A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                                Contact:  Jim Bradshaw    October 6, 1994                                    (202) 401-2310

REGULAR CLASSROOMS NOW MOST LIKELY PLACEMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

Of the nation's 5.17 million students with disabilities, 35.7 percent were assigned to regular classes at least 80 percent of the time. That eclipsed resource rooms at 34.4 percent as the largest placement site, followed by separate classes at 23.9 percent.

The results are contained in the Education Department's "Sixteenth Annual Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)."

IDEA mandates that "to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities . . . are educated with children who are not disabled."

"This administration is strongly committed to achieving excellence in education for all children including students with disabilities," said U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley. "Educational placement decisions for students with disabilities are best made at the local level and should be based on individual student needs and address the issue of adequate resources for both students and teachers."

The annual report also cites data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study, a congressionally mandated project that tracks the outcomes of high school students with disabilities. Findings indicate the success of students with disabilities in regular classes is related to supports and services they receive. For example, students with disabilities who participate in vocational education courses have fewer absences, higher grades and higher graduation rates.

The study also found that, despite the benefits of inclusion, those who spend most of their time in regular classes were 10 percent more likely to fail a class in the ninth grade than peers who spent just half their time there.

In addition, disabled students overall had higher absenteeism, dropout rates and lower grades than the general high school population.

"The fact that some high school students with disabilities have difficulties in regular academic courses should come as no surprise," according to Judith Heumann, assistant secretary for special education and rehabilitative services, "since less than half of these students have their regular class progress monitored by a special education teacher and fewer than one in five have teachers with training in the education of students with disabilities. This reinforces what we know about the importance of supports in the classroom."

Heumann added, "We hope to use the IDEA reauthorization process to explore ways to provide better training and other support for teachers educating children with disabilities in regular classes." Portions of IDEA expire next year.

Other highlights of the 16th annual report:

• The number and percentage of children with disabilities continues to grow. In 1992-93, 5.17 million children from birth through age 21 were served by federal special education programs a 3.7 percent rise from the previous year.
• Graduations continue to increase. More than 57 percent of disabled students received a diploma or certificate in 1991-92, extending a five-year trend.
• Grade point averages were slightly lower than the general student population. Those with disabilities who completed four years of high school earned a cumulative GPA of 2.3, compared to a national average of 2.6 for students in the 1980 sophomore class.
• Students with "specific learning disabilities" made up the largest group of disabled students age 6-21 in 1992-93. They accounted for 2.33 million students or 52.4 percent of the total 4.45 million.
• Next highest were those with speech or language impairments 990,718 (22.2 percent), mental retardation 484,871 (10.9 percent), and serious emotional disturbances 368,545 (8.3 percent).
• Serious emotionally disturbed students have lower grades and higher dropout rates than any other group of students with disabilities.
• Although states and the nation as a whole are making progress in measuring educational results for students with disabilities, many are excluded from the accountability assessments administered to gauge the success of school reform activities.
• The average allocation per student served by the IDEA in FY 1993 was a record $411 a dollar higher than in FY92. Under Chapter 1, the other major government funding source for special education, the average allocation per student that year was $432.

The department administers more than $2 billion in programs serving students with disabilities under the IDEA and Title 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.