A descriptive study of a public school system's inclusion model: A post hoc study of K--12 program placement and performance patterns of children previously identified as eligible for preschool special education

The purpose of this study was to examine program placement and performance patterns of a group of 75 special education students during a County school system's implementation of a five-year plan on inclusion. The students were originally identified as eligible for special education services and served in the County's special education preschool programs as they progressed from kindergarten to second grade with their initial kindergarten experience being in an inclusionary setting. The study examines variables related to available demographic information, placement patterns/level of service, related services, percentage of IEP goals met, individual assessment information, disability classification, classroom accommodations, and report card data.;The descriptive study methodology consisted of a complete record/file review of each student's cumulative and confidential files. The cumulative file includes items e.g., registration forms, report cards, while the confidential file includes all confidential records related to special education including the student's IEPs and eligibility reports. Results indicate that: (a) the majority of the students were referred to special education for speech or medical concerns; (b) 75% of the students had at least one weakness on their kindergarten IEP match a weakness on their first and second grade IEP; (c) special education services significantly increased from a mean of 8.208 hours in kindergarten to a mean of 12.598 hours in second grade; (d) the percentage of students who received classroom accommodations doubled from kindergarten to second grade; (e) from kindergarten to second grade, the percent of students who had modified report cards increased from 19% to 49%; (f) the average number of IEP goals increased from kindergarten to second grade. The average percentage of IEP goals mastered decreased from kindergarten to second grade, and fell under the 25% for each grade level; (g) For those students who did not have modified report cards, the majority were doing average or above-average work in academic and behavioral areas as rated by their teachers. Ten students from the sample repeated a grade and their data was analyzed separately as most of the results were significantly different from those students with special needs who did not repeat.