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INCLUSION RESEARCH 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.... Check out this unequivocal quote in the most recent TASH Journal
Spring 2004 from Mary Falvey – Professor at California State
University in LA: If you need to read more research before you can change your team or organisation check out the following as a start: 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 Gail McGregor and R. Timm Vogelsberg 2000: Inclusive Schooling Practices Pedagogical and Research Foundations - 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
level ed. by Cheryl Check out....Dana Zohar's Quantum Society, Margaret Wheatley's Leadership and the new science, (The Dancing Wu Li Masters ), anything by John O'brien (see quote below) and Connie Lyle O'brien. The Making of the Inclusive School Restorative Justice Research 2007 As part of a forthcoming book 'Restorative Solutions' we can provide you here with a word document summary of current research in this area. Click here for document. This 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
Circles of Friends Research If you are interested in research on Circles of Friends you might wish to look at: Norah Frederickson and Jane Turner (2001) Circles of Support: Stirling Scotland. The Circles Project facilitates school based circles of support for disabled children. A circle usually consist of 6-8 volunteers from the child's class who agree to meet weekly with the child and an adult facilitator, to work together to increase the child's social opportunities and choices. Read the 2007 Full Review of this work. Interim Evaluation Results It was not possible or appropriate to formally evaluate every Circle with PLUS involvement. From a total of 25 Circles 19 contributed to this data, involving 10 focus children and 83 volunteers. The following data are the result of formal evaluations completed by Circle members, school staff (normally class teacher and playground supervisor) and parents or carers of focus children at the end of each block of 6 to 8 sessions. Evaluation forms were reviewed and improved during the first year of operation, so not all questions were asked of all participants. Focus Children
(True for all children, all Circles)
(True for all children, all Circles)
All Circle Members
Parents of Focus Children
Parents were given the opportunity to detail any problems that had arisen as a result of the Circle. No issues were reported although a desire for greater involvement out with school was expressed. School Staff
School staff were also given the opportunity to comment on any concerns they had regarding the impact of the Circle on the focus child. Final evaluations before PLUS withdrawal did not contain negative responses. Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education: Research and literature link Segregation Trends and Statistics across Local Authorities
'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' said Mark Vaughan. We totally endorse the Inclusion Charter Ten 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. 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. Listening to Young People
Nottingham City Council demonstrated its endorsement of inclusion through consultation and publication of an Inclusion Policy Statement in 1999. The statement explicitly adopts the social model of disability with its focus on the removal of barriers. The social model contrasts with the traditional medical model of disability which identifies the individual's impairment as creating a special problem in need of treatment. This 17 page book presents the views of some of the young people who attend schools in Nottingham. They were encouraged to comment on their experiences of the inclusion process to highlight good practice.
WHAT ARE Inclusive Solutions' RESEARCH INTERESTS? Our current research interests/developing themes include:
Snapshots of Possibility from around the UK.....
This highly visual book was researched and created in collaboration between Inclusive Solutions and the Alliance for Inclusive Education. Inclusive Education is based on a dream in which all children are given the safety to develop into whole human beings, able to think and learn, love and understand each other, be creative, feel empathy and compassion.
'In a time when we attend very much to the mechanisms and techniques for delivering curriculum, we need to keep remembering that teaching is first and foremost a matter of the development of human beings as moral actors, as citizens, as people who are going to live in, and need to make a difference to, a very diverse and very complex world. And that requires far more than simply the delivery of instruction as marked by test results. It's a matter of the heart as marked by the kind of relationships and the sense of community that develops over time in a school.' (John O'Brien). |
