Data on Students Ages 6 Through 21 Served Under IDEA, Part B

Students Ages 6 Through 21 Served Under IDEA, Part B

• On December 1, 2001, 8.9 percent of 6- through 21-year-olds were receiving special education services under IDEA.The number of students with disabilities receiving services has increased slowly since 1992 (pages 21 and 22).
• In contrast, the number of students receiving services for autism has increased markedly, from a little less than 10,000 in 1992 to approximately 65,000 in 2001 (page 24).
• According to findings from two of OSEP’s National Assessment studies, the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study (SEELS) and National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 ( NLTS2), students with disabilities are more likely to be poor than students in the general population (pages 31 and 32).
• Parent reports as shown in SEELS and NLTS2 data indicate that more black students with disabilities are suspended or expelled from school than are white or Hispanic students. Overall, parents report that about one-third of students ages 13 through 17 with disabilities have been suspended or expelled (pages 40 and 41).
• Most students with disabilities (around 96 percent) are being educated in regular school buildings, and almost half are in regular classrooms for most of the day (page 43). However, 26 percent of students ages 6 through 12 with disabilities and 36 percent of students  ages 13 through 17 with disabilities have been retained in grade at least once (pages 53 and 55).