Fast Facts

Question:
What percentage of students with disabilities are educated in regular classrooms?

Response:
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), enacted in 1975¹, requires public schools to make available to all eligible children with disabilities a free public education in the least restrictive environment² appropriate for their needs. In 1997, Congress passed amendments to IDEA,³ mandating for the first time that states collect data on the race/ethnicity of students identified as having special education needs.

Between 1995 and 2005, the percentage of students with disabilities spending 80 percent of more of the school day in a general classroom showed an overall increase from 45 to 52 percent. At the same time, there was an overall decline (from 22 to 18 percent) in the percentage of students spending less than 40 percent of their day in a general classroom. The percentage of students with disabilities who did not attend general schools showed little change, however, staying at approximately 4 percent over the 10-year span. Between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years, the percentage of students with disablities spending 80 percent or more of the school day in a general classroom increased from 50 to 52 percent.

The percentage of time these students spent in a general classroom varied by race/ethnicity. For example, White students with disabilities were more likely than students of any other race/ethnicity to spend 80 percent or more of their day in a general classroom. In contrast, Black students with disabilities were more likely than students of any other race/ethnicity to spend less than 40 percent of their day in a general classroom and were the most likely to receive education in a separate facility for students with disabilities. American Indians/Alaska Natives and Hispanics with disabilities were less likely than students of any other race/ethnicity to receive education in a separate school facility for students with disabilities.

¹ The most recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) occured in 2004.
² A least restrictive environment is determined on a case-by-case basis to ensure that each student’s special needs are met, while allowing that student the maximum possible exposure to students without disabilities as well as the general education curriculum.
³ Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997 (P.L. 105-17).

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition of Education 2007 (NCES 2007-064), Indicator 31.

NOTE: Students with disabilities are those students served under "Assistance for education of all children with disabilities" (Part B) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in the United States and outlying areas. Data are taken from a universe survey. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition of Education 2007(NCES 2007-064), Table 31-1.

Related Tables and Figures:  (Listed by Release Date)

• 2007, Digest of Education Statistics 2006, Table 49. Percentage distribution of students with disabilities 6 to 21 years old receiving education services for the disabled, by educational environment and type of disability: Selected years, fall 1989 through fall 2005
  
• 2001, Percent of public schools with students with various disabilities, and of those, percent with special hardware and special software for these students, by type of disability and by school characteristics: 2001