More Students in Special Ed in Small Town/Rural Primary Schools
We ran across some interesting—though admittedly confusing—figures about the numbers and percentages of students who receive special education in primary school in different school locales.
It seems that a higher percentage of students are in special education in the primary grades in small town/rural schools than in urban fringe/large town schools or in central city schools.
We would like to hear what you think these numbers mean and invite you to share your opinions by posting a comment (click on the "Comment" button below).
We got the information from a March 2007 Issue Brief from the National Center for Education Statistics entitled, “Timing and Duration of Student Participation in Special Education in the Primary Grades.”
The report found that 15.3% of students in small town/rural schools receive special education services in at least one year during kindergarten, first, or third grade (the report does not address second grade). The rate for urban fringe/large town schools is 12.4%, and it is 9.9% for central city schools. You can see a chart of these figures in the May 2007 issue of Rural Policy Matters-Online.
The report also found that small town/rural schools identify a higher percentage of students in kindergarten than in third grade, compared to other school locales, (mostly because schools in the more urban locales serve a higher percentage of students for the first time in 3rd grade). Small town/rural schools are also more likely to serve students only in kindergarten.
And, here’s another confusing tidbid: small town/rural schools served a lower percentage of special education students in all of the three grades the report addressed (kindergarten, first, and third grades—for some reason it did not address second grade).
We wondered if this might mean that small town/rural schools were catching students early and moving them out of special education. So, we applied the numbers to each type of locale. When we did this, we discovered that for every 1,000 students enrolled, small town/rural schools serve 54 students, on average, in special education in all three primary grades, compared to 46 students in urban fringe/large towns and 40 students in central cities.
It looks like small town/rural schools simply have higher numbers of students in special education in primary grades and that they identify students earlier—at least according to this report.
We don’t know why this is the case or what it means.
Are small town/rural schools over-identifying students for special education services?
Are they identifying students too early or are they addressing students learning challenges early?
Is this phenomenon limited to certain parts of the country or certain types of schools?
Are there more students with special needs in small towns and rural areas?
We don’t have any answers, and the report does not attempt to explain the difference in special education rates among schools in different locales.
But we would like to hear from you about what you think is going on. Complete the "Post a Comment" section below and share your opinions. (You can ignore the URL line if you wish.)
We look forward to hearing from you.
Comments
I am a mental health profesional who works independently in remote and small schools and I believe one of the primary reasons that special education children may be over identified is that many schools thus far have not implemented the response to intervention model and are still identifying many of the children who may be alternative type of learners or who are developmentally, socially or emotionally delayed. In rural arears often mothers stay home or are un-employed or under-employed and they often do not have send their children to HeadStart or Pre-K. They may live in a remote area without adequate transportation to utilize the services or the services that assist in promoting early growth and learning are too far for the parents to send them. Just food for thought.
Mary Gates, PhD, NCC, LPC, LBP
Posted by: Dr. Mary Gates | June 10, 2007 12:46 AM