Grouping all SPED together in Reg. Ed. Room

[aparmale]

I would like your professional opinions on the practice of grouping all SPED kids in one regular ed. classroom. I am teaching a first grade class of 18 students, 12 of which are SPED.....

[dolmansaxlil]

I guess it depends on the special ed needs of those kids. In our school, we have a Developmentally Disabled room for the really high needs kids (2 kids with Downs, one with CP, and 6 who are in the 1st %ile). The low %ile kids go to their age equivalent classrooms for phys ed and the arts.

Except for the kids with Downs and CP, these kids were in the regular classroom until at least grade 3. Some don't move over to DD until grade 6.

I teach Language to three classes of 32 kids each. In each of the classes, there is a wide range of abilities - from gifted to developmentally disabled. In one class, there are 12 identified kids, four of whom are at the 3rd %ile. In another, there are 14 identified kids, with 5 at the 3rd %ile and one at the 2nd %ile. In the third class, there are 16 identified kids. One is reading at a grade 2 level. Three are at the 2nd %ile. A bunch have other more specific learning disabilities.

It's tough, but with ability grouping, differentiated instruction, and some resource support, we make it work. None of my kids leave for Language, but there is a withdrawal program for math. I just make accommodations and modifications as necessary.

[SLP]

apermale,
It seems you might want to look into getting your spec ed teaching certification!

[bcasbcjs]

Why may I ask, did they put that many in your class?

[aparmale]

The SPED kids were all placed in one room to facilitate the scheduling of the SPED teacher for pull-outs. Let me be clear, this is NOT a practice that I believe to be educationally sound for all the children involved. I certainly don't think this follows "least restrictive environment". It certainly doesn't for the regular ed kids involved. I have 3 aides, and a full time counselor in my room - 5 adults total. It can be very chaotic at times. I get absolutely no communication from the SPED teacher. She occasionally pulls groups for 30 min, but for the most part they are all mine, all day long. The SPED teacher spends her time "case-managing" IEP's. The principal has indicated to me that he will continue this practice since he has seen such success from the kids. I have made it clear to him that the success has nothing to do with the SPED teacher involved...

[teacher333]

Our District has decided that no more than 5 special ed students can be in one room, even if it means having 2 inclusion classes. They figured out some sort of ratio of special ed to reg ed. Also, many parents then begin calling the school saying they do not want their reg ed kids in the inclusion class because they feel the curriculum is going to be "watered down" for their kids. We are just getting into the inclusion model for Sept. 2007 and currently have two 5th grade inclusion classes because we have 10 classified children.

[christiw]

I've just recently joined Teacher Forum. I am a special education teacher (SH/ED). Your question regarding mainstreaming is one raised by many of my reg ed friends. You have an impossible situation. How many aids do you have? I suspect whatever it is, it is not enough. Meeting the needs of ALL your students is to say the least, challenging.

Do these students have IEP's? If so, be really careful about staying in compliance or it can be a legal nightmare. Having cooperative parents (building good relationships with them) will help.

[dolmansaxlil]

LOL! 5 spec ed kids per class? This year, we would have needed to have 7 (at least!) grade 7&8 classrooms instead of the 3 we had. We just don't have that option. It really depends on your school population though, but wow...5??

[km693]

My understanding of inclusion is that students with disabilities should be included in general education classrooms to benefit from the learning environment and high expectations. It seems that in the class we are discussing some general education children have been included in a special education classroom (which is being called a gen. ed. and taught by a gen. ed. teacher). You're right, this does seem to counteract the idea of LRE and the goals of inclusion. I'm assuming that the teacher doesn't have tenure and doesn't want to rock the boat, but someone on staff should be able to advocate for the children and teacher involved. This seems to be a sneaky way around including these students in the general education curricula rather than genuinely trying to practice inclusion. Please let me know what happens in your room!

[km693]

I just looked at a thread called "reverse inclusion," it seems to be what you are talking about. They say they love it. Maybe you should post on that thread and see if they can help.

[MrsR]

My district was one of the first in the country to be a "full inclusion" district. We have no self-contained classrooms. From what I hear (this will be my first year teaching!) it has worked wonderfully! The special education teachers push-in and pull-out on a regular basis and work with 5 different classrooms.
It seems to me that your school should have placed the special ed. students in various classrooms, instead of just yours. That way they would have had a better learning environment and better peer-modeling.
Have you spoke to your special education teacher about not helping you with these students?

[joanna123]

I taught spec. ed for 16 years. I began in a classroom with 3rd and 4th grade students (-30 kids in each). I worked with all 60 kids, along with two other teachers. We all taught all kids. There was no, you take the sped kids....I taught in there all day long. NO PULLOUT. That was in 1983-87. Next, came a time where we pulled out kids from 8 different classrooms. They'd miss activities, other subjects, and things so that I could get in their reading or math....that wasn't so hot either.

Then, I found two super teachers who agreed to team teach with me. I spent half a day with the third grade teacher and half with a fourth grade classroom. I taught all sorts of subjects, and sure I did key in to make sure IEP goals were followed, etc. Yes, there was tremendous growth. All kids benefitted and they all thought I was a second teacher in the room. They didn't realize that there were special ed kids in there~until I had a visually impaired student. Even then, I spent a good portion of the day in that room. The principal eventually hired a para to be in room when I was in the other. I did this for about five or six years. We never had a problem. :rolleyes:

Now, after 23 years I teach third grade. I like having any kids---not even knowing if they have a "label". I feel like the spec ed teacher runs from class to class trying to meet everyone's needs. Is that any better? Some of the kids I get without labels end up being more of a challenge then some of the "spec. ed" kids. I loved it when she (TC) came in and we taught writing together! All my kids think she was their teacher---although she (and I did too) rarely spent time on paperwork during the school day. In fact we hardly ever even took planning time.:mad:

The pendulum swings. Do what you think is right for all kids. We spend way too much time on labels. Treat and teach all kids as though they are special and you won't have a problem! :)

[mopar]

You should look into the law for your state. Many states have a law stating what percentage of kids can have a disability to still be considered an inclusion class.

[Dazzler]

I'm just into week six of this academic year in a Scottish Primary School. We have a presumption of mainstreaming and inclusion, but resources and staffing are very poor. We have had a huge influx of children who do not speak English, a huge number of children on the Autistic Spectrum and many with social and behavioural problems. We are under-staffed and find it really difficult to get "Supply-teachers" when staff are off ill or on courses. Every day news bulletins and politicians announce yet more "educational initiatives and strategies" - all to be covered by "teachers". The paper-work and pupil behaviour is horrendous - and I just want to teach! Help!!