According to Rebecca A. Hines' 2001 article "Inclusion in Middle Schools," for students with disabilities, inclusion in a regular classroom promotes higher achievement in academics as well as behavioral areas since the standards are higher in a regular education setting. Students will also have the opportunity to adapt to different teaching styles. Students will have stronger self-esteem and will acquire new skills by their exposure to regular education students and have the opportunity to make friends from different backgrounds. (see reference 3) Also, when children are included in regular classes they are less likely to feel alienated or labeled as they might in a self-contained special education class, according to "Special Education Inclusion: Making it Work," published in "Education World."
General education students benefit from their exposure to special education students as well. They learn to develop empathy and understanding of students who differ from themselves, according to the article "Long Term Effects on Inclusion," as quoted in "Education World." They also benefit because teachers must go over material more thoroughly for the special education students and use various teaching techniques to address a range of learning styles, says Art Shapiro in "Special Education Inclusion: Making it Work," published in "Education World." Children learn to be more accepting of others with differences and have opportunities to build new teamwork skills. Many students benefit from the chance to perform as peer tutors, which may boost their tolerance as well as their own self-esteem.
Teachers have the most impact on whether inclusion of special education students in regular classrooms has a positive or negative effect, says Bruce Pawlowicz in "The Effects of Inclusion on General Education Students," published in 2001. The more supportive the educational system is of the inclusion process and the better training the teacher receives, the more likely the teacher is to have a positive attitude. Because a regular education teacher will be instructing students from a range of learning styles and abilities, the teacher must learn new ways to present material and administer assessments. A commonly used method for assessment in such diverse classrooms is the portfolio method. This method is likely to benefit not only the disabled student but the regular student and the teacher as well, once all have become acquainted with the method, reports Pawlowicz.
If students with disabilities are not included in regular classrooms, many regular education students would never meet people with physical, cognitive or behavioral disabilities. This would rob students of the experience of learning tolerance, understanding people with handicaps, and the growing experience of becoming an empathetic human being. Empathy is a type of emotional intelligence. Children who are empathetic will grow up to become adults who are more tolerant and committed to building a positive community.