Trends in Inclusive Education in the USA and Canada

This paper deals with foreign experience of implementing inclusive education for children with special educational needs in the United States and Canada. Legal documents on inclusive education in foreign countries have been analyzed. The most relevant topic of American and Canadian scholars’ researches on reforming special education is related to integration, that is gradual transition from exclusion of children with special educational needs to inclusion in comprehensive schools. Based on the analysis of American and Canadian researches on inclusive education it has been concluded that the changes in legislation and education policies of North American countries aim to achieve the highest level of progress in regular education and special education. It has been found that the development of inclusive education in Canada has undergone and is significantly influenced by the American education system. However, unlike the United States, Canada does not have a single legislative act that would standardize the introduction of inclusive education in the country. Each province has autonomous educational documents that specify the requirements for the inclusive education organization. It has been specified that in American schools, effective educational technology in inclusive education is a team approach when effective partner relationships are formed. A key to the successful integration of a child with special educational needs is the development of an individual curriculum. The Canadian education system, having its own national peculiarities that predetermine the differences in the course of education reforms, has always supported the democratic movement for civil rights and anti-discriminatory attitudes in US education. Foreign law and inclusive practice are an important source of ideas about possible ways to solve the problems of implementing inclusive education in Ukraine.