The Role of Regional Culture on the Academic Success of People with Disabilities  

Leah Colsch Sociology

Results

METHOD AND RESULTS

1. Different countries around the world have different views of disabilities. A physical disability may not be seen as a disability in another country. The behaviors and reactions to this vary with their views (Kataoka, 2004; Samadi, 2011; Jang, 2013).

2. With the different views, the way they handle education for people with disabilities varies as well. Some countries have no official training for teachers, while some have classrooms with wide range of disabilities (Johnstone, 2009; Miller, 2012; Staples, 2012).

3. Despite the lack of inclusive education in most countries today, there is an overall want for more funding to provide special education training to better the skills of teachers, doctors, government officials and parents (Thorpe, 2010; Schuelka, 2012; Malak, 2013).

The sociological research on people with disabilities is limited, yet the population is one that continues to grow, and there has been shifts in the society with regulating laws and behavior with this population. These have helped the population increase independence. The success rates of these lives differ amongst countries, and this research explores the cultural difference of educational success. This research will clarify the regional effects on educational outcomes for people with disabilities.

Data Data from the 2006 General Social Survey

(GSS) was used to test the relationship between regional differences and the educational outcomes of people with disabilities.

HypothesisH1: Regional differences of educational

outcomes for people with disabilities will exist.

TestsAn ANOVA test was ran to highlight the difference in average years completed by people with disabilities across regions of the United States.

1. To better understand and highlight the cultural effects on academic success for people with disabilities.

2. To find significant relationship between educational outcomes of people with disabilities within regions of the United States.

LITERATURE REVIEW

INTRODUCTIONHypothesis was supported, and the region of the

respondent did have an effect on the educational success of people with disabilities.

There is a significant effect (at the .01 level) on number of school years completed if one lives in the southern regions of the United States.

Students with disabilities had fewer years of schooling if they lived in southern regions as compared to northern regions.

This research clarifies the strength of cultural differences and the effects on educational attainment for people with disabilities. This can be used as a starting point for future research with this population.

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Miller, Kevin J., Ellen Morfidi, and Spyros Soulis. 2012. “Teachers’ Perceptions of Greek Special Education Policies and Practices.” Journal of International Special Needs Education. 54-65.

Power, Andrew. 2013. “Making space for belonging: Critical reflections on the implementations of personalized adult social care under the veil of meaningful inclusion.” Social Science & Medicine. 88: 68-75.Samadi, Sayyed Ali, and Roy McConkey. 2011. “Autism in Developing Countries: Lessons from Iran.” Autism Research and Treatment. 2011: 1-9.Schuelka, Matthew J. 2012. “Inclusive Education in Bhutan: A Small State with Alternative Priorities.” Current Issues in Comparative Education. 15(1):145-156.Staples, James. 2012 “Culture and Carelessness.” Medical Anthropology Quarterly. 26(4): 557-571Thorpe, Anthony. 2010. “Teachers’ Perceptions of Inclusive Education in Mainstream Primary Schools in the United Kingdom.” The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. 5(3):163-171.Yang, P., Y-J. Jong, H-y Hsu, & F-W Lunge. 2011. “Role of assessment tests in the stability of intelligence scoring of pre-school children with uneven/delayed cognitive profile.” Journal of Intellectual Disability Research. 55(5):453-4612009. “Autism Research.” Indian J Med Sci. 63(3):127-128.

For more information, please contact:Leah Colsch

Leah.colsch@loras.edu

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

2006 GSS Data set only covers regions in the United States. Future research should examine the regional differences in education outcomes across nations.

Disabilities is determined by the respondent. The severity of the disability is unknown.

There are other regional differences such as quality of education and socioeconomic status that can affect the educational outcome as well.

In the future, it would be beneficial to see the programs of inclusive education within the United States regions. This would help clearly define the effects of the inclusive education.

REFERENCES

LORAS.EDU

Table 1: ANOVA Results of All Disabilities and Number of School Years Completed compared among Geographical Regions in the United States

FUTURE RESEARCH

Regional Culture

Views on Disabilities

Inclusive Education ResultsFigure 1: Theoretical Table

STUDY AIMS

Region Mean Std. Deviation

Foreign 13.02 3.418

New Englad 13.11 3.421

Middle Atlantic 13.38 2.716

East North Central 12.60 3.100

West North

Central

12.50 3.128

South Atlantic 12.07 3.194

East South Central 11.97 3.050

West South

Central

12.13 3.356

Mountain 13.02 2.711

Pacific 13.37 2.324

Total 12.69* 3.043