At each level of freshman course performance, students with disabilities and students two or more years below grade level are less likely to graduate than their non-disabled peers¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2009 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2014: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Among on-track students, five-year graduation rates are 87 percent for students without disabilities versus 78 percent for students two or more years below grade level, 77 percent for learning disabilities, 67 percent for mild cognitive disabilities, and 57 percent for emotional disturbances. → Julia Gwynne 2009

Evidence¶

Julia Gwynne 2009¶

Julia Gwynne, Joy Lesnick, Holly M. Hart, Elaine M. Allensworth. (2009). What Matters for Staying On-Track and Graduating in Chicago Public Schools: A Focus on Students with Disabilities. Consortium on Chicago School Research, University of Chicago Urban Education Institute. https://consortium.uchicago.edu/publications/what-matters-staying-track-and-graduating-chicago-public-schools-focus-students

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Executive Summary and Chapter 3 graduation-rate comparisons for the 2001 cohort by disability category among on-track students. The report concludes being on-track does not ensure students with mild cognitive disabilities or emotional disturbances are no longer at risk of dropping out.

"87 percent of on-track students without disabilities graduated in five years, while only 78 percent of on-track students who entered high school two or more years below grade graduated in five years. Seventy-seven percent of on-track students with learning disabilities and 67 percent of on-track students with mild cognitive disabilities graduated in five years."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Access — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Learning Disabilities and Developmental Differences — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes

Related Claims¶

• Students with disabilities attained postsecondary readiness and success outcomes at about one half to one third the rate of students without disabilities, the largest difference between any student group and its counterpart — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Students with learning disabilities and mild cognitive disabilities benefit less from rigorous study habits than students without identified disabilities, and for mild cognitive disabilities there is no relationship between study habits and course failures — related
• Freshman-year performance of Chicago ninth-graders falls into three tiers, with students two or more years below grade level and students with emotional disturbances performing worst across GPA, course failures, absences, and on-track status — related
• Within every student category, freshman GPA, course failures, and absences are strongly related to five-year graduation rates, with large drops per half grade point, per additional course failure, and per absence band — related
• The freshman on-track indicator predicts five-year graduation equally or more strongly for students with learning disabilities, mild cognitive disabilities or emotional disturbances than for students without disabilities, with on-track students two to six times more likely to graduate — related
• Students with IEPs related to disabilities other than learning disabilities graduated at a far lower rate (46.4%) than students with learning-disability IEPs (77.5%) or without IEPs (84.6%) — related