Pullout Cons

I teach first grade at Lowe Elementary School; my class is made up of twenty-four very diverse seven year-olds; they come from all over the city of Louisville, from a variety of socio-economic situations. Each student brings a unique personality to our classroom community, and they all work hard to become “smarter and smarter” and to “go to college”. Thirteen students are boys and eleven are girls. Of these twenty-four students, three of them are English Language Learners. Additionally, eight students receive tier two interventions and two receive tier three interventions in reading. In math, five students are tier two and four are tier three. I also teach one student who receives ECE services for a developmental delay. Within my class there is a wide achievement gap.

There are many problems with today’s education, but one of the main problems would be the topic of inclusion vs. self-contained classroom. Many people have different opinions on this topic. For instance, some believe that disabled children should be separated from non-disabled children in classrooms, while others believe they should not be separated. There are many advantages and disadvantages to both sides of this situation. The views of both of these choices are completely opposite. On one side something may have a positive outcome, but on the other side, it may result in a negative outcome. Choosing which one has more positive outcomes for students is not the easiest choice, but it is a choice that has to be made in order for students

Graff starts out his work, hooking the audience, by saying what multiple students think about their school, that schools are making mistakes teaching us the things they do. Graff essentially calls out schools for the pickle that they have put their students in. Graff describes some curriculum, using Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution and Nuclear fission as examples of the mind-numbing topics that schools teach about. Graff then brings up topics, such as Cars, Dating, Fashion, Sports, TV, and Video Games, that many kids today enjoy talking about and discussing with one another. Graff emphasizes that despite the lack of “connection… established between any text or subject and the educational depth and weight of the discussion it can generate,” schools continue to assume that there is a connection (par. 3).

Author Sharon Cromwell states that she does not want to completely eradicate inclusion as whole, because to “oppose inclusion would seem to advocate exclusion.” One of Cromwell’s articles, called “Inclusion in the Classroom: Has it Gone Too Far?” grew in popularity since she wrote it in 1997 her paper was on the Education World website in 2004. In the article, she supports inclusion, but she opposes full inclusion. She fears that the acts of full inclusion will put a strain on all of the individuals involved. In her article, Cromwell states that many of the “major

Teaching students with exceptional abilities requires funding, training and planning. Being in a regular classroom with children from various cultures, ethnic backgrounds and intellectual ability help students learn how to work together toward a common goal: reduce discrimination and stereotyping people with physical and mental limitations. Instructional strategies that break the work down so everyone learns better can improve education as well as reduce cost. This is achieved by including special education students in environments that will allow them to develop normal social interactions as well as receive specific attention to their learning needs. ("What is Special Education”)

Over the course of this semester, I have had a valuable experience observing the children in the special services classroom at Coulter Grove Intermediate School in Maryville, Tennessee. During this observation, I did not only spend time observing the developmentally and physically disabled children that went to the school, but also their neurotypical peers that were put in the classroom as “peer buddies”. Peer buddies acted as friends to the disabled children in the classroom in order to expose the children to those with different abilities and challenges to them. The special services department covers the whole school, but I concentrated my attention on the children in the lower grades. These children were mainly white, but there was one young African-American girl. While the racial divide was uneven, the divide between the genders was around equal. Since the special services classrooms concentrated on children who needed more attention than children who were developing normally, there were more teachers than there is in a typical classroom. The number of teachers in the room varied throughout the day, but there were usually three or four in the classroom at any given time. I spent most of my time observing in the classroom, but also spent time in the cafeteria and playground, which opened me up to even more opportunities observing neurotypical children. In this final application paper, I will summarize my observations and analyze how exactly they match up to what we have

The necessity of education for students throughout the United States and the world continues to grow, making it necessary for teachers in all areas. Though most special education teachers work in public school settings, the need for teachers in residential areas or as tutors in homes or hospital settings still remains ("Teachers-Special Education"). Within the school setting, special educators can take on different roles. Their role may include supporting the general education teacher in the regular education classroom or they may offer resources in a special education setting. The term “inclusion” is often used for special education services offered by supports and accommodations in a regular education classroom with grade level curriculum. “Pull out” services are often in a special education classroom in smaller group settings with academics adjusted to meet their needs. The duties of a special education teacher often combine these responsibilities by determining what will best meet the needs of students.

Harry, B., & Klingner, J. K. (2006). Why are so many minority students in special education?: Understanding Race & Disability in Schools. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Inclusion, in the world of education, is an approach or teaching strategy that focuses on including students with disabilities in the general education setting. The goal of inclusion is to educate students who may struggle with a variety of disabilities. The views on inclusion differ. Some educators are very receptive to the ideals of inclusion and all that it in tells. “The teachers (a) had favorable views of the concept of inclusion; (b) differed in their efficacy in achieving successful inclusion, and (c) faced challenges in their inclusive practices” (Hodge, Ammah, Casebolt, LaMaster, Hersman, Samalot-Rivera, & Sato 2009, 402). Some educators believe that it takes away from student learning for the non-disabled student. Jana Kratochvílová states: teacher have to address the fundamental question: how to most effectively organize the learning process for a diverse community of pupils within the class and therefore he needs to think through the possibilities of internal differentiation in the organizational aspect” (Kratochvílová 2015, 640). It is true, not all students with disabilities can be included in a general education classroom successfully. The student’s placement may require reevaluation in order to help provide the student with the best opportunity to succeed. Reevaluating the staff and their level of understanding and education concerning inclusion may increase the changes for a student to be successful. The staff should not

The positive benefits that the teacher’s children might want to realized as a result of her beliefs are pull out were using methods that were used in a general education class. Se wanted to teach them to be able to learn what the other kids are learning in general education class. This teacher said, “ pull out the class as a club, a safe place where kids can escape, from the pressure they can experience the rest of the day.” To me, I feel like this is a good idea. When I was in elementary school and in middle school I was a part of the pull out system. By me getting pulled out it helped me understand the material and be bale to pass the test. Without the pullout system, I do not know where I will be today.

Students from one racial class are often discriminated in different fields of practice, especially in education. Notably, black students have been seen to suffer most based on the statistics from a survey such as that highlighted in Beratan (2008). The issue becomes critical when the group being discriminated has a special need, and the effect is that stigmatization occurs where the learners feel uncomfortable and end up not gaining from the education they are given. According to Hornby (2015), one of the key factors leading to the disproportional placement of black students in special education is the case of overrepresentation in gift and talent schools. This digest presents recommendations that can be used to eliminate disproportional placement and representation in special education.

The idea of children with disabilities, whether they be mild or severe has been a very controversial and misunderstood topic. In the past inclusion has brought about huge changes for not only the students, but also the parents and families of these children, and staff at schools. Teachers and education professionals were the first to really feel the wrath and intimidation of this dramatic shift in education. There were several different factors that were coming about that made it very difficult for schools and teachers, the unorganized mandates were strict and didn’t allow much time for change. “President Gerald Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EAHCA) into law in 1975. Since the original passage of the EAHCA, the law has been amended four times and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)” (Conroy, Yell, Katsiyannis, & Collins, 2010, para.1).

Many children have had learning disabilities for many years. Each year more and more of these children are being helped. Schools are working to improve their special education programs and to have all kinds of students work together in the same classroom. The practice of inclusion was started because educators felt that special needs students would achieve more in traditional classrooms with non-learning disabled students than they would in special education classes. However, research findings suggest that there really is no difference in academic achievement levels for special needs students when they are placed in regular classrooms.

For years children with special needs were ushered off to separate classes and schools. Children with special needs have the right to attend classes with their same aged peers in the same classroom with support. Students with special needs deserve the same opportunities they would have if circumstances were different. Inclusion gives those students with special needs the chance to be part of the community; able to form relationships outside of the family unit. All students benefit from inclusion; students with disabilities develop social skills and develop friendships while non-disabled students learn tolerance and acceptance.

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, students with disabilities should be placed in a “least restrictive environment.” One of the main ideas of this act was to improve the learning experiences of students with disabilities by giving them learning opportunities outside of a special education classroom. The number of students with disabilities being placed in their general education classrooms is increasing more and more each year. The U.S Department of Education’s 27th annual report to Congress on the implementation of The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2005) indicates that the number of students with disabilities in general education classrooms has risen to almost 50 percent. This is about a 17 percent increase from the 1997 U.S