This article explores the process by which children attending mainstream UK primary schools can achieve social inclusion. It presents the findings from a systematic literature review, followed by empirical research, exploring the concept of social inclusion with particular regard to the experiences of pupils identified with SEND. The article draws…

Many community colleges are unwelcoming to LGBTQ students and this chapter provides practical suggestions to community college leaders to develop a more inclusive campus culture.

This paper focuses on the impact of peer mediation as a strategy for promoting social inclusion in primary school settings. Peer mediation constituted one of the interventions in the UK Government-sponsored On Track programme and evaluative data from this project are reported. The paper reports on trends in bullying and anti-social behaviour in…

This factsheet describes a theater workshop in London, England, called Chicken Shed, in which children with and without disabilities or learning difficulties work together to produce performances for public audiences. The factsheet describes the members of the theater workshop, the group's philosophy, the opportunities it offers, the impact of…

This article describes the mainstreaming of 11 students (ages 16-19) with severe learning difficulties (who had previously attended a special school) into a comprehensive community school in the United Kingdom. It reports on the response of nondisabled students, the influence of school ethos and staff attitudes, and the need to prepare both…

The article describes the whole school approach to special education provision in British primary schools. Schools are encouraged to develop a policy document covering such aspects as general aims, staff roles, assessment and record keeping, curriculum, working with parents, staff development, and policy review. (DB)

This paper describes the integration of nine preschool children with blindness into a regular preschool program in Sweden. It focuses on the first introductory period; the children's strategies in orienting within the environment and exploring objects and toys; their participation in play; and their social interaction with sighted peers and…

Described are efforts to integrate special and regular elementary-level students from two separate but adjacent facilities. Three years after the special school's opening, observational data and questionnaires revealed almost total segregation. Subsequently, an intensive intervention program generated promising, short-term movement toward…

The compartmentalization of responsibilities to serve student needs has created agencies with their own demands and has dramatically increased costs of transportation, facilities, and management. The Ontario (Oregon) School district has reintegrated students closest to the norm and has devised a plan to return more severely disabled children to…

The central purpose of mainstreaming is to integrate handicapped students with nonhandicapped peers. It is the teacher's responsibility to foster positive and constructive interactions between handicapped students and their peers. Three ways of organizing constructive peer interaction are: (1) cooperation; (2) competition; and (3) an…

The article identifies two data collection procedures (participant observation and interviewing) employed in qualitative research and discusses how these procedures can be used to investigate emerging issues in supported education for students with severe disabilities. (DB)

A mother describes the decision-making and the process involved in mainstreaming her five-year-old hearing-impaired son into a mainstream kindergarten program. The parents considered input from other parents and the need to achieve true social integration in the mainstream setting. (DB)

To accommodate its moderately and severely handicapped students, the Saline (Michigan) Schools developed an inclusive community model requiring age-appropriate placement, integrated delivery of educational and related services, social integration, transition planning, community-based training, curricular expectations, systematic data-based…

Although children with moderate to significant disabilities participate in regular education, they often attend a school outside their own neighborhood, thereby limiting the effects of mainstreaming. The La Grange Area (Illinois) Department of Special Education has experimented with various learning strategies to facilitate inclusion and imparts…

Qualitative research methods were used to examine practices at an elementary school providing inclusive schooling for students with and without disabilities. Findings indicated that systems change occurred slowly, intentionally, and with a collaborative process of decision making which stressed development of policies, conditions, and supports…