Nineteen research investigations of inclusive educational programs, practices, and outcomes for students with severe disabilities are reviewed. The studies represent a broad diversity of questions, methodologies, and participants. The focus of each investigation fell into one of five categories: (a) parents' perceptions of the pursuit and impact of inclusive educational placement, (b) issues and practices in inclusive schools and classrooms, (c) the cost of inclusive educational placement, (d) educational achievement outcomes for students in inclusive classrooms, and (e) social relationships and friendships in inclusive settings. Six broad themes that emerged through triangulation across studies offer guidelines for research and practice in inclusive schools in the coming decade.
This program evaluation study was designed to investigate the effects of the placement of students with severe disabilities in general education versus special education classes. Sixteen elementary education programs in California participated. Eight represented the "full inclusion" model of integration, and eight represented the special class model. Two students were selectedfrom each program, with one ofthe students experiencing more disability and the other student experiencing less disability. A number ofkey program quality and student outcome variables were measured and, except for an analysis of the individualized education plans (IEPs) of participating students, all measures were based on observations ofstudents in their school programs. The data were analyzed within disability levels. The results indicated that there were differences for the students who were fully included and those who attended special education programs on measures of IEP quality and in the emphasis given to various curricular areas addressed by the educational objectives. In addition, there were differences in their levels of engagement in the activities of the school day, the type of activities in which they were engaged, the type and level of participation in integrated school environments, and the degree to which they initiated and engaged in social interactions with peers and adults.
This investigation analyzed the effectiveness of an intervention designed to facilitate the social inclusion of three students who experienced significant physical and intellectual challenges and, for two students, dual sensory impairments. The children were full-time members of two Jirst-grade and one fourth-grade classrooms. The individualized intervention package included three major components: (a) provision of ongoing information to classmates about the communication system, adaptive equipment, and educational activities of the students with disabilities in the context of naturally occurring interactions between the students and their classmates or during "club" meetings;(b) identification and utilization of various media that could serve as the basis for interactive exchanges between the focus students and others; and (c) ongoing facilitation by educational staff of social exchanges between students and their classmates through the establishment of a "buddy" system, arrangement of interactive activities across the day, and prompting and interpreting communicative exchanges when necessary. All aspects of intervention were implemented by educational staff including general education and inclusion support teachers, paraprofessionals, and related service personnel. A n analysis of the interactive patterns between the focus students and others indicated that when the intervention was fully implemented, there were increases in (a) reciprocal interactions with peers, (b) focus student-initiated interactions, and (c) focus student-initiated interactions that were comments (with no increase in requests or pro-53 tests). In addition, there were decreases in assistive interactions with paraprofessionals. The social validity of changes in interactive patterns between the focus students and their classmates was established through interviews with the students' friends and their teachers.
Article Descriptors communication instruction; pictorial communication;behavior chain interruption; motivation; research; students with severe disabilities Two adolescents with severe disabilities were taught pictorial communication skills using an interrupted behavior sequence strategy. The independent variable involved insertion of a typical operant instructional trial for teaching communication skills into the midst of ongoing predictable sequences of behaviors, such as making toast or washing dishes, rather than at the beginning of the task performance. Results indicated the strategy was effective, and are discussed in terms of motivational factors and in terms of potential ap plication of the strategy in community settings.
Three elementary-aged students with multiple severe disabilities acquired basic communication and motor skills within cooperative learning activities conducted in their general education classrooms. With gradually fading assistance from the instructor, the members without disabilities of the cooperative learning groups provided cues, prompts, and consequences to promote the learning of the member with disabilities. The results showed that the three students with disabilities not only independently demonstrated targeted basic skills within cooperative academic activities, but also generalized those skills during follow-up sessions to activities with other members of a newly formed cooperative learning group. In addition, tests ofachievement oftargeted academic objectives by the members without disabilities in their cooperative learning groups indicated that they performed as well as members of a control group within the classroom that did not include a child with severe disabilities and that members ofboth the target group and the control group significantly increased their knowledge in targeted academic areas.DESCRIPTORS: cooperative learning, inclusion, skill acquisition, peer facilitation When students with severe disabilities are included as full-time members of general education classrooms, they contribute to the diversity of ability levels and learning styles that exist in public school classrooms. School restructuring literature suggests significant reThis study is dedicated to Jessica Van Landingham who died the summer of 1993. Her family and many friends miss her deeply.
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