America Magazine

In 2014, 3.5 percent of students in N.C.E.A. schools were reported as having been diagnosed with a disability. Today that figure is 9.8 percent. Ms. MacDonald said N.C.E.A. has established a task force that is developing a directory of schools with promising programs. Some schools lean toward a more segregated model, in which special needs students remain mostly in their own classrooms, while others adopt a more integrated approach. Then there are the rare U.S. Catholic schools that serve only students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The students’ abilities span a wide spectrum. “We see good things happening in pockets,” according to Michael Boyle, executive director of the Herrmann Center for Innovative Catholic Education at St. Louis University. “And I think that’s part of the problem. As a universal church, we should be seeing something much more comprehensive and extensive.”…