Who Are the Children Special Education Should Serve and How Many Children Are There?

Abstract

Determining the number of school-age children who need special education has been a persistent problem for many years. The crux of the problem is to clearly identify the population of children who are to be served by special education. A specific concern is OSE's use of the 12.035% prevalence figure for handicapping conditions and the implication that states not serving this percentage of school-age children are not in compliance with the law. A review of over 10,000 special education students indicates that about 1.6% of the total school-age population have quantifiable handicapping conditions. The remainder of the children served in special education have performance deficits. Perhaps special education is serving too many children with only performance deficits and by so doing is perpetuating the reluctance of regular education to alter instructional procedures for all children who are experiencing performance problems.

Secondary Programs in Special Education: Are Many of Them Justifiable?

“…Although I have argued elsewhere (Edgar & Hayden, 1985) that mild MR, LD, and BD students (and Chapter 1 students) are from the same population, these data, along with data from our large study, clearly prove me wrong. Comparing mild MR graduates to LD/BD graduates we found major differences in gender breakdowns (MR 51% male, LD/BD 75% male), in employment rate (MR13%, LD/BD 60%), and in the engagement rate (working or going to 36 school) (MR41 %, LD/BD 84%).…”

“…The more severely involved students tend to be captives of the system-they are placed on school buses, sent to school, returned home, and cycled on and on. However, a sizeable portion (80%) of special education students are mildly handicapped (Edgar& Hayden, 1985), and these students seem to disappear from our secondary schools. They tend to be poor, from ethnic minority families, and they are not adjusting well to adult life in the community.…”

Questioning Teacher Feedback Practices: What Goes on in Special Classes?

“…Earlier, Reynolds and Balow (1972) suggested that teacher training based on categorical differences in students was an unproductive approach; Smith and Neisworth (1975) argued that categorical training encouraged a search for unique methods and materials that probably did not exist. As Edgar andHayden (1984-1985) indicated, &dquo;the literature is replete with statements that these three groups [ED, LD, EMR] represent essentially the same population&dquo; (p. 533).…”

Social Effects of Integrated Classrooms and Resource Room/Regular Class Placements on Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities

“…Mainstream classrooms have been strongly recommended for years as the preferred placement for many exceptional children (Edgar & Hayden, 1982;Lilly, 1982;Sontag, 1982). Stainback and Stainback (1984) have called for an outright merger of special and regular education into one unified system within school districts.…”