Students' Perceptions of Instruction in Inclusion Classrooms: Implications for Students with Learning Disabilities

This synthesis includes 20 studies that investigated the perceptions of a total of 4,659 students in kindergarten through 12th grade (760 with high-incidence disabilities) of instructional procedures in general education classrooms that included students with high-incidence disabilities. Findings revealed that students with high-incidence disabilities want the same activities, books, homework, grading criteria, and grouping practices as their classmates. Their peers without disabilities agree, believing this is most fair. Yet everyone recognizes that not all students learn in the same way, or at the same speed. Students with and without disabilities value teachers who slow down instruction when needed explain concepts and assignments clearly, teach learning strategies, and teach the same material in different ways so that everyone can learn.