The Schoolwide Integrated Framework for Transformation, or SWIFT, an initiative led by educational researchers from the University of Kansas, selected Willard and five other U.S. schools for their use of “inclusive education,” said Wayne Sailor, a professor in the University of Kansas’ School of Education and director of the SWIFT Center.

Inclusive education is a classroom model in which students of all learning types, such as gifted, special education and English as a Second Language students, learn in one general classroom setting rather than under separate programs, with the idea that all students mutually benefit from the shared learning environment.

“A big problem is that if you go into a typical low-performing school, there are lots of resources that could help, but they don’t connect with each other — special education being an example,” Sailor said. “It looks for its own resources and provides a system only for those identified as such.”

The six schools chosen by SWIFT are already successfully operating on an inclusive model and will be studied by Sailor and his affiliates so the advances these schools demonstrate can be applied elsewhere.

At Willard, inclusive education has been around for 11 years, said Willard Middle School Principal Robert Ithurburn.

“There is not so much an ‘us-them’ mentality,” Ithurburn said of the learning environment at Willard. “I think it’s more of a real-world situation.”

In the United States, there has been a trend toward including more students in general education classrooms, which has been accelerating for several decades, said Jennifer Russell, a graduate of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education who is now a professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

At Willard, students with severe disabilities have an instructional aid with them all day long, and there are teachers’ aids who check in on particular students throughout the day, said Jessica Lee, Willard’s teacher librarian. Lee is also a parent of a Willard Middle School student.

Teachers may also practice “modified education,” in which students of differing abilities can be given parallel assignments, with a co-teacher focusing on modifying the lesson for others based on learning needs, she added.

An increasing number of educators, including SWIFT researchers, tout the benefits of an inclusive classroom model over a segregated one, but it’s a model with potential that is not always realized, Russell said.

With $24.5 million in grant money from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Special Education Programs, SWIFT will spend now until October researching the six inclusive model schools, Sailor said.

As compensation for cooperation with researchers, each of the six model schools will receive a one-time payment of $16,500, Sailor said. He added that the schools additionally benefit from getting national recognition on the researchers’ website.

The schools will continue working and perfecting their model of education in the coming months.

“We’re excited to find out what we can do to be stronger, taking strategies and techniques from the other five schools,” Ithurburn said.

Contact Christine Tyler at ctyler@dailycal.org.

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The historic Westminster House, which has units on both the south and north sides of campus, is the first housing complex at UC Berkeley that is owned by Education Reality Trust, which develops and manages college housing across the country — from the University of Virginia to Syracuse University. The company, which bought the housing complex for $16.3 million, plans to make upgrades by installing new carpets and televisions in all units but intends to keep the historical quality of the building alive.

“We were made aware of the opportunity and saw that it was feasible and got to know the campus a bit more,” said Susan Jennings, vice president of corporate communications and marketing for EDR. “It’s a great distance from campus and has a rich history and was a good opportunity for us to enlarge our footprint at Berkeley.”

Total renovation costs at the three separate housing complexes located closer to campus than university-sponsored housing — North House, South House and Heritage Apartments — come to about $800,000 and will take place just before students move in this fall.

“We will change operations for the better by improving public spaces, bedrooms and corridors that will make it more attractive to the residents,” said Ryan Sullivan, the EDR regional director responsible for Westminster House. “We are adding carpet and paint in all of the units and will be adding televisions and comfortable soft seating areas to appeal to the technologically savvy Cal student.”

Westminster House has already undergone changes in the past, including expansive renovations in 2003 that led to a larger housing capacity of 128 beds with rooms fully furnished with microwaves and mini-refrigerators, according to Charles Oewel, director at the Student Center Associates, a company that specializes in development and management of Christian-based student housing.

Company representatives said Westminster House’s rates are priced better and are competitively much lower, in comparison to university-sponsored housing. For example, the average monthly rate for a bed over a period of 10 months at the Westminster South House starts at $999. Residents also have a choice of whether they want a meal plan or want to use the community kitchen in the units.

“We think some of the cosmetic improvements will attract current residents to stay and new residents to Westminster House,” Jennings said. “There is something that makes living places special for people, and Westminster house has it in aces.”

The property grounds at the Westminster House, whose buildings were designed by Bay Area architect Walter Ratcliff and Hearst Castle architect Julia Morgan, were originally owned by the Berkeley chapter of the Presbytery of San Francisco, who held the property since 1910.

The Presbytery of San Francisco could not be reached for comment.

Wesley House, which EDR began managing in November 2010, was the first property the company invested in at UC Berkeley and offers student housing at slightly higher rates — around $1,200 for a double-occupant room. Because of the historical integrity of these housing complexes and their importance to the university and alumni, company officials said EDR’s ultimate goal is to preserve the legacy of the buildings.

“What excites us most about this property is that it follows our plan and two of the things we look at when buying properties — one being the University of California, Berkeley, is one of those schools we wanted to own property at due to its prestige — and two, because it has a location you can’t beat,” Sullivan said.

Anjuli Sastry covers housing.

Correction(s):
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Education Realty Trust Inc. purchased Wesley House in November 2010. In fact, the company began managing Wesley House in November 2010.

The article also incorrectly stated that Westminster House is the second housing complex at UC Berkeley that is owned by the company. In fact, it is the first.

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