Getting it together for SPED

Getting it together for SPED

Wide gaps in graduation rates between students with disabilities and those in general education raise the stakes for next year's first-ever federal evaluation of state special education, writes Christina Samuels in Education Week. U.S. Department of Education data show a four-year graduation-rate gap that ranges from a high of 43 percentage points in Mississippi to a low of 3 percentage points in Montana. Nationally, the largest proportion of students with disabilities -- 41 percent -- are classified as having "specific learning disabilities," including dyslexia or auditory processing disorders. The second-largest group, 18.5 percent, have speech and language impairments. Most of these students are expected, with appropriate supports, to achieve at grade-level standards. Since the reauthorization of the IDEA in 2004, states have been required to collect various special-education indicators and submit those data federally. These indicators do not relate to student results, but to factors such as how quickly individualized education plan (IEP) meetings are scheduled, or whether high school-aged students have postsecondary goals in their IEPs. By next year, states will be asked to create "systemic improvement plans" that comprehensively address how they'll improve outcomes for students with disabilities. States that fall short of federal requirements -- a standard still under development -- risk having federal funds reallocated to problem areas, or even withheld. More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.

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