When I was in high school, special education students had their own wing in the school and mostly stayed there for all of their classes. Things have changed tremendously since then. Nowadays, special education students are in regular education classes along with everyone else. There are, however, special education students with more severe disabilities who do stay in a different classroom, but those students are few and far between. I think mainstreaming special education students is wonderful. I have had several of them in my math classes, and they have generally been some of the best students. There can be, however, a few road blocks for special education students, parents and teachers. Here is my experience.

First, students with learning disabilities tend to be self conscious of the fact that they have a learning disability. As with any generalization, there are exceptions to the rule, but this is what I have seen. The self consciousness hinders students from asking questions in class, and therefore students get more frustrated by not understanding the material. Traditional students also try to refrain from asking questions in class because they don't want to look dumb. For a special education student, this is magnified tremendously.

Second, special education students typically have some modifications or accommodations written in their Individualized Education Plan. Oftentimes, their plan allows them to use notes, a calculator and/or textbooks on tests. This means that the students choose to take the test in class — and have attention drawn to them because they get special treatment in other students eyes — or they take their test in the testing center where they can have more privacy. In addition, special education students tend to need more one-on-one instruction without distractions. When classes are filled with 36 to 40 students per class, one-on-one instruction becomes impossible.

Lastly, special education teachers catch on quickly which traditional teachers are going to take the time to help the kids on their case load. I have always taken time to help as many students as possible, both traditional and special education students. Special education teachers see this and place more students in my classes than in other math teachers' classes. I will have 10 special education students in one class period, and another math teacher with the same class in the same period will have none. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on me, as I want to help all of my students, but can't provide the one-on-one time that my students need during class time.

The point that I am trying to make here is that special education students already have a learning curve, so to speak, and we as teachers need to do everything we can to assist them. It breaks my heart when I hear about other teachers ridiculing these students in class or dismissing their needs. This is the reality of public education today. If teachers aren't willing to step up to the challenge, they shouldn't enter the teaching profession in the first place.