Looping on Academic Achievement in Students with Mild Disabilities Served within an Inclusive Classroom: A Mixed Methods Investigation

The following dissertation utilized a mixed method design to determine the impact of looping with students with mild disabilities on academic achievement in mathematics and reading on a statewide assessment for accountability. Current research on looping is limited to qualitative studies with various participants including teachers, parents, and students from the regular education or gifted classroom settings. Therefore, a lack of quantitative data to study the consequences of looping especially with special populations exists. The purpose of this study was to provide quantitative evidence to the impact of looping on academic achievement for students with disabilities while adding to the current research on looping. Qualitative data was also gathered from lead teachers and special education teachers that looped to explore participants' views on the advantages and disadvantages of looping with fourth grade students with mild disabilities. For the quantitative component of the mixed method study archival data with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis was utilized to understand the variations in the achievement scores from fourth grade students with mild disabilities who looped and did not loop within the same school located in a suburban elementary school located in northeast Georgia. Analysis data did not support the hypothesis. Findings from the qualitative data showed that teachers felt looping was advantageous.