An investigation of mainstream teacher time spent with students labeled learning disabled

Two naturalistic observation experiments were conducted to ascertain the extent to which mainstream teachers spent differing amounts of time with students labeled as learning disabled and with nonlabeled students. Experiment 1 was conducted in a secondary setting across an 8-week observation period; Experiment 2 was conducted across a 10-week period in an elementary setting. The results of both experiments showed that teachers do not spend significantly more time assisting students labeled as learning disabled. Possible explanations and implications are discussed.