 In 1973, a law was passed under the Rehabilitation Act that states no student with disabilities of any kind "shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" (U.S.). Special education programs are designed to keep special education students separate from those that meet general educational requirements and, therefore, are hindering their ability to reach their full potential. Students with disabilities have shown that they thrive in a system of classroom learning known as inclusion. Inclusion is the practice in which students identified as having learning disabilities enter the general education classroom and learn alongside those who are of general education requirements. Students of varied disabilities have been shown to improve while in inclusive classroom settings and even encourage improvements in those who do not have learning disabilities (Staub). This program is not only the solution for needed educational changes but for social reconstruction of the school system. If inclusion is implemented throughout the school system, money, time, and space can be saved and put towards a new learning and teaching style. Not only does inclusion help students with disabilities, but this program improves social, cognitive and behavioral problems of all students involved.

Discrimination, in many forms, has been a problem throughout society and has become a societal norm that is demanding attention. Discrimination of disabilities led to separated classrooms throughout school systems, claiming to be improving students' minds. Special education should be looked at as a form of discrimination throughout schools. Though special education is formed to specifically cater to the needs of those with disabilities, it is taking away all students' opportunities to learn social skills necessary for lifelong success. The 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was put into place by congress to ensure a "free appropriate education" for those who qualify as special needs students (Levesque). This act emphasizes the idea of special education students getting a personalized education. Though this can be a positive when it comes to special education as a whole, personalized education is not lost when these students are placed into inclusive classrooms. The institution of inclusion does not focus on the limitations of the students with special needs, but focuses on the strengths of all students, then building upon these found strengths (Levesque).

An alternative approach to separating special education students from those within general education classrooms can be found in most preschools. Nearly all preschool programs have special education children playing and learning alongside children of general education requirements. Studies have shown that preschool has tremendous positive effects academically, socially, and economically for children who participate in this mixed ability level environment (Barnett). What is peculiar about this system is throughout preschool children with disabilities are encouraged to work and play alongside these children without disabilities, getting the same benefits through the same source. However, once these children reach an age where they can enter the school system these children who once were side-by-side are now separated and placed into classrooms that are homogenous in nature. These classrooms send the wrong message to children of all abilities that segregation is necessary for success and progress.  

Inclusion is not a program designed to take focus away from general education students. Instead it is a program that is focused on bringing all types of students together and focusing on their success as individuals as well as the group as a whole. Many argue against inclusion for the simple reason that they believe inclusion will hinder the abilities of all involved. On the contrary, inclusion has been shown to improve the social skills, cognitive abilities, and even patience of not only the students but teachers and administrators as well. Several people argue that behavioral issues stemming from disabilities would hinder the learning experience of general education students as well as the abilities of these students to focus on their work and class lessons. In actuality, The IDEAL School & Academy of Manhattan, an all-inclusive K-10th grade school, noted that any student is equally likely to disrupt a classroom and disruptions are often not caused byF children with special needs. The reason inclusion is a system that works is all of the effort and specialization that is put into the training of the teachers and workers who work in inclusive classrooms. Schools that practice inclusion work closely with developmental specialists as well as anger management plans to optimize the learning environment for all involved. Parents of general education students have noted that there is no loss of education but a gain in skills such as getting a better view of how diverse the world is, social justice, good citizenship, patience, acceptance, and how to be a good person on top of their school lessons assigned each day (Modarressy-Tehrani). 

A common misconception surrounding inclusion is the notion that inclusive classrooms are simply general education classrooms with special education children added in. On the contrary, inclusion requires teacher and administrator training and a completely different classroom environment for its success. The IDEAL School & Academy of Manhattan has a very specific system that has been extremely successful since its establishment in 2005. A key concept shown through this school is class size and ratios. With each individual class being capped at eighteen children, six being special needs, it is easier for order and an optimal learning environment for all students. To work with these eighteen children, The IDEAL School & Academy employs two main teachers per classroom along with an assistant teacher and, if needed, one-on-one specialists. Not only is class environment different in inclusive schools, but the curriculum is also catered to these new types of classrooms. This school specifically practices a differentiated education system, meaning that each student, special education or not, has an individualized education plan that is catered to their specific learning styles and capabilities (Modarressy-Tehrani). For example, children with autism most often learn best visually. In inclusive classrooms, children with autism will typically have a specialist who works with them visually to support them throughout their education them to learn. Pictures are often shown to those with autism to allow them to understand what is being done or what the specialist wants the student to do (Dybvik). 

As of 2001, forty-seven percent of special education students in the United States spend eighty percent of their school day in a general education classroom. Just twelve years before that number was thirty one. In addition, the California Department of Developmental Services concluded that the rates of autistic births in California grew two hundred and seventy-three percent in the 1990's. Historically those who were considered to have this disability were sent to live in institutions, considered to be too difficult to deal with at home. As of the 2000-2001 school-year, almost one hundred thousand students in America's school system were diagnosed with autism (Dybvik).   

Some things leading to this increase in autism are increased awareness along with better diagnostic procedures (Dybvik). With the increasing amount of information of this specific disability, more studies have been done to better understand the best ways for education and societal exposure for these children. Through their method of inclusion, the founders of IDEAL School & Academy of Manhattan emphasize the concept of model learning, acknowledging that autistic children learn best from modeling the behavior of surrounding students (Modarressy-Tehrani). With this idea in mind, inclusive schooling is an extreme benefit for social and cognitive skills of autistic children as long as they have general education peers that they can model their behavior after.  

When it comes to analyzing the effects inclusion has on students within the classroom in academics, social and cognitive skills, inclusive practices have proved to be more effective than separated special education and general education classrooms. Studies have shown that when it comes to students with no learning disability, their reading, mathematics and language skills are not affected by the presence of students with emotional and behavioral disorders while students with these disorders show an improvement in test scores. This disproves the idea that special education students within integrated classrooms would distract the learning abilities of those of general education. Although grades might not be as affected by inclusion, these same studies have shown that inclusion has a positive impact on class participation, attention, attendance, and homework for all students. 

In addition when peer ratings are  used to assess the social status of children within inclusive classrooms compared to children taught in a strictly special education setting students who are born with learning disabilities and who are taught in a special education classroom seem to automatically have a lower social status than those born without disabilities (Banks). On the other hand, students with learning disabilities who are placed into inclusive classrooms are seen to have higher social status and are more accepted among peers, with it being noted that they more easily blend with their classmates (Banerji). Furthermore, inclusion is not a program that is solely based on school work. In many situations in inclusive classrooms, students and teachers do varied activities to build students social and interaction skills. Students with special needs are more inclined to interact with their peers during non-instructional times, such as recess or during academic times. Another part of inclusion is to develop students' decision making skills. Throughout different observations of successful inclusive classrooms, an emphasis was placed on allowing the students to make their own choices throughout the day such as academics, free time, behavior and objects such as toys and learning tools. Although this is not a main purpose of inclusion it is a skill that some teachers focus on every day (Kurth).

One of the largest concerns when it comes to the success of inclusive classrooms is teacher preparedness. If a teacher is not appropriately trained or does not have the proper help within the classroom, inclusion cannot be successful. Researchers studied different inclusive classrooms and have come up with a four-step process designed to be the appropriate facilitation of inclusion. These steps optimize the teacher experience and training to prepare them for an inclusive classroom setting along with working with students with special needs. The first step all schools must work towards is envisioning a goal. This step states that there must be common goals based on available resources within reach of each individual school in combination with gathered knowledge about inclusion and the extent to which inclusion should be implemented. Building off this, the second step states that once schools have established a goal, supportive programs need to be put in place in order to be successful. According to researcher T.J. Lewis, some of the most important supportive programs include:

strong leadership, collaborative teaming, well trained support staff, co-teaching strategies, staff and parent development activities, home-school partnerships, interagency collaboration, and a systematic reintegration process for students returning from separate placements (Muscott). 

This step states that if these support systems are successfully put into place, it will create an environment in which students may thrive. After these systems are put into place, a personal education plan must be created for each student in order to ensure their progress through inclusion. Since many students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) require specific instruction and intervention, this step was created to ensure that all students get the most they can out of their school's inclusive practices while not taking away focus from those students who do not have any type of disorder. Finally, the last step is a formal evaluation plan that each school needs to put into place to ensure that their system of inclusion is as successful as possible. No matter the initial success of an inclusive school, all schools need a system of evaluations and reviews to ensure the long-term success of the program (Muscott).

Further examining teachers within inclusive classrooms, there have been many studies on the opinions of teachers towards inclusion as a permanent solution within the school system. Many studies have shown that teachers who never had any experience working within inclusive classrooms are far more likely to be opposed to the idea of inclusion. However, those who had experience teaching or working with students in a classroom that practices inclusion were overwhelmingly in favor of the program (Avramidis). In a study conducted in 2015, eleven teachers were trained and placed into inclusive classrooms. After working with these students within an inclusive program, all of the teachers unanimously agreed that inclusive classrooms was beneficial to the progress of all students involved (Dev). In an analysis of twenty eight studies based on teacher's attitudes towards inclusion, two-thirds of the teachers that participated stated that they were in favor of the practice. However, the other one-third of the teachers stated that they did not have the time, resources or training to successfully run an inclusive classroom (Garrick). Teacher training has come to be a very important factor in determining the success of an inclusive classroom and, in turn, affects the success of the school as a whole.

In an article written to persuade against the idea of inclusion protesters were quoted as saying that inclusion focuses on students' inabilities while special education focuses on abilities and inclusion is an attempt at "a one-size-fits-all environment" (Jones). On the contrary, inclusion has the specific practice to focus on each student's abilities while building upon these to get the best results possible (Levesque). Some of those against inclusion argue that advocates for this program are simply trying to get special education students in general classrooms to close special education programs altogether and shut down any facilities specialized to work with these students. Los Angeles, California spends nearly one and a half billion dollars annually on special education programs (Jones). 

Inclusion has also been shown to be beneficial for those students with severe learning disabilities. Students who are considered to have extreme disabilities are paired with an aide who works with the student one-on-one. These students cannot be included as much as those with lower levels of disabilities, though they do show improvements when exposed to inclusive classrooms rather than being in exclusively special education settings (Staub). These students who are deemed to have severe disabilities are often part of what are called pullout programs that take them out of the general education classroom for a portion of the day to have one-on-one therapy and instruction. This program can often help children with the adjustment to new classroom settings while also improving their skills (Kurth).

There are many arguments against inclusion as a whole, however none of these arguments are a solid base to stop this progress that is going on throughout the school system. Although inclusion requires extra training and staffing, the system as a whole produces too many positive outcomes to ignore. Inclusion not only improves cognitive abilities and academic skills of those with special needs, but it teaches those with no learning disabilities important lessons such as patience and acceptance and teachers gain better experience working with a new variety of children. With the correct teacher training and social environment, inclusion is an extremely beneficial program that shows improvement in all students involved in tremendous ways.

 
