Special Education Students' Placement and Performance Outcomes on Math Assessments

The issue of educational placements for students with disabilities has been an ongoing issue of debate brought to attention in 1975 by the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act, now known as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). This act required that procedures be enacted that would protect the rights of disabled children and assure that to the extent appropriate handicapped children are educated with children who are not handicapped and that the removal of handicapped children from the regular educational environment occurs only when the nature or severity of that handicap is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplemental aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily (Part B, Section 612 (5) (B)). Even with the most recent reauthorizations of this act (1997 and 2004) this section of the law has remained intact. More recently and according to The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001), a greater push has been to hold school systems more accountable for the achievement of special education students to pass state assessments especially in the areas of Math and Reading. Math and Reading are also the areas of greatest difficulties for special education students. Questions in regards to classroom placement, instructional methods, curriculum used, and teacher qualification have been dominant for some time. Educational placement of students with disabilities therefore continues to be a controversial issue and further research is necessary.

Special Education Students' Placement and Performance Outcomes on Math Assessments

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, 2005, 2007), students with disabilities consistently perform lower than th...

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... The Journal of Special Education, 38(4), Retrieved from ERIC

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