Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

Breaking: CDC Report Finds Prevalence of Autism Increases. #autism

One in 59 US children has autism, according to a report issued today by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new estimate is a prevalence rate of 1.7%, up from one in every 68 children (1.5%) in the 2016 report, which was based on data from 2012. 

Some excerpts from CDC Report:

Results: For 2014, the overall prevalence of ASD among the 11 ADDM sites was 16.8 per 1,000 (one in 59) children aged 8 years. Overall ASD prevalence estimates varied among sites, from 13.1–29.3 per 1,000 children aged 8 years. ASD prevalence estimates also varied by sex and race/ethnicity. Males were four times more likely than females to be identified with ASD. Prevalence estimates were higher for non-Hispanic white (henceforth, white) children compared with non-Hispanic black (henceforth, black) children, and both groups were more likely to be identified with ASD compared with Hispanic children. Among the nine sites with sufficient data on intellectual ability, 31% of children with ASD were classified in the range of intellectual disability (intelligence quotient [IQ] <70 25="" 44="" 71="" above="" and="" average="" borderline="" had="" i.e.="" in="" iq="" range="" scores="" the="" to="" were="">85). The distribution of intellectual ability varied by sex and race/ethnicity. Although mention of developmental concerns by age 36 months was documented for 85% of children with ASD, only 42% had a comprehensive evaluation on record by age 36 months. The median age of earliest known ASD diagnosis was 52 months and did not differ significantly by sex or race/ethnicity. For the targeted comparison of DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 results, the number and characteristics of children meeting the newly operationalized DSM-5 case definition for ASD were similar to those meeting the DSM-IV-TR case definition, with DSM-IV-TR case counts exceeding DSM-5 counts by less than 5% and approximately 86% overlap between the two case definitions (kappa = 0.85).

Interpretation: Findings from the ADDM Network, on the basis of 2014 data reported from 11 sites, provide updated population-based estimates of the prevalence of ASD among children aged 8 years in multiple communities in the United States. The overall ASD prevalence estimate of 16.8 per 1,000 children aged 8 years in 2014 is higher than previously reported estimates from the ADDM Network. Because the ADDM sites do not provide a representative sample of the entire United States, the combined prevalence estimates presented in this report cannot be generalized to all children aged 8 years in the United States. Consistent with reports from previous ADDM surveillance years, findings from 2014 were marked by variation in ASD prevalence when stratified by geographic area, sex, and level of intellectual ability. Differences in prevalence estimates between black and white children have diminished in most sites, but remained notable for Hispanic children. For 2014, results from application of the DSM-IV-TR and DSM-5 case definitions were similar, overall and when stratified by sex, race/ethnicity, DSM-IV-TR diagnostic subtype, or level of intellectual ability....

Special Education Eligibility: Sites with access to education records collected information on the most recent eligibility categories under which children received special education services (Table 6). Among children with ASD who were receiving special education services in public schools during 2014, the proportion of children with a primary eligibility category of autism ranged from approximately 37% in Wisconsin to 80% in Tennessee. Most other sites noted approximately 60% to 75% of children with ASD having autism listed as their most recent primary special education eligibility category, the exceptions being Colorado (44%) and New Jersey (48%). Other common special education eligibilities included health or physical disability, speech and language impairment, specific learning disability, and a general developmental delay category that is used until age 9 years in many U.S. states. All ADDM sites reported <10 a="" asd="" category="" children="" education="" eligibility="" id.="" of="" primary="" receiving="" services="" span="" special="" under="" with="">

You can review the entire  CDC report here. A CNN article concerning this report may be found here.

Sometimes My Job Is Prety Cool #WhereIsJG?

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

Nation's Report Card Shows Children With Disabilities Lagging #NAEP scores

The Center for Education Statistics released the national NAEP scores recently, and the results show children with disabilities performance behind their typically developing peers.

Here is part of a report at Disability Scoop:

"A routine look at how fourth and eighth graders across the country are performing in reading and math finds children with disabilities struggling to make progress.

For fourth graders with disabilities math scores were down in 2017 compared to 2015 while reading was unchanged. Meanwhile, eighth graders with disabilities saw a slight increase in performance on reading but remained stagnant in math.

The findings released this week from the government’s National Center for Education Statistics come from the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Known as the Nation’s Report Card, nearly 585,000 students at over 28,000 schools across the country took the test on tablet computers in early 2017. 

The assessment found limited improvement for the nation’s students on the whole with a small uptick in reading scores among eighth graders, but scores holding steady in all other categories...

Among those with disabilities, the average math score for fourth graders dipped to 214 from 218 in 2015, while eighth graders averaged 247, the same as in 2015.

In reading, students with disabilities in the fourth grade were steady at 187 while the average score for eighth graders climbed to 232 from 230 in 2015. All scores are out of a possible 500 points."

Here is the response of the Secretary of Education.  Here are the highlights of the report. You can use the data tools provided to see the group scores and gaps {including students with disabilities} for math here. You can search all sorts data with the data tool.

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

Sometimes My Job Is Pretty Cool #WhereIsJG?

Seven Policy Proposals For Educational Equity #education policy

The Center for American Progress, the progressive education think tank, has proposed enacting these seven progressive policy ideas for educational equity.

1. Provide a tutor for every child performing below grade level.
2. Offer free breakfast and lunch for all students, regardless of income.
3. Ensure opportunities to combine college preparatory academics with technical training and workplace experience.
4. Transition to a 9-to-5 school day to better fit parents' needs.
5. Support, train, and pay teachers like professionals.
6. Create a safe and healthy environment in every school.
7. Eliminate crumbling school buildings.

These proposals would be expensive, but would they fix the problems in American education? i really like #1- the tutor when below grade level...

Here is a summary of the plan by the Council for Exceptional Children. Here is the full article by the Center for American Progress explaining the proposal.

What policy proposals would you suggest to improve education? What do you think?

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE

Breaking: New GAO Report Shows Disparities in School Discipline for Children With Disabilities #school discipline

A new report issued by the Government Accountability Office released today found that Black students, boys, and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools, according to GAO's analysis of Department of Education (Education) national civil rights data for school year 2013-14, the most recent available. These disparities were widespread and persisted regardless of the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty, or type of public school attended. For example, Black students accounted for 15.5 percent of all public school students, but represented about 39 percent of students suspended from school—an overrepresentation of about 23 percentage points (see figure).

The report found that children with disabilities were overrepresented in disciplinary actions by 13.2 percent.

Here is a quote from the report "For students with disabilities, the same pattern of disproportionately higher rates of discipline compared to their peers without disabilities was evident, according to Education’s school year 2013-14 data (see fig. 5).33 Students with disabilities represented approximately 12 percent of all public school students, and accounted for nearly 25 percent or more of students referred to law enforcement, arrested for a school-related incident, or suspended from school (an overrepresentation of roughly 15.5 percentage points for referrals to law enforcement and schoolrelated arrests, and 13 percentage points for out-of-school suspensions). Further, our analysis of discipline for students with disabilities by both race and sex showed that Black students with disabilities and boys with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined across all six actions. For example, Black students with disabilities represented about 19 percent of all K-12 students with disabilities, and accounted for nearly 36 percent of students with disabilities suspended from school (about 17 percentage points above their representation among students with disabilities). See appendix IV, table 13 for additional data on discipline by student disability status, including data organized by sex and race or ethnicity."

You can review a summary here. An NPR story on the report is available here. You can review the entire 98 page report here.

Weekly Question!

Now that the Endrew F decision by the Supreme Court has been around for a while, has it made any difference in the education of children with disabilities? #FAPE