This article compares student achievement data of the Integrated Classroom Model (ICM) to achievement data in resource room programs. Cost-effectiveness of the two programs is also compared. Comparison of pre- and postscores on the reading, math, and language subtests of the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational Battery indicated no significant differences in performance among elementary-school students with learning disabilities in integrated classrooms and resource classrooms. Comparisons of California Achievement Test scores indicated no significant differences among regular education students in the ICM and in regular classrooms. The ICM was shown to be more cost effective than resource room programs while achieving similar results.
If service recipients are to gain equal access to appropriately staffed services, further attention needs to be paid to supporting an adequately skilled multidisciplinary workforce. The workforce needs to be organised in a way that best provides for local needs rather than a service based largely on the existing supply of different professionals and disjointed workforce planning.
The social status of elementary students with learning disabilities (LD) served by the Integrated Classroom Model (ICM) was compared to the social status of elementary students with learning disabilities served in a regular class with resource room support. The ICM serves elementary special education and non-special-education students (1:2) together as one class. The comparison group was composed of students with learning disabilities who received special education services outside of their regular classroom for a portion of their school day. Social status was determined by assessing interpersonal relationships among students, using a peer rating method. The results of analyses of various dimensions suggest that while special education students in both programs have significantly lower social status on average than their non-special-education peers, the children in the ICM have a better opportunity to blend successfully into the classroom than the children who go out to a resource room.
Parents' satisfaction with their children's academic and social progress is an important consideration for schools planning to increase the number of classrooms offering fully integrated programs for special education students. The survey reported here compared satisfaction ratings from parents of special education students and parents of general education students whose children were placed in integrated elementary classrooms. Both groups of parents rated their initial response and their satisfaction 6 months after placement. Parents whose children had been in resource rooms in previous years rated their satisfaction with the fully integrated classroom compared to the more restrictive earlier placement.
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