The Inclusion of Students With Disabilities in School Accountability Systems

Formerly excluded from measures of educational performance, students with disabilities (SWDs) are now explicitly recognized in federal and state accountability systems. At the national level, the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) laid the foundation for accountability of SWDs by requiring states to include these students in state and district assessments and to report their participation and performance. This requirement was further reinforced by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as reauthorized in 2001, which established SWDs as an explicit student subgroup for the purpose of determining whether schools make adequate yearly progress (AYP).1
The hypothesis underlying the study is that school-level accountability for the SWD subgroup will lead schools to adopt improved school and instructional practices, which in turn will improve the educational outcomes for this student population. The purpose of this interim study report is to present descriptive information on school-level accountability, AYP performance, and school improvement status of schools accountable for SWD subgroup performance under Title I of the ESEA, as well as schools not accountable for SWD subgroup performance. The final study report will explore the relationships between accountability for this student subgroup and school practices and student outcomes. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has a congressional mandate to conduct a national assessment of how well the IDEA is achieving its purposes (IDEA 2004, P.L. 108-446, Section 664(b)). As part of the national assessment of IDEA, this study is intended to provide policy-relevant information about the education of SWDs by examining their inclusion in school accountability systems, the use of school practices that may relate to their educational outcomes, and SWD’s achievement in relation to school accountability status.