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My school is just really beginning the inclusion process for middle school students.  I'm really frustrated with this, as many of the teachers are not only reluctant to work with these students, but act as if the students are burdening them and ruining their statistics.  Many are fearful because they haven't been trained in special education, but many or resentful because they only want the "normal" children in their rooms.  Another problem is that there isn't much support on the administrators end, and budget is of course a problem.  Teachers aren't trained, aids aren't properly trained, and it's once again created the tracking and grouping process.  The inclusion isn't being done right as these so called inclusion classes consist of 90% plus  of special education students.  Many of the classes contain the entire 15-1 group of kids, plus regular IEP kids, and 1 regular ed kid. 

I guess my question is:  How do I convince administration that teachers need more training, without stepping on any toes?   And that we need to take a long hard look at scheduling to make inlcusion meet IDEA regulations, and benefit the kids more. 

Speaking as a teacher who has worked for ten years in schools that are inclusion based, I can tell you that you are facing an uphill battle.  I am a 7th grade classroom teacher, and my classes typically have 6-8 students on IEP's, 1-2 ELL students, and 10-12 "regular ed" kids.  We have a significant amount of "push-in" support, with special education aides or teachers in our classroom.  We are also blessed to be in school system with significant numbers of student teachers, who help alleviate the burden.

So, to answer yor questions, I will say this.  More than training, teachers need support.  They need someone to help them find modified texts, create modified assignments, and write modified tests.  They need someone to sit with them and explain the difference between modifications and accomodations.  They need someone to show them, by modeling and and concrete data, that the techniques that work best for IEP students often help ALL students in a classroom.  

You also need to convince your administration that special education teachers need to "push-in" to classrooms as many periods a week as possible.  Students with IEP's often have unique needs that can not be met by one person without disrupting the entire class plan.  And, schedules need to be balanced.  When creating class lists, administrators should be encouraged to balance gender numbers, and to spread students will special needs (with those be IEP or ELL students) evenly among the sections.

If you want to make changes, you may have to volunteer to help implement them.  Offer to start early in constructing class lists and creating sections.  Recruit any classroom teachers who you think may be supportive to create some guidelines for aides in the classroom.  Encourage your administration to offer professional development in the area of inclusion during faculty meeting time.  

Most importantly, remember to stay positive and remind yourself that the wheels of change move slowly in institutions as large as schools. Just the fact that you're asking this question means you're helping your school move in the right direction!

I have been teaching special education for 22 years and spent 1 year as an instructional coach, so I've rolled with the changes. When I started with learning disabilities, I served as a therapist role. I had small groups of students (no more than 4) and gave direct instruction to their identified weakness(es). I didn't teach subject matter nor did I assign grades. That to me was the perfect way to serve these students. That being said, I can sense your frustration. Everyone is frustrated. I do agree that many new ways we are being trained and encouraged to teach (such as differentiated instruction) are re-packaged versions of grouping. From my experience, the students have spent many years having aquired dependent and learned helpness behaviors. No one is adequately trained to deal with this widespread push for total inclusion. However, to try to answer your question, I suggest that the administrators look at training for the teachers to adapt materials and to show teachers how to address products from all students that demonstrate how the students have met instructional standards. Take advantage of the co-teachers; make sure they are trained as well - both regular and special teachers. In a perfect world, the instructional coaches should be trained to take more of the load in modifying or asssiting teachers in adapting material. Or better yet, they could hire a special education coach to only work with teachers to help with the how and what to teach these students.

In reply to #1:Why do you consider community based instruction a good idea and what ages do you teach? I am a parent of a 12 year old with an IEP, and I am not in favor of weekly field trips for my son because I do not see the educational benefit in doing scout-like field trips as a substitute for academic work. What would you say to convince me otherwise?

This is not a community based question but it is dealing with special education students. My students who are 5th LD will be taking the  state writing assessment test in Feb. Help! I need strategies to teach them the process of writing a narrative essay.