The Academic Achievement of Elementary Level General Education Students in Inclusion Classrooms Versus Non-Inclusion Classrooms

This research study was conducted to examine the effects of the academic achievement of elementary level general education students in the inclusion classroom setting versus the general education students in the non-inclusion classroom in a large suburban school district in Tennessee as measured by third, fourth, and fifth grade mathematics and reading/language arts portions of the TCAP achievement test scores from 2015. A causal-comparative quantitative educational research design was used to evaluate student TCAP achievement test scores through the use of statistical comparisons of independent samples t-tests to determine any statistically significant differences between the two groups of students from the general education population. Parental and school administration concerns regarding the slowing of academic progress with the general education students instructed in an inclusion classroom setting prompted the need for this study as well as concerns that public school students might not be able to reach the benchmarks required by federal and local laws and policies for appropriate educational services. This research study supports that general education students who are instructed within the inclusion classroom setting do, in fact achieve at an equal level as the general education students instructed in the non-inclusion classroom setting when care is taken to ensure student and teacher needs in the classroom setting