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Thursday, June 26, 2014

How States Are Failing Students with Disabilities

Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced a new grading system to evaluate whether states are meeting the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act -- and the first year's results aren't good.

The number of states out of compliance with a federal law to protect students with disabilities has more than tripled under a new U.S. Department of Education grading system that now emphasizes student performance.

Under the Department’s new evaluations, released June 24, the number of states meeting the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act dropped from 41 last year to 18 this year. With a shift from a focus on administrative compliance to enforcement based on standardized tests, the results demonstrate there’s lots of room for improvement, said Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in a conference call with reporters.

“This change in accountability represents a significant and, frankly, long-overdue raising of the bar in special education,” he said.

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