The Relationship Between Regents Competency Test Writing Scores of Special Education High School Students in a Self-Contained Classroom and Special Education High School Students in a Mainstreamed Classroom

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the Regents Competency Test in Writing between special education high school students in a mainstreamed English class and special education high school students in a self-contained English class. To determine this, twenty-five special education students in the eleventh grade were asked to participate in this study. The students were selected from a district in Monroe County in New York State. Fourteen of the students were in a mainstreamed English class. The remaining fourteen students were in a self-contained English class. All the students in the study were working toward a local diploma. A requirement for a local diploma is passing the Regents Competency Test (RCT) in Writing. All students began preparation in their ninth grade year. In November of their eleventh grade year they were administered the RCT in Writing. The RCT scores of the students in the mainstreamed class and the self-contained class were subject to t-test comparisons to see it there was a statistically significant difference. The findings revealed a calculated 1 score of 2.03. Since the critical value of t with 75 degrees of freedom at the 95% confidence level is ± 2.160, the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. This implies that there was not a statistically significant difference between the mean RCT Writing scores of students in the mainstreamed and self-contained group.