Question

Describe and defend a strategy that positively enhances the relationships between all students within an inclusive classroom?

Answer 1

• One strategy that could positively enhance the relationship between students in an inclusive classroom would be to implement a positive behavior support system such as Positive BehavioralIntervention and Prevention (PBIS). PBIS is a program funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
• PBIS improves social, emotional andacademic outcomes for all students, including students with disabilities and students from underrepresented groups (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, n.d.). PBIS focuses on positive reinforcement of behaviors or interactions to increase a desired outcome.
• Teachers must demonstrate to all students in inclusion classes that success is measured not only by standardized tests and grades, but also by the ability to set and reach appropriately challenging goals. Planning these personalized goals is time-consuming, but teachers' efforts will be rewarded by students' improved confidence, attitudes and behavior, and academic achievement. When students participate in setting reasonably challenging goals, they are also practicing the executive functions of planning, time management, and prioritization.
• They not only feel good but also have greater potential to reach their goals. The goal-setting process also has the brain benefit of lowering students' affective filters and stimulating the dopamine reward system: the brain's release of the pleasure chemical dopamine during naturally rewarding experiences.
• Partial participation is a strategy that enables all students to follow a common curriculum at their own levels. This adaptation of the curriculum incorporates individual goals with appropriate levels of differentiated challenge within the same assignments that peers without LD perform. The assignments are age- and interest-appropriate but geared to each individual's level of ability at that time. For example, students whose faulty memory tracking slows their mastery of the multiplication tables may need to use calculators temporarily. Other students may initially need to write their notes about the new topic on outlines that are already partially filled in.
• This strategy keeps students motivated because they are stimulated by suitable challenge while working within their own comfort zones. This ongoing process does require dedicated student observation so that teachers can make needed adjustments in the “right amount” of challenge and offer useful, specific feedback.