INCLUSIVE EDUCATION: WHICH INCLUSION MODEL PROVIDES ACADEMIC GAINS FOR STUDENTS WITH MILD TO SEVERE DISABILITIES IN THE SECONDARY SETTING?

A major premise of inclusive education for students with mild-severe disabilities is to provide skills, which enable them to live, work, and participate in an integrated community of life-long learners. Inclusive education would lead these students to greater independence and opportunity to be educated together in age appropriate general education classrooms. Three inclusion models were compared to determine which model would produce higher gains, both academically and socially in a high school multi-disability classroom. All three groups were their own control groups. Students were assigned to groups based on intellectual functioning and individual needs. Each group consisted of students that were relatively higher functioning, relatively lower functioning and students with severe needs. The settings included a general education classroom with adult/paraprofessional interaction, a general education setting with peer interactions or a small group instructional classroom with peer directed instructional activities. A constant comparison methodology was used to analyze the data across three groups and role of stakeholders. Findings revealed the benefits of inclusive education for all students, but the gains varied depending on the setting/inclusion model used.