Abstract
Special support services in high school resource rooms(tsukyu classrooms)became the official system in 2018. However, few studies have investigated the status of resource rooms at the elementary, junior high, and high school levels. Thus, we conducted a nationwide investigation of resource rooms for students with developmental disabilities and emotional disturbances in elementary, junior high, and high schools in Japan. The purpose was to investigate the actual situations in which students were using special support services. Valid responses were received from 613 elementary, 469 junior high, and 114 high schools. Teachers in charge of the resource rooms were asked to report the number of students for each of the following six factors: school year, gender, diagnosed disabilities, form of the resource rooms, period of special support, and details of the special support provided. A comparison of the distribution status of the pupils was made by multiplying the specific school type with each factor(school type × factor). Significant differences were found in all factors except gender, although the effects were not large. We surmised that these differences were influenced by the special characteristics of each school type in terms of special support service systems, developmental issues, etc. These results suggest that within special support services in resource rooms for students with developmental disabilities and emotional disturbances, high schools have unique characteristics, just as elementary and junior high schools do.
