According to the paper, inclusion takes mainstreaming a step further. Underlying inclusion is the philosophy that special-needs students can learn the same material as other students, only at a different pace and in different ways. In Massachusetts, some officials are concerned because special needs students drop out faster and fail the state exam in greater numbers than do other students. Ten schools in East Boston and Charlestown are part of the National Institute for urban School Improvement, a federal inclusion project, which focuses on training and assisting teachers who work in inclusion classrooms. Rules for writing and grading essays, called rubrics, have swept English classrooms throughout the country - from elementary through high school.
Rubrics are a teacher's set of rules for an assignment.
For example, a teacher may demand that students open with a topic sentence, provide three or more points, elaborate on the points in three paragraphs and end with a concluding sentence. The term rubric also may refer to a teacher's grading guide. Another teacher may tell students that to earn an A, they must write a 1,000-word paper that cites 10 sources and supports its theme with at least three arguments, but they will earn a C if the paper is 600 words with six sources and two arguments. According, to the paper, many teachers argue that rubrics are a far cry better than the old-fashioned method of assessing student writing that was more subjective. Diane Butler, an English teacher in South Carolina, said rubrics provide students and parents 'with a clear, visual demonstration of techniques to be mastered.