Special Education and Individualized Academic Growth: A Longitudinal Assessment of Outcomes for Students With Disabilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 576-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hurwitz ◽  
Brea Perry ◽  
Emma D. Cohen ◽  
Russell Skiba

This study examined the effectiveness of participating in special education on the academic outcomes of students with disabilities. A sample of 575 students from a large, urban school district were followed longitudinally as they transitioned between general and special education to evaluate whether receiving special education services was associated with improvements in academic trajectories. Using student fixed effects models of within-person change over time, individuals’ performance on standardized tests were compared before, during, and/or after special education placement. Results indicate that test scores of students with disabilities improved after being enrolled in special education. Additionally, students exiting special education exhibited a sustained trajectory of academic growth, suggesting that participation in special education in this district was associated with enduring improvements over time.

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Silverman Schechter

Students with disabilities, especially those with non-apparent conditions, are entering universities in growing numbers. Yet more and more students are going off to college unprepared to manage their disabilities, in part because their high schools are overburdened, understaffed, and uninformed to identify and support them. A recent survey of students receiving disability supports at one public university revealed that the majority of these undergraduates with disabilities did not receive special education services in high school, instead waiting until college to seek help. Respondents reflected on what could have been improved about their high school experience, and they offered advice to school practitioners as to how to support these underserved students for postsecondary success.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0013189X2098258
Author(s):  
Sarah Hurwitz ◽  
Emma D. Cohen ◽  
Brea L. Perry

Students with disabilities are disciplined at disproportionately high rates, despite federal laws designed to ensure disciplinary protection. We examine the association between disability and discipline using a novel approach, investigating whether behavior problems trigger special education referral, and if disciplinary outcomes change once students are enrolled. Using longitudinal data from an urban school district, we estimate lagged variance decomposition models that disaggregate the outcomes of special education services from the behavioral characteristics that prompt disciplinary responses. We find that (1) ongoing disruptive behavior leads to placement in special education and (2) receiving special education is associated with a reduced likelihood of punishment. Earlier identification is vital in order to treat, rather than punish, disruptive behavior.


2021 ◽  
pp. 004005992110618
Author(s):  
Lynn S. Burdick ◽  
Catherine Corr

Nine-year old Eliza is a student at Meadows Elementary School where she receives special education services for her diagnosis of Emotional Disturbance. Her teachers are working together to try to bring Eliza back into the classroom after weeks of time spent in the office with no contact with her peers. Mr. Jimenez and Ms. Landon are collaborating to incorporate trauma-informed practices into their classrooms in an attempt to address the absence of secure attachments and feelings of safety in Eliza’s life, as well as her inability to control her emotional responses. Creating a trauma-informed classroom benefits everyone but especially students with disabilities who have experienced trauma. In this paper we discuss the need for trauma-informed practices and strategies for making classroom environments more trauma-informed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Elizabeth Fish

The U.S. teacher population is predominantly White, yet research has not yet determined how teacher race might matter to the identification of students with disabilities. This study examines the role of teacher racial composition in special education service receipt. Findings show that schools’ proportion of teachers of color, net of all other factors, is associated with students’ increased odds of receiving special education services for all categories of disability, with the exception of emotional disturbance and autism spectrum disorder. These findings may reflect higher expectations of students held by teachers of color, which may lead to greater special education receipt for students who are not performing as well as expected. Although the effects do not vary by student race for most categories of disability, the evidence presented here suggests that increased representation of teachers of color ameliorates some underrepresentation of students of color in special education.


2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Dempsey

The extent to which school students continue to receive special education services over time is largely unknown because longitudinal studies are rare in this area. The present study examined a large Australian longitudinal database to track the status of children who received special education support in 2006 and whether they continued to access such support over a 4-year period. Nearly two thirds of the children receiving additional assistance in 2006 did not receive such assistance 4 years later. There were substantial variations in the principal reason for providing special education services to students over this period, and the relative academic performance of the students who received special education support across the 4 years substantially declined. The findings have ramifications for the way we consider changes in the needs of young children as they progress through the primary school system.


1971 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sterling L. Ross ◽  
Henry G. Deyoung ◽  
Julius S. Cohen

Recently, suits have been brought against public schools for placing certain children in special classes for the educable mentally retarded. Through the courts parents are challenging the administration and use of standardized tests, placement procedures, and the effectiveness and the harmful impact of special class programing. Special educators are urged to initiate immediate reform in testing and placement procedures or there is a likelihood that changes will be imposed by the courts. The possibility of punitive damages may stimulate these changes.


2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chad A Rose ◽  
Dorthy L Espelage ◽  
Steven R Aragon ◽  
John Elliott

International research established over a decade ago that students who are en-rolled in special education curricula are victimized and perpetrate more bullying than their general education peers. However, few empirical studies have exam-ined bullying rates among American schoolchildren who receive special education services. In the current study, a sample of middle school students (n = 1009) enrolled in general and special education programs completed the Univer-sity of Illinois bullying, fighting, and victimization scales. As hypothesized, students with disabilities reported higher rates of victimization and fighting be-haviours than students without disabilities. Conversely, students with disabilities and their general education peers reported similar rates of bully perpetration.


Author(s):  
Thomas C. Gibbon ◽  
Jenifer Cline ◽  
Christopher L. Schwilk ◽  
Patricia D. Hosfelt ◽  
David F. Bateman

Effective implementation of services for students with chronic disease in any school district relies on a solid understanding of the rules and regulations governing the educational rights of those with disabilities. This chapter enumerates the history of the educational rights of students with disabilities, describes the key laws as promulgated by the federal government, provides a definition of a disability based on these laws, possible categories of special education services and the qualification process for 504 or special education services. This chapter discusses the consideration for education in the least restrictive environment, and key components in the development of both IEP's and Section 504 plans, issues related to providing a free appropriate public education, and the Family and Educational Rights Privacy Act. It concludes with a discussion of working with related services personnel. The two main ways students with chronic disease receive services is under IDEA in the category of Other Health Impaired or under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.


Inclusion ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Kurth ◽  
Mary E. Morningstar ◽  
Tyler A. Hicks ◽  
Jonathan Templin

AbstractGrounded in research and federal law, inclusive education is a right and preferred placement for all learners with disabilities receiving special education services. However, most students in the U.S. education system do not have access to inclusive education and few models are available to demonstrate how schools can develop and implement inclusive services. The purpose of this study was to describe the outcomes of one such endeavor, the SWIFT technical assistance model, aimed at transforming schools to develop inclusive, effective instruction for all students. Multilevel multinomial modeling was used to predict rates of inclusion over time for a subset of students with disabilities in schools participating in SWIFT technical assistance. The findings suggest schools did become more inclusive in their services, with many students predicted to be served in less restrictive general education placements and others no longer requiring special education services. Implications for inclusive education are provided.


1995 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Sale ◽  
Doris M. Carey

This study examined the sociometric status of children with disabilities in a full-inclusion school that did not use eligibility labels for special education services. The study used a positive and negative peer nomination technique to interview all students. The subject population included students with a range of disabilities; the majority were students with learning disabilities. Findings indicated significant differences between how students who were currently eligible for special education services and students who were likely eligible for services were perceived by their peers when compared to a control group. Full-inclusion strategies did not eliminate negative social perceptions of students with disabilities.


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