In the past, students with developmental or learning disabilities were separated in their own classroom for every hour of the school day. That was then, and in Spokane Public Schools, inclusive classrooms are now standard practice to better help students.
Inclusive classrooms don’t all look alike at each school, but the idea is the same: Bringing students in special education programs into general education classrooms to learn grade level material and age level social-emotional learning with their peers.
“Inclusion is a right. The students have a right to be in their general education classes with their peers. It creates an equitable education environment for everyone,” said Mary Douthitt, a resource teacher at Chase Middle School.
At Chase, inclusive classrooms help students achieve faster and more meaningful academic growth, which Douthitt has witnessed firsthand. She’s seen students make 1.3 years of growth in one school year after being given grade level curriculum in a general education classroom, compared to just a half a year of growth before inclusive classrooms were introduced.
“The research is pretty clear: If you are accessing your grade level material, you are going to make more progress,” Douthitt said.
It’s not as simple as placing a student receiving special education services in a general education classroom. Special education teachers can join the student in the classroom taught by a general education teacher. Schools provide other support as needed so students are best served. And not every student receiving special education services is in a general education classroom all day.
“We meet their needs,” Douthitt said. “Some students may be in co-taught classes all day, and some are in co-taught classes for some part of the day.”
At Balboa Elementary School, inclusive classrooms are the result of a team-based approach.
The process begins in the spring as schools prepare for the next school year. Schools analyze data for each student receiving special education services to figure out each student’s strengths. Administrators and teachers meet with families to determine the best way to serve the student.
“When we look at inclusion, it’s a real partnership,” said Balboa Principal Brenda Lollis.
Like middle school, elementary schools are seeing student progress. While subject material is different in elementary school, it’s the social-emotional learning that sees great progress, which bodes well as students progress through elementary school and enter middle school.
“The social piece is always a huge growth area,” said Holly Cartmell, a design instruction teacher at Balboa. “A lot of times at the start of the year, kids are unsure, they talk quietly, and teachers can’t hear them. By the end of the year, they’re typically very confident.”
Staff are intentional about the subject material, too, and ensure students are making gains in math, reading, and other subjects. And that students are participating just like their peers.
Students make this progress due to several factors—the greatest being welcomed in a general education classroom with their peers. Schools have created buddy systems, where classmates or even kids in older grades help the students receiving special education services, whether that’s accompanying them to school assemblies, eating lunch with them, or working with them in the classroom.
This has a ripple effect on the culture of the school. General education students are learning that there are students who need extra help, who are different from them. Students learn to embrace the abilities, perspectives, and experiences of those around them—so that each individual feels valued, respected, and connected.
“All of us have our struggles and all of us have our strengths, and we really instill that in our students,” Lollis said. “You might visually see someone with disability, but you might also not know when you see someone, so just be accepting of all.”
Inclusive classrooms have provided access for students who previously weren’t afforded as much. That’s a benefit to them, their classmates, their schools and the community.