Students with disabilities in grades K-4 grow as much or more academically during some school years than peers without disabilities¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r? · q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · checked against its sources 2026-10-18 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2026: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q2 i? During some school years, students with disabilities show academic growth equal to or greater than that of students without disabilities. → Angela Johnson 2021

Evidence¶

Angela Johnson 2021¶

Angela Johnson, Elizabeth Barker. (2021). Understanding differential growth during school years and summers for students in special education. NWEA Research brief. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/understanding-differential-growth-during-school-years-and-summers-for-students-in-special-education/ doi:10.3102/1879659

q2 · i? · associational · r?

The brief's own description of its new research on academic achievement and growth in grades K-4 states that "students with disabilities grow as much or more academically during the school year than their peers" in some years. No effect sizes or test statistics are printed in the available text.

"with support, students with disabilities grow as much or more academically during the school year than their peers without disabilities during some 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

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
In math, EL groups grew more than never-ELs during academic years but lost more during summers — related
In math, ELs grew more than never-ELs during academic years but lost more during summers — related
New research examined academic growth trends of students with disabilities in special education during the school year compared to the summer before the pandemic — related
Students with disabilities cost 50.5 percent more to educate to comparable academic growth than peers without disabilities — related
Steeper summer learning losses for students with disabilities contribute to widening disparities with peers — related

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`claim`
`id`	`swd-school-year-growth-matches-or-exceeds-peers`
`title`	`Students with disabilities in grades K-4 grow as much or more academically during some school years than peers without disabilities`
`description`	`Students with disabilities in grades K-4 grow as much or more academically during some school years than peers without disabilities`
`status`	`review`
`evidence_strength`	`weak`
`newest_evidence`	`2021`
`source_checked`	`2026-10-18`
`recheck_by`	`2026`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-08`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `angela-johnson-2021`

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