UBC researchers emphasize inclusive education in 2024 SPICE lab report

In January, the Supporting Progressive Inclusive Child-centered Education (SPICE) Research Lab published a report showing the educational experiences of over 68,000 BC students with disabilities and learning exceptionalities.

The principal investigator Dr. Jennifer Baumbusch and the lead author Dr. Jennifer E. V. Lloyd aimed to describe the experiences of students in the 12 inclusive education designations tracked by the BC Ministry of Education and Child Care (MECC) which include students with autism and physical and intellectual disabilities.

The study followed students from kindergarten to high school completion and public post-secondary education (if in BC) and collected data about whether or not students remained in the K–12 school system, the type of high school credential earned and the kind and timing of post-secondary education pursued.

The anonymized and population-level data for this report was taken from public databases from MECC’s Student Transitions Project, which uses personal education numbers to track BC student data “across both K-12 and public post-secondary education systems,” according to its website.

The purpose of the report was “not necessarily to make comparisons between the designations because it's a large variety of different designations, so we don't feel like it would be fair to make comparisons,” said Lloyd in an interview with The Ubyssey.

Researchers wanted to “look at discrete patterns in children's journeys over time, but also to look at inequalities and inequities, across the assorted designations,” said Lloyd.

“We wanted to make a resource that parents and educators and advocates and other researchers could use if they were interested in one of the designations, or all 12 of the designations.”

This report is the first of its kind in Canada.

When looking at other studies about inclusive education, many use small samples of children or only focus on one particular designation, according to Lloyd. The SPICE report, however, looked at over 68,000 individuals over about 20 years.

This report was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is also part of a larger program of research done by the the council.

The SPICE lab partnered with various advocacy groups, such as Inclusion BC, BCEdAccess and Steps Forward to help disseminate the results, which has led to "traction" with people who are working on the frontlines with students, according to Lloyd. The report has also been shared with all school districts in BC to help inform them about how to create programs for children with disabilities.

When dealing with data as large as 68,000 students, it’s easy to get lost in the numbers. However, Lloyd emphasized that these are individual students who are being tracked forward through time.

“We hope that from the data, people can see that these educational journeys are being humanized. They're real kids who are following these trajectories.”

These trajectories have the potential to impact students’ lives beyond K–12 schooling.

“Early educational experiences are a potent and very strong social determinant of health throughout the rest of the life course,” said Lloyd.

According to the World Health Organization, education is one of the social determinants of health.

“It behooves us to better understand these early experiences, so we can make adulthood as productive and engaging and fulfilling as possible.”