Review of Interventions Supporting Secondary Students With Intellectual Disability in General Education Classes

Research and Practice for Persons With Severe Disabilities

Kuntz, E. M., & Carter, E. W. (2019).

Research and Practice for Persons With Severe Disabilities, 44(2), 103-121.

This systematic review investigates inclusive classroom support interventions delivered to middle and high school students with intellectual disability.

U.S. Department of Education

Through December 2017

Experimental group studies; single-case research design studies

40

For middle and high school students with intellectual disability, 39 studies investigated the efficacy of inclusive general education classroom support interventions (i.e., systematic instruction, peer support arrangements, self-management strategies, peer-mediated communication interventions, and educational placement changes) on a variety of outcomes (e.g., social skills, academic skills, behavioral skills). 41.8% of the studies showed strong effects, 16.4% showed positive effects, 16.4% showed mixed effects, and 25.5% showed no effect on the outcomes. In 16 studies investigating generalization of skills, 12 showed positive effects, 2 showed mixed effects, and 2 showed no effects. Twenty-one studies measuring maintenance of skills across time, varying from one week to more than one month, reported student maintenance at or near the level of skill demonstrated during the intervention. The authors of this review concluded that "most of the interventions were ... found to be effective at improving at least one outcome. When no effects were evident, this tended to occur for secondary outcomes (e.g., peer support arrangements are designed to increase social interactions, while either maintaining or increasing academic engagement) or within comparative studies in which neither intervention was superior to the other" (p. 115). Further research is required to determine which intervention or intervention package is most effective for which general education outcome for students with intellectual disabilities.