A meta-analysis of the effects of placement on academic and social skill outcome measures of students with disabilities.
Students with disabilities do better in both schoolwork and social skills when they learn in regular classrooms.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Conrad and team looked at 24 studies on where kids with disabilities learn.
They compared students in regular classrooms with those in separate special-ed rooms.
The kids had different diagnoses—autism, intellectual disability, learning disorders, and more.
What they found
Kids in regular classrooms scored higher on both schoolwork and social skills.
The edge was clear across all 24 studies.
More integration meant better outcomes, period.
How this fits with other research
Young (2006) shows the same pattern holds for adults. Adults with ID gained more daily-living skills in scattered community houses than in cluster homes.
Duvdevany (2002) found small but real boosts in self-concept when adults joined regular recreation programs instead of disability-only clubs.
Chen et al. (2019) looks like a clash—preschoolers with disabilities had smaller play groups in inclusive rooms. The difference is age: three-year-olds are still learning how to make friends, so extra peer-buddy plans are needed.
Cohen et al. (1990) is an older piece of the puzzle. It found autistic preschoolers gained language at the same speed in either setting. Conrad’s 2015 work updates this by showing that across many ages and skills, integration wins.
Why it matters
If you write IEPs, push for the least restrictive environment. The data say integrated placements lift both grades and friendships. Start with full inclusion and add supports instead of starting separate and trying to merge later.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study involved an investigation of differences between outcome measures of students with disabilities placed in more integrated settings with those of students placed in less integrated settings. A meta-analysis was conducted using the findings from 24 studies published in peer-reviewed journals from 1980 through 2013. Results from the analyses suggest that there were significant differences (p<0.0001) between placement settings with the majority of students with disabilities in more integrated settings outperforming those in less integrated settings on both academic and social outcome measures. Overall these findings, combined with those from two prior meta-analytic studies, provide evidence spanning over 80 years suggesting separate settings are not as beneficial as are more integrated settings. Implications related to practice and policy, as well as avenues for future study, are discussed.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2015 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2015.08.014