Synopsis
“Improving Educational Outcomes for Students with Disabilities” explores how attitudes and expectations for students with disabilities are changing as a result of NCLB. Overall, there is strong support for increasing expectations for students with disabilities and helping them to improve their academic outcomes. The paper also looks at the impact of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law supporting educational access to students with disabilities, on student outcomes and how well IDEA and NCLB are aligned. Findings indicate that IDEA and NCLB are supportive of each other, but the issue of assessment is challenging schools and schools districts. This paper also provides a summary of relevant scientifically-based research, as well as a discussion of how such research is used by education practitioners and policymakers.
