Not Separate, but Equal.

WATERTOWN (Mass.); MASSACHUSETTS; UNITED States

The James Russell Lowell Elementary School in Watertown, Massachusetts has set out to mainstream every one of his special education students. Lowell has shut down all of its special education classrooms. The idea was to foster an environment in which, all children, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses, study at their own pace and take responsibility for their work and behavior. According to a report commissioned by the U.S. Education Department's special education office, with the help of regular classroom instructors, special education "co-teachers," aides and classmates, students with disabilities receive instruction while sitting next to their peers instead of heading down the hall to what was formerly the resource room. Achievement-test scores have risen and students at Lowell are more engaged and self-directed in their learning and feel a greater responsibility for their studies.