## Membership, Participation, and Learning

This chapter describes and provides numerous examples of three of the core best practices and ultimate outcomes of the BA Model—membership, participation, and learning. First, we provide an overview of how membership and participation provide the context for enhancing learning. We then describe the importance of, strategies for enhancing, and indicators for membership, participation, and learning.

### Membership

Educators and psychologists have reported that students’ presence in the classroom as members of the learning community—a member of both social and academic activities—is a requirement for optimal student learning. In his award-winning film, Including Samuel, filmmaker Dan Habib (2007) tells the story of his 8-year-old son Samuel’s full inclusion in a second-grade general education classroom in his neighborhood school.

Membership in the general education class represents students having access to valued social roles and the symbols of belonging, such as having a desk, being given class jobs, going on field trips, and having one’s name called during attendance.

### Enhancing Membership to Enhance Learning

During the orientation to the BA Model and in ongoing professional development provided to school teams (including administrators and parents), journal articles and presentations emphasize the importance of membership in general education. The team uses the BA Model to focus on improving instruction and supports (including AAC) to the student during core academic subjects.

**Table 4.1.** Sample indicators of student membership in the general education classroom
- The student attends the school he or she would attend if he or she did not have a disability.
- The student is a member of an age-appropriate general education class.
- The student’s name is on all class lists, job lists, etc.

### Participation

Research, practice guidelines, and disability policy have identified engagement and participation as positively correlated to educational achievement and to quality-of-life outcomes of children and adults with disabilities. Although students with IDD may exhibit characteristics that seem to inhibit their full engagement and participation in classroom activities, research has shown that engagement can be positively influenced by:
1. The choice of instructional method.
2. The characteristics of the learning environment.
3. The interactions between the student and his or her teachers, other support providers, and peers.

### Enhancing Participation to Enhance Learning

As mentioned previously, although a student does not need to participate in general education academics all day, every day in order for a team to begin using the Model to enhance participation, we suggest that students be included in a general education classroom for at least two core academic subjects. The team then uses the BA Model to focus on improving instruction and supports to the student during these two periods of the day.

**Table 4.2.** Sample indicators of student participation in general education classroom routines, activities, and lessons
- The student participates in classroom and school routines (e.g., Pledge of Allegiance, lunch count).
- The student participates in school plays, field trips, and community service activities.

### Learning

Researchers have called for instruction in academics to be an educational priority if students are to achieve desired outcomes and make progress. Students with disabilities placed in a general education classroom for the majority of their day score higher on standardized measures of reading and math than students in other placements.

### Conclusion

This chapter described and provided a rationale for why membership, participation, and learning are important best practices of the BA Model. In addition to the priorities chosen to enhance students’ learning of general education curriculum content, teams must maintain a vigilant focus on membership and participation.