Involvement of Students With Intellectual Disabilities in Inclusive Higher Education Settings: A Scoping Review

• In Event: Reimagining Our Limits: Addressing Barriers to College Access for Students With Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Purpose: The 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act paved the way for students with intellectual disability (ID) to attend college. Without this landmark legislation to frame the opportunities and expectations for students, inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) would remain a fledgling field. To better understand the state of IPSE for students with ID, this scoping review examines access to and participation in various components of college life for students with ID from the perspective of students and multiple stakeholders (parents, program staff, peer mentors, faculty/professors, etc.) over the course of a decade of peer reviewed research studies.

Framework: This scoping review investigates IPSE through the lens of Student Involvement Theory (SIT) (Astin, 1999). SIT posits that, while colleges provide numerous opportunities for intellectual and personal growth, students who attend college must become involved and engaged in college opportunities, such as interacting with faculty and participating in various academic courses, co-curricular activities, recreational activities, and student government, to benefit from the experience as well as foster their growth and development during this critical time.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted using standard scoping review guidelines (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005; Levac et al., 2010) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA).

Data sources: To assess the first decade of literature after the passage of HEOA, this review collected 1,147 potentially relevant peer-reviewed articles published in PsycINFO, ERIC, Education Full-Text, and Academic Search Complete and from a repository of IPSE articles collected by Think College. 128 articles met inclusion criteria and were coded for study and IPSE program characteristics as well as current and expected levels of student with ID involvement regarding access to and participation in on-campus resources, facilities, and events related to academics, work/internships, social activities, university and intramural sports, and student organizations.

Results: The findings indicate that IPSE experiences differed greatly among programs and student current and expected levels of involvement is often underreported in the literature. The literature scarcely reported if students with ID currently have or if various stakeholders expected this population to have access to university-wide student orientation and graduation activities, intramural sports, university athletic teams, and student government / organizations. Among the scant literature mentioning access to on-campus resources, facilities, and events related to academics, work/internships, social activities, university and intramural sports, and student organizations, little information describes what this participation entails (student testimony, accommodations, meaningful participation, etc).

Significance: The results suggest that “inclusive” higher education is defined, implemented, and studied differently among programs and researchers. The findings strongly illustrate the need for national accreditation standards for IPSE programs. The sharing and disseminating of information is also imperative to ensure consistency in access, equity, and quality across IPSE programs for students with ID. Thus, there is a need for the higher education field to further investigate how this population accesses college life, what this participation looks like, and what is also expected both from the perspective of students with ID and other stakeholders involved in IPSE programs and higher education in general.

Authors

• Martha E. Mock, University of Rochester

• Clare Papay, Institute for Community Inclusion-UMASS Boston

• Michael McCarthy, University of Rochester

• Mary Judge Diegert, University of Rochester