Inclusive education practices making a difference

Expanding program aims for top student performance

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For Rhonda Glyman, co-chair of the Nevada Partnership for Inclusive Education, bringing inclusive learning practices to Nevada started with a simple idea: helping her oldest son, a Green Valley High School student, to be as successful as possible in all his classes.

Glyman, who was recently appointed campus project director for the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Jewish College Preparatory School Hebrew Academy in Summerlin, said the oldest of her three sons has a learning disability, and that while he has above average intelligence and is very motivated, his learning style is very concentrated.

"It's hard for him to read between the lines, or to pick up subtleties or nuance in a classroom lesson," Glyman said. "He needs strategies in the classroom so he can succeed to his ability level."

Before her son started high school, Glyman started to consider methods of helping him.

"I couldn't go to school with him every day, but I wondered if UNLV could help," she said.

Glyman envisioned an undergraduate class in which students could learn about inclusive education practices and how to meet the needs of students with diverse learning styles in a regular classroom. Then those students would spend the majority of the semester in the core curriculum classrooms including math, science, English and social studies, helping all students in the class learn and perform to the best of their abilities.

A collaborative team from UNLV and the school district met and blessed the idea, then kicked off a pilot program called The Inclusion Partnership (TIP) at GVHS during the 2003-2004 school year. Twenty teachers from GVHS and 20 UNLV students opted to participate in the pilot program, during which the UNLV students were paired with a high school teacher and worked in the classroom under the teacher's direction. The participating Green Valley teachers also received advanced graduate level training in inclusive educational practices.

"An example of how this worked is that after the teacher taught the lesson, the UNLV student would meet with small groups of students in the classroom and would go from group to group making sure that students understood the lesson and answer any questions," Glyman said.

Because the aid would move among all of the groups and help all students, no student would feel singled out or stigmatized over a learning disability, and the entire class would have a chance at extra help, she said.

"We do focus on special needs students with this program, but overall, it's for all students," said Jeff Horn, principal of Green Valley High School. "We're trying to get away from separating students. There's a stigma if you're learning disabled, and we just want to incorporate school-wide that all people need help from time to time."

Last year, the program expanded to three schools in the Southeast region of the valley. For the upcoming 2005-2006 school year, the program will expand into seven schools and will include one in each of the four regions that didn't previously have a program.

Last year more than 50 teachers and 100 students were involved with the program. This year, about 140 teachers will be involved, along with 200 college students.

Glyman said this year students from Nevada State College and the Community College of Southern Nevada will be involved with the program, in addition to UNLV students.

The TIP project pilot was so successful in its first year that the school district asked Glyman to help lead a community-wide effort to teach inclusive educational approaches and philosophies, and the Nevada Partnership for Inclusive Education (PIE) and the Inclusive Schools Project were started.

"The vision is founded on America's promise that all students will have the opportunity to fulfill their potential," Glyman said.

In the first year 12 schools participated in the pilot program for ISP in 2003-2004. Last year 38 schools participated, and another 25 were added this year at all levels. Glyman said ISP is hoping to add 25 schools each year.

As part of ISP, each school gets increased resources for professional development related to inclusion practices, such as teacher training, and for planning and collaboration time, which the school district will bring to the schools through the student support services division.

Since Nevada PIE started a program at GVHS, Horn has also founded a collaborative team of teachers, parents, students, administrators and community members called Gator PIE. The group meets each month to talk about ways to improve student success and created a learning center on the Green Valley campus that offers personal or peer tutoring, as well as special learning materials and accommodations for students that may have a special need on a test.

"It's tough to measure the success of this program," Horn said. "There's just a feeling you get that kids are more successful, and you're helping the students to have the tools for success, and over time, you see improvements. But you can't measure it right away because it's slowly integrated. But hopefully in time we'll see it come out in students' grades."

Glyman said all of the inclusive learning programs are aimed at putting as many students as possible with average intelligence or higher into a regular environment with a modified lesson and see them become successful in any classroom.

She stressed the modified lessons would not be watered down.

"We're just making the lessons accessible," she said. "If you had a blind student in a class you wouldn't ask them to read a regular test. This is the same sort of thing.

"States on the East Coast have done programs like this before. It takes a while to get off the ground, but with these programs, we hope to see a lot more kids graduate and succeed."