Special Education in the News

GAO: Transition for Students With Disabilities Can, Must Improve

Back to school guide for special needs families

Access to high tech a challenge for students with disabilities

Alexa Posny to Step Down as Federal Special Education Chief 

GAO Questions Effectiveness of Federal Disability Work Programs

By Nirvi Shah from On Special Education

A new Government Accountability Office report found that there are 45 separate federal government programs designed to help people with disabilities find work.

From an education perspective, this could be heartening: The last 15 years or so have marked a turning point in expectations of students with disabilities. The goals for these students are more likely to include finding a job after high school or college than at any time in the past—a job in an integrated setting.

But consider that despite those increased expectations and all those employment programs, far more people with disabilities are unemployed than people without disabilities. Almost one in five Americans has a disability, the Census shows.

Read more HERE.

Charter Schools Enroll Lower Rates of Students With Disabilities

By Nirvi Shah from On Special Education

A new U.S. Government Accountability Office report about students with disabilities enrolled in charter schools found what many in the special education arena already knew: These kids don't show up in charters at the same rates they do in traditional public schools.

But the GAO report did offer one of the first comprehensive national looks at the phenomenon.

For example, as you'll see in the complete story on this report from me and my colleague Sean Cavanagh over at the Charters & Choice blog, the GAO looked at every state to see whether the percentage of students with disabilities in traditional public schools matched the percentage in charters. The majority, you'll see on page 8 of the report, don't even come close.

Read more HERE.