The percentage of students who have disabilities and spend a substantial portion of their school day in general education classes is rising, prompting experts, advocates, and the general public to call on school districts to ensure those students have enough support to be successful.
A new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congress’ nonpartisan watchdog, found that the number of students who have disabilities and spend at least 40% of their school day in general education classes rose about 25% between the 2012-13 and 2023-24 school years.
More than 300 commenters weighed in in response to a story about the report, which was posted on Education Week’s social media channels.
Some emphasized that the practice, generally called mainstreaming, only works with proper supportive services, and that just being in general education classes alone doesn’t equate to building a sense of belonging and inclusion.
Both points were highlighted in the GAO report.
The report noted that the increases in general education classroom time for students with disabilities vary by state, and school districts say limited funding to hire staff such as paraeducators and establish inclusive programs limit their ability to drive up students’ time in standard classes with their peers who don’t have disabilities.
Jacqueline Nowicki, director of K-12 education research at GAO, and the report’s author, said that the overall increase in special education students’ time in general education classes is positive, but “it’s important also to not forget that being able to do that means you need to have the resources in place to make those kids successful in those environments.”
Many social media commenters agreed with Nowicki.
Here’s a sampling of comments from EdWeek’s Facebook post. Comments have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Inclusion works best with support
Spending more time in classrooms ≠ genuine inclusion and belonging.
This is not always the best for all special ed. students. Many of their unique specific needs cannot be met in the general ed. classroom, even with [a special education] teacher present. Inclusion classes are great and the goal for all, but it does not work for many. At times the spec. ed. teacher just does not have the time needed to truly support students in a curriculum-heavy, fast-paced class. Only scratching the surface of the issue is not enough. For many, a deeper dive and support is what’s really needed. After all, we must prepare them not just in school for school work, but for life beyond school in a public, community, city, life that is not easy or always supportive.
Inclusion can work for ALL if there is a teacher trained in special education. As an educator, I feel like it’s getting harder because we have a variety of needs from SPED to general education to gifted and talented. Let’s not forget behaviors. With 20-plus kids with a variety of needs, it’s challenging to make everyone successful, but it’s not impossible.
I would love to see a study on how the students feel and how they experienced the mainstream classrooms’ capacity to meet their learning needs as a next step to meaningful inclusion. Spending time in a classroom doesn’t always translate to meaningful inclusion.
This is very good if they are being given support to thrive in the classroom and learn to their best and not be overwhelmed (sensory or academic). It is very bad if they are being shoved in without support because it’s cheaper to put them there, and then blame teachers for classrooms that are struggling. I would suspect both occur.
Every student’s situation is different
My son definitely benefited from being in regular education classrooms 90% of his school day, but he went to the resource teacher for reading and math which also greatly benefited him. As a parent and also working in education over 20 years, I can confidently say that not all children benefit from being in a regular ed. classroom and it can sometimes diminish educational opportunities for regular education students. It’s a tough line to navigate, and better funding would make a huge difference.
Educator here and big supporter of students with disabilities spending more time in the general education classroom. It should be done thoughtfully and closely monitored. It is not the answer for every kid but it can be huge for students and for overall school improvement.
Integration works well for many kids. It isn't right for everyone, but it is the current trend so getting the administration to recognize that some kids are better served in a different environment can be ridiculously difficult.
This doesn’t mean it’s good or bad. This decision for a child should be on a case-by-case scenario for the best interest of the student and their learning and behavioral capacities.
I just left education after 11 years. I started in a school that operated on inclusion but still had resource rooms and programs in place for those that needed a different learning environment … after 8 years they went full inclusion, it was then that the behaviors began to rise and I began to be kicked, hit, pulled to the ground because I was no longer educating kids, I was told they HAVE to go to class, so each class (middle school) I had at least one student who could have benefitted from an alternative learning environment but I was spending the entire class period literally fighting them to just go to class. If I was successful, they learned nothing once we got there because they were dysregulated before we even got there. Then, in meetings, the admin would boast about how much time the child was spending in the classroom while educators are walking around with injuries from said child and they spent 15 minutes in class playing with toys. It looks great on paper, but past that, it isn’t working. That doesn’t mean shove them in the basement, it just means full inclusion is not what is best for all.
Some commenters celebrated the law’s requirement for teaching students in the ‘least restrictive environment’
Least restrictive environment. Inclusion. Dignity. It’s beautiful to see.
Because that is the law. Least restrictive environment.
