Prevalence & Educational Environments
The 29th Annual Report to Congress provided a 10-year perspective on prevalence and confirmed limited variance in ID during this decade.
The trend shows that there has been slightly less than 1% of school-age children identified as MR or ID.
What does prevalence mean??
Prevalence is the proportion of a population found to have a condition.
Intellectual Disability Findings from 29th Annual Report to Congress:
Significant variance across the states when reporting how many students have ID in school systems.
This means that:
12 total states report prevalence rates in excess of 1.2% including 2 states that report prevalence figures above 2%
19 states report prevalence rates that are below 0.6%
8 states reported prevalence figure of 0.40%
States showing high prevalence, the population being served is likely not dissimilar to that of which was commonly identified 30 or more years ago under the label mental retardation, and would likely include a sizable number of individuals with mild disabilities.
For states only reporting serving approximately 0.4% or less of their population, this population would likely include only individuals with more significant disabilities. Therefore, it is likely not including individuals with mild disabilities.
Although the process has changed, there has been an increased commitment to inclusion in the field of ID as there has been in education in general. But, the placement of students into programs outside of general education is still predominant.
***Nearly 56.9% of these students are removed from the general education classroom and placed in a seperate environment for atleast 60% of the day!!!!
Depending on the individual state, there is a strong commitment to educating students with intellectual disabilities in inclusive settings while other states still reflect a significant commitment to nongeneral education settings for the majority of students with ID.
Educators must realize that setting alone does not represent an effective intervention for the students.
(Smith, Polloway & Patton, 2012)
The trend shows that there has been slightly less than 1% of school-age children identified as MR or ID.
What does prevalence mean??
Prevalence is the proportion of a population found to have a condition.
Intellectual Disability Findings from 29th Annual Report to Congress:
Significant variance across the states when reporting how many students have ID in school systems.
This means that:
12 total states report prevalence rates in excess of 1.2% including 2 states that report prevalence figures above 2%
19 states report prevalence rates that are below 0.6%
8 states reported prevalence figure of 0.40%
States showing high prevalence, the population being served is likely not dissimilar to that of which was commonly identified 30 or more years ago under the label mental retardation, and would likely include a sizable number of individuals with mild disabilities.
For states only reporting serving approximately 0.4% or less of their population, this population would likely include only individuals with more significant disabilities. Therefore, it is likely not including individuals with mild disabilities.
Although the process has changed, there has been an increased commitment to inclusion in the field of ID as there has been in education in general. But, the placement of students into programs outside of general education is still predominant.
***Nearly 56.9% of these students are removed from the general education classroom and placed in a seperate environment for atleast 60% of the day!!!!
Depending on the individual state, there is a strong commitment to educating students with intellectual disabilities in inclusive settings while other states still reflect a significant commitment to nongeneral education settings for the majority of students with ID.
Educators must realize that setting alone does not represent an effective intervention for the students.
(Smith, Polloway & Patton, 2012)