Empirical study of inclusion and its impact on children with special need

Introduction

The question of what to do with special needs students has been in issue for a long time . Many different perspectives have been brought into this argument . Some believe that since the child 's needs are so much different than normal ' students the child must be placed in special classes so their can be educated properly . However , many question whether this avenue of thought is best for the student or the student 's best learning environment (Weitzel , 2004

Another perspective is to put special needs children in with the same

program he or she would normally be in had they not been labeled as special needs . When coupled with additional support services , many believe this model is a better way to education these children (Smietana , 2001 . This perspective is commonly called Inclusion (Schwartz , Odom Sandall , 2008 . There is also the concept of Full Inclusion which is the same as inclusion except a special needs child will join the regular classroom no matter how much support that child needs (Weitzel , 2004

Inclusion has come about as a result of several federal laws . The first , in 1958 , provided funds for training educators to work with mentally disabled children . More funding was added in 1965 with the passing of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (United Partners 2008 . However , anti-discrimination legislation that passed in 1973 that would not allow federal funding to go into any program against disabled people . As a result the Education for All Handicapped Children Act was passed two years later (United Partners , 2008 . That law was later renamed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA ) in 1990 (Smietana , 2001

IDEA brought forth the concept of teaching special needs children in their least restrictive environment (LRE . The idea is some students need more help than others in overcoming their individual special needs Consequently , grouping all special needs children into one program may help some students , but hurt others who do not need as much support . As a result the concept of LRE inclusion was born . If a student is to be taught under an LRE model , then in some instances a special needs child would be better suited to attend a regular class , with some special support , than to be placed in an entirely special needs curriculum (United Partners , 2008

Nevertheless , the concept and application on inclusion is constantly evolving . The debate of how to best educate special needs children still rages on 50 years after the first law was passed and it will continue (AAP et al , 2002 . The current debate is around inclusion itself and its effectiveness . Some believe it benefits the special needs student while others say it hurts the other students who do not need the extra support . This study will look into this debate and determine the impact of inclusion

Formal Statement of the Problem

How much impact do the policies of inclusion have on the education goals of special needs students ? Furthermore do the inclusion policies benefit the special needs students or ultimately hurt...