“The Comprehensive Impacts of a National Inclusion Policy for Students with Disabilities”

People with disabilities, while representing a large share of the world's population, lag in all labor market metrics. Such disadvantages start early in life: students with disabilities aged 6-17 have 2 percentage points lower attendance rates, and 7 percentage points lower high school completion rates by the age of 25. Many countries have adopted inclusion policies to improve educational outcomes for students with disabilities. In this project, we explore a large-scale policy in Brazil that aimed to mainstream students with disabilities to regular classrooms and provide appropriate infrastructure and curriculum to support this transition. We ask three questions. First, how do students respond to this policy by transferring between schools or entering the system for the first time? Second, how does inclusion affect the outcomes of students with disabilities, their peers, and teachers? Third, does appropriate infrastructure play a role in enhancing or mitigating the impacts of inclusion policies?