Mapping Access to General Education for Students With Intellectual Disability and Autism: The Landscape in California and New York

• In Event: 51.076 - The Geography of In(ex)clusion: Place and Issues of Access to General Education Contexts for Students With Disabilities

Abstract

Despite the body of research suggesting that students with Intellectual Disability and Autism benefit from access to general education, these students continue to be educated in primarily in separate settings. Moreover, there is considerable variability in placement across and within states. In an effort to explore such variability, we examined trends in general education placement rates of students with Intellectual Disability and Autism across districts and possible predictors of access to general education in California and New York. Researchers used GIS mapping in addition to descriptive and inferential statistics in the analyses. Results suggest that although descriptive patterns of placement exist, a more definitive explanation of variability requires a deeper analysis of policy and procedure at the district level.

Authors

• Meghan E Cosier, Chapman University

• Donald N. Cardinal, Chapman University

• Audri Gomez

• Julia M. White, Syracuse University

• Chris Toutain, Chapman University