Kids Being Kept Out of 'Regular' Classrooms.

• Position: INTELLECTUALLY DISABLED

By Federal law passed in 1975, children with intellectual disabilities are supposed to spend as much time as possible in general education classrooms, but a study from Ohio State University, Columbus, suggests that progress toward that goal has stalled.

Findings show that, over the past several decades, 55% to 73% of students with intellectual disabilities spend most or all of the school day in self-contained classrooms or schools and not with their peers without disabilities.

"Given the legal mandate, it is surprising that such a large proportion of students are consistently placed in restrictive settings," says study author Matthew Brock, assistant professor of special education. "I found historical trends of incremental progress toward less-restrictive settings, but no evidence of such progress in recent years."

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (as the law now is called) has the aim of educating students with disabilities in what is supposed to be the "least restrictive environment." That means they should be placed in general education classrooms alongside peers without disabilities to the maximum extent appropriate.

Decisions about what is appropriate for each child are made by an Individual Education Program team, which includes the child's parents, teachers, and others.

Brock used several data sources to determine the proportion of students six to 21 years old with intellectual disability who were placed in each federally reported educational environment from 1976 to 2014.

The definitions of placement categories changed several times over that time frame, so it is impossible to compare statistics directly over the entire time period, but some general trends can be detected.

He found that, in the first years following passage of the law, the proportion of students in less restrictive settings actually decreased. Students served in regular general education classrooms decreased from 38% in 1976 to 30% in 1983.

From 1984-89, an overall trend is less clear. From 1990-2014, the proportion of students in less-restrictive placements initially increased and then plateaued. The proportion of students who...