Academic, Social, and Behavioral Adjustment for Students Declassified from Special Education

Abstract

Each year 7% of Michigan's special education students return to full-time general education programs through declassification. In a preliminary investigation of declassification from special education, the authors analyzed data collected by the Michigan Department of Education over the past 5 years. Respondents suggested that, as a group, students declassified from special education are academically, socially, and behaviorally well adjusted; but teachers or counselors of 11% of the declassified students felt that these students continued to require special education services. Within 3 years, 4% of declassified students had returned to special education. Particularly noteworthy were the relatively poor results for declassified students with emotional impairments.

Response to Intervention in Literacy: Problems and Possibilities

“…Consequently, the label brought more expensive, though not necessarily more expert and not particularly effective, resources (Kavale, 1990;Vaughn et al, 2002). Relatively few children exit special education (Carlson & Parshall, 1996), and for those who do there is no clear link to special education practices.…”

Modeling the Time-Varying Nature of Student Exceptionality Classification on Achievement Growth

“…Approximately 7% ( n = 2,035) of the sample entered special education services at some point during Grades 4 to 8, which is lower than the 8% to 17% range reported by Ysseldyke and Bielinski (2002). Approximately 8% ( n = 2,241) of the sample exited special education, which is similar to the 7% reported by Carlson and Parshall (1996) and at the lower end of the 9% to 13% range reported by Ysseldyke and Bielinski (2002). Except at Grade 4, a higher percentage of students exited special education services than entered, opposite to the pattern reported by Ysseldyke and Bielinski.…”

“…In response to the first research question, we documented the movement of students between general and special education as well as reclassification from one disability category to another (e.g., Carlson & Parshall, 1996;Thurlow et al, 2016;Walker et al, 1988;Schulte and Stevens (2015), approximately 10% (n = 2,830) to 12% (n = 3,409) of the sample cohort received special education services in any one grade from 3 through 8, with 11% (n = 3,032) receiving services in Grade 3, about 17% (n = 4,957) receiving special education services in at least 1 year, and approximately 5% (n = 1,404) receiving special education services in every year in Grades 3 to 8. Furthermore, a very small proportion of students remained in the same disability category across Grades 3 to 8, ranging from 0.07% for ED to about 2% for SLD (see column "Always" of Table 1).…”

“…Changes in special education classification and the movement of students into and out of special education are well documented (Carlson & Parshall, 1996; Saven, Anderson, Nese, Farley, & Tindal, 2016; Schulte & Stevens, 2015; Walker et al, 1988; Ysseldyke & Bielinski, 2002). Walker et al (1988) conducted a 2-year follow-up of 1,184 elementary-school SWD and found that of those who remained in the school district, 17% were no longer receiving special education services, and another 12% changed disability classification.…”

“…Walker et al (1988) conducted a 2-year follow-up of 1,184 elementary-school SWD and found that of those who remained in the school district, 17% were no longer receiving special education services, and another 12% changed disability classification. Carlson and Parshall (1996) reported that 7% of SWD exit special education services each year with 4% of those students returning to special education within 3 years. Herring, McGrath, and Buckley (2007) also reported that the percentage of SWD grows from kindergarten (4%) through Grade 5 (12%).…”