Does Inclusion Slow Down General Education Classrooms?

Are educators spending less time on teaching if they have students with disabilities in their classrooms? The answer, based on a survey of teachers from 38 countries, including the United States, is yes—but digging into the data reveals a complex picture that goes beyond inclusion. Across the world, for example, classes with a high percentage of students with disabilities also have teachers with less experience and less training, according to an international survey of teachers. Those classrooms also have higher percentages of students who have behavior problems reported by their teachers that may be separate from the presence of a disability.