Ed
Week has an article here comparing the number of special ed. students in charter and
district schools. It finds that the
numbers are pretty equal in secondary schools, but higher in elementary
schools.
I
would love to see researchers deal with these questions:
Are
there any differences in the make-up of the sped population in district and
charter schools?
Do
the services for sped students differ in the district and charter schools? The cost per student? I know that many district schools have put
programs in place to deal with kids with more severe disabilities. Have charters?
How
many of the charter students return to the district school for their sped
services?
What
is the drop out, or expulsion, rate of sped kids from district schools? From charter schools?
Since
the difference in cost, and resources needed, to educate a student with mild
learning disabilities, and a student with multiple, severe disabilities is
huge, without this kind of information I don’t see the point of simply
comparing numbers.
Thank you for this comment at Education Week. The authors' "analysis" was extremely weak and you very deftly pointed out the enormous holes in their "research."
ReplyDeleteThey also failed to look at how charter schools that specialize in serving kids with special needs bring the overall charter school special ed average population up. In fact, most charter schools serve fewer than 8% (and in some states only 6%) of kids with IEPs.
An excellent point. Thank you.
ReplyDelete