Accounting for the Performance of Students With Disabilities on Statewide Assessments

Abstract

The current study investigates school-level factors that affect the performance of students with disabilities on statewide assessments. Data were collected as part of a larger study examining the effects of education policy reform on students with disabilities. Statewide assessment data for students with disabilities from 2 school districts within 1 state were analyzed. Assessment results in reading and math in 3rd, 5th, and 8th grades across 2 school years were analyzed using a series of hierarchical linear regressions. Of the variables considered, only the performance of schools' general education students on the assessments added any predictive value to the regression model after accounting for school demographic indicators.