Is It An Inclusive School?

Kathleen M. Whitbread, Ph. D., Reprinted from The Inclusion Notebook, Summer 2000

This checklist includes areas often overlooked in evaluating an inclusive placement for a student.

In our travels to schools across the U.S., we have met “inclusion kids,” seen “reverse mainstream programs” and toured classrooms that are “just like the regular class.”

This checklist is intended to prevent some of the common pitfalls in creating truly inclusive school communities.

Belonging

Does the student:

Ride the same bus as classmates?

Appear in the class photo?

Go on field trips?

Have a cubby, coat hook, or locker in the same area as other students?

Receive a report card?

Attend assemblies and sports events?

Have recess with classmates and access to playground equipment?

Participate in classroom jobs?

Have friends, not just “helpers”?

Have the respect of teachers? Is the student spoken to in the same tone of voice used for same-age peers? Not talked about in their presence as if they weren’t there? Not talked about in front of other students?

Have lunch with peers?

Participate in school expos, fairs, field days?

Have clothing, school supplies and accessories that are age appropriate?

Have confidentiality of records? (Goals, checklist, data systems, etc. are not posted in view of others?)

Participate in the same classroom incentive programs as peers?

Have the same level of privacy as other students (for example, when using bathroom facilities)?

Access to a Quality Education

Does the student:

Begin and end activities on the same time schedule as classmates?

Have only as much adult intervention and assistance as necessary?

Get called on in class?

Have access to the entire school?

Attend school on the same school calendar and for the same hours as peers?

Have a desk, work area, and materials comparable to classmates?

Have access to academic instruction, not just socialization opportunities?

Attend a classroom that uses appropriate methods of teaching for heterogeneous groups?

Have an individualized educational program that reflects high expectations on the part of teachers and parents?

Have supportive services (OT, PT, Speech) infused into the general education curriculum whenever possible?

Have sufficient supports to succeed in a general education setting?

Attend a classroom where the prevalence of children with disabilities doesn’t exceed that which would naturally be found in the population?

Participate in assessments and testing with appropriate accommodations?

Belong to after school clubs?

Have the necessary support and technology to communicate with peers and adults?

Receive homework assignments comparable to classmates?

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