Letter to the Editor: Support teachers in inclusive classrooms

Teachers have long been asked to do more with less, but now they are being asked to do more with nothing.

Classes are growing more diverse and the learning range of students within a single classroom is growing wider each year. Nations and states have embraced inclusive practices, which means students with disabilities are placed in the regular general education classroom for grade-level instruction. While this practice has some popular and empirical support, it is not always in every student’s best interest to be placed in a regular education classroom. Every student has a right to access grade-level instruction, but every child deserves the best educational environment available and that includes the most prepared educators.

While some governmental agencies have developed policies requiring professional development, the content of these training sessions is not always specified. This leaves teachers scrambling to prepare instructions for students they have not been educated or trained to teach. This is not fair to the teacher or the students. 

Arkansas requires 36 hours of professional development for teachers each year, but it does not dictate any continuing education related to teaching neurodivergent students, students with disabilities, or other exceptional learners. Mandatory yearly training and the state funding formula for professional development should be adjusted to reflect prioritizing teacher preparation for such diversity.

Arkansas teachers are embracing inclusive practices and teaching in effective and creative ways. They are doing more with less every day, but passion is not preparation. Improvising lessons creates stress, stress results in burn-out, and burn-out culminates in less effective teaching and larger attrition rates.

How much more positive impact could educators make on their diverse student communities with adequate training? It is time Arkansas policymakers to allocate funds in a way that makes a positive difference.

Our students deserve teachers who have more, not less. 

Laura Cornelius
Arkadelphia