Study: Catholic schools vary widely on inclusion of students with disabilities

“I do think we’re moving in the right direction. It’s just really slow going because it’s hard work.”

A new survey from the National Catholic Partnership on Disability found that Catholic school systems in the U.S. vary widely in their practices of including students with disabilities. A board member of the NCPD told The Pillar the survey shows both progress and a need for continued growth.

Many Catholic school leaders voiced a desire for their diocesan schools to be inclusive, the NCPD said, but oftentimes a lack of funding, resources, and training has made it difficult to implement this desire effectively.

The report, shared with The Pillar this week, included recommendations for dioceses and schools seeking to more effectively serve students with special needs.

The recommendations include clear guidance and policies from diocesan offices, increased opportunities for teacher training, and implementation of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), a proactive framework for classroom education and support.

Credit: Jonathan Kirn / Alamy

Dr. Colleen McCoy-Cejka, author of the report and board liaison for the NCPD’s Catholic Schools Committee, told The Pillar that while the survey shows numerous areas where improvement is needed, she finds the results to be hopeful.

“I do think we’re moving in the right direction. It’s just really slow going because it’s hard work,” she said.

The report noted that it has been nearly 50 years since the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops published its 1978 pastoral note on persons with disabilities.

Since then, the bishops have published numerous other statements calling for the integration of persons with disabilities into the life of the Church, including in the realm of Catholic education.

Today, nearly half a century later, the NCPD said, “Inclusion of students with disabilities in Catholic schools has advanced with inconsistency throughout the United States.”

Its report found that “there is a wide range of ways schools are including and serving students with disabilities.”

However, it added, “System and school leaders agree that there is not enough ongoing, consistent training for school personnel to support inclusion.”

The NCPD released results of recent surveys, conducted in 2024-2025, asking Catholic school principals and superintendents about their practices regarding students with special needs.

About 55% of the superintendents who participated in the survey said their diocese has an expectation, in policy or mission statement, that schools are inclusive of students with any disability.

Of the 224 school leaders who responded to the survey, 97% said their school has had students with ADHD / executive function disorder in the past two years, and 93% said that they have had students with a specific learning disability related to reading, writing, or math.

About 5 in 6 school leaders said their school has had students with level 1 autism / ASD in the past two years, and 1 in 5 said their school has had students with level 2 autism / ASD. Nearly 18% said they had students with intellectual disabilities at their school in the past two years.

The survey also asked Catholic school principals whether they felt that they receive the support they need from their diocesan offices to practice inclusion.

Of 213 Catholic school leaders, 58% said they do not receive enough support from their dioceses.

Asked what they need from their diocesan offices, Catholic school leaders were most likely to list funding, resources, and professional development or training.

“We need systems of support: someone leading the charge in the Catholic Schools Office; a committee of interested parties; relationships with allied supporters,” one respondent said.

Another pointed to “a different teacher salary scale to accommodate highly trained special educators and behavior therapists.”

About a third of respondents said their schools have on staff resource/special education teachers with specialized training. Another third said they have resource/special education teachers on staff, only some of whom have specialized training.

The lack of training impacts teachers’ ability to effectively implement inclusion efforts, respondents said.

School leaders indicated that they would like to offer teachers more training through a variety of professional development offerings.

About 58% said they currently offer professional development training on differentiated instruction. Only a third of school leaders said they offer training on specific disabilities.

Some 30% of respondents said they offer professional development training on evidence-based math instruction, while 54% said they would like to offer this training.

Almost half of respondents said they would like to offer professional development training on executive function skills, while only 30% offer this training currently. More than 60% said they would like to offer training on behavior strategies, while only 28% currently offer this training.

The NCPD’s report emphasized the importance of diocesan support for schools in working to educate students with special needs.

“One way the diocesan Catholic schools office or department can serve the schools is by providing professional development opportunities that help schools to meet the needs of all students, utilize research-based instructional methods and strategies, and ensure schools operate within the call of Catholic mission by defining and prioritizing the call to achieve fullness of mission as a ministry of the Church,” it said.

McCoy-Cejka said the survey’s results show that progress has taken place in Catholic schools throughout the country.

For example, she said, nearly 18% of respondents to the survey said their schools served students with intellectual disabilities. More than a decade ago, that statistic was just 2%.

“That was a very positive surprise to us,” she said.

She also believes there has been an increase in the number of schools offering professional development aimed at reading intervention – currently more than 40% -- as well as schools that have resource / special education teachers.

Still, there is a long way to go. McCoy-Cejka noted that some survey respondents indicated that their schools are not interested in serving children with special needs.

She called it “baffling” that some Catholic school leaders would respond that way, nearly 50 years after the U.S. bishops first issued their call for inclusiveness.

For years, she said, “Catholic schools have been hearing the why and the scriptural connection and the call from the bishops and the popes. Why people think it’s optional, I don’t understand.”

In addition, McCoy-Cejka said, responses to the survey indicated a lack of understanding about systems and interventions for students who need support.

The NCPD recommends the use of MTSS - a multi-tiered framework of support and instruction for students.

The first tier consists of instruction given to all students, with or without disabilities. It includes positive behavioral interventions, assessments, instructional support, and research-based curriculum.

The second tier consists of additional interventions, either individually or in small groups, to help teach specific skills to the students who need additional support. The third tier includes intensive, individualized support for students who have additional academic or behavioral needs. These interventions could include speech therapy or occupational therapy, and may occur in a school setting or outside of school.

But the NCPD survey suggested that the school leaders do not always understand the model and how it relates to inclusion – nor is it implemented consistently in Catholic schools.

The NCPD’s report included recommendations for Catholic dioceses and schools to more effectively include and support students with special needs.

Among the recommendations were the use of curriculum with strong intervention resources and collaboration between schools in order to share personnel and training resources.

The NCPD also recommended clear guidance and policies from the diocese regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities, more frequent training opportunities for teachers, and implementation of the MTSS model.

McCoy-Cejka encouraged Catholic schools that want to take a step toward inclusion of students with disabilities to begin by examining how that aim falls within their existing school goals.

“Once you can identify that, you can start to streamline the professional development that’s going to help you actually achieve those goals,” she said.

She acknowledged that finding funding for resources and training may be challenging for some Catholic schools.

However, she said, “there are many small, under-resourced Catholic schools throughout the country that are doing this work and doing it well.”

“I think knowing where those schools exist and how they’re doing it would be really helpful,” she said. “There is, I think, a call here for collaboration, and we need to elevate those people that are doing it well so that they can help others get on board too.”

There are a lot of free training resources available too, she said, especially around dyslexia and autism.

“You don’t have to have a special education degree in order to serve students properly, but you do have to know about that disability and how that person’s brain works and how maybe you need to do things a little bit differently.”