Leveling the Playing Field

Inez Liftig

In my three-plus decades of teaching science, I have watched special education evolve from separate classroom settings, to pull-out programs, to mainstreaming, to the current practice of full inclusion. Inclusion involves many more regular education teachers than did previous special education programs. School districts are scrambling to provide all teachers with the background information and skills necessary to make inclusion work: Professional development workshops are given by special education personnel, and teachers are required to read information from advocacy organizations, journals, and universities.

This issue of Science Scope offers a collection of practical instructional accommodation strategies for science teachers. On page 52 in “Special Lessons From Special Needs Students,” Kathy Costello outlines five valuable lessons she has learned about working with students with special needs. Kirstin Bittel shares her experiences for successful assessments with English language learners and special needs students in “Differentiated Assessment” on page 49. Delores Anderson details how she focuses the diversity of her urban classroom to build a positive learning community in her article on page 46, “Consistency + Diversity = Scientific Literacy.”

The intent of inclusion is for special education students to have learning experiences as similar as possible to those of typical students. This is achieved through accommodations that create a fair academic setting by eliminating communication and performance barriers that may hinder the success of special needs students. Accommodations are not intended to give special needs students an advantage but rather, are meant to compensate for their disabilities. After appropriate accommodations have been made, special needs students are expected to meet the same academic standards as other students.

For the past two years I have cotaught one of my science classes with the team special education teacher. (See Erin Peters’ “Thriving in the Co-Taught Classroom” on page 56 for information on this collaborative model.) Making inclusion work is much more difficult than it may appear. It requires intensive daily lesson planning, constant clear communication between teachers, and frequent monitoring of student progress. Implementing accommodations is almost always a tightrope balancing act—even with detailed IEPs and an excellent working relationship with the special education teacher. This is because there is a very fine line between modifying too much and modifying too little; between keeping the students responsible for adequate completion of their own work, and assuming their responsibilities for them; between holding the line on expectations, and excusing them from educational challenges.

Properly embracing the spirit of inclusion does not mean letting our compassion and nurturing tendencies overrule our desire to adhere to learning standards. We should not allow special needs students to shrink from full social and academic involvement in our classrooms. We should not lavish inflated grades on special education students to demonstrate our sympathy for their disabilities. We must still be realistic in our expectations and honest in our feedback about the quality of their work.

To borrow an analogy from sports, we must level the playing field so special needs students can get off the sidelines and into the game. And, after providing as much coaching and preparation as possible, we must be careful to remain on the sidelines ourselves once students have entered the game, and give them a chance to tackle lessons on their own. Full participation in their own education will engender a positive academic self-concept and produce in them the personal confidence they need to meet the challenges of regular education courses, goals that are at the core of the movement toward full inclusion.

Inez Liftig, Editor

P.S. I want to hear from you. What is your most memorable student success story? E-mail your replies to zenisci8@aol.com.

Resources

What is meant by accommodations—
www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis

Click here for PDF file.