Special Education Inclusion -- Pros Term Paper

Meanwhile, paraprofessionals and special education facilitators are available in greater supply and provide considerable relief to the burdens placed upon dedicated fulltime special education professionals (Suter & Giangreco, 2009).

Whereas the traditional model of separate education for special-needs students requires that school systems rely on fulltime special educators and depends, necessarily, on their availability, that is not the case with inclusion programs. The inclusion of special-needs students within the regular curriculum allows special-needs services to be delivered by paraprofessionals instead of relying exclusively on dedicated special needs educators. Typically, special needs education paraprofessionals can deliver services to several special-needs students simultaneously instead of limiting the number of special-needs students to the same number of special needs educators available on a one-on-one basis (Suter & Giangreco, 2009)

Conclusion

It does not appear that any of the objections to the inclusion of special-needs students in the regular educational environment and curriculum stand up to objective analysis. Both special-needs students and regular-education students exhibit better learning, as measured by their respective test scores as a result of inclusion programs. Instead of exposing special-needs students to bullying or abuse on the part of their regular-education classmates, their inclusion appears to have exactly the opposite results. Both special-needs students and non-special-needs students report higher self-esteem, self-regard, and increased enjoyment of school when they are part of special-needs inclusion programs. In addition to these valuable benefits for all students, the inclusion concept also stretches more opportunities from the resources available, because it increases the work available for paraprofessionals while reducing the workload on the comparatively few dedicated fulltime special education professionals available to school systems.

References

Dupuis, B., Barclay, J.W., Holmes, S.D., Platt, M., Shaha, S.H., and Lewis, V.K.

(2007). "Does Inclusion Help Students: Perspectives from Regular Education and Students with Disabilities." National Association of Special Education Teachers.

Accessed online: http://www.naset.org/782.0.html

Edwards, G., Wattenberg, M., and Lineberry, R. (2009). Government in America: People,

Politics, and Policy. Longman: New York.

Mallory, B.L. And New, R.S. "Social Constructivist Theory and Principles of Inclusion:

Challenges for Early Childhood Special Education." Journal of Spec Education,

Vol. 28 (1994): 322-337.

Suter, J.C. And Giangreco, M.F. "Numbers That Count: Exploring Special Education

and…