Obstacles to Integrating Disabled Students in a “Two-Roof” Elementary School

Abstract

This article describes a 5-year effort to integrate special and regular students on a campus where special and regular education students are housed in separate but adjacent facilities with separate administrators. Observational data and questionnaires revealed almost total segregation at the end of 3 years. An intensive intervention program, Project L.E.A.D., generated promising short-term movement toward integration, but there were few enduring effects. Physical, social, and psychological barriers created by the two-roof school erect almost insurmountable obstacles to integration. Future efforts should concentrate on building one-roof schools with a single facility and administration.