I love Inclusion but...

I love inclusion… but things are changing in the school systems.  It is becoming a challenge for teachers.  Teachers share that they struggle with classroom management and parents are concerned about the pace of instruction.  Many times, it’s the “least well prepared teachers who get the toughest students.”   Classes are starting to increase in number plus students with disabilities makes it more of a challenge.  If there were only more resources, more support, and more training; teachers might have a chance. The continuous struggle is in the minority populations, where teachers have less support, less resources, and bulk professional development which doesn’t help new teachers with individual needs.  Below are some of the Key findings: Air.org Key findings:

• The findings indicate that teachers in classrooms with a greater percentage of students with special needs do spend less time teaching.

• In classrooms in which 11-30% of students have special needs, teachers spend about 76% of their class time on teaching, compared to 81% in classrooms without any students with special needs, on average.

• The disparity is wider in many countries, including Singapore (77% vs. 60%), Japan (82% vs. 72%), and Sweden (87% vs. 77%).

• Teacher and school characteristics do not explain the variation in class time spent on teaching. Instead, the disparity in teaching time in inclusive and less inclusive classrooms is fully attenuated when accounting for classroom student characteristics, particularly the proportion of students with behavioral problems.