A 22-Year Longitudinal Study of LRE Trends in Texas

Researchers and the U.S. Department of Education regularly report on implementing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the promising trend of increasing proportions of students with disabilities being educated in the general education classroom. Yet, much of this research is limited by an overreliance on aggregated state-level data that can mask implementation problems within states and districts. Using the Texas State Longitudinal Data System, which contains a range of connected student- and school-level data, we overcome these barriers to examine the extent to which students with disabilities across several high-incidence disability categories, student and school demographics, and district locale were provided access to the general education classroom over 22 years. We also identify Texas schools that exclude students with disabilities altogether—something we have yet to see within other empirical studies. Findings from this study add evidence to prior research focused on access and inclusion at the intersections of race and class, as well as important implications for further reauthorizations of IDEA, next-generation studies, and inquiry processes states or districts might consider to increase access to the general education classroom.