Organization of the Fact Sheet

This fact sheet reports on students with mental retardation as an overall group and stratified by high, moderate, and low levels of functioning, as determined by parents' assessments of their children's functional cognitive skills.⁷ The fact sheet begins by providing a description of the educational experiences of students with mental retardation in terms of the types of schools they attended, grade levels, and course taking by educational setting. The fact sheet then describes their experiences in three types of classes—general education academic, vocational education, and nonvocational special education classes. Each of these sections provides information about aspects of their educational experience within that type of educational setting, such as curriculum modification, types of instruction, students' active participation, and teachers' perceptions and expectations of student performance. Findings related to their receipt of accommodations and supports are presented next. The fact sheet closes with a focus on the academic achievement of students with mental retardation.