Policy and Practice Implications for Secondary and Postsecondary Education and Employment for Youth With Disabilities September 18 and 19, 2003 Washington, DC A National Leadership Summit on Improving Results for Youth

Students with Disabilities & No Child Left Behind Giving a New Meaning to “Special” Education Margaret J. McLaughlin

The “Eras” of Educational Reform Public education Access to equal public education for all Adequate public education for all

Based on students’ access to the same content standards and assessments One accountability system for all students Evidence of progress toward “proficiency” What is an “Adequate” Education?

Curricular frameworks that are too narrow (e.g., academic or pre-collegiate) & demanding Expanded subject matter resulting in faster pace of instruction Lack of appropriate curriculum materials (e.g., textbooks) & assessments Understanding impact of accommodations and modifications Limitations of knowledge base regarding instructional intervention Parallel systems of education Challenges to Achieving an “Adequate” Education

State Participation Rates for Average Participation Rates for Students with Disabilities in State Assessments Across Grades Tested.

2003 Maryland Reading Performance Data

2003 Maryland Math Performance Data

What Do We Need to Do? Align NCLB and IDEA Increase real participation in curriculum and assessments Link IEPs to curricular frameworks Understand how to use the data you receive and collect the data you need!

What Data Do We Need? “There has been a tendency to use budding state indicator systems to hold [schools and systems] accountable before the system has the capability of adequately doing so.” Goertz, 1989

Perils of NCLB: Knowing what You Know Lack of sufficient data Poor quality data Using the data for the wrong reasons or making the wrong inferences from the data Failure to convert data to information that can be used to make decisions