ERIC Number: EJ849859
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2009
Pages: 22
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1557-3060
EISSN: N/A
The Effects of Inclusion on Classmates of Students with Special Needs: The Case of Serious Emotional Problems
Fletcher, Jason M.
Education Finance and Policy, v4 n3 p278-299 Sum 2009
In this article, I examine the current policy of full inclusion of children receiving special education services in regular education classrooms. Specifically, I focus on the policy's effects on the "classmates" of children with special needs, with a particular focus on classmates of students with serious emotional problems. Results suggest that students with a classmate with a serious emotional problem experience reductions in first-grade test scores, especially students in low-income schools. Results that attempt to capture sorting across and within schools using school-level fixed effects specifications are qualitatively similar. The magnitude of the reduction in mathematics achievement is approximately 30-60 percent of the size of the adjusted black-white achievement gap. Since nearly 10 percent of the student population has a classmate with a serious emotional problem, the aggregate effect on test scores of the policy of including these students is potentially quite large.
Descriptors: Inclusive Schools, Special Needs Students, Emotional Problems, Mathematics Achievement, Scores, Classroom Environment, Grade 1, Disadvantaged Schools, Achievement Gap
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 1
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A