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National Center for Special Education Research


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Facts from NLTS2: General Education Participation and Academic Performance of Students With Learning Disabilities

The National Center for Special Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences has released a brief report from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2. This report focuses on youth, ages 14-18 and classified as having learning disabilities, who were receiving special education services during the 2000-01 school year. Some of the major facts include the following:

  1. Most secondary students with learning disabilities (94%) take at least one class in a general education setting in a given semester, with 80% taking one or more academic course in a general education setting.
  2. Overall, about one-third (35%) of secondary students with learning disabilities receive the standard general education curriculum used for other students in their academic classes. However, more than half of students with disabilities (52%) have teachers who report making “some modifications” to the general education curriculum.
  3. Teachers report that 94% of students with learning disabilities receive some type of accommodation or support to enhance their school performance.
  4. Youth with learning disabilities experience the greatest difficulty with passage comprehension.

PDF File View, download, and print the full report as a PDF file (104 KB)

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