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Still the questions get asked...does inclusion work? What makes effective inclusion? Will children get a better education? The research is clear to us.The human rights issue is even clearer. All children should be in mainstream schools and no more children should be placed in special schools.Yes there will be problems to solve if this dream comes true, but there are now anyway! Lets move on. Work on figuring it out. Its time to change! There is plenty of research if you need it.... Visiting Schools in Bologna, ItalyIn May 2010 a group of people from the Netherlands and Colin Newton and his son Louis from Inclusive Solutions the UK led by Trix Grooff travelled to Bologna, Italy and visited two middle schools, one 3-5 year old school (scuola maternal) and two primary schools, one of which was in Rimini, over the course of 3 days. Follow the link for impressions and comments based on the observations made and the interviews with staff across the schools. They are limited by the short period of time and by working through a second language but are still very interesting for anyone interested in approaches to inclusion across Europe.
InclusionCheck out this unequivocal quote in the TASH Journal Spring 2004 from Mary Falvey – Professor at California State University in LA: "Since (1977) hundreds of rigorous research studies have been undertaken to determine the effectiveness of integrating and including students with severe disabilities. As a result of a comprehensive review of the extant literature by myself and my colleagues, we were unable to identify even a single research article that that found that segregated service delivery models are more effective than integrated models for students with severe disabilities." Click here to read this great paper about the values of inclusion. Two ideal primers that will point you in the direction
of more in depth studies that have researched a wide range of
strands relating to educational inclusion. Gary Bunch and Angela Valeo 1997 Acceptance or rejection of inclusive education for all students is primarily a matter of attitude. There is no longer any argument that the inclusive approach cannot work, that teachers cannot undertake it without unfair stress, that the education of other students will be harmed, or that included ... Inclusive Schooling Practices: Pedagogical and Research FoundationsGail McGregor and R. Timm Vogelsberg 2000: A synthesis of the literature that informs best practices about inclusive schooling. This is really useful and will bring you speedily up to date with key research in the field Pub by Paul Brookes Co. Baltimore. Paul Brookes are the main US pubs on inclusion issues - worth getting their catalogue Also we really like anything that comes out of The Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire. Try; Restructuring High Schools for All Students - Taking Inclusion to the next leveled. by Cheryl Jorgensen 1998 also pub by Paul Brookes The Making of the Inclusive Schoolby Gary Thomas, David Walker, Julie Webb in 1997 This book provides what some would deem a 'balanced' UK perspective. This book can be located from the Amazon site. Resourcing Special Educational Needs and Reducing Reliance on StatementsThis issue causes school, LEAs and parents all kinds of headaches and if not done effectively can become a serious obstacle to inclusion. We are very interested in approaches to resourcing that do not rely on statements. We worked in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham and were involved in the development of the Mainstream Support Group system of resourcing that has reduced reliance on statements for resourcing in these two LEAs.This approach involved increasing the involvement and ownership of the process by school based staff. Such approaches support inclusion and increase trust.We offer training and development work based on these experiences. A recent research publication which shows the benefits of reducing reliance on statements can be downloaded here. Reducing reliance on Statements Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education:Segregation Trends and Statistics across Local Authorities Mark Vaughan OBE, Founder & Co-Director, CSIE said: 'All LEAs are working to the same laws and regulations, which call for inclusion of disabled pupils. It is time for the Government to take a firmer hand and get the higher segregating authorities to develop stronger inclusion policies. If Newham can do it with academic and social success, then so can every other authority.' Newham LEA, which has actively pursued a policy of inclusion in education for 21 years, placed 0.06% of its 0-19 year olds with statements in special schools and other segregated settings, while South Tyneside placed 1.46%. 'It is simply unfair and unjust for families that moves towards inclusion have been so slow, and that these variations still exist 22 years after the law to include disabled pupils in mainstream education first came into force' The Inclusion CharterTen Reasons for Inclusion Inclusive education is a human right, its good education and it makes good social sense Human Rights
Good Education
Social Sense
Effective Classrooms and Schools Did you know that based on research the top 6 most effective instructional strategies in the classroom are as follows?
This was based on meta analysis, combining the results of numerous studies. Download Effective Classroom Instruction Grouping by Ability? No way does it work!Key Research Findings Organizing students in heterogeneous cooperative learning groups at least once a week has a significant effect on learning (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Low-ability students perform worse when grouped in homogeneous ability groups (Kulik & Kulik, 1991, 1997; Lou et al, 1996) We hate the label 'low ability' and find it meaningless in the face of Multiple Intelligences work or when viewing pupils from a 'Gifts' perspective. Yet grouping by ability is still a dominant approach in primary and secondary education across UK. Where is the research to support the efficacy of such activity? 'Students of low ability actually perform worse when they are placed in homogenous groups' Marzano, 2005. This American research is supported by that carried out by NFER in 1998 concluded ' there are no significant differences between streaming, setting and mixed ability teaching on pupil achievement'. Also they conclude that: 'within homogenous groups teachers are predisposed to make negative judgemental of low ability pupils which, in turn, negatively affects these pupils' self perceptions, levels of achievement and experience of schooling'. (Streaming, Setting and grouping by ability, NFER,1998 For more information on grouping go to Focus on Effectiveness or check out the American National Association of school Psychologist position on grouping by ability. |
Inclusion Recent Research 
Inclusion: What Young People Tell Us 