Civics Education for Students With Learning Disabilities and Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Significant disparities in civics achievement between students with disabilities and their peers constitute an urgent need to support and improve civics education and outcomes for students receiving special education services related to emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) and learning disabilities (LD). In the documented instances when social studies interventions are evaluated by researchers in schools for students with EBD or LD, the focus is most often on geography, history, and text-based content acquisition and comprehension. However, the information learned during civics instruction most directly prepares students for active participation in their communities.