The Role of Regional Culture on the
Academic Success of People with Disabilities
Leah Colsch
Sociology
INTRODUCTION
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.
METHOD AND RESULTS
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.
Hypothesis
H1: Regional differences of educational
outcomes for people with disabilities will
exist.
Regional Culture
STUDY AIMS
Views on Disabilities
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
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).
LORAS.EDU
Inclusive Education Results
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
 Hypothesis 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.
FUTURE RESEARCH
Figure 1: Theoretical Table
Tests
An ANOVA test was ran to highlight the
difference in average years completed by
people with disabilities across regions of
the United States.
Results
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
12.50
3.128
South Atlantic
12.07
3.194
East South Central
11.97
3.050
West South
12.13
3.356
Mountain
13.02
2.711
Pacific
13.37
2.324
Total
12.69*
3.043
Central
Central
Table 1: ANOVA Results of All Disabilities and Number of School Years
Completed compared among Geographical Regions in the United States
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.
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For more information, please contact:
Leah Colsch
Leah.colsch@loras.edu