Improving academic performance of special education students from economically disadvantaged communities

Poor economic backgrounds of special need students pose a huge challenge on the academic performance of these students and it is evident that such students perform poorly than their peers. This literature addresses the impacts of poverty on the academic performance of special needs students and the impacts of inclusion, cooperative learning, peer tutoring, co-teaching, and material and psychosocial supportas ways of improving the academic performance of special need students from economically disadvantaged communities. The findings indicate that co-teaching has had positive impact on the over-all performance of special needs students as well as their social well-being. The paper then concludes that the policy makers, the teachers and the administrators in the education sector should put in place measures that enhance teaching and learning that aim at assisting special need students gain high academic performances.