Got Any DCPS Inclusion Horror Stories ?

Well I do. The elementary school where I work in S.E. (it begins with a G) started 100% mandatory inclusion for ALL disabled students several weeks ago. Of course without the appropriate staffing or professional development and without regard to the needs of our students with disabilities. The powers that be have advised our staff that this directive has come from above where most of our half-wit directives seem to emanate. Go figure. Nothing in writing-just do it.

Obviously like many others, I 'm troubled by this. We have been advised that all our IEP's will be changed to reflect this new mandatory model. I guess because our school will no longer be able to accommodate mandated hours of specialized instruction. What I have surmised is that our two special education teachers will spend less time with their students than they did before because they will be required to go from classroom to classroom in what has been identified as a co-teaching model. The problem is that we already don't have adequate staffing to meet the needs of our students with disabilities. As I state many times here in the land of DCPS, our school system jumps from one educational bandwagon to another without regard to research based practices and often no forethought, planning, etc.

I would be interested to hear from any of you about what some of you are experiencing in your schools ? Any ideas about the new DCPS inclusion model ? Is it mandatory inclusion for all students where you are ? What do you need for inclusion to be successful at your school? What's on the horizon for next year ? (Posted by The Washington Teacher).