Title: Inclusive Education in Billings, Montana: A Prototype for Rural Schools.
Abstract: During the 1992-93 school year, Billings School District #2 implemented full inclusion of students with disabilities at Garfield Elementary. A Regular Education Initiative Committee of district administrators, teachers, board members, parents, community representatives, and Eastern Montana College faculty met on a regular basis to study the feasibility of including students with disabilities in regular education. Subcommittees researched attitudes and awareness, needs of students, needs of teachers, implementation issues, and impact on regular education. The committee recommended inclusion in its final report to the board of education. At Garfield Elementary, all students were placed in regular classrooms, and special education teachers began collaborating with regular educators in the regular settings. Other interested schools in the district implemented inclusion on a more limited basis. Achievement test data demonstrated consistent academic gains made by regular education students. Students' progress toward IEP goals and objectives demonstrated achievement of annual goals in all but one or two cases,/ and phenomenal 2to 3-year gains in several. Overall teacher attitudes tended to be neutral or slightly negative, while attitudes of teachers involved in inclusion were positive. Billings inclusion efforts are useful to rural administrators seeking guidelines for inclusion and to regular and special teachers seeking strategies for collaboration and instruction. (KS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-03-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 4
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