The Role of Instructional Assistants in Regular Classrooms: Are They Influencing Inclusive Practices?

The placement of instructional assistants to support students in inclusive environments has increased dramatically during the past two decades. Assignment of instructional assistants to regular classrooms has become a primary tool i n schools for the provision of inclusive placement of students with severe disabilities (Wolery, Werts, Caldwel l , Snyder, & Lisowski , 1995). The employment of instructional assistants has occurred with limited research and has been characterized as one of the least studied in special education (Jones & Bender, 1993; Giangreco, Edelman, Broer, & Doyle, 2001). Teachers and administrators are often reluctant to accept regular classroom placement for exceptional students without the support of an instructional assistant (French, 1999). Addit ional supports are deemed necessary because of safety, behavior, or curricular concerns. Parents have encouraged schools to provide the maximum resources available for their children (Mueller & M u r phy, 2001). The limited research concerning instructional assistants has been characterized by two themes: responsibilities and training. Gaps exist in the research on topics such as guidelines for hiring and supervising instructional assistants, acknowledgment of their work, and examination of interactions between i n structional assistants and students (Giangreco et al., 2001). Observational studies exploring interactions in the classroom have shed some light on the effect of the instructional assistant's role in inclusive classrooms. Young, Simpson, Myles , and Kamps (1997) reported that teachers' interactions with students wi th disabilities were infrequent, but increased when an instructional assistant was more than two feet away from the student. Giangreco, Edelman, Luisel l i , and MacFarland (1997) have described the close proximity of instructional assistants to students as hovering, noting that it may result in separation of exceptional students from their classmates and interference with peer interactions Marks , Schrader, and Levine (1999) interviewed instructional assistants and found that instructional assistants (a) assumed primary responsibility for i n clusion, (b) d i d not wish exceptional students to be a bother to teachers, (c) felt responsible for daily academic needs, and (d) were valued by teachers as an expert regarding the student.