Requirements
Consequences are just that – what happens as a result of what you do. These can seem tightly related to rewards and incentives, but in fact are quite distinct. Let's say you don't provide access to the curriculum for learners with disabilities – are there consequences for not doing so? Those consequences could be consequences for you, for the student, for the school, for other students, for the parents of the child, and for society.
Let's Explore:
Let's say your school does not ensure it provides access to the curriculum for learners with disabilities. The consequences start local and short-term and grow into global and long-term consequences. That child does not learn what he or she could, and therefore doesn't progress and isn't able to go on and get a job after graduation. The school demonstrates a less-than-100% achievement level, which could impact funding or performance on state or national tests. The parents are then left supporting more than might have otherwise been necessary, maxing out their support structure. They have to request funds for support, which means they draw funds from some sort of government program. At this point, this is more expensive than what was necessary to invest during the educational process. The general society is now having to invest even more to support individuals who could have been self-sufficient had the educational subsystem adopted the policies and approaches that said we will give every individual possible access to learning and therefore access to a self-sufficient life. The cost for government programs that support these individuals is far more expensive after the fact.
Let's say the flip side is true. The consequences for a student with disabilities succeeding in your school means your school shows better results on state or national assessments and therefore maintains or gets an increase in funding. Additionally, the individual student is learning, feeling more and more empowered in what they can do, and goes on to achieve more. The parents feel their burden lighten, even if only slightly. The student goes on to graduate and, even though he has an IQ of 60, is happily and gainfully employed for what looks to be the rest of his adulthood and even moves out into an apartment of his own, has his own social life going to ball games with friends, and is contributing to society rather than having to depend on social programs. The individual is self-sufficient and feeling empowered to be so, and the rest of the support system around him isn't tapped.
There are many individuals whose life stories are both the later and the former – what made the difference for them is whether their schools believed it was possible or not.