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To function successfully in a small group, students need to be able to communicate clearly on intellectual and emotional levels. Effective communicators: can explain their own ideas express their feelings in an open but non-threatening way listen carefully to others ask questions to clarify others’ ideas and emotions can sense how others feel based on their nonverbal communication will initiate conversations about group climate or process if they sense tensions brewing reflect on the activities and interactions of their group and encourage other group members to do so as well

To work together successfully, group members must demonstrate a sense of cohesion. Cohesion emerges as group members exhibit the following skills: Openness: Group members are willing to get to know one another, particularly those with different interests and backgrounds. They are open to new ideas, diverse viewpoints, and the variety of individuals present within the group. They listen to others and elicit their ideas. They know how to balance the need for cohesion within a group with the need for individual expression. Trust and self-disclosure: Group members trust one another enough to share their own ideas and feelings. A sense of mutual trust develops only to the extent that everyone is willing to self-disclose and be honest yet respectful. Trust also grows as group members demonstrate personal accountability for the tasks they have been assigned. Support: Group members demonstrate support for one another as they accomplish their goals. They exemplify a sense of team loyalty and both cheer on the group as a whole and help members who are experiencing difficulties. They view one another not as competitors (which is common within a typically individualistic educational system) but as collaborators. Respect: Group members communicate their opinions in a way that respects others, focusing on “What can we learn?” rather than “Who is to blame?” See constructive feedback in the process section for more details.

Decisions are made on the basis of student needs and not on labels and places. The general education classroom at the student’s enrolled grade level is the reference point for student-specific planning. Expectations are high. Instruction is based on the curriculum standards adopted by the school or state. There is not a separate curriculum. Individualized supports are available when needed.

I like to think that effective inclusion is about names, the uniqueness of every child, and not numbers or scores.  It’s about student needs, and not the labels often attached to individual students.  And, effective inclusion is about the services provided rather than the places where those services are offered.

Although standards and observation checklists are helpful guides to identify inclusive classrooms, sometimes it’s easier to remember what I call the “3 R’s” of effective inclusion–respect, relationships and responsibility. 

Best Practices, Strategies, and Recommendations for Improving School Climate and Culture

ED’s guidance is developed to assist stakeholders with effectively selecting and implementing supports that work to improve outcomes for children.

In addition to the four levels of evidence for choosing interventions, the ED guidance document emphasizes that “ways to strengthen the effectiveness of ESEA investments include identifying local needs, selecting evidence-based interventions that SEAs, LEAs, and schools have the capacity to implement, planning for and then supporting the intervention, and examining and reflecting upon how the intervention is working,” as illustrated in the figure from the guidance document (U.S. Department of Education, 2016, p. 3).