Inclusion of Special Needs Students in a Montessori Elementary Classroom

This study project was designed to study the effectiveness of implementations to aid in the successful inclusion of special needs students in a Montessori elementary classroom. This study also looked at the impacts that inclusion has on special-needs students. This study took place in a small Montessori upper elementary classroom of fourth through sixth grade in the southern United States. The implementations included self-control building, self-regulating and calming activities, Grace and Courtesy lessons, team building activities and oral reading, discussions and journal entries of Wonder (Palacio, 2012) Data was collected using student journals, an observational tally, researcher’s field journal, discussion notes and parent pre mid and post surveys The findings indicate there is a correlation of use of the implementations and a reduction of inappropriate interactions. It is recommended that future studies focus on a larger subject base as well as a more longitudinal period of implementations and data collection