In this dissertation, I describe patterns of educational placement for students with disabilities, test the degree to which placement is impacted by student and school variables, and offer practical guidance for how schools can promote the principle of least restrictive environment (LRE) to promote access to general education classrooms to the…

There is growing evidence that school starting age impacts children's likelihood of receiving special education services, but less is known about variations in this effect. Using a regression discontinuity design, I found that the youngest students in a kindergarten cohort are 40% more likely (p < 0.001) to be placed in special education than…

Nearly 14% of students in the United States receive special education services in public schools (NCES, 2017). Special education programs serve students with a wide range of developmental differences and vary considerably across schools and districts (National Research Council, 1997). Likelihood of identification for special education services…

This study examined the educational environment placement and educational outcomes of students identified as having an emotional disturbance (ED). The sample was drawn from special education enrollment data for students aged 6-21 years in the 50 states and Washington, DC in 2010. Additional economic and demographic state-level variables were…

A discriminant analysis of characteristics of students with behavioral disorders in three progressively more intensive placements indicated that age at time of diagnosis was the strongest discriminating variable contributing to placement outcomes. Younger, brighter students tended to be mainstreamed, and older students with more externalizing…

Analysis of Florida data (n=159,129) found that new born infants with any of four risk factors for low socioeconomic status (SES) were 1.2 to 3.4 times more likely than others to have a learning disability placement by age 12 to 14. Proportion of placements attributable to low SES was 30 percent among boys and 39 percent among girls. (Contains…

A study examined the records of 99 non-adjudicated students with severe emotional and/or behavior disorders (EBD), 49 of whom were placed in regular schools and 50 who were in segregated schools. Results indicated that students served in regular schools were identified as severely behaviorally disordered at an earlier age. (CR)

This final report describes major activities and outcomes of a one-year project in Birmingham, Alabama, which attempted to utilize quantitative record linkage methodology and a qualitative family interview to increase the available information regarding risk factors associated with special education placement for young children. The project…

A survey was conducted of 55 regular classroom teachers who referred students to special education in three Connecticut school systems to determine their predictions of the results of psycho-educational assessment and their perceptions of the instructional relevance of standardized psychological and educational test results. The findings of this…