Classroom Placements of Students With Disabilities in Public Day Schools in a Large School District

Abstract

This study used longitudinal special education record data from a large urban school district to review classroom placements of students in Grades 5 to 9 educated in traditional public schools ( N = 21,314). Results indicated that half of the students were educated primarily in general education classrooms ( n = 10,658), 9% of students had a primary placement of a special education classroom ( n = 1,977), and 41% ( n = 8,679) switched classroom placements between Grades 5 and 9. The highest rate of primary classroom switching to special education occurred in sixth grade and to general education in Grade 9. Results of a hurdle model showed that students educated with alternate curriculum, African American and Hispanic students, and those with an eligibility of Autism, intellectual disability, orthopedic impairment, or emotional disturbance spent less proportion of their school day in general education than students educated with general curriculum, White students, and those with learning disabilities, respectively.