Special Education Classroom Placement Trends: An Examination of Influences in Ontario, Canada

Educational placement for students with disabilities (i.e. the location of instruction) has increasingly been a topic of intense debate given the correlated benefits associated with and barriers to education in the general classroom. Previous research has suggested that local norms, policy, and general attitudes in education and society play an important role in the oft team-based decision-making processes that determine the educational placement of students with disabilities. While research has linked specific broad-scale regional and systematic influences, these studies have primarily focused on the United States context with limited opportunities for global inference. This study examined 14 years of educational placement data in the province of Ontario, Canada, to examine trends across special education identification categories. Additionally, variables including the passage of time, school level (i.e. elementary or secondary), and school board type (i.e. language of instruction, religious affiliation) were assessed for their predictive qualities in education placement outcomes. Findings revealed that placements have become overall more inclusive over time; however, while the variables explained a portion of the placement results, the patterns and effects differed across disability categories.