What Is Inclusion? Inclusion and Preschool Part 1

Inclusion is so much more than a word — it’s a daily practice and a dream, and it’s what we as parents want for our kids when they go out into the world (and for society as a whole). It’s also the backbone of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act: that children with disabilities should be educated with their nondisabled peers to the maximum extent possible. Research shows that children with and without disabilities perform better academically, socially, and generally when participating in inclusive classrooms, and that children who have gone to school with non-disabled peers from preschool through 12th grade have better post-secondary outcomes than those who are in segregated classrooms or schools. And the earlier inclusion starts, the better. So what does inclusion look like in practice? How can you know if a school that claims to be inclusive really is?

Dr. Mary Falvey, a national authority on inclusive education for students, hosted a three-part webinar series about the importance of inclusion for preschoolers with disabilities. She explains what inclusion is (and what it isn’t), what it looks like in practice, how to ensure that assessments are meaningful, ways that parents can advocate for inclusion, and more. (HINT: You may want to earmark a few of her very quotable points to use at your next IEP meeting.) Dr. Falvey is professor emerita of special education at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), where she taught and provided leadership for more than 38 years while working with schools and districts to create inclusive educational programs. We’ll be sharing highlights from each of the three parts of the series.

Inclusion is a human right — children learn from each other in important and significant ways. Inclusive education has been researched for more than 50 years, and research has shown that children with and without disabilities do better academically, socially, and generally in life when participating in inclusive classrooms, and that inclusive education should begin at a very early age. Research has shown that children who have gone to school with non-disabled peers from preschool through 12th grade have better post-secondary outcomes (employment and higher education) than those who are in segregated classrooms or schools.

People with disabilities are experiencing higher quality of life than they did in decades past, but this improvement is happening slowly. School desegregation of students with disabilities has been very slow, and when inclusion does happen, it often results in “dumping and hoping.” For example, a parent drops off their child at a “regular” preschool or general education classroom and hopes it goes well. This is not really inclusion. Inclusion is not just about moving the student into the gen ed setting, but moving the resources as well and individualizing the supports along the way.

Inclusion is celebrating diversity and individuality, and the needs of the whole community — it’s not an add-on or afterthought. It’s more than just a policy — it’s about providing for everybody. Teaching and learning are planned with all students in mind. Inclusive education does NOT promote lowering the standard of education for other children. It may mean that some students have additional accommodations or modifications to support them in the classroom.

Inclusive education is a bigotry repellent: kids learn to live together in a world that creates a better and safer place for us all. A happy extension of this fact is that children who learn together while being supported are less likely to fear judgment by others.

Check out this short video series about what inclusion is and why it's important.


The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) says that schools are required to provide a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment (LRE) that is appropriate for the individual student’s needs. LRE is not a place, but a principle that guides your child’s individual program.

It is not acceptable to segregate children and adults based on how they look, the language they speak, or how they learn. Just because a child learns more slowly than others or needs a sign language interpreter does not mean they have to be in a separate space from their nondisabled peers.

LRE also includes:

• Providing educational support such as teachers, therapists, or adaptive physical education. These resources are usually provided in segregated environments and need to be spread out.

• Providing social support. For example, we need to find ways for nonverbal children to interact with peers, such as tapping the shoulder of a friend to get their attention, or showing a picture of a toy they are interested in so that others in the classroom understand what they’re trying to communicate.

Inclusion is not a legal term and is not part of the law, but it is a philosophy about fully belonging to a community. We want to make sure that children with disabilities have the same access in schools as they do in the community.

Early childhood inclusion takes place inside the child’s home and in child care programs, community early education, Head Start programs, state and private preschools, and public schools.

Service delivery models include:

• Itinerant (direct service): A special education teacher or speech therapist works with the child directly
• Itinerant (collaborative): Staff works collaboratively for the child
• Team teaching/co-teaching: General education and special education teachers work together to meet the needs of the whole class
• Reverse mainstreaming: Inviting non-disabled kids to join the classroom
• Dual enrollment: Children spend half of the day in one program and half of the day in another program

Assessments are performed to screen for diagnosis and eligibility, for curriculum and program development, and for evaluation of instructional effectiveness ("Are we doing what we need to be doing?"). They are performed through direct testing (which provides the opportunity to respond to specific stimuli), observation in the child’s natural environment (natural conditions and settings with typical distractions and materials), and interviews with teachers, family, and staff.

Whatever assessment or test is used must have some purpose or meaning for the child. Assessments are a process (they are not done in one day), and they must use adequate instruments and procedures with validity and reliability. This is not found in many standardized tests across populations of children with disabilities.

Changes in assessments reflect changes in the field and in beliefs. Changes in definitions (such as intellectual disability) are not considered as much an issue or characteristic of a child as much as what is needed to support the child with this disability label. Parents, teachers, and educators must make sure that we provide what the child needs to be successful.

We must assume competence. If a child is unable to talk, we still give them the benefit of doubt that they understand. If we assume they cannot, we will never get anywhere.

IQ testing

Q tests may be inappropriately used to make decisions about services or the level of progress students are making. The old paradigm falsely assumes that students with intellectual disabilities do not know, never will, and have nothing to say. There is also an assumption that a child with ID lacks prerequisite skills to learn core academic curriculum, so they often spend their life learning these prerequisite skills and not the real curriculum.

Differences in learning are seen as opportunities for individualized intervention.

We measure student behavior to understand when and why learning is occurring or not, and to be accountable and understand the findings and implications of published research.

Document the occurrence and the variables for a behavior’s occurrence. Did the behavior occur because of the time of day? Was the light on or off? Is it because different materials were used?