Special ed labeling, spending soar -- but it doesn't seem to help students

Schools are diagnosing more students with disabilities and spending more of the school budget on special education, Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab says. But research shows huge inconsistencies from state to state. Furthermore, no evidence that no evidence that spending more on special education leads to better outcomes for students, reports Beth Hawkins on The 74

What works? Providing good literacy instruction.

For example, "Mississippi, where recent, dramatic gains in literacy have been credited to a 10-year push by state officials to ensure evidence-based reading instruction" spends less on special education than almost any other state, 8 percent of the education budget, she writes. Yet it's one of the best in the nation for reading scores for student with disabilities. "By contrast, Connecticut spends nearly 22 percent of its education budget on special education but has middle-of-the-pack reading performance among students with disabilities."

Teach reading well and fewer students will be receive a "learning disability" diagnosis.

"From state to state, diagnoses are wildly inconsistent, raising questions about the subjectivity of how students are funneled into special ed," Hawkins writes. In some states, one in five students receives services; in others it's 13 percent or fewer.

One would think that achievement would be higher for special-needs students in states that designate more students as disabled. Presumably, they're including students with minor problems and giving them special assistance. But outcomes are inconsistent.

States also vary wildly in how many special education staffers schools employ, with Ohio and Idaho having less than 20 per 200 students. Hawaii, New York and New Hampshire have three times as many. Yet Hawaii significantly underperforms national averages. 

"One reason higher staffing levels don’t necessarily correlate to better student outcomes could be that instruction is being delivered by paraprofessionals — often low-skilled, entry-level staff — and not special education teachers," writes Hawkins.  

In Massachusetts, low-poverty schools have more licensed special-ed teachers, while high-poverty schools rely more on aides.

While most students with disabilities are in mainstream classrooms, the more severely disabled are in special day classes that offer little instruction, write Sudha Krishnan, a special education professor at San Jose State, and Sara Caniglia-Schulte, a lecturer, in Ed Source.

"Special education teachers spend only 20% of their daily time on actual teaching, with students receiving most of their instruction" from aides, they write. Much of the time is spent playing games, watching movies and in other non-academic activities. "Prolonged periods of free time without meaningful choices or structured activities may lead to boredom, frustration and disengagement, ultimately hindering overall development and progress."