[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Special Education
By the year 2007, more than 40 percent of the U.S. population will have students with multiple disabilities that are educated in inclusive classrooms. If the students were evenly distributed across the nation's classrooms, a hypothetical class of 30 children would have 10 students from multiple disabilities groups. Although the United States traditionally has been a culturally and linguistically diverse nation, today's schools have an increased awareness of the need to acknowledge and address issues of disabilities. Children with special needs are increasingly represented in general education classrooms. Federal laws relating to children with disabilities, “such as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Public Law 94-142), specify that all students who have disabilities are entitled to a free, appropriate public education” (2003, Turnbull), regardless of skill levels or severity of disability, in the least restrictive environment possible.
Questions and answers relating to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 can help schools that are trying to conform to the requirements of this recent legislation. Federal law dovetails with attempts to incorporate disabled students in regular classrooms, from some type of mainstreaming which brings students with disabilities into regular classrooms for some classes to full inclusion. These efforts make students with disabilities more visible in every type of school setting, including the early education classroom.
Students with multiple disabilities who are educated in inclusive classrooms for their academic career are unsuccessful in the real world if schools are to meet the challenge of educating increased numbers of children with special needs, teachers must embrace instruction and curricula that engage and encourage all students. Children with disabilities indicates the importance of several interrelated educational strategies: “heterogeneous student grouping” (2005, Smith); developmentally appropriate practice; an inclusive curriculum that emphasizes children's strengths yet accommodates their needs; high expectations for all students; appropriate physical environment............
