Inclusive Insight: Creating Communities of Belonging

Along with PCG’s Project Success, the TIES Center believes school should be a place of belonging for every student. Although the experience of belonging is equally important for students with significant cognitive disabilities as it is for their peers, it has remained far more elusive.  The current movement toward the full inclusion of students with significant cognitive disabilities aims to break down this enduring divide. Within inclusive schools, students with and without disabilities learn together in the same classrooms throughout the entire day. Educators and specialized instructional support personnel collaborate closely to deliver strong instruction and individualized support. As a result, students with and without disabilities are engaged together in accessing and making progress in the general education curriculum. Learning becomes a shared endeavor and interactions among students abound.

TIES encourages school personnel to reflect as a team on how belonging is experienced by students with disabilities throughout your school. They've created the Belonging Reflection Tool that can help structure this collective conversation.

Looking for additional resources to support high expectations for your students? Check out the Teacher Webinar Series on our website!