Squeaky Wheels

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Home : 2003 : June : 12

Squeaky Wheels
By MK

When I taught at a full inclusion school, students of varying abilities were weighted on caseloads. Typical students were 1s. Students in special ed (including gifted and 504) were counted as 1 1/2, 2, 2 1/2, or 3 depending
on their needs. We had a voice in how much they counted! Total caseloads were 18 - 22 for elementary depending on the grade. However, if you had a student who was a 1 1/2 and another who was a 3, you might only have 13 students in your room. It worked beautifully! No one had more than 2 or 3 students with disabilities EVER! The point of inclusion is for the students with disabilities

to learn from the typical students. That isn't going to happen if there are too many kids with disabilities in the class. Also, the more kids with disabilities, the harder it is to keep things going the way they should be in a regular ed classroom.