Mainstreaming Works

12/21/2015

Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird, That cannot fly.
Langston Hughes, From The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes

A recent study out of The Ohio State University, reported in The Edvocate, found that preschoolers categorized as having special needs or disabilities learned more with at least some time in mainstream classrooms than outside of it.

"To reach these conclusions, 670 preschool children enrolled in 83 different programs were observed and analyzed. Of those numbers, half had a disability. Classrooms with a combination of special education and mainstream students, as well as classrooms with 100 percent special education students, were studied and compared.

"In the classrooms where special education students were placed among more highly-skilled peers, language scores were 40 percent higher at the end of the preschool year than those in special-needs only classrooms. The study also found that the mainstream students were not negatively impacted by the presence of special needs students, and showed the same levels of improvements as previous classes with no special needs students."

Softerware, Make Managing Your Childcare Center Easier.

Gryphon House - Pre-Literacy Resources for Infants and Toddlers.

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