Inclusive teachers’ attitudinal ratings of their students with disabilities

230 THE JOURNAL OF SPECIAL EDUCATION VOL. 40/NO. 4/2007/PP. 230–238 The frequency with which students who have disabilities are educated alongside their nondisabled peers in general educa-tion classrooms has increased considerably in recent years, affecting virtually every aspect of contemporary schooling. The 24th Annual Report to Congress (U.S. Department of Ed-ucation, 2002) reported that 47.3 % of students with disabili-ties were included (spent 79 % or more of their school day in general education classrooms) in the 1999–2000 school year. This proportion is almost twice as high as 15 years previous (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). Marked increases in in-clusive placements have occurred both for students with mild disabilities (e.g., the proportion of students with learning dis-abilities who were included rose from 20.7 % in 1984–1985 to 45.3 % in 1999–2000) and for students with severe disabilities (e.g., the proportion of included students with autism has in-creased from 4.7 % to 20.6 % in the same time frame). Despite the increasing popularity of inclusion reforms, their impact remains unclear. Whereas advocates point to many potential benefits of including students with disabilities (e.g., Stainback, Stainback, & Ayers, 1996), researchers have docu-mented that general education teachers do not traditionally pro-vide the adaptations and accommodations that many students with disabilities need to succeed in inclusive environment