a student’s sense of belonging, success, and increased self-determination versus embarrassment, frustration, shut downs, and often unwanted or counterproductive behaviors. The following list offers learner perspectives of being educated with students of all ability levels within inclusion classrooms.
• I feel like I belong” versus “I don’t know as much as the other kids”
• Everyone is doing something different” versus “I’m always being singled out”
• It’s OK not to know something” versus “If I ask questions, the other kids will think I’m stupid”
• We have a lot of teachers in the room who help us” versus “She or he teaches the kids who don’t get it”
• I like stretching my brain” versus “This work is way too hard”
• It’s fun working together” versus “I’m embarrassed to be part of small-group work”
• Different is OK” versus “Different is weird”
• Failure is not an option” versus “Failure is the only option”
Social-Emotional Learning, Positive Behavior Intervention and Support, and Restorative Practices
This section explores how social-emotional learning connects to positive behavioral interventions and inclusion classrooms. SEL has long-term positive effects across diverse geographic contexts and age groups. Teachers play a crucial role in promoting the positive social, emotional, and academic growth of their students (Bridgeland, Bruce, & Hariharan, 2013; Taylor, Oberle, Durlak, & Weissberg, 2017). Evidence-based practices (EBPs), with a continuum of strategies that reinforce and assess behavior, can reduce problem behaviors and increase student performance (Gage, 2015).
Figure 1.5 offers a visual explanation of the inclusion principles connecting social-emotional learning and academics. Please note not only its message (content) but also how the text is delivered (process). This proactive approach is a universally designed one that assists readers of differing levels by offering multiple representations or ways to engage with the text (for example, students who need help reading multisyllabic words, students who have different prior knowledge of vocabulary, and students who learn best with semi-abstract or visual representations rather than words alone).
Just as educators cannot assume students who enter their classrooms possess the same academic levels, they cannot assume that they have identical or appropriate social skills. They must help students learn not just academic content but also thinking and doing skills—social competencies—that will aid them throughout their lives (Winner & Crooke, 2019). Sometimes students with special needs are unaware of the impact their behavior has on their peers, or how their comments, body language, lack of experience, or inappropriate choices may isolate them and offend others. Just as learning academic content requires direct skill instruction, socialization often requires direct skill instruction for many students with disabilities. Accountability, accommodations, and data are not exclusive to academic content.
Source: © 2020 by Toby J. Karten. Used with permission.
Figure 1.5: Visual showing inclusion principles connecting social-emotional learning and academics.
Students with autism, learning, attention, or emotional and behavioral differences often have difficulties with social situations, which spill over into learning academic content. Teachers see these difficulties in a variety of interactions: playing at recess, working in cooperative groups, making eye contact with others, engaging in appropriate conversations, waiting turns, transitioning from one activity, subject, or class to the next, asking for help, exhibiting nonverbal cues, and more. Social interactions are a part of daily life and, therefore, are important both in and outside school. Reciprocating socially and handling stressful situations are significant skills, even though they do not appear on standardized tests with neatly bubbled responses.
Teachers should be aware of how students process social cues and what skills are necessary to improve their social competencies (Meadan & Monda-Amaya, 2008; Winner & Crooke, 2019). Social skills include showing empathy for others, being responsible, making appropriate decisions, exhibiting ethical behavior, and being able to handle a variety of situations and relationships (CASEL, n.d.; Herman & Collins, 2018). Emotional disturbance (ED) criteria do not identify some students who struggle with significant mental health concerns and have a history of trauma (Winder, 2015). According to IDEA (2017b), ED is a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a child’s educational performance (Individuals With Disabilities Improvement Act, 2017b).
• An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors
• An inability to build and maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers
• Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances
• A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression
• A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems that are inappropriate types of behavior under normal circumstances
If students are under-identified, then they are unable to receive the necessary social, emotional, and behavioral supports, with ambiguity in the definition and identification being challenged (Kauffman & Landrum, 2013). For example, school professionals gain information from parents, an evaluation of social history, statements from medical professionals, behavior rating scales, classroom observations, and assessments of educational needs to make ED decisions. However, sometimes this diagnosis is difficult since students may meet some but not all criteria, such as inappropriate behavior that is intermittent and not consistent over a long period of time (Wiley, Kauffman, & Plageman, 2014). In addition, how behavior adversely affects school performance and specific needs is not always communicated and understood. Sometimes families do not want their child to have an ED classification because of the associated stigma.
Positive behavior intervention and support (PBIS), or positive behavior support (PBS), includes proactive, schoolwide approaches that propagate a MTSS to replace unwanted interactions and reactions with appropriate social behavior (National Council on Disabilities, 2018). The teacher’s consistent delivery of instructional strategies encourages positive behaviors. The underlying premise is that every learner’s behavior is a communication or message that others need to understand and replace using positive approaches.
Restorative practices (or restorative justice) emphasizes the importance of positive relationships in the school community (Fronius, Persson, Guckenburg, Hurley, & Petrosino, 2016). These practices include collaborative reflections, value of voices, empowerment, and effective conversations to connect students to one another and their own inner voices. The goal of restorative practices is to build and repair connections. Teachers in inclusion classrooms often need to monitor and restore relationships for students (with and without IEPs) to minimize differences and maximize healthy, positive interactions.
Teachers must reinforce appropriate social behavior to improve students’ social, emotional, and behavioral deficits. Students often need additional attention (for example, attention from the teacher that recognizes them when they behave properly) to increase the frequency of that appropriate behavior (Gresham, Cook,
