School achievement and changes in inclusive vs exclusive support over 50 years in Sweden regarding students with intellectual disabilities and special educational needs

Abstract

The Swedish educational system is recognized as being highly inclusive. Nevertheless, support in special classes and placing students with intellectual disabilities in special schools have increased after the mid-1990s. The study involves 65 thousand students in seven cohorts (born 1967–2004), participating in the Swedish longitudinal project Evaluation through Follow Up. It focuses on students with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) in the Swedish compulsory school and students with special educational needs (SEN) who received inclusive or exclusive support, compared to regular students without MID, SEN or support. Findings show inclusive support to dominate prior to the mid-1990s for both MID and SEN students. After that, increases in exclusive support solutions are noted. The high achievements demonstrated by MID and SEN students with inclusive support in all cohorts over a period of 50 years provide impetus for offering vulnerable student groups better opportunities for equal participation in regular classes.