Audio Description: “On the screen is a slide
with a black background with white font reading
‘Why does special education lead to segregation
instead of inclusion?
By Anthony Workman’.”
Narration: “This was the question that I’ve
thought about, all the way back to when I
saw one of my classmates taken out during
the middle of a lesson.
But what really got me focused on the issue
was my brother and some of the treatment he
was given by other students when he had to
leave the classroom.
So what is the reasoning behind this?
The most prevalent issues I found in my research
were lack of funding, strict education standards,
and simply the overall view of disability.”
Audio Description: “On the screen now is
a graph, the title of the graph is IDEA Part
B Appropriation vs. Full Funding Estimate,
with billions of dollars on the y-axis going
up by 5, and fiscal year on the x-axis measuring
from 1995 to 2014.
There are two sets of bars for each year,
a yellow bar for Full Funding Estimate and
a purple bar for Part B Appropriation.
Each of the bars rise at a consistent raise
to 2003 and then the blue bar seems to plateau
while the yellow bar continues to rise.
There is a significant rise in the blue bar
in 2009 from ARRA Funding, but levels drop
the next year.”
Narration: “As I mentioned earlier, funding
is a large part of segregation.
With issues of accommodations being a leading
issue in the segregation conflict, many schools
cannot afford to pay for the needed materials
and setting to accommodate disabled students.
The graphic explained shows that although
there is a rising need for funding, there
has not been nearly enough in any recent time
period.
How can we create inclusion without funding
or appropriate resource allocation?”
Audio Description: “On the screen is a picture
of a stone sign with text reading ‘Waverly
founded 1829’.”
Narration: “Another major issue with adapting
inclusion into schools are the strict education
standards in place.
I interviewed a family friend and intervention
specialist, Melinda Rhoads, on her experience
with special education at Waverly City Schools,
my hometown school.
Waverly is located in Southern Ohio, in a
town of less than 5,000 people.
With closures of many manufacturing factories,
Waverly has taken a hit that created a lot
of poverty to the area.
Drugs and poor health conditions have created
a large disabled percentage relative to the
overall population.
In the 5th grade, 23 students out of 164 are
using special education resources.
Starting off I asked Mrs. Rhoads what her
views were on state testing.”
Audio Description: “Melinda Rhoads, a woman
with light blonde hair and glasses sits at
the desk.”
Melinda: “State testing, we have all these
students that we have identified and we have
put on an Individualized Education Plan.
We’ve taught them, and we’ve worked towards
their goals on the Individualized Education
Plan.
State testing time comes around and across
the board everyone is given the exact same
test.
How’s that fair?”
Audio Description: “On screen is a black
background with white text that says ‘How
do you picture an inclusive classroom and
what steps are you taking to make this happen?’”
Narration: “I continued my discussions with
Mrs. Rhoads on her thoughts about an inclusive
classroom, and felt refreshed at the idea
that she and others are making efforts for
inclusion and a greater “view” of disability.”
Audio Description: “Melinda Rhoads comes
back onto the screen.”
Melinda: “So inclusion in the classroom.
Um, my thought is when you walk into an inclusion
classroom, you should be able to walk in the
door and not necessarily be able to identify
who is on an IEP and who is a “regular ed”
kid.
Um, you should see either the general ed teacher
standing and teaching, the intervention specialist,
who is not an aide, walking around the classroom
helping all students, not necessarily just
the IEP kids.
In one of the classrooms I teach in with the
reading teacher, we co-teach.
And so in that class, you may see me, the
intervention specialist, leading the lesson
and her walking around helping all the students,
and vice versa.”
Narration: “Although Mrs. Rhoads shares
a great insight of how inclusion should be,
it’s not always the case.
In one research article, administrators are
shown to have supplemented qualified special
education specialists with underqualified
teachers due to lack of talent acquisition
and funding.
In many rural schools it is difficult to find
qualified individuals with the passion for
the thought of inclusion and a better special
education program.”
Audio Description: “On the screen is a black
background with white text reading ‘It’s
not a question of why, but how can we create
inclusion?’”
Narration: “I’ve described to you the
situation that many public school systems
are going through, and in rural systems, it’s
even worse.
We analyzed why there is segregation in these
environments, but how can we stop segregation
and create a classroom that’s universally
designed for all?”
