Inclusion is considered the least restrictive environment, or “LRE” for a high majority of special education students. The IDEA, or Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1975, requires that children and youth ages 3 to 21 with disabilities be provided a free, appropriate public education. According to the National Center for Education (2011), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act describes the least restrictive environment is the environment in which special education students can be educated with their typically functioning peers. Although the least restrictive environment mandate was written into law in the 1970s, it took much longer to implement in school settings. In the mid-to-late 1970s, individuals with disabilities were primarily educated in separate classrooms, away from their peers, and rarely encountered students without disabilities (Swain & Nordness, 2012). Fortunately for students, the way our education systems educate students with disabilities has improved. In the 1980s, “mainstreaming” became a popular way to educate students with disabilities. The mainstreaming philosophy focused on allowing people with disabilities to participate in courses such as music, art, physical education, and some content classes. Students with disabilities would be permitted to participate in these traditional academic content courses if they were able to keep up with traditional academic content standards with few additional supports (Swain & Nordness, 2012). Implementing mainstreaming in the classroom was an improvement in how schools educated special education students. School districts now practice inclusion more frequently than in the past. St......middle of paper......student involvement during the learning process. In this model, one teacher takes the lead role while the other is engaged in detailed observations or data collection. Sheanoka and Alman (20) go on to argue that within the inclusion classroom it is very beneficial for both teachers to take an active role and alternate leadership/assistance roles when possible. Students need to see teachers collaborate and share teaching responsibility and discipline for all children. When using the co-teaching method, special education students scored an average of 78% on reading proficiency tests. By comparison, students who were not co-taught scored an average of 67% on reading proficiency tests. The 11% increase in reading proficiency is too large to ignore. To put it plainly, special education students benefit from co-teaching.