How Unified Classes Impact School Climate Perceptions for Students without Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

This report presents a study on the effect of unified physical education (PE) classes on perceptions of overall school climate and social inclusion. The study was designed to determine if there was a correlation between general education students in unified PE classes and their perceptions of school climate related to inclusion and school connectedness. The results of this study may assist teachers and administrators in making informed decisions about implementing more inclusive practices, such as unified classes, in their districts. I surveyed students in a unified PE class and a stratified random sample with exclusions from a general education class. I employed Fisher’s exact test to determine if there was a relationship between the variables. The results of Fisher’s exact test indicated that there was no significant difference between the two group samples. However, the unified PE class participants reported higher levels of participation and comfortability interacting with students with intellectual disabilities (ID) than the general education participants. The students participating in unified PE noted a higher perception of a sense of belonging within the school according to their results.