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The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. The nine teenagers faced a lot of verbal abuse as well as physical abuse but continued to go to school.

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Orval Faubus

On September 2, 1957, Governor Orval Faubus announced that he would call in the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the African American students' entry to Central High, claiming this action was for the students' own protection. In a televised address, Faubus insisted that violence and bloodshed might break out if Black students were allowed to enter the school.

The Mother's League held a sunrise service at the school on September 3 as a protest against integration. But that afternoon, federal judge Ronald Davies issued a ruling that desegregation would continue as planned the next day.

Elizabeth Eckford

The Little Rock Nine arrived for the first day of school at Central High on September 4, 1957. Eight arrived together, driven by Bates.

Elizabeth Eckford's family, however, did not have a telephone, and Bates could not reach her to let her know of the carpool plans. Therefore, Eckford arrived alone.

The Arkansas National Guard, under orders of Governor Faubus, prevented any of the Little Rock Nine from entering the doors of Central High. One of the most enduring images from this day is a photograph of Eckford, alone with a notebook in her hand, stoically approaching the school as a crowd of hostile and screaming white students and adults surround her.

Eckford later recalled that one of the women spat on her. The image was printed and broadcast widely in the United States and abroad, bringing the Little Rock controversy to national and international attention.

Ronald Davies

In the following weeks, federal judge Ronald Davies began legal proceedings against Governor Faubus, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower attempted to persuade Faubus to remove the National Guard and let the Little Rock Nine enter the school.

Judge Davies ordered the Guard removed on September 20, and the Little Rock Police Department took over to maintain order. The police escorted the nine African American students into the school on September 23, through an angry mob of some 1,000 white protesters gathered outside. Amidst ensuing rioting, the police removed the nine students.

The following day, President Eisenhower sent in 1,200 members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and placed them in charge of the 10,000 National Guardsmen on duty. Escorted by the troops, the Little Rock Nine attended their first full day of classes on September 25.

Numerous legal challenges to integration continued throughout the year, and Faubus repeatedly expressed his wish that the Little Rock Nine be removed from Central High.

Although several of the Black students had positive experiences on their first day of school, according to a September 25, 1957, report in The New York Times, they experienced routine harassment and even violence throughout the rest of the year.

Melba Patillo, for instance, was kicked, beaten and had acid thrown in her face. At one point, white students burned an African American effigy in a vacant lot across from the school. Gloria Ray was pushed down a flight of stairs, and the Little Rock Nine were barred from participating in extracurricular activities.

Minnijean Brown was expelled from Central High School in February 1958 for retaliating against the attacks. Harassment went beyond the students: Gloria Ray's mother was fired from her job with the State of Arkansas when she refused to remove her daughter from the school. The 101st Airborne and the National Guard remained at Central High School for the duration of the year.

Ernest Green

On May 25, 1958, Ernest Green, the only senior among the Little Rock Nine, became the first African American graduate of Central High.

In September 1958, one year after Central High was integrated, Governor Faubus closed all of Little Rock's high schools for the entire year, pending a public vote, to prevent African American attendance. Little Rock citizens voted 19,470 to 7,561 against integration and the schools remained closed.

Other than Green, the rest of the Little Rock Nine completed their high school careers via correspondence or at other high schools across the country. Eckford joined the Army and later earned her General Education Equivalency diploma. Little Rock's high schools reopened in August 1959.

Did you know?

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. attended graduation ceremonies at Central High School in May 1958 to see Ernest Green, the only senior among the Little Rock Nine, receive his diploma.

Little Rock Nine Aftermath

Several of the Little Rock Nine went on to distinguished careers.

Green served as assistant secretary of the federal Department of Labor under President Jimmy Carter. Brown worked as deputy assistant secretary for workforce diversity in the Department of the Interior under President Bill Clinton. Patillo worked as a reporter for NBC.

The group has been widely recognized for their significant role in the civil rights movement. In 1999, President Clinton awarded each member of the group the Congressional Gold Medal. The nine also all received personal invitations to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009.

Jefferson Thomas became the first of the Little Rock Nine to die when he succumbed to pancreatic cancer at the age of 67 on September 5, 2010. After graduating from Central High, Thomas served in the Army in Vietnam, earned a business degree and worked as an accountant for private companies and the Pentagon.

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Little Rock Nine - Definition, Names & Facts | HISTORY

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The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine Black students who enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957. Their attendance at the school was a test of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

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Their enrollment happened after the Supreme Courts 1954 ruling in Brown v Board of Education, which declared school segregation unconstitutional.

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The history of segregation sanctioned by the 1898 Plessy v. Ferguson decision, and the visionary legal campaign against it that led to the triumph of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.

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This historic event drew national and international media coverage. Showing the realities of the racism in the South.

Without the media, the mistreatment of the little rock nine might have stayed hidden or minimized.

-National media exposure turned local injustice into a national issue.

-photos and TV footage created emotional impact and public pressure.

-Media influenced federal response and political action.

-The media created historical records and public memory

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The Impact of Media Coverage from Little Rock

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Media coverage, particularly photographs, of the Little Rock Nine and the integration crisis had a strong impact on the American public.

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This story continues to remind everyone that their is still an ongoing fight for equity in education especially for those with disabilities.

-The event became a symbol of civil rights.

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The Legacy of the Little Rock Nine

In early September 1957 nine Black high school students-Minnijean Brown, Terrance Roberts, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls-headed to Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas to begin the academic year. Famously known as the Little Rock Nine, their attendance was organized in cooperation with the local chapter of the NAACP and the Little Rock School District Superintendent Virgil Blossom in an effort to begin integrating Arkansas schools following the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. But under orders of Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, the state's National Guard barred the nine Black students from entering Central High School while angry white protestors shouted abuse.

These nine young people demonstrated great courage and perseverance in their attempt to integrate Central High School and were finally able to attend classes following intervention by President Dwight Eisenhower. As the world learned of their bravery amid such a hostile environment, the Little Rock Nine inspired a wave of desegregation in the United States.

Eventually eight of the nine students were able to finish the academic year at the newly integrated school, with Ernest Green becoming the first African American graduate of Central High School. Upon graduation, Green told Life Magazine, "It's been an interesting year. I've had a course in human relations first hand."

As we commemorate the heroic actions of the Little Rock Nine, this anniversary serves not just as an important moment in history worth learning about, but as an evocative reminder of why history education is so necessary to our civic literacy. We've made great strides, but our society still remains deeply unequitable. And even within our progress we must not forget how hard won it was-we must remember that nine teeangers, discriminated against simply because of the color of their skin, should not have had to endure constant jeering, harassment, and terror in order to help our country get closer to our goal of equity.

A Stalled Progress

The Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954-which overturned the state-sanctioned segregation codified by the Plessy v. Ferguson decision of 1896-took a vital step forward in dismantling the practice of barring Blacks from various public spaces. As the groundbreaking research of psychologists Drs. Kenneth and Mamie Clark showed, the separate and unequal learning environments of Black and white children contributed to Black children developing a profoundly negative sense of self.

Three years after Brown, the dramatic events of Central High School's integration unfolded. That was 66 years ago. And yet, the progress that our country has made in terms of integration in our school systems has fallen far short of the promise of truly equitable education.

The US Department of Education released a report in May 2023 finding that "progress toward increased racial and socio-economic diversity has stalled in many communities as segregation patterns have persisted, leading to inequitable access and outcomes for students."

And last year research from a USC-Stanford University collaboration called the Segregation Index highlighted that segregation is growing. "In large school districts, white-Black segregation has increased 35% and economic segregation has increased 47% over the past 30 years."

The Segregation Index also shows that segregation directly connects to unequitable education opportunities. The reasons for continued segregation are many and complicated. Changing these conditions is possible, but it requires policymakers and school leaders to make a concerted effort to bring diverse student bodies together.

Desegregation at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas was a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement-it underscores, like so many other moments from our civil rights struggle-that anyone can be a changemaker, including nine teengagers up against a barrage of people who wanted them to fail.

Central High School at Odds with the Arkansa State Government in 2023

Two days before most high schools started the 2023-24 school year, officials from the Arkansas Department of Education called teachers to let them know that the state would not give credit toward graduation to students who took Advanced Placement (AP) African American Studies. The reason: a concern from Arkansas officials that the course could violate a new curriculum restriction law, passed in January of this year.

Despite this sudden change, the Little Rock School District, which includes Central High School, announced that it will continue to offer AP African American Studies and intends to offer credit to enrolled students. They also plan to make sure students aren't hindered by the $98 AP exam fee following Arkansas's decision to prevent students in need from receiving state assistance to pay for the exam.

Current Little Rock school board member and attorney Ali Noland told CNN that nearly 100 students at Central High School are signed up for the course this year. He asserts that AP African American Studies teaches an essential and important part of American history. And, in response to this news, five members of the Little Rock Nine made a joint statement with the NAACP Center for Education Innovation and Research noting the importance of teaching a full and inclusive history. Below is an excerpt from their statement:

"[We] were among the nine brave students who faced violence, hatred, and intimidation to integrate Central High School in 1957. We endured unimaginable hardships and sacrifices to fight for our right to quality education and equal opportunity. We are proud of our contribution to the civil rights movement and the advancement of democracy in this country. We consider the accurate retelling of our history an American right for those of us who endured, a necessity for student learning and mandatory for educational progress in this country."

Resources for the Classroom

So how do we best celebrate the memory of the Little Rock Nine and what they accomplished? Perhaps considering one or more of the following questions can inspire reflection that will help you commemorate this historic event.

How much power do ordinary people have to change the world?

Can you think of disparities that exist in your community?

What are the consequences of dividing people by race?

This unit investigates the actions taken by the Little Rock Nine and others in the Little Rock community amid the civil rights movement during efforts to desegregate Central High School in 1957.

More than 60 years after Brown v. Board of Education, this gives students an overview of the problem of school segregation in the United States today and opens a discussion about possible solutions.

The NAACP arranged for the Little Rock Nine to be escorted to school on the day after Governor Faubus's speech that called for the Arkansas National Guard to block their entrance. One of the students, Elizabeth Eckford, could not be reached and was not made aware of how unwelcome she would be once she arrived at school. In this interview Elizabeth details the confusion and intensity surrounding the morning she tried to enter Central High School.

In 1963, 225,000 students boycotted Chicago's public schools to protest segregation and unequal conditions in white and Black schools. Explore the strategies and risks of the boycott, while also considering bigger-picture questions about social progress.

Learn about the Mendez family's experience as Mexican Americans fighting against school segregation in Southern California during the 1940s.

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The Little Rock Nine: Connecting 1957 to Today

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Resistance to integration in the US didn't stop just because of a Supreme Court ruling. But nine Black students from Little Rock helped change minds.

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The Governor tried to block the students using the National Guard defying federal law which then caused President Eisenhower to send federal troops.

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The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute

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At the end of the school year, Ernest Green became the first African American to graduate from Central High School. King attended his graduation ceremony. In honor of their momentous contributions to history and the integration of the Arkansas public school system, in 1958 the Little Rock Nine were honored with the NAACP's highest honor, the Spingarn Medal.

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This experience showed how desegregation laws were not enough. This exposed the difference between real life access to equal education.

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National Museum of African American History and Culture

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In 1954 the United States Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were illegal. The case, Brown v. The Board of Education, has become iconic for Americans because it marked the formal beginning of the end of segregation.

But the gears of change grind slowly. It wasn't until September 1957 when nine teens would become symbols, much like the landmark decision we know as Brown v. The Board of Education, of all that was in store for our nation in the years to come.

The "Little Rock Nine," as the nine teens came to be known, were to be the first African American students to enter Little Rock's Central High School. Three years earlier, following the Supreme Court ruling, the Little Rock school board pledged to voluntarily desegregate its schools. This idea was explosive for the community and, like much of the South, it was fraught with anger and bitterness.

On September 2, 1957 the night prior to what was to be the teens' first day in Central High classrooms, Arkansas governor Orval Faubus ordered the state's National Guard to block their entrance. Faubus said it was for the safety of the nine students.

On September 4, just 24 hours after a federal judge ordered the Little Rock Nine to begin attending Central High immediately, a belligerent mob, along with the National Guard, again prevented the teens from entering the school.

Sixteen days later a federal judge ordered the National Guard removed. Once again on September 23, the Little Rock Nine attempted to enter the school. Though escorted by Little Rock police into a side door, another angry crowd gathered and tried to rush into Central High. Fearing for the lives of the nine students, school officials sent the teens home. They did, however, manage to attend classes for about three hours.

Finally, 52 years ago today, on September 25, 1957, following a plea from Little Rock's mayor, Woodrow Mann, President Dwight Eisenhower federalized the National Guard and sent U.S. Army troops to the scene. Personally guarded by soldiers from the National Guard soldiers and the Army's 101st Airborne, the Little Rock Nine began regular class attendance at Central High.

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The "Little Rock Nine," as the nine teens came to be known, were to be the first African American students to enter Little Rock's Central High School. Three years earlier, following the Supreme Court ruling, the Little Rock school board pledged to voluntarily desegregate its schools.

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Despite the hostility that the students faced all nine of them completed the school year. Earnest Green became the first Black graduate of Central High School.

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Ernest Gideon Green (born September 22, 1941) is one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Green was the first African-American to graduate from the school in 1958. In 1999, he and the other members of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton.

Ernest Green was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1941 to Lothaire and Ernest Green, Sr. Ernest had a brother, Scott, and a sister, Treopia Washington.

As a child, Green participated in church activities and was a member of the Boy Scouts of America, eventually earning the rank of Eagle Scout. He attended segregated Dunbar Junior High School and graduated after ninth grade, at which time he was assigned to Horace Mann High School, a new high school for African-Americans.

External video

Interview with Ernest Green conducted in 1979 for America, They Loved You Madly, a precursor to Eyes on the Prize. Discussion centers on Green's role as one of the Little Rock Nine during the integration crisis at Central High School. Mr. Green mentions other students, including Melba Pattillo Beals, Minnijean Brown and Elizabeth Eckford.

At the end of his junior year at Horace Mann, Green volunteered to attend the all-white Little Rock Central High School in fall of 1957 and help desegregate one of the nation's largest schools.

Green became the only senior among the nine African Americans who decided to integrate Central High that fall.

Ernest Green made history on May 27, 1958, when he became the first of the Little Rock Nine, and the first African-American, to graduate from Little Rock's Central High School. Martin Luther King Jr., who was in Arkansas to speak at Arkansas Agriculture Mechanical and Normal College 's commencement in Pine Bluff, attended the graduation with the Green family.

Green attended Michigan State University as the beneficiary of a scholarship provided by an anonymous donor. While at Michigan State, Green continued to engage in activism and protests supporting the Civil Rights Movement. He later learned that the anonymous donor was John A. Hannah, the president of Michigan State, and an occasional target of protests by civil rights activists including Green. Green graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1962 and a Master's degree in sociology in 1964.

In 1965, Green received an apprenticeship in building trades from the Adolph Institute, a program designed to help minority women in the South with career development issues. From 1968 to 1976, he served as Director of the A. Philip Randolph Education Fund. From 1977 to 1981, he served as an Assistant Secretary of Labor during Jimmy Carter's administration.

From 1981 to 1985 Green was a partner in the firm Green and Herman, and from 1985 to 1986 he owned E. Green and Associates. He previously worked Lehman Brothers, where he was a Managing Director in the fixed income department of the Washington, D.C. office, focusing on public finance. He is also a board member at the Albert Shanker Institute.

Green earned his Eagle Scout Award in 1956 before attending Central High. Over 25 years later, he received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award which BSA has awarded to fewer than 2000 men who earned Eagle as a Scout. In 2004, he organized the Scoutreach program in Washington, D.C. and served as the program's volunteer chair.

Green served as the board chair of Community Academy Public Charter School, a Washington, D.C. charter school closed in 2015 for fiscal mismanagement. On March 3, 2015 the Attorney General for the District of Columbia filed suit against Green and another board member for having "grossly abused their positions as directors" and "contributed to the school's acting contrary to its non-profit purpose". The suit has since been dismissed and no further charges filed.

Green has been depicted in two made-for-television movies about the Little Rock Nine. He was portrayed by Calvin Levels in the 1981 CBS movie Crisis at Central High, and by Morris Chestnut in the 1993 Disney Channel movie The Ernest Green Story.

In 1980, he was part of the Milton Friedman (PBS) Free to Choose panel discussion (volume 8 of 10) related to workers rights and the economy.

In 2019, he was portrayed by DeRon Horton on Drunk History: The Little Rock Nine Take on Segregation in Schools, which featured Amandla Stenberg.

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Ernest Gideon Green (born September 22, 1941) is one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Green was the first African-American to graduate from the school in 1958.

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The event showed that the federal government would enforce desegregation, even when states resisted. The students courage helped move the Civil Rights Movement forward and pushed schools across the country toward desegregation.

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Civil Rights March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, 1965

In the middle of the 20th century, a nationwide movement for equal rights for African Americans and for an end to racial segregation and exclusion arose across the United States. This movement took many forms, and its participants used a wide range of means to make their demands felt, including sit-ins, boycotts, protest marches, freedom rides, and lobbying government officials for legislative action. They faced opposition on many fronts and fell victim to bombings and beatings, arrest and assassination. By the end of the 1960s, the civil rights movement had brought about dramatic changes in the law and in public practice, and had secured legal protection of rights and freedoms for African Americans that would shape American life for decades to come.

A few key moments include:

Brown v. Board of Education The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense and Educational Fund, led by Thurgood Marshall, spent decades fighting against racial segregation in education. This long campaign culminated when the U.S. Supreme Court heard Brown v. Board of Education, which gathered together five separate cases related to school segregation with Marshall leading the arguments before the Court. On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal," legally ending racial segregation in public schools and overruling the "separate but equal" principle set forth in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1889.

Rosa Parks arrested On December 1, 1955, civil rights activist Rosa Parks was arrested when she refused to surrender her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white passenger. The arrest led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, and was a defining moment in Parks' long career as an activist. The Montgomery Bus Boycott also saw the rise to prominence of a young Montgomery minister, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Little Rock school integration crisis After the Brown v. Board, Supreme Court decision, state and local officials in a number of states resisted school integration. In September of 1957, nine African American students attempted to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The governor ordered the state's National Guard to surround the high school, and the Black students were harassed and kept from entering the building. President Dwight Eisenhower nationalized the Arkansas National Guard and sent U.S. troops to protect the students and enforce the desegregation order of the federal courts.

Birmingham campaign In the spring of 1963, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., launched a large-scale campaign of sit-ins and marches in Birmingham, Alabama, to protest the city's brutal segregation policies. Many of the protestors and leaders were jailed, and while behind bars, Dr. King wrote a long public letter that explained his philosophy of non-violent protest. This document, which became known as "The Letter from Birmingham Jail," went on to be widely republished and regarded as a classic defense of the principles of civil disobedience.

The March on Washington On August 28, 1963, hundreds of thousands of people arrived in Washington, D.C., for the largest non-violent civil rights demonstration that the nation had ever seen: The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The march was organized in a few months, coordinated by veteran strategist Bayard Rustin, and was meant to demonstrate an urgent need for substantive change. The demands in the event program began with "Comprehensive and effective civil rights legislation from the present Congress" and included the end of discrimination in education, housing, employment, and more. Leaders and organizers met with members of Congress and with President John F. Kennedy, while the march ended at the Lincoln Memorial with music and speeches, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

The Selma civil rights marches On March 7, 1965, a civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, led by 25-year-old activist leader John Lewis, was attacked by state troopers and sheriff's deputies as the marchers attempted to cross the city's Edmund Pettus Bridge. Coverage of the marchers being beaten, tear-gassed, and trampled by police horses prompted outrage across the nation, and activists, religious leaders, and everyday citizens flooded into Selma to lend their support. On March 9, a second group of marchers, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., approached the bridge, prayed there, and returned to church. On March 21, thousands of marchers crossed the bridge, this time protected by federalized National Guard troops, and headed to Montgomery.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 The two most significant pieces of civil rights legislation since Reconstruction were passed within two years of each other. Between the two, these Acts outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. They banned discrimination in public accommodations, public education, and employment, and prohibited race-based restrictions on voting. Such sweeping legislation had been a longtime goal of the civil rights movement, and it brought many of the laws and practices of the Jim Crow Era to an end.

Documents

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The Civil Rights Movement | The Post War United States, 1945-1968 | U.S. History Primary Source Timeline | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

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The United States was rocked by a nationwide movement for equal rights for African Americans.

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The story of the Little Rock Nine shows that education has always been connected to power, access, and equality. In 1957, nine Black students had to be protected by federal troops just to attend a public high school , proving that equal education was never automatically accepted. Although segregation is now illegal, inequality still exists in schools through unequal funding, neighborhood segregation, and unequal access to resources.

Today's classrooms are more diverse, but not always more fair. The legacy of the Little Rock Nine reminds educators that inclusion must be intentional. The classroom reminds a powerful space for promoting equity and social change.

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When inclusion is done well, everyone in the class benefits. It strengthens the ability of all kids to work together, understand and value different points of view, think critically, and be successful learners.

Inclusive classrooms also reduce stigma. Imagine this kind of learning community (quote from Understood ):

"Inclusive classrooms are filled with diverse learners. That lets kids talk about how everyone learns in their own way. They may find that they have more in common with other kids than they thought. This can go a long way in reducing stigma for kids with learning and attention issues. It can also help kids build and maintain friendships. "

Understanding inclusion

Inclusion is a belief that ALL students, regardless of labels, should be members of the general education community. The philosophy of inclusion encourages the elimination of the dual special and general education systems, and the creation of a merged system that is responsive to the needs of all students.

Is it inclusion?

This chart, developed by inclusion expert Nicole Eredics, can help you understand what inclusion is and isn't.

Child spends the majority of the day in the general education classroom.

Child spends the majority of the day in a special education classroom and goes to a general education classroom for one or two periods.

Child's desk is included with the other groups of desks in the classroom.

Child's desk is away from the other desks in the classroom.

Child has access to and is included in classroom lessons and activities that are adapted or modified to meet his/her special needs.

Child works on his/her own curriculum.

Child attends outside activities with the class including assemblies, field trips, enrichment classes, and recess.

Child is given alternate activities and options with other special education students.

Child is an independent, valued, and respected classroom member.

Child is looked upon as helpless, needy, and dependent.

The child's paraprofessional facilitates access to the curriculum and classroom activities.

The child's paraprofessional determines access to the curriculum and classroom activities.

The paraprofessional encourages child to complete work as independently as possible, while providing support when needed.

The paraprofessional does not provide many opportunities for the child to complete work independently and "hovers."

Child receives specialist support (therapy, speech, and language) with minimal disruption to the class routine and program.

Child is pulled from the classroom lessons and activities for specialist suport without consideration for what the child will miss.

The teacher can identify your child's strengths and areas for improvement.

The teacher refers to the specialists and paraprofessionals to identify child's development.

Child can name classmates and has many common classroom experiences.

Child does not know classmates and does not have many common classroom experiences.

The trend toward inclusive general education classrooms

Can special education students thrive in general education classrooms? Watch Carl Cohn, a former superintendent, talk about the trend toward inclusive classrooms (also called inclusion classrooms). Hear his tips on what to ask if a school suggests your child should be in a separate, self-contained classroom. Learn more at Understood, 4 Benefits of Inclusion Classrooms .

Read about a New York City public school program called ASD Nest in this article from The Atlantic: What School Could Be If It Were Designed for Kids With Autism .

Inclusive learning: everyone's in

This video, "Meeting the Needs of the Whole Child," overview is part of the Edmonton Public Schools' Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In initiative. The District was selected as a change agent for Alberta's Action on Inclusion initiative - to share information about best practices to welcome, include and support students' needs in the classroom and community. (Edmonton Public Schools, Alberta, CA) View all of the "Inclusive Learning: Everyone's In" video ›

Books about inclusive classrooms

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An inclusive classroom is a general education classroom where students with and without learning differences learn together. Inclusive classrooms are welcoming and support the diverse academic, social, emotional, and communication needs of all students. Learn more about what inclusion is, how it can benefit all learners, and how to implement an inclusion program in your classroom and school-wide.

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Little Rock Nine. (2025, March 5). HISTORY. https://www.history.com/articles/central-high-school-integration

N. (n.d.). Just a moment... Just a moment... https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/impact-media-coverage-little-rock

The road to Brown. (n.d.). California Newsreel - Film and Video for Social Change Since 1968. https://newsreel.org/video/THE-ROAD-TO-BROWN