Instructional Contexts for Students with Moderate,Severe,and Profound Intellectual Disabilities in General Education Elementary Classrooms

Abstract

Data were gathered on 19 variables representing instructional contexts and engaged behavior of 29 students with severe disabilities who were educated in general education elementary classrooms. An initial description of these variables is followed by an examination of variability that is a function of year of participation in the study, grade level, and type of physical disability and intellectual disability. Results suggest that (a) students were provided a comprehensive array of instructional activities with a greater proportion of instruction provided through academic rather than functional activities, (b) instructional contexts associated with successful academic criterion-referenced outcomes were provided in general education classrooms, and (c) student engagement rates support outcomes reported in the extant literature. The independent variables had varying impact on the instructional context and levels of engaged behavior. Future research should focus on both the examination of instructional variables within different support models and the identification of discrete learning outcomes for students with disabilities in general education classrooms.