Overview of the Side Effects of Including Students with Learning Disabilities

Authors

  • Melody Tankersely
  • Bryan G. Cook

Abstract

 In this article, we summarize the findings from eight separate focus group studies, conducted with various stakeholders—special education teachers, general education teachers, administrators, school psychologist, students with learning disabilities, parents of students with learning disabilities, teacher educators, and higher education faculty members—regarding the unintended side effects of including students with learning disabilities. We identified four themes that cut across the studies’ findings: unexpected benefits of inclusion for students with learning disabilities, unexpected benefits of inclusion for focus group participants, unexpected detriments of inclusion for students with learning disabilities, and unexpected  detriments of inclusion for focus group participants. These themes and their implications for policy and practice are discussed.

Issue

Section

Articles