The effectiveness of looping in self-contained special education classrooms

The practice of looping, a single teacher remaining with a core group of students for two or more years, is one that is used in some self-contained special education settings. The purpose of this study was to show that this practice is beneficial to both teacher and students in this type of environment. The goal of this investigation was to demonstrate that looping in a self-contained classroom resulted in significant academic achievement gains and also decreased behavior infractions of the students in this type of classroom. Also, it was hypothesized that the students who have been looped in a self-contained special education classroom for two years and only commit minor behavior infractions will show higher academic gains than students who commit major behavior infractions. Scores from the Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Second Edition, and behavioral referrals were analyzed from middle school students who were looped for two consecutive years in one New Jersey middle school. The results of the data indicated that the students did make significant academic gains in the area of Reading Comprehension. Also, the students who achieved the most significant gains in Mathematics were those who did not commit major behavior infractions. Behavior infraction from year 1 to year 2 did not change. Even so, these results indicate that this practice is one that is beneficial for special education students, and it promotes education and positive behavior in the classroom. Implications of the future practice of looping in special education classrooms were discussed