Title

Informing Campus Principals: A Quantitative Investigation of the Difference Between Full or Partial Inclusion on the Academic Achievement of Students with Special Needs

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Department

Educational Administration

Date of Award

Fall 2016

Abstract

The integration of inclusion as an accepted instructional arrangement has undergone many challenges related to students with special needs being placed in general education classrooms. As the population of students with special needs increases in inclusion settings, various instructional arrangements have been formed to support least restrictive environments. Inclusion is an instructional arrangement defined as full or partial. The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the difference between full or partial inclusion and the subsequent academic achievement of students with disabilities as measured by performance on the State of Texas Academic Assessment of Readiness (STAAR) ninth-grade English language arts (ELA) end-of-course (EOC) exam. The cohort of students was purposively selected based on the commonalities they shared; namely, qualifying to receive specially designed instruction and services in either full or partial inclusion instructional arrangements. In an inclusion classroom, general and special education teachers collaborate to provide instruction to all students. Students with special needs had access to the same curriculum. The researcher examined the percentage of time students with special needs received instruction in full and partial inclusion classrooms to determine if differences existed between student performance scores. No significant difference exists on the academic performance of students with special needs between those in full inclusion and those in partial inclusion classroom settings as measured by scores on the STAAR ninth-grade ELA EOC exam.

Advisor

Nathan Templeton

Subject Categories

Education | Educational Administration and Supervision

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