The amount of time a student with disabilities spends in a general education classroom is rising, putting educators closer to their goal of providing more equitable educational opportunities.
By the 2023-24 school year, roughly 5.7 million students with disabilities spent at least 40% of their school day in general education, a 25% increase since the 2012-13 school year, according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. This growth was primarily driven by the number of students who spent at least 80% of their day in gen ed.
While 42 states and the District of Columbia saw greater inclusion, state trends varied widely, ranging from a 7.7% increase in Washington, D.C., to a more than 3% decrease in North Dakota.
District leaders often cite resource availability, parental involvement and school environment as factors in the placement of students. For example, one school official said funding constraints prevented the hiring of an additional athletic coach with the training to include students with disabilities in sports.
In another instance, an administrator said paraeducators are alleviating staffing pressures.
“Staffing should not influence [educational setting] decisions, but sometimes it does,” according to the anonymous leader quoted in the report. “[The district still has] some work to do to help staff understand that staffing is not what matters in terms of [educational setting] determinations.”
Educators cited insufficient special ed programming in 10 of the 12 districts the researchers analyzed.
“We have different types of programs for behavioral issues, autism and physical impairments,” said one elementary school teacher. “But they are small and so we can’t always get a student into those programs, so we have to figure out how to do some of that in-house and even in a general education program.”
Meanwhile, leaders shared successful strategies for fostering belonging among students with disabilities. Here are some examples:
- Connecting with the curriculum: One principal shifted class schedules so students with disabilities could attend classes better aligned with their IEP goals.
- Connecting with peers: Educators from one high school ensured students with disabilities were not all seated together in gen ed, and that students with disabilities partnered with their classmates without disabilities in group work.
- Connecting through extracurriculars: In a third of the districts, students participated in Best Buddies and Special Olympics to build friendships, improve social skills and create inclusive school cultures.
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