Special Education Students in Regular Classes: What Happened to the Pyramid?

This study investigated school districts which made high use (HU) and those which made low use (LU) of a placement option in which special education students are fully assigned to regular classrooms. In Massachusetts the proportions of these students in respect to other special education students do not fit the base of the cascade "pyramid" which is usually envisioned as a paradigm for placement of students in the least restrictive environment commensurate with their special needs. Special education administrators, special education teachers, regular teachers, and principals responded to questionnaires designed to elicit their beliefs about issues surrounding mainstreaming and the placement of special education students. HU special education administrators were generally more positive than LU special education administrators about mainstreaming and placement issues. HU teachers were more positive than LU teachers on a number of issues, and principals as a group were dramatically more positive than teachers on almost every issue. Principals and regular teachers in the HU districts had received significantly greater amounts of inservice training than had principals and regular teachers in the LU districts. The influence of special education administrators on mainstreaming beliefs is discussed and an explanation is offered for the differences between principals and teachers.