Full Inclusion Classrooms

As our society is becoming more competitive, teachers are looking for the best ways to make sure each child succeeds in school. With the decline of pull out programs for students with exceptional needs (and increased funding for non-achieving students leading to decreased funding for gifted students), our classrooms are becoming more heterogeneous. By the middle school years, though the general trend is to not track students, students are essentially tracked by ability through their options of classes. What ends up happening is that the gifted students are moved out of the general education classroom to enter honors courses, and the special education students end up being placed in a classroom setting with the lower achieving students.

From my experience, when the special education students are in an inclusion setting with the support of an instructional assistant, the instructional assistant often ends up controlling the behavior of other students, and little attention is actually given to the accommodations of the special needs students. On the other end, when the gifted students are accelerated through the curriculum, they often fail in their honors courses because due to the demands of the curriculum, little time is actually devoted to study and social skills. On both ends of the spectrum, students with exceptional needs actually end up with their needs neglected.

Both Vygotsky and Bruner suggest cooperative learning as being essential to increase the knowledge base of the students, because being placed with highly capable students forces the child to take their learning to a higher level he or she might not have attempted before. But, how do we make sure that the gifted child, as well, has the opportunity to take their learning to the next level when they are constantly with students of lower ability? I believe, that we'll have a stronger classroom for all involved when we focus combining the special education and the gifted students together.

There is a lot of current research on the inclusion of special education students and the inclusion of gifted education students, but very little research on the inclusion of the two groups together. Most research generally suggests that students with learning disabilities (but not profoundly disabled) be included in the general education classroom as the "least restrictive environment." Gifted advocates tend to suggest that homogenous grouping of gifted students, with some interaction with the general education population is ideal to encourage socialization skills of the gifted, while providing a meaningful curriculum of the gifted students.

One extensive list of differentiation requirements for a gifted student, created by Sue Hovis says

"Gifted Students need excellent teachers who have goals that:
Help the student assess his/her sense of power and help a student learn to relate appropriately to adult authority, teachers who are willing to forego teaching which requires right/wrong answers all of the time and busy work, a curriculum with goals that encourage a tolerance for ambiguity, and an environment which encourages and helps develop the ability to wonder. " (Hovis)

I firmly believe, and research shows that special education students have the exact same needs as gifted students. The teachers just need to know how to get the information across to the students being taught, whether gifted or learning disabled. Both gifted students and learning disabled students have very similar characteristics: they have a different way of processing information than general education students. Therefore, with support, their needs can be met within the same classroom.

Strategies that can be used to reach Gifted Students and Learning Disabled Students in the same room:

Present options for assignments: with different abilities and interests in the classroom, having one required assignment limits everyone involved.

Maintain authority as the teacher: gifted students should never be used as the "classroom tutor." Though that will increase the ability of the lower ability students, it's exploitative to the gifted learner. Gifted students deserve access to invigorating curriculum and experiences.

Grade based on effort: Each student needs to be expected to work to his or her own ability and shouldn't be measured against one scale or against the whole class.

Cluster grouping of students is essential: Though heterogeneous grouping has been emphasized for several years now, research is pointing to increased success with homogeneous groups. This prevents the "bright" student in the group from being relied on to do all the work, and forces the lower functioning students to appoint a leader. If the school has a policy of cluster grouping, then the students will never feel like they're alone in their classroom because there will always people just like them (gifted or disabled, whichever the case may be) in the classroom.

Require oral defense as part of assessment. For the learning disabled student, this provides an alternate output, that may give a clearer indication of knowledge acquired, and for the gifted student, this requires more than just a quick run through of the assignment and requires the student to delve deeper according to how you challenge their defense.

Rethink options you hold as basic: don't make lectures required, or make them a choice (even put your lectures on tape so students can choose when to hear the lecture), homework might not be essential for someone who doesn't need extra practice....their time might be better suited to extended research on an interesting topic, ask the students what they want to do and how they want to learn, pretest before you begin chapters or units to see what really needs to be taught (you may not need to teach your usual units in the same way at all).

Resources for Further Exploration:

Heacox, D. (2002). Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom: How to reach and teach all learners, grades 3-12. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing.

Hovis, S. (2004). Differentiated curriculum for classes with gifted learners. Seattle: New Horizons for Learning.

Robinson, A. (2002). Differentiation for talented learners: What are some indicators? Understanding Our Gifted

Smutny, J.F. & von Fremd, S.E. (2004). Differentiating for the young child: Teaching strategies across the content areas (K-3). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Winebrenner, S. (2002). The gifted in mixed ability classrooms. Understanding Our Gifted

Renzulli, J. S., Gentry. M., & Reis, S. M. (2004). A time and place for authentic learning. Educational Leadership