Special education service concentration showed divergent patterns: similar ever-below-benchmark rates across quartiles but much higher persistence below benchmark in high-concentration schools¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In schools with the most students receiving special education services, 67 percent of students stayed below benchmark versus 51 percent in schools with the fewest, though ever-below-benchmark rates were similar (67 versus 64 percent). → Lemke 2023

Evidence¶

Lemke 2023¶

Lemke, M., Murphy, D., Soo Ping Chow, A., Spencer, H., & Zhang, A. (2023). Opportunity Gaps: Findings From Initial Analysis of Student Performance in Early Literacy in Massachusetts. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED638519

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Descriptive comparison of top- versus bottom-quartile schools on special education concentration using district screening data. The brief reports "similar percentages of students were classified as ever below benchmark" across quartiles despite the 16-point persistence gap.

"In schools with more students receiving special education services, 16 percent more students stayed below benchmark from the beginning of the year to the end of the year than in schools with fewer students receiving special education services (67 percent compared to 51 percent), though similar percentages of students were classified as ever below benchmark"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Both treatment and comparison students scored below the 7th-grade national norm on average, and bottom-quartile treatment students remained below the national average despite relative gains — related
• Most students below benchmark at the beginning of the year remained below at the end, with persistence highest for historically marginalized student groups (67–80 percent) — related
• Low income, English learner, special education, Black, and Hispanic students were more likely to be classified significantly below benchmark at each time period and more than once — related
• Economically disadvantaged, English learner, special education, Black, and Hispanic students were more likely than peers to be ever below benchmark — related
• Ever-below-benchmark rates differed sharply between top- and bottom-quartile grantee schools on high-need concentration, preschool attendance, discipline, attendance, and mobility — related
• K–3 students in Massachusetts grantee schools with the highest percentages of historically marginalized student groups were more likely to be below literacy benchmark at least once and to stay below across the year — related
• Across beginning, middle, and end of year time periods, 52 percent of Massachusetts K–3 grantees' students were ever classified as at any level of reading risk, about 27 percent at the highest risk levels, and 12 to 18 percent as potentially at risk of dyslexia — related