What Do Special Education Students Think of School Placements?

This report discusses the findings of a review of 35 articles on the perceptions of students with disabilities regarding student placement. Results of the review indicate students with special education needs vastly prefer general education classroom placement to any form of separateness. Students generally report reluctance about leaving the classroom, although they do perceive advantages to receiving the assistance of special educator help within the classroom. Even though the general education classroom might be a preference, there is also a substantial body of literature where students report lack of attention to their special needs or even negative teacher and age-mate interactions. In comparison, special education resource room proarams and classroom settings have been viewed as scattered, unclear, and disorganized. Some groups of students with specific exceptionalities have clear preferences or see advantages to a senarate special education approach including students with hearing impairments, some students with emotional disturbances/behavior disorders, and intermediate-age students with learning disabilities. The report concludes that the primary implication to be drawn from the review is that inquiry must be made into students ' placement preferences and that students must be included in the placement decision-making process. (Contains 62 references.) (CR) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document