1. Univ. at Buffalo March 2, 2009
LAI 574
Strategies for Transitions in an Inclusive Classroom
Due to a lack of experience in working with students with disabilities, I’ve
been absorbing a lot of new ideas and information. Each chapter of Salend’s
book is like a sudden awakening to a world I’ve only known from a far away
distance. But, as with previous chapters, this week’s “reading about problems
and strategies for solving problems when students are asked to transition into
an inclusive classroom,” is quite comprehensive and, at the same time, makes
very good sense. These strategies should be effective in “making the transition
for the special education student go more smoothly.”
As with the inclusive classroom strategies we’ve read before, I think transition
strategies can benefit students without disabilities. For the general education
population, the transitions they face are things like moving from elementary
to middle school, or middle school to high school, or moving from another
school district. In these cases, I think the four-step process of
“Transenvironmental Programming” which was “designed to help prepare
students for success in the inclusive setting” would be effective for all general
education students, as well (Salend, p. 240).
1. Environmental assessment (of old and new environments)
2. Intervention and preparation for the new environment
3. Generalization to the new setting
4. Evaluation of the new environment
From these steps, I picked out some strategies I think would definitely benefit
all students:
Teach classroom and school procedures and successful behaviors
Design learning strategies unique to the student and environment
Develop students’ organization skills
Help students develop daily and weekly schedules
Teach research-based learning strategies

2. Establishing high expectations and multiple opportunities to
practice under different conditions helps foster generalization
Promote social acceptance and academic success
Offer Orientations and Visiting, Shadowing, and Mentoring
Programs
Educators can solicit suggestions from families and address their
concerns and questions
Teaching social skills
Respecting and understanding cultural perspectives
Explaining perspectives of the new environment
Using modeling, role-playing, prompting, and scripting to teach
new behaviors
Teach basic communicative language to students to foster
inclusion
Model language and social interaction patterns for students
Role-play BICS and social skills
Prompt responses (take students to environments, and then pre-
teach them relevant expressions for the environment; e.g., saying
“this is fun” at the playground)