1. INCLUDE Strategy A plan for accommodating
students with Special Needs and
Culturally Diverse Backgrounds
in the general education classroom

2. INCLUDE Strategy
Based on two assumptions:
First, student performance is the result of interactions between students and the instructional environment

3. INCLUDE Strategy
Second, by analyzing students needs and demands of the classroom environment, teachers can make appropriate accommodations for students with special needs and culturally diverse backgrounds

4. INCLUDE Strategy Identify Note Check Look Use Decide Evaluate
Identify environmental, curricular, and instructional classroom demands
Note students learning strengths and needs
Check for potential areas of student success
Look for potential problem areas
Use information gathered to brainstorm instructional adaptations
Decide which accommodations to implement
Evaluate student progress

5. INCLUDE Strategy Step 1 Classroom Organization
Identify environmental, curricular, and instructional classroom demands.
Classroom Organization
Is your classroom organized and neat?
Do you have a system for gathering materials, working in groups?

6. Instructional Methods
INCLUDE Strategy Step 1
Identify
environmental, curricular, and instructional classroom demands.
Instructional Methods
Do you have a variety of ways to a teach lesson?
How might the instructional approach a teacher uses affect positively or negatively a student from a diverse background?

7. Academic Skills & Social-Emotional
INCLUDE Strategy Step 2
Note
student learning strength and weaknesses
Academic Skills & Social-Emotional
Do you have a copy of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP)?
Do you know how to modify the students curriculum and grades?
How can you identify a student’s academic strengths if the student’s first language is not English?
Classroom conduct
Interpersonal skills
Personal/Psychological adjustment
What are your expectations from students with special needs and diverse backgrounds?
How do you evaluate them?

8. INCLUDE Strategy Step 3 Check Academic & Social-Emotional
for Potential Areas of Student Success in both
Academic &
Social-Emotional
Check the strengths identified on the IEP
Look for strengths that are outside academics
How can you ensure that students have opportunities to demonstrate their abilities?

9. INCLUDE Strategy Step 4 Look for potential problem areas
Student Challenges
Including areas of the student’s life outside of school
Student learning needs are reviewed
Identify potential mismatches
If there are mismatches between classroom demands and student skills, how should these mismatches be prioritized?

10. INCLUDE Strategy Step 5 Use information to Brainstorm Adaptations
Bypass Strategies
Examples: Spell check ~ Calculator ~
Translation device
Which school staff members might be of most assistance in generating adaptations designed to accommodate the learning needs of students?
What are some bypass strategies that might help a student who is not proficient in English?

11. INCLUDE Strategy Step 5
Use information to Brainstorm Adaptations
Intensive instruction on basic skills and learning strategies
Who is responsible for providing intensive instruction in basic skills to students from special needs and diverse groups who need such assistance?

12. INCLUDE Strategy Step 6 Decide which accommodations to Implement
Select strategies that are age- appropriate, easily implemented, with demonstrated effectiveness
How can you balance a high expectation for students with a realistic understanding of their need for instructions adaptations?
Develop accommodations that work for your particular curriculum.

13. INCLUDE Strategy Step 7 Evaluate Student Progress
Strategy effectiveness tracked through grades; observations; analysis of student work; portfolios; assessments
What are appropriate standards against which to measure student progress?
What alternative approaches to traditional paper-and-pencil evaluation procedures might provide a more accurate measure of a student’s learning?

14. Check Your Understanding
—Working with a partner reread the Case Study read to you at the beginning of the period and discuss it with your partner.
Decide on plan of how you and your partner would follow the INCLUDE Strategy 7 steps
—For each step describe a plan of action.
You have the rest of the period to complete the assignment. If you need more time, finish tonight for homework.