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The Importance Of Inclusion For Special Education

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According to Idol (2006) (p.77), “inclusion is when a student with special learning and/or behavioral needs is educated full time in the general education program. The student with special education needs is attending the general school program, enrolled in age-appropriate classes 100% of the school day” (Idol, 1997, p.4). By enforcing inclusion, special education students are brought out of isolation and placed back into the general education classroom among their peers. This prepares the students for the real world by teaching them to coexist with both their classmates and teachers. They are able to develop better social and cognitive skills needed for a productive lifestyle. General education teachers are provided with support in the inclusion of teaching special education students. Their support derives from collaborative teaching programs that consist of: consulting teacher services, cooperative teaching in the classroom, supportive resource programs, and instructional assistants (Idol, 2006) (p.78). The programs are set in place not only to assist the teacher but to ensure that the student is afforded the same educational opportunity as their counterparts. The consulting teacher is usually a special education teacher that works indirectly with the student by providing services in the teacher classroom. The student is able to sit in the classroom and follow the same assigned classwork plan but with the assistance of the consulting teacher. In some cases a cooperative

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