion. In fact, they remain as important in settings which are inclusive as they would in another setting. Some school districts, nation-wide, are heading toward IEPs for all children. Under IDEA '97 The IEP must assist the individual student to access and education curriculum and school activities.

IEP goals and objectives can be met in settings which are inclusive. One problem associated with this is that special education has developed over time into a "place"and a "curriculum" that is different from general education. IEP goals and objectives have been developed based on the special education curriculum in the special education classroom. Our view of Under IDEA '97 special education is changing to be thought of as and must change to a "service" instead of a "curriculum" and a "place." Therefore, IEP goals and objectives would be developed based on the individual student's educational needs to assure access to and progress in the general education curriculum in the age-appropriate general education classroom). The services in the IEP pertain to the supports and adaptations the student needs to meet these goals and objectives in that setting. These services are provided by the various team members.

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What does an Individualized Education Program (IEP) look like when education is inclusive?

Like the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), the Individualized Education Program (IEP) is one of the main tenants of the IDEA '97. The IEP annually guides the student's team as they provide educational support and services. IEP teams that are successful at including students with varying disabilities have taught us that once students are included, the teams' visions of students broaden and become farther reaching. Expressions of these visions in the IEP reflect the supports, aids, and services needed to be successful in an inclusive classroom and school. Based on very specific wording in IDEA '97 supports, services and aid(e)s should be addressed that provide the student with successful access to the general education curriculum, activities, school and classroom(s). In the individual building that is inclusive, IEP team members begin the IEP process considering the building's grade-level learning goals and objectives that can be accomplished by the student without supports and aid(e)s and then with supports and aid(e)s.

Needs for staff development and collaboration time for teachers and other personnel should also be on the IEP under "other considerations." Some students may have physical or sensory needs requiring goals and objectives that allow them increasing independence in accessing the general education curriculum activities, school and classroom(s).

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Is it appropriate to deliver nursing procedures in a general education classroom? What about the needs of children who are mentally fragile?

These are tough questions and ones that many educators worry about. As with many situations, "appropriateness" translates to treating the student with dignity and respect. If the child's dignity is maintained, then the "nursing" procedure may be "appropriate" for a general education classroom. Also, we may need to re-evaluate our views regarding what constitutes a "nursing" procedure. There are children who receive gastro-intestinal tube feedings in the general education classroom/lunchroom because that's when and where other children are eating. The procedure has been performed by any number of trained personnel - general or special education teachers, support personnel, or classrooms assistants. In such situations, the child's dignity was maintained and the other children were not in any way affected negatively. (The procedure was explained to them and they were allowed to watch and ask questions the first few times).

Obviously, there are some procedures where the individual student will need privacy, such as for catheterization. Also, some children may prefer to leave the room and go to a private place for trachea suctioning.

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