Concerns about how students are diagnosed with special education needs, financing of their education, and assessment standards were among the issues addressed in a report discussed by the Interim Joint Committee on Education at its meeting Monday.
Legislative researchers with the Office of Education Accountability presented their findings to the panel, which was meeting at Midway College.
Among the findings was that while the local committee that determines special needs eligibility may include health professionals in addition to parents and educators, the diagnosticians are not mandatory.
When Kentucky children ages 3-5 are compared to national identification rates, Kentucky children are twice as likely to be diagnosed with a disability. Because Kentucky’s preschool program is not universal but has specific provisions for special needs students, there is an incentive for a student to be diagnosed, researchers said.
When students age 6-21 are considered, the discrepancy is greatly reduced. In 2006, that gap was 1 percentage point, with a national rate of 9 percent and Kentucky at 10 percent. Still, the report found, there is incentive for students to be diagnosed with a disability, because of the Individualized Education Program and certain aids allowed to those students, including extra time for tests and having tests read to them.
Another related issue to contend with is financing of special education, the report found. The state’s SEEK formula, which gives money to local school districts based on attendance, gives added weight to special needs students, with more severe disabilities resulting in higher funding levels. Local school districts with the lowest wealth tend to have a higher percentage of students with disabilities, and that number is growing, while higher-wealth districts have fewer students diagnosed, and the numbers are remaining fairly constant.
Even so, when special needs revenue is compared to the money spent on special education, the higher-wealth districts spent more than they received, while lower-wealth districts spent less. Statewide, there was a $38 million gap in 2007, with more money being spent than distributed to local districts.
One formula used by a minority of states is to allot special education funds based on total student population rather than special needs population, the report noted.
Assessment of students with disabilities also presents a problem, the report said. The federal No Child Left Behind Act sanctions schools that receive Title I money if they do not show proficiency across all demographics, including students with disabilities.
Only 15 percent of elementary schools show reading scores for disabled students that are on track to meet goals in 2010, while only 3 percent of middle and high schools are meeting the pace. In math, the numbers shrink to 5 percent of elementary schools, 1 percent of middle schools, and no high schools. This pushes some school administrators to actually beg off from federal funding because of the federal sanctions that will eventually come with it, even those showing steady progress.
Most states are in the same situation, the researchers said, which could suggest that either NCLB standards are too stringent. "There is, as yet, no proof that students with disabilities as a group can meet the same proficiency targets as students without disabilities," the report said.
The report, accessible on the General Assembly’s web site at http://lrc.ky.gov, is Research Report No. 358.
