As special educators, we are well aware of the benefits of inclusion. We want our students to make friends, learn, and participate in as many school functions as possible. While the dream is lofty, reality is often….more complicated.
Many of my students participate in general education classes “with special education support.” This means I send one of my paras along to these classes to provide assistance. In order for inclusion to work effectively, both paras and general education teachers need to know what is expected of and for each student as well as the appropriate role of the paraprofessional in the room.
I am going to address two main pitfalls of this particular inclusion model and offer suggestions for how to avoid them, specifically by working with paraprofessionals to effect change.
PITFALL #1: Paras Do the Classwork for the Students
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this complaint from both parents and teachers.
“She just does all the work and turns in the assignment for the student so every grade is 100%!”
“The kids aren’t doing anything. The para does all the work.”
“I don’t even know why this student is in my class, he isn’t doing anything.”
The solution to this pitfall is complex and time consuming. I believe the benefits of improving inclusion to be well worth the effort, however.
Communicate the details of the IEP regarding inclusion with your paras.
If I send my paras to a general education science class with the general instructions to “help them out,” I am not equipping anyone for success. My paras need to know what accommodations are required for each student as well as if they are supposed to on a modified curriculum. Why did those planning the IEP choose for this student to be in an inclusion class? Was the purpose social skill acquisition? Are they capable of learning the major points of the curriculum? Do they just need specific supports in order to be able to participate successfully in general education? Every student has a story. Let your paras be a part of it. At the beginning of the school year, I give my paras a binder with the accommodations required for every one of the students they support in general education. I go over what they mean and how to do each one.
Give specific examples for supports and model how to provide them
I teach at the junior high level. Students at our school have daily “bellingers” or warm-up activities to do once they come into the room. I don’t always have access to these ahead of time, so my paras often have to modify on the fly. For some students, the questions need to be read aloud. Other students need to have fewer questions on their warm up in order to finish at the same time as the general education students. Still other students need to have a simplified question asked out loud. In some cases, the question is as simple as, “Point to the picture of the atom on this page.” Obviously, the general education teacher can (and should) be doing some of these things for the students instead of the para doing it all. Tell your paras what to do for each student for these routine tasks in the classroom.
Review IEP goals and objectives for the class
In my district, I am required to write goals and objectives for the inclusion classes. This gets a little tricky since I’m not actually the one teaching the class. I get teacher input when creating the goals for the class, but I am the one who has to report progress. If my paras are aware of the IEP goals for the class, they can be an extra set of eyes for me in the general education classroom. This information also helps them to prioritize questions on assignments to best conform to these goals.
PITFALL #2 : Paras Create a Class Within a Class
Listen, I totally understand why this happens and I have a lot of compassion for the paras attempting to provide support to 4 different students at the same time. Having all the students in the same group or sitting close to one another makes the job easier and less disruptive for the general education teacher. The solution to this includes discussions with the paras AND the general education teacher.
Encourage your paras to be advocates for a paradigm shift
I can tell your right now that my paras are sick of hearing me say, “The students belong to the general education teacher for this class, not us!” Of course we are providing support in the classroom, but the general education teacher IS the teacher for the student. The para is not. I am not the science or social studies teacher for this student. The first step toward changing this pitfall is to make paras aware of the ideal model. Special education students should be sitting next to their general education peers, not just put in one area of the room all together. When a general education teacher creates a new seating chart, the para is the first one to notice what happens to the students he or she supports. Over time, my paras have become more comfortable talking with teachers to suggest how to handle seating.
Many times, my paras handle situations regarding behavior or acadmics for the students they support. There are times this is necessary, but other times, the para could ask the general education teacher questions that reinforce the understanding that ultimately, the special education student is his or her responsibility. Questions such as, “which questions on this assignment do you consider most important for this student to complete?” remind teachers they are in charge of instruction, not the paras. My experience with general education teachers leads me to believe that most teachers are willing to work with special education students, but often feel intimidated and unsure of the best way to proceed. My paras and I both can help to alleviate this obstacle by giving specific examples of strategies to use with these students as well as modeling them in the class.
Give permission to your paras to help ALL students
I have done my share of providing inclusion support within general education classrooms. While there, I consider myself to be available to assist anyone in the room who needs help. This way, I am not broadcasting to the entire classroom who “my” students are. Just as I want the general education teacher to see every student in her room as her responsibility, I want every student to see me as a resource.
Ask your paras to look for partners
One science teacher I have worked with for the last couple of years excels at making partnerships within her class. She identifies those strong general education students who have a heart for helping others. She visits with these students privately to make sure they are willing to be helpers and then pairs them with special educations students. Paras are a good source of intel on students who show compassion and a willingness to work with a variety of peers and can suggest who might be a good peer partner within a class if the general education teacher is willing to do this.
A healthy inclusion model requires so many moving parts to be working smoothly simultaneously. Your paras can be a tremendous asset to the inclusion model with the right training and communication!
