MoN - You have provided a nice summary of a prevailing view within my district. There is a term for this -- "social justice." Our kids' elementary school principal recently wrote her PhD thesis on this, and advocates a school model in which there are no "pull outs" or special programs of any kind that separate kids (beyond the classroom walls) by ability. She said to dh and I that teachers should be able to accommodate students at all levels, and pull-outs (for high or low achieving students) are a "crutch against bad teaching."
Our twins are in 5th grade and her model is working reasonably well in their classroom, which includes a wide range of abilities, from our kids who are hg+ to a child learning to sort objects by color. Thanks to Title I funds, there are two full time teachers in a class of 27 kids, plus various other adults including student teachers and aides.
I think it takes both exceptional skill and dedication (the latter amounts to something like a religious fervor in our school) to make this work, and it is hard for me imagine such success on a district-wide or national scale.
In fact, at the high school level, the inclusive classroom approach as currently implemented is at odds with state gifted statutes, and the district has been recently found to be out of compliance following a complaint to the state by a group of parents. This is a raging controversy here.....
