Promoting Inclusion in Secondary Schools through Appreciative Inquiry

ABSTRACT Including students with disabilities fully in the general education curriculum has become accepted in elementary schools, but issues such as teacher collaboration, standardized testing, gaps in skill levels, and scheduling challenges continue to pose significant obstacles to full inclusion in middle schools and high school. This article describes an all day event at which 35 participants from a variety of settings, including higher education, school districts, the State Education Department, and technical support networks explored the question: "In order for inclusive adolescent education to be successful, what values, skills, and knowledge should teachers demonstrate? " Participants used a process of Appreciative Inquiry, a method of organizational development that uses past successes to create a vision of the future. The group discerned, social justice, passion, and courage for change as necessary values, and thought that listening and communication outweighed other skills. Adolescent development and research based practices in secondary schools were found to be the most necessary knowledge. THE CHALLENGES OF SECONDARY INCLUSION The introduction of the regular education initiative (REI) heralded the beginning of a movement to include students with disabilities in classrooms with their general education peers (Will, 1986). Since IDEA (1997) defined least restrictive environment and encouraged special education within the general education context, fewer students with special needs are educated in segregated settings, and more inclusive opportunities exist. At the middle school, junior high and high school levels, however, designing and implementing quality inclusion has proved challenging. Planning time, concerns about caseload, inadequate preparation, and meager professional development have loomed as barriers to complete access to the general education curriculum for students with disabilities (Coleman, 2000). Mastropieri and Scruggs (2001) have identified the complexity of schooling at the secondary level as a serious impediment to inclusion. Gaps in student skills are more pronounced in secondary schools which often employ "teacher centered" strategies for learning (Cole & McLesky, 1997). There are wide-ranging demands on time, particularly for students with disabilities given the need for learning various important skills (Cole & McLesky, 1 997). Also, "secondary- leve I teachers display a less positive attitude toward educational inclusion than do elementary teachers. " (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2001, p. 267) While pinpointing the skill of collaboration as critical for secondary special educators, Foley and Mundschenk (1997) identified the deficiencies in the general education skills set, among them, "the lack of necessary skills to adapt instruct! on. or to integrate specific strategies. " (p. 48) General Education teachers' knowledge and use of Universal Design for Learning, for example, can ensure greater access to the general education curriculum (Udvari-Solner, Villa, & Thousand, 2005). Although school-wide stories of success with inclusion exist (Cole & McLesky, 1997; Hunt, Staub, and Alwell, 1994; Luster & Durrett, 2003; Peetsma, Vergeer, Karsten, & Roeleveld, 2001), time, vision, leadership, strong professional development, and reshaping teacher attitudes remain powerful considerations. The ability to mentor new teachers remains a competency for all teachers, general and special educators, practicing inclusion (Voltz, 2001), but schools are faced with hiring professionals who may or may not be successful collaborators in co-teaching arrangements. In spite of these difficulties, many secondary educators create opportunities for inclusion for the children they serve. Co-teaching at the secondary level has developed into the preferred model for providing inclusion for students with disabilities (Keefe & Moore, 2004; Kloo & Zigmond, 2008). …