Have we made any progress? Including students with intellectual disabilities in regular education classrooms.
Inclusion for students with intellectual disabilities is still under 11 percent, but pairing UDL with targeted strategy instruction can move the needle in your classroom.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Smith (2007) looked at national school records to see how many students with intellectual disabilities learn in regular classrooms.
The review focused on the 2002-2003 school year.
It counted full inclusion, meaning the student spends most of the day with non-disabled peers.
What they found
Fewer than 11 percent of students with intellectual disabilities were fully included.
The number had barely moved since earlier counts.
Barriers such as teacher training, curriculum demands, and attitudes kept the rate low.
How this fits with other research
Taylor et al. (2017) and Lowrey et al. (2017) extend Phil’s call for inclusion by showing how to do it.
They promote Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and coach teachers to link each UDL checkpoint to a student’s real need.
Cramm et al. (2009) adds a practical layer: when these students are in class, teach writing with strategy instruction like self-regulated strategy development.
Together the papers move the conversation from why inclusion is rare to how to make it work.
Why it matters
You can’t wait for policy to fix inclusion. Start small: pick one UDL checkpoint, such as offering content in both text and audio, and tie it to a learner’s goal in their IEP. Track if the student stays in the room longer and completes more tasks. Share the quick win with the team to build momentum.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
To what extent are students with intellectual disabilities included in regular education classrooms in the United States? Although inclusion is an accepted best practice in special education, little progress has been made in including students with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. Using historical and the most recent available federal data, I explored the percentage of students with intellectual disabilities who are fully included in regular education classrooms, both nationally and in individual states. States are rank ordered by the percentage of students who are included. Nationally, in 2002-2003, less than 11% of students with intellectual disabilities were fully included in regular education classrooms. Research, policy, and advocacy issues are addressed.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2007 · doi:10.1352/0047-6765(2007)45[297:HWMAPI]2.0.CO;2