In the past, students were pulled out of class for special services, which teachers found disruptive for them. Now, teachers provide in-classroom support. Each grade level also has a special education aide who can help. If in-class help isn't enough, students can be taken to a room set aside for that purpose. After school, both general and special education teachers in the upper grades are available for an hour of tutoring.
Teachers have to have time to plan and talk.
Believe it or not, we really need more time. Shelley points to continually rising test scores as evidence that inclusion is working at Darwin. In 1997, the year the program was implemented and special education students were included in test score reports, the percentage jumped to 23. By 1999, it was 31. Math scores followed a similar pattern, rising from 15 percent at or above norms in 1996 to 37 percent in 1999.