Class Placement and Academic and Behavioral Variables as Predictors of Graduation for Students with Disabilities

Abstract: This study investigated the impact of specified variables related to academic history, behavioral history, and availability of inclusive systems as potential risk factors for dropouts, impacting students with disabilities. Results indicated that a successful academic history was the only significant predictor of graduation potential when statistically controlling all the other variables. The national propagation of inclusion has impacted the field of education significantly (Hehir, 2005). Inclusive ideology supports the notion that every student can learn and that those with disabilities benefit greatly from increased interactions with non-disabled peers and direct exposure to the general education curriculum (Fisher & Frey, 2003; Huefner, 2000; Lee-Tarver, 2006). Given the relatively young history of inclusive practices, it is still unclear how it impacts the graduation rates of students with disabilities. Inclusion advocates assert that students with disabilities have the legal right to be educated alongside their non-disabled peers (Rea, McLaughlin, & Walther-Thomas, 2002) and point out that the educational outcomes and graduation rates of students with disabilities educated under the self-contained or pull-out models are generally poor (Rea et al., 2002). Yet, dropout rates for students with disabilities hav