Civic Competencies and Students with Disabilities

Abstract

Increasing numbers of students with disabilities receive a majority of their formal education in general education settings where they must be taught the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to lead fully equitable and participatory lives in a democratic society. Given the need for all students to acquire civic understanding, the purpose of this study was to explore and describe knowledge of selected civic competencies as found in students of inclusive social studies classes and how they acquired this knowledge. Quantitative methods were used to explore whether or not the level of understanding these competencies was significantly similar between students with disabilities and general education students in inclusive classrooms, thus supporting or questioning the philosophical underpinnings of inclusion in a democratic society. Additionally, qualitative methods were used to describe the sources responsible for student understanding of selected civic competencies with the goal of determining similarities and differences in these students’ knowledge bases.