A longitudinal study of students with learning disabilities in mainstream and resource programs

Abstract

Abstract In a 5‐year prospective study, we assessed the cognitive, academic, and behavioral characteristics of 42 children with learning disabilities from the time of identification at 6 to 7 years of age until they reached 11½ years of age. At the study's endpoint, 14 students were fully mainstreamed, 25 students continued to receive learning‐disability resource assistance, and three students were in self‐contained programs. Patterns of grade retention showed that students who were never retained were significantly more likely to be fully mainstreamed than were students who repeated one or more grades. Analyses of cognitive and achievement measures revealed no differences between mainstreamed and resource students at the time of identification. At endpoint, however, resource students showed a significant drop in verbal IQ and lower achievement. Both at the beginning and end of the study, teachers rated students who were eventually mainstreamed higher on behavior related to academic competence.