Follow-up study of children with mental retardation being advised to enroll in a special education program by the Municipal Enrollment Guidance Committee : Which is better for the children to receive either special education or regular education?

1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 07610237
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Educaion
• Research Institution: Utsunomiya University
• Principal Investigator: TANNO Yoshiji Utsunomiya University, Department of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (10007966)
• Project Period (FY): 1995 – 1996
• Keywords: Children with Mental Retardation / Special Classes / Enrollment Guidance / Follow-up Study

Research Abstract

This project presents results from a twelve-years follow-up study of children with mental retardation (50-75 in IQ), who were advised to enroll a special education program for the mentally retarded in an elementary school using the criteria from the Municipal Enrollment Guidance Committee of Utsunomiya City (Tochigi Prefecture, Japan) from 1983 to 1994. The purpose of this research was to clarify the difference between school abjustment of children who received special education and those who received regular education.
A total of 280 children were surveyed about their educational placement and their adjustment during their educational program. It was shown that 220 children received special education and 60 children received regular education. Both groups were interviewed by their teachers regarding their learning disabilities, lifesstyle, interpersonal relationships at school, parent's attitude and educational placements.
The following results were obtained (1) 69.4% of the children in the speical education program were identified by their teachers as eligible for their educational placements. Whereas, 96.4% of the children with mental retardation in the regular education program were ideutified as ineligible. (2) Only 1.7% of the children with mental retardation attending regular classes could keep up with the regular educational curriculum. (3) 67.9% of the children in the special education program were satisfied with their classes. Whereas, 10.9% of the children with mental retardation in regularclasses were satisfied.
These results indicate that children with mental retardation attending a regular education program have significantly more difficulty adapting to their educational program than those enrolling in a special education program. For mentally retarded children in regular classes, the biggest problem is learning. It also appears to be inappropriate educational placement. The quantitative data of this research is discussed in terms of the implications for enrollment guidance committees, policy making and future research in special education in Japan.