Reading and Math Disparities on Students With and Without Disabilities: Evidence From MICS6 Survey

• In Event: Reimagining Inclusive Instructional Practices for Students With Disabilities

Abstract

According to a recent World Bank report, students with disabilities have 16.5% lower primary education completion rates and 15.85% lower literacy skills than those without disabilities, and these gaps have widened over time. Evidence suggests that students with disabilities disproportionately experience poverty in the Global South (Filmer, 2008; Singal, 2023), but there is a significant gap in the literature on how poverty, disability, and other socioeconomic factors impact their academic achievement. This study uses data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS6) to explore how socio-spatial-economic variables affect reading and math disparities between students with and without disabilities across the Global North and South, highlighting international trends in the academic achievement of students with disabilities.

Authors

• Nayoung Yoon, University of Texas at Austin

• Yehyang Lee, Syracuse University