Analysis of Graduation Dropout Rates and Trends for Students with Disabilities in Full Time Online Schools (original) (raw)
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Regional Educational Laboratory West, 2014
Utah students classified with disabilities had poorer outcomes than their general education classmates. They had higher rates of mobility, retention in grade 12, and dropout, as well as lower rates of high school graduation. These outcomes varied by the 13 federally defined disability categories, highlighting the differences among students with disabilities. Identifying the outcomes for different subgroups will allow school officials to investigate further and design programs to support the most vulnerable groups. At WestEd REL 2015-055 The National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE) conducts unbiased large-scale evaluations of education programs and practices supported by federal funds; provides research-based technical assistance to educators and policymakers; and supports the synthesis and the widespread dissemination of the results of research and evaluation throughout the United States.
2014
Educational accountability systems have made evident not all students succeed on standardized assessments like high school exit exams, especially Students With Disabilities (SWD), students from low socioeconomic status, and students of color. Data from a California district were examined to determine the effectiveness of an online intervention program for SWD. Findings revealed that the mean exit exam scores of inclusion students were significantly higher compared to students in secluded classrooms. Additionally, no significant differences were found among the low, medium, and high intensity users of the online program. Findings suggest schools should only use researchbased interventions on SWD. CAHSEE Intervention and students with disabilities 3 No Child Left Behind (NCLB), a policy instituted in 2001, has the goal of every student reaching 100% proficiency in math and English by the year 2014. NCLB and the statewide testing accountability system have placed the public eye on the underperformance of Students With Disabilities (SWD), students of color, and English Learners (EL) (Darling-Hammond, 2006). SWD continue to perform lower than their peers without disabilities (Artiles, Kozleski, Trent, Osher, & Ortiz, 2010; Zhang & Cohen, 2009). Schools have implemented practices to increase SWD performance in statewide assessments, from inclusion practices to online intervention programs. Unfortunately there is a dearth of research in the area of online-learning programs for and SWD. Using the theoretical framework of student-centered online learning, the purpose of this paper will be to evaluate an online intervention program in terms of increasing exit exam mean scores for SWD. The following sections will discuss; key studies and research that review the effects of NCLB policy and special education, research based interventions, and student-centered online learning theoretical framework. Special Education and Inclusion in Standardized Testing Advocates of special education have fought long battles to ensure that SWD receive a quality education. The first comprehensive special education legislation was Education for All Handicapped Children Act in 1975, which was reauthorized as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990 (Artiles, 2003). While NCLB was in full throttle, IDEA was reauthorized in 2004, where it was clearly stipulated that SWD must be included in any statewide assessments (Johnson, Thurlow, Cosio, &
2005
In school year 2003-04, about 6 percent of all high school students (those in grades 9-12) dropped out of school. Males dropped out at a higher rate than females, and 12 percent of all American Indian students dropped out of a high school grade during the year. Of the students who began grade 9 in the fall of 2000 and were expected to graduate in 2004, an estimated 21 percent dropped out. About 70 percent of this cohort of students graduated "on-time" and 8 percent were still enrolled in school at the end of grade 12. An additional four percent graduated after their expected year, so the "extended" graduation rate was 74 percent. Asian/Pacific Islander and White students had the highest on-time graduation rates (78% and 74%) while about half the American Indian, Black, and Hispanic students had graduated by the end of the four-year period. * Students who transferred out are removed from this number. Students who transferred in are included in this number. ** Includes students who complete without a regular HS diploma (GED diploma) and those with an "unknown" status. *** Grade 12 students still enrolled at the end of the school year. Does not include continuing students with an expected year of graduation prior to 2004. † Accounts for grade 12 students who were still enrolled at the end of the school year.
Increasing Graduation Rates for Students with Disabilities: Success Stories from West Virginia
In 2010, the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) partnered with the West Virginia Department of Education Office of Special Programs to provide intensive technical assistance to 12 school districts to help them design and implement evidence-based programs to increase the graduation rates of students with disabilities. In this article, we describe the initiative and interventions implemented in five districts that successfully decreased dropout and increased graduation among students with disabilities. We provide graduation data from the 2008-2009 school year along with graduation data from 2012-2013 to demonstrate the gains made in these rural school districts. All names of districts and schools have been changed
Measuring High School Graduation Rates: A Review of the Literature
2007
2004). An estimated 68% of all high school students graduated each year in the US while approximately a third dropped out (Swanson, 2004). For minority students, Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans, the graduation rate was even lower at approximately 50% (Swanson, 2004). These findings have not been disputed. Researchers have found, however, that graduation rates were even lower in large urban school districts and in many districts across the US (Swanson, 2004). Swanson found that New York City, Detroit, and Baltimore had graduation rates below 40%. Detroit, with the 11 th largest school district, had the lowest graduation rate in the U.S. at 21.7%. Fourteen major urban school districts in the U.S. had graduation rates below 50%. Miami, Dallas, Denver, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Houston also had graduation rates below 50% (Swanson, 2004). The growing overall trend in research on graduation rates showed that the rate was much lower than the accepted national yearly average of 68%. Graduation rates have come under increased attention and scrutiny because of the accountability and yearly progress requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (2001). In 2007, researchers found that many US high schools were "drop out factories" because their graduation rates were below 60% (Balfanz & Legters, 2004). Balfanz and Legters found that "there are currently between 900 and 1,000 high schools in the country in which graduating is at Measuring Graduation Rates 3 best a 50/50 proposition" and "half or more of high school students do not graduate" (p. 2). Almost 30 percent of all students entering high school in the U.S. never graduate (Greene & Winters, 2005). Drop out rates were much higher for minority students which was termed "an invisible crisis" (Orfield, Losen, Wald, & Swanson, 2004). Orfield et al. (2004) found the following regarding the minority drop out rate: Nationally, high school graduation rates are low for all students, with only an estimated 68% of those who enter 9th grade graduating with a regular diploma in12th grade. But, as the table below [Appendix A] makes clear, they are substantially lower for most minority groups, and particularly for males. According to the calculations used in this report, in 2001, only 50% of all black students, 51% of Native American students, and 53% of all Hispanic students graduated from high school. Black, Native American, and Hispanic males fare even worse: 43%, 47%, and 48% respectively. (p. 2) These findings have been challenged and disputed (Kaufman, 2001; Mishel & Roy, 2006). Mishel and Roy found that graduation rates had increased steadily over the past 40 years. They argued that, based on their data, the claims of a graduation "crisis" were exaggerated and based on flawed and inaccurate data (Mishel & Roy, 2006, p. 11). They found that using enrollment and diploma data was inaccurate because it did not track students who transferred to another school or district (Mishel & Roy, 2006, p. 8). Mishel and Roy (2006) relied on actual student experiences and U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) data of households, which was a more accurate procedure because it took into account those students who transferred. Research that relies on the Departure Method is inaccurate and misleading because it does not take into account the number of students who transfer, move, die, or enroll in career and alternative education programs Research that uses Departure Method data is alarmist and sensationalized to focus attention on graduation rates and making changes to the NCLBA The more accurate Cohort Method is used in a minority of states and requires more time and resources to implement Using the more accurate and detailed Cohort Method, however, results in research findings that do not show a crisis in graduation rates Even under the Cohort Method, researchers have found that approximately a third of all US high school students do not graduate Graduation rates can be increased by allowing at risk students to take career and technical training courses (CTE), by providing adult mentors to minority students, by increasing student self-esteem, and by increased parental involvement and encouragement Azzam, A. (2007). Why students drop out.
In this report, the authors look at the freshman year course performance of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students who receive special education services and ask whether grades, course failures, absences, and on-track status are useful for identifying students who are at risk of dropping out. They also examine how academic behaviors, such as attendance and study habits, affect course failures and grades of students with disabilities. Consistent with the original "What Matters" report, most of the analyses in this report are based on information about the cohort of CPS students who were first-time freshmen in 2004. When reporting graduation rates, the authors use information about the cohort of CPS students who were first-time freshmen in 2001. They report four major findings: (1) Students with speech/language disabilities and students with physical/sensory disabilities perform similarly to students without identified disabilities in their freshman year courses. Students wit...