Charter Schools and Students with Disabilities

Abstract

Currently, charter school laws exist in 30 states, and more than 1,000 charter schools are now in operation (Center for Education Reform, 1998). The rapid increase in the number of charter schools suggests that this educational reform may have the potential to become a major factor in the education of U.S. children. Charter schools are serving a variety of students, and recent studies at the national level show that a sizable proportion of students being served in charter schools have disabilities. Yet few studies address the provision of special education services and whether the needs of students with disabilities are being met. The Enrollment Options Project at the University of Minnesota has been examining the impact of Minnesota's charter schools on students with disabilities. Parents of students with and without disabilities enrolled in Minnesota's charter schools were surveyed to answer questions about their experiences with charter schools. Results from more than 600 respondents who completed the survey are presented in this article. Parents answered questions about reasons for charter school enrollment, perceived changes in their child as a result of attending the charter school, level of satisfaction, level of parent involvement, and special education service availability. In addition, written comments provided by parents are qualitatively analyzed. The article concludes with a discussion of information gathered from parents and implications for further study, examining special education delivery and outcomes for students with disabilities attending charter schools.

The Level of Satisfaction of Female Learning Disabilities’ Parents with Their Kids’ Integration in Regular Schools in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

“…Having close contact with the parents and informing them about their child's improvement in each stage is considered one of the most important roles of the special education teacher. The results are consistent with those of Bairat (2005), Bairat and Al-Zeraiqat (2012), Lange and Lehr (2000), Siebes (2006), Campbell (1995), Larter (1986, and Phillips (1990).…”

Systematic Review of Enrollment of Students With Disabilities in Charters Compared to Traditional Public Schools

“…When reviewing for threats-to-validity, two reports, Scott and Government Accountability Office (2012) and Winters et al (2013), did not provide enough information to determine if there was statistical conclusion validity. Three reports, Lake et al (2012), Winters et al (2013Winters et al ( , 2014, of the eight self/third-party reports contained external validity threats regarding population generalization, as they reviewed data limited to a single state, city, or school district. Five of the reports utilized national data and were not deemed to have a population generalization validity threat.…”

“…Five of the reports indicated that students with disabilities were enrolled in charter schools at a lower rate than the traditional public schools in their study location. One report noted that enrollment of students with disabilities at middle and high school charters were indistinguishable from traditional public schools in their study location and that only charter elementary schools showed under enrollment of students with disabilities (Lake et al, 2012). Instead of spending time illustrating the data for the enrollment rates, many of the reports devoted significant time further disaggregating enrollment data to determine why there was a gap in enrollment of students with disabilities between charter schools and traditional public schools.…”

School marketing on their websites and students in need of special support: Independent schools in the Stockholm local education market

“…Despite taking an important place in the marketing of schools, most schools provide almost no information about specific facilities and very limited information about the accessibility, adaptability and friendliness of the school-facilities for students in need of special support. Schools facilities that are adapted or friendly to consumers in need of special support is an important part of the information these consumers seek when they make school choice (Bajwa-Patel and Devecchi, 2014; Lange and Lehr, 2000; Tah, 2019; Weidner and Herrington, 2006). The marketing information failure to inform about the adaptability and friendliness of the schools’ facilities lacks specific appeal to students in need of special support.…”