Mainstreaming Special Needs Students

Mainstreamed students are part of the special education classroom. When they enter the regular

education classroom for certain subjects, this is considered mainstreaming. In comparison,

inclusion students are regular education classroom students who receive special education services.
In the past all of the special needs students were bussed to a few of the city’s schools,

but now the special needs students are going to
their neighborhood schools. The goals of this mainstreaming is to give benefits to both
special needs and non-special needs students. It “seeks to establish collaborative,
supportive and nurturing communities of learners that are based on giving all students the
services and accommodations they need to learn, as well as respecting and learning from
each other’s individual differences” (Maroney, 2003, 1).

My project is geared towards the teachers affected by these mainstreamed or
inclusive classrooms, both special education and regular education.
What the teachers believe is beneficial and detrimental about this new school set-up.
Therefore, my research question is: What do teachers
perceive is happening in the classrooms and the school as a whole as the
new mainstreaming program is beginning? are these beliefs
different for special education teachers and regular education teachers? What is the
environment like? Has it changed? Are the students responding to the new classroom
makeup?

The trend I have found is that special education teachers and regular education
teachers do not necessarily have the same opinions on mainstreaming. The teachers
different views on how mainstreaming helped the students, how the
administration was handling this implementation and how it should have been implemented.

Therefore, it can be said that special needs teachers tend to be more
critical towards the implementation of mainstreaming in their school. Each set of
teachers have different beliefs on how well inclusion is working and how it can be fixed.
Mainstreaming of students can work- it is just a matter of finding the right balance
between teachers and students.

By doing research on this topic, I hoped to provide more insights into the
challenges of mainstreaming, at a time when more and more schools are adopting to the
practice of mainstreaming.

It will help board of education
members decide on how to help teachers as well as students in making a smooth
transition from a regular classroom setting to an inclusive one.
Mainstreaming/Inclusion:

“An inclusive school is a place where everyone belongs, is accepted, supports,
and is supported by his or her peers and other members of the school community in the
course of having his or her educational needs met” (W. Stainback, 1990). The primary
focus of such classrooms is how to run a class that includes and meets the needs of all
students, whether they are children with disabilities, normal students or talented and
gifted students. This can be accomplished only through the close working and
cooperation of the special education teacher as well as the regular teacher, sometimes by
working in the same classroom. Through this collaboration of ideas and teaching
strategies, a school system should build a strong learning environment, one that provides
appropriate programs and educational opportunities for every student.
The movement to an inclusionary environment throughout the state is being
driven by federal law

There are some changes to a teacher’s classroom, but some concepts stay the
same. “Classroom teachers [regular teachers of inclusive settings] are expected to
continue to use the existing curriculum. However, they should implement more effective
delivery techniques and change instructional strategies, grouping practices, pacing, and
assessment” (King). At Corner Stone Elementary School this is sometimes done by
having the special education teacher and the regular teacher work together to help each
student understand the new material. This type of class is considered to be co-taught, the
special education teacher and the regular teacher work together, teaching and reviewing
the concepts of that subject in different ways. However, it does not always work as
nicely as it is laid out here. There are arguments and disagreements at times as well as
frustrations that occur because of this.